# Latest Windows 8 Screenshots Reveal Ouster of Aero Glass UI



## btarunr (May 19, 2012)

In June, Microsoft will unveil the first Release Preview of Windows 8, its next major version of the Windows (client). Some of the latest screenshots of the teething operating system made it to the web, and reveal some significant changes to the UI, apart from the Metro UI. With its Desktop workspace, Windows 8 embraces a new UI design, that does away with the glassy Aero design that was introduced with Windows Vista. What we have instead, are minimalist titlebars with centered window titles, flat window control buttons, and a blending of the titlebar's color with that of the other menubars. Microsoft justifies the design change by calling the older Aero UI "dated and cheesy." Microsoft assured users that it will assist in the transition between the two UIs, apart from the major change that Metro is.





*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Fourstaff (May 19, 2012)

I like Aero, guess this is another reason not to go to Windows 8 then.


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## Frick (May 19, 2012)

Looks good.


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## Xzibit (May 19, 2012)

Looks like Office toolbar finally gave in to windows toolbar advances and had sex only to give birth to this


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## GSquadron (May 19, 2012)

It has something similar to google chrome for me and looks like unifying office, browser and explorer together


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## rooivalk (May 19, 2012)

granted, the glassy aero is cheesy. But flattening the UI kinda like aero on safe mode.


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## St.Alia-Of-The-Knife (May 19, 2012)

It a terrible mix of windows 98 and the dreaded UI of office 2007 with a touch of OSX


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## Shihab (May 19, 2012)

Well, that's one GUI change that would take a while to get adapted to. For me at least. But I guess I'll probably stick to 7 for this release. See if they changed their minds and added options to tweak the GUI internally in a service pack.
Still it's a shame. People WILL get used to this thing. After all OEMs switch to Win8 as default OS.


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## Protagonist (May 19, 2012)

First they gave as great things in Vista & 7 made them better, then they take it all away in Windows 8 and give us some bullshit claiming its better than 7 & Vista, this shit is no where near 7 or Vista. The metro shit Microsoft is smoking they better stop, damn, Bill Gates should takeover again maybe then a proper Windows 7 replacement will be released


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## Jacez44 (May 19, 2012)

It looks like the Windows 7 Basic theme. No thanks.


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## WhiteLotus (May 19, 2012)

Xzibit said:


> Looks like Office toolbar finally gave in to windows toolbar advances and had sex only to give birth to this



I also thought this.

Just looks... childish


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## Fourstaff (May 19, 2012)

WhiteLotus said:


> I also thought this.
> 
> Just looks... childish



Microsoft stated that most people are not bothered to use the functions hidden behind drop down menus, so they are making them more visible. Traditional power users will still ignore them and use their keyboard shortcuts


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## Frick (May 19, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> Microsoft stated that most people are not bothered to use the functions hidden behind drop down menus, so they are making them more visible. Traditional power users will still ignore them and use their keyboard shortcuts



I actually think this is a decent idea, but I really REALLY hope there's an option to hide it. Because it's true, a lot of people have no idea what so ever to do anything. How many times have you explained to someone how to select everything? For support this is awesome.


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## Fourstaff (May 19, 2012)

I think the arrow next to the question mark on the right of the taskbar hides it, but I am not sure.


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## naoan (May 19, 2012)

Meh, I can live with that UI as long as I have the start menu back, and an option to completely hide metro from my sight ever.


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## AlienIsGOD (May 19, 2012)

Windows 7 will become the new XP lasting longer than M$ wants it too.


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## slyfox2151 (May 19, 2012)

I wish they would implement a better way to select the GUI... or even modify it.


Perhaps it could ask during windows install or First logon... sure you can right click on your desktop but i feel it could be done better.


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## rpsgc (May 19, 2012)

Hey Microsoft, thanks for making it easier (to stick with Windows 7).


As if there weren't enough reasons to ditch Windows 8.


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## sparkyar (May 19, 2012)

its better only if its faster


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## m4gicfour (May 19, 2012)

Looks like shit. Neat.


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## AphexDreamer (May 19, 2012)

It seems as though they didn't take anything we know and love from Windows 7 away. They just added so you can experience the PC through two worlds. The normal PC you like using with a mouse and keyboard and the quick and simple tablet like functions with touch and apps that you'd like using on your phone. 

Not saying its great or a flop but I'd at least be inclined to try it out. Not sure if I'd pay for a new OS with tablet like features though. I do like the minimalistic look of the classic UI now.


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## Yo_Wattup (May 19, 2012)

Y U NO post higher reso pics?!


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## KainXS (May 20, 2012)

every time they show something about windows 8 it makes me sadder.

unless this has some serious performance enhancements over 7(which I really really doubt) this looks more like a downgrade for mainstream pc users.

bring us back to the awesomeness of the windows 2000 days like you did for 7 again ms, don't send us to the windows me days.


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## atikkur (May 20, 2012)

and with the addition of classic start menu would be perfect too, XP number two. and why they created Glass UI with the vista and 7 at first place? they should stick with simple design forever and ever starting from now..... so, lets get rid metro ui (maybe in win9, for now, they still dont realized it).


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## baggpipes (May 20, 2012)

This makes me not want windows 8 and i have a FX chip.....XD

EDIT: and why glassy on bottom toolbar but not else where? with them both on screen it clashes like digital effects in an analog filmed movie....


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## Easy Rhino (May 20, 2012)

will windows 8 give us a boost in FPS for games? that is all most people on tpu care about. if you want eye candy go with linux.


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## digibucc (May 20, 2012)

people don't look in menus, so get rid of the menu? lol whatever...


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## Velvet Wafer (May 20, 2012)

Fourstaff said:


> I like Aero, guess this is another reason not to go to Windows 8 then.


This. Microsofts new design is the one that looks cheesy, thats for sure. IDK which moron they hired for the design of it


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## entropy13 (May 20, 2012)

Things are getting worse.


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## jalex3 (May 20, 2012)

Bleh,  aero looks better than that I think, plus you could turn it off. 
Aero looks good an is nice on the eyes after some turning, with the right background.

OSX looks better than that, but MS just love flat colours.  OSX did transparency better anyway.

Though I do think its nicer without shadows, I have them turned off for windows and icons.


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## rob49152 (May 20, 2012)

I REALLY hate it when Tech companies go bat-sh*t insane and stop listening to the customer and instead start telling the customer it knows whats good for them and to suck it up and take it up the OS poop chute like a man.

So really I have been hating MS and Apple for a while now. 

In this case its not even MS trying to copy what Apple has done and seems to work. Instead lets completely mess up what people have liked about the last version of windows..then pile another suitcase of bad on top of that!


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## No_Asylum (May 20, 2012)

I dont know what all the fuss is about.  I think Windows 8 is going to be the single greatest achievement in Operating Systems since Windows 95.

LOL!!

I dare anyone to say that out loud with a straight face.


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## KainXS (May 20, 2012)

well . . . . . its not like it could be the worst achievement . . . . looks at windows me . . . . . .yep can't be the worst by far.

ms should have won a prize with that one.


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## Protagonist (May 20, 2012)

At list when Vista & 7 come they got users upgrading to better hardware, but for 8 they want to get people downgrading to crappy hardware, i don't see the need for OEMs to provide machines with snappy hardware alongside Windows 8. Same as i don't see the need of Quad Cores and above, 2GB of RAM and above, Kick ass cards eg discrete GPUs and above, for this type of shit.


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## Isenstaedt (May 20, 2012)

st.bone said:


> At list when Vista & 7 come they got users upgrading to better hardware, but for 8 they want to get people downgrading to crappy hardware


The thing is operative systems should adapt to the hardware found on contemporary PCs. PCs shouldn't need to adapt to operative systems. This is the one of the main reasons why Vista failed. When it came out most PCs were not fast enough to run it. Windows 7 has very similar hardware requirements to Windows Vista, but when it was released most PC were ready for it.


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## Aditya (May 20, 2012)

Minimalistic design? If I wanted my PC to have that,I'd have stuck to windows 95.......
That aero glass effect had a bit of elegance to it....


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## Protagonist (May 20, 2012)

Isenstaedt said:


> The thing is operative systems should adapt to the hardware found on contemporary PCs. PCs shouldn't need to adapt to operative systems. This is the one of the main reasons why Vista failed. When it came out most PCs were not fast enough to run it. Windows 7 has very similar hardware requirements to Windows Vista, but when it was released most PC were ready for it.



No problem with OS adapting to hardware. Question is why dumb it down and claim its better?



Aditya said:


> Minimalistic design? If I wanted my PC to have that,I'd have stuck to windows 95.......
> That aero glass effect had a bit of elegance to it....



Told like it is,..


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## xenocide (May 20, 2012)

I think Microsoft should just do this;

http://blog.gsmarena.com/this-is-what-windows-8-on-desktop-should-have-looked-like/#0_undefined,0_


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## Nkd (May 20, 2012)

Most of you must not have even tried windows 8. I hated it at first but I am certainly upgrading when it comes out. It is way way way faster when it comes speed and I also like the metro hot corners, once you get a hang of it, it is not all that bad.


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## Atom_Anti (May 20, 2012)

Where is the Start button? Are they kidding with me? I have been using Windows 8 since 29. February, but I still hate Metro and missing the functionality of Start button.




xenocide said:


> I think Microsoft should just do this;
> 
> http://blog.gsmarena.com/this-is-what-windows-8-on-desktop-should-have-looked-like/#0_undefined,0_



This looks good, and I could forget the start button, but with same looking desktop than in Windows 7, I just keep missing the Start menu.


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## NC37 (May 20, 2012)

Could be worse...could be...BRUSHED METAL!!!

Did Apple ever grow out of that? Gah I got sick of it so long ago but all they'd do was more and more of it.

I don't see what the fuss about Aero is. I like it.


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## Protagonist (May 20, 2012)

xenocide said:


> I think Microsoft should just do this;
> 
> http://blog.gsmarena.com/this-is-what-windows-8-on-desktop-should-have-looked-like/#0_undefined,0_



Better than what windows 8 is at the moment, but where is the start button, start button is what made windows so user friendly


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## mak1skav (May 20, 2012)

I hate that i still don't see a "Start" button there


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## remixedcat (May 20, 2012)

Looks like a wal-mart grade interface.


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## lZKoce (May 20, 2012)

I like it from the screenshots. I didn't use and like the Aero interface, so I am glad they are done with it. It seems pretty good so far.


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## Aquinus (May 20, 2012)

Honestly, it looks like an OS designed for a tablet PC and the design for a tower or laptop is kind of absurd.


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## remixedcat (May 20, 2012)

that UI would look silly in my dark, smooth, and shiny office... I will say that. I evne tried to use flat black themes and they look like crap in the setting I work in. 

MS designed this UI in white boxed rooms with 1000 watt florescent lighting and desks from an industrial supply wearhouse. of course that UI would make sense to them, however in most people's houses it would look like eve from wall-e in a neoclassical designed suburban tract home... very out of place.


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## lyndonguitar (May 20, 2012)

Wow... Windows Mac Theme


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## MrMilli (May 20, 2012)

They push this ugliness onto people in an effort to promote Metro. Pathetic, that's what it is.


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## Velvet Wafer (May 20, 2012)

Nkd said:


> Most of you must not have even tried windows 8. I hated it at first but I am certainly upgrading when it comes out. It is way way way faster when it comes speed and I also like the metro hot corners, once you get a hang of it, it is not all that bad.



I tried it.... the metro hot corners annoyed the hell out of me, and im far less speedy with metro activated, than without it


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## dicobalt (May 20, 2012)

Turn off Aero in the Win8 Consumer Preview and you will get window frames that look very similar to this screenshot.


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## joyman (May 20, 2012)

M$ should release only odd versions of windows...


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## remixedcat (May 20, 2012)

They did the best with the year versions... but most of those are server releases... server OSes FTW!!!


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## Arctucas (May 20, 2012)

Just when I thought Windows 8 could not get any worse, Sinofsky and gang proved me wrong...

If the Classic Desktop, with Aero, and the ability for the end-user to completely disable the Immersive UI (Metro) and the Windows Store (the real reason for Windows 8 existence), I will not even bother downloading a copy from my Technet account.


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## Delta6326 (May 20, 2012)

lol to me this looks dated and cheesy...


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## btarunr (May 20, 2012)

AlienIsGOD said:


> Windows 7 will become the new XP lasting longer than M$ wants it too.



But you know how it works. MS will use a new DirectX version to ramthroat Windows 8 for PC enthusiasts. "This game best experienced in Windows 8 / DirectX 12".


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## Frick (May 20, 2012)

Ok we need to ban everyone using the term M$. It got old a decade ago.


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## Inceptor (May 20, 2012)

As someone who went from Win98 to OSX to Win7, I have to say that the new Win8 desktop UI looks nice.
The Aero UI looks like the slightly cutesy OSX UI to me.


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## Moose (May 20, 2012)

I suppose I should be glad that MS at least try and make their new op different, I think the sum total of new stuff in OSX Mountain Goat or whatever is a new reminder program.

Then again when you have something good like win 7 why bother changing?


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## logear (May 20, 2012)

software authors will come up with programs to customize these shortcomings. Remember when XP only came in silver, green and that nasty shade of blue? Patch it. Customize it. I'm guessing that one of the reasons Win8 is faster because of the lowgrade graphics. I know in XP when you set it for "Adjust for best performance" the menu fading, shading and transparencies are turned off, making it way faster. Someone will write a program to add a start button, add an aerolike feature and streamline the waste of space ribbon interface.  As usual MS is thinking with tunnelvision.


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## deleted (May 20, 2012)

Just so everyone is aware, you can get the Start menu back by installing ViStart, ribbons are disabled by default, and many Windows 7 themes work on Windows 8. You never have to use Metro unless you want to.


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## Easy Rhino (May 20, 2012)

why are people complaining about the UI? if you dont like windows 8 then dont use it. windows 7 is a great OS.


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## DailymotionGamer (May 20, 2012)

Is it just me or does Win8 look just like Windows 7?

lol MS needs to just focus on windows 7. There is nothing wrong with windows 7 and it works perfectly fine with pretty much anything.


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## micropage7 (May 20, 2012)

flat and oldies?
it shouldnt call it new interface, and why dont they listen to us to at least give an option to put start menu on the front than using metro that makes your pc feels like phone?


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## Frick (May 20, 2012)

u2konline said:


> Is it just me or does Win8 look just like Windows 7?
> 
> lol MS needs to just focus on windows 7. There is nothing wrong with windows 7 and it works perfectly fine with pretty much anything.



It does when you're not in Metro. And exactly the same can be said about Windows 2000 and XP.


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## DailymotionGamer (May 20, 2012)

Frick said:


> It does when you're not in Metro. And exactly the same can be said about Windows 2000 and XP.



I tested out windows XP sp2 and SP3 on my Quad core with my new card, its horrible man. Crashes every 20 mins, BSOD, horrible mess dude.


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## MrMilli (May 20, 2012)

u2konline said:


> I tested out windows XP sp2 and SP3 on my Quad core with my new card, its horrible man. Crashes every 20 mins, BSOD, horrible mess dude.



Then something is wrong with your build or install and nothing else.


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## Frick (May 20, 2012)

MrMilli said:


> Then something is wrong with your build or install and nothing else.



Yeah. I mean Windows 7 is better with newer hardware and all but XP still works "perfectly fine with pretty much anything". So that is a bad argument imo.


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## NdMk2o1o (May 20, 2012)

There is no need to have Windows XP these days at all unless you are running a single core with <1GB RAM. 

I will wait until 8 is released and most likely upgrade anyway as from what I have noticed is tht it's slightly faster than 7 and uses less RAM which is always a plus. 

We know you can disable metro and tbh how many people really benefit from aero? I do use aero peek to switch IE tabs aside from that it has no benefits. Also having settings more accessible for average users isn't a bad thing is it?


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## faramir (May 20, 2012)

Who would want to spend money on a product made by a company that calls one of its own products "cheesy" ? Imbeciles.


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## xBruce88x (May 20, 2012)

well i can explain why they did this in one word...

Tablets.

now in many words, the new ribbon as its called makes doing certain tasks on a tablet soo much easier although it will eat up some screen space but its better than ha ing to bring up a virtual kb every time

as for removing the glass look, its less demanding on tablets (remember theyre making an arm version of windows too)

as for the start menu... dont really need it anymore since you can get to you libraries from the quicklaunch on the taskbar, and any other apps can have shortcuts made into "toolbars" on the taskbar as well


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## Isenstaedt (May 20, 2012)

btarunr said:


> But you know how it works. MS will use a new DirectX version to ramthroat Windows 8 for PC enthusiasts. "This game best experienced in Windows 8 / DirectX 12".


That didn't work very well for Windows Vista.


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## xenocide (May 21, 2012)

xBruce88x said:


> Tablets.



Tablets are the new Netbook.  The only tablet(s) that are really selling in decent numbers are iPad's, and I don't imagine those will be adopting Windows 8 anytime soon lol.  I think Windows 8 will be one worth skipping, Windows 9 should be interesting though.


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## johnnyfiive (May 21, 2012)

naoan said:


> Meh, I can live with that UI as long as I have the start menu back, and an option to completely hide metro from my sight ever.



Easy, its called Windows 7.


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## acerace (May 21, 2012)

Honestly, I don't like the naming scheme of the new Windows. For example, after XP they name its Vista and after that 7. But this new OS called 8.. Where is the unique OS name?


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## remixedcat (May 21, 2012)

I think they should have left it at the year thing.... The OS releases that had the years always turned out better.

However I've mostly been sticking to server releases and I've found them to be much better then the consumer releases. 

Instead of xp I used 2003, instead of vista I used 2008, and instead of 7 I used 2008R2.


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## Frick (May 21, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> I think they should have left it at the year thing.... The OS releases that had the years always turned out better.
> 
> However I've mostly been sticking to server releases and I've found them to be much better then the consumer releases.
> 
> Instead of xp I used 2003, instead of vista I used 2008, and instead of 7 I used 2008R2.



Server releases for "normal" people are overkill in the extreme, and I don't really see the point if you're not running a server.


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## Prima.Vera (May 21, 2012)

btarunr said:


> Microsoft justifies the design change by calling the older Aero UI "dated and cheesy."



I like Windows 7 "dated and cheesy" interface. That Mac OSX clone looks like carp.


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## remixedcat (May 21, 2012)

and the win7/2008R2 interface feels a lot more friendly and comfy then metro does...

also metro feels like you're eating at mcdonalds or BK barebones, rigid, and budget
and aero glass feels more like you're eating at LongHorn Steakhouse or your local equivalent. classy, comfy, and friendly


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## Frick (May 21, 2012)

remixedcat said:


> and aero glass feels more like you're eating at LongHorn Steakhouse or your local equivalent. classy, comfy, and friendly



It's pretty much the first thing I disable when doing a reinstall.


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## rhpsystems (May 21, 2012)

Chrome style. Good way MS.


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## pantherx12 (May 21, 2012)

Looks like a UI I would make or you'd find on some rubbish flash website.

Looks amateur and unfinished.


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## baggpipes (May 22, 2012)

Windows 8 designers still look bound and determined to get some use outta the windows key on the keyboard....


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## niko084 (May 23, 2012)

> Why are people complaining about the UI changes



Well... For those that have to constantly support all this crap 

In Office 2003 it took me... Maybe 20 minutes to get completely accustomed to each piece of software, Office 2010? Took me 20 minutes to import outlook data. (okay maybe I'm exaggerating there a bit) But in general seriously, the OS is a "tool" nothing else, leave it as such. Constant changes this drastic are driving your customers to APPLE. 

I'm going to laugh so hard when Android takes out Windows in 10 years.

PS- sold my MS stock a long time ago


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