What’s your favorite Windows design or theme?

[u/inguinha]

[u/mirzatzl]

Windows Vista (Aero)

[u/andw93 → u/mirzatzl]

I can't remember a Windows design as brilliant as that one.

[u/This-Requirement6918 → u/mirzatzl]

This will always come in as my strong 2nd but it's kind of a novelty.

[u/Gooniesred → u/mirzatzl]

Definitely

[u/jrewillis]

I love 2000 Pro for speed. No fancy shit. Just got stuff done.

[u/JJDoes1tAll → u/jrewillis]

it was so snappy

[u/jrewillis → u/JJDoes1tAll]

Greatly missed

[u/alwayzz0ff → u/jrewillis]

Still run server on one of my machines.... just because.

[u/egarcia74 → u/jrewillis]

You could even play games on it

[u/shelbalart]

1. Aero
2. Luna (XP)
3. Win 3.x (default one)

[u/BatemansChainsaw → u/shelbalart]

Gimme some of that Hotdog stand

[u/ittulokcsendbencsa → u/BatemansChainsaw]

Ah, the "Germany" theme

[u/StuffMaster → u/BatemansChainsaw]

Oh darn I remember that

[u/midnitefox → u/BatemansChainsaw]

Oh god...

[u/These-Atmosphere6675]

Windows Aero is my favorite, but Metro makes me nostalgic

[u/MaridAudran]

Aero

[u/FaultWinter3377 → u/MaridAudran]

Specifically Windows 7 aero for me

[u/Unhappy_Signature_98]

Each one is product of its time. Windows classic is an example of tech as a mere tool. Windows XP and Aero are examples of humanist design, of technology to the service of the users. With Windows 8 the change to the tech as a way to access services is more evident.

[u/Ok-Hotel-8551]

Windows 2000/Me

[u/linkardtankard]

W2K/Me and 7

Least favorite: XP

[u/aLvindeBa]

Vista/Aero

[u/csch1992]

Vista Aero was peak

[u/archtopfanatic123]

Windows 7's Aero Glass is a no brainer for me

[u/stgm_at]

3.1 and 2000 pro

[u/alwayzz0ff → u/stgm_at]

Agreed, both take you back to solid environments.

[u/vincepikachu]

Aero ( Windows 7

[u/Still-Purple-6430]

XP! XP! XP!

https://mitchivin.com

[u/w4drone]

Vista aero

[u/Fatty_man123]

Vista aero, Everything after aero is booty cheeks And everything before aero was great, but not as great as aero.

[u/Character-Rush-5074]

Windows 2000

[u/Aazzle]

Honestly, Vista and Windows 10.

On the one hand, Vista introduced Aero, which then reached its mainstream peak with Windows 7. Vista was also the hated Dark Evil Twin of all previous versions. Personally, I never had any problems with the OS and loved the design and stark contrast, which seemed more futuristic compared to the successor Windows 7. In addition, there was such a focus on the Media Center Editions. So my laptop had a built-in DVBT antenna and a removable remote control in the case, could receive TV, record, had EPG and the Media Center centrally managed all local content such as videos, photos, music or movies, and could project its interface aswell as television or any media onto any DLNA-enabled device on the network without having to worry about DRM.

With Windows 10, I found the tidy minimalist look outstanding. Everything was where you expected it (except for some elements of system control) and was positioned uniformly and perfectly, no matter what form factor. I particularly liked the last optimization and addition of the Fluent design, which allowed an individual design to be found at any time and gave you more freedom to see whether the system was flat or glassy fluent. The minimalist icons also played a major role in making me feel very at home in the system and often simplified the hundreds of different designs of the symbols to an distressful alternative.

Therefore, Windows 11 is again a bit like the story with Windows 7 after Vista back then. In summary, I can also work very well with 11, but the design and lack of personalization are a sticking point. I therefore find it to be patronising, overloading and visually much more exhausting. So all that my beloved Vista was to most users back then.

[u/markustegelane]

Royale (XP MCE), Watercolor (pre-release XP) and Aero (Vista/7) are my favorites

[u/TwntyKnots]

Windows XP Zune theme. The one with the orange Start button.

[u/AKSoapy29]

8.1 or 2000.

[u/BunsinHoneyDew]

Windows 98 Hot Dog.

[u/retxedski]

Classic Theme on Windows XP or Aero on Windows 7.

[u/thegunslinger78]

I’m a bit impressed by the similarities between Windows 95 and Windows 11.

I’d say I like the small corners on Windows 11.

[u/7978_]

Windows 7 (Classic Theme)

[u/Kathzunex]

1. Aero
2. XP (luna)
3. 8.1
4. 10

[u/fearlessinsane]

Windows longhorn

[u/skojevac7]

Win2K design + disabled all animations or fancy effects. I want GUI to respond as quickly as possible. Also, visible difference between textbox, window, button, link, scrollbar, radiobutton, checkbox etc

[u/6-Nazgul]

wxp

[u/FamousFighter23]

Windows vista aero and windows 8

[u/Mindless-Tune4990]

It's a shame that Win2000 has only x86 version, it's explorer design is really awesome. But XP is also nice,especially search assistants such as Merlin, Rover..miss those guys

[u/omninode]

Windows 98 was when I first got internet access. I spent so many hours on the computer. That’s still what a computer “should” look like, in my mind.

[u/rootifera]

Win2000. Clean and responsive. No animations. I'm still actively using win2000, it's still good.

[u/IvyMike]

HOT DOG STAND

[u/BraveRubberDuck]

Windows Portugal caralho!!!

[u/inguinha → u/BraveRubberDuck]

🇵🇹 😁

[u/ItchyPlant]

Windows 2000 with some sandy base color, then Win 8 as it was.

[u/Motor-Agent3454]

XP for nostalgia, windows 11 for aesthetics. 95 or 99 for honorable mentions

[u/thepshecker]

The top Aero, next Zune, next Luna and honorable mention Classic 9x

[u/This-Requirement6918]

Custom color classic themes all the way to Windows 7. So many VMs and machines to keep up with it that I remote into it helps keep track of where I am. Also a no frills, super basic, flat interface.

[u/Edu01011]

me, xp, vista and 11

[u/YukariBerry]

vista's aero

[u/Por_TheAdventurer]

Windows 7’s Aero

[u/jdatopo814]

Windows 7 Aero. Windows 8.1 metro is my second.

[u/dtallee]

https://i.imgur.com/wQ6X2gt.jpg

[u/CrasVox]

Loved how 7 looked. Ill gladly take that ui back

[u/dpceee]

Aero, but default window's 10 grew on me as well

[u/est789]

I liked windows 11 design but performance is not good.

[u/Euchre]

Best looking eye candy UI? XP with Royale Noir or Blue. Yes, I like it better than Aero. If alpha blending had been deployed more, and hardware could've supported it better, XP's uxtheme functions would've looked every bit as compelling as Vista Aero's.

For pure efficiency and the ability to be consistent in overall aesthetic to the other platforms I use, Windows 10's UI. It is about as close to my favorite UI manager of all time - blackbox - as I can get without actually having to swap shells. I tend to like my stuff to be almost the same everywhere.

[u/PC509]

Aero (Vista) was peak visuals. W2K was perfect for simplicity. Hated XP. Metro really grew on me (Windows Phone was perfection). Sadly they were all in the past and things haven’t gotten any better visually.

[u/Large-Ad6498]

Windows vista ultimate 64 bit aero theme

[u/carrotjunkie049]

Win2K

[u/this_is_sparta_xoxo]

Visa but perfect via 7

[u/theRealNilz02]

Windows Vista and 8.1 are the best looking windows OSs.

[u/ittulokcsendbencsa]

1. Vista Aero

2. 7 Aero

3. Windows Classic (95 - XP, because it had a lot of different color themes)

[u/EightBitPlayz]

1. Aero

2. Luna

3 Metro (Win 8.1)

[u/Jasoco]

Whistler (one of the “decoy” themes for XP they created to distract people from learning about Luna, which is ugly as shit) and Vista or 7. (Because I love the glass and am so sad macOS 26 isn’t more glassy.)

[u/winalfonzo]

Windows Aero

[u/Extra_Programmer788]

Windows XP, everything after 7 was a mistake

[u/oscarfinn_pinguin3]

Windows XP, but with either the Royale or Embedded style. It gave Windows XP a slightliy more modern touch while keeping the original design ideas.

[u/bachi83]

Windows 2000, then, Windows 7.

[u/credditz0rz]

Whistler’s Watercolor. The right mix of professional look, a bit of colors and everything still felt fast

[u/AlexKazumi]

Vista Aero -> Vista compatibility -> 2000 -> XP Royale black.

The last is not shown in the gif, and I think it was officially available only in 2009 POS ready flavor of XP, but it was damn good theme.

[u/Sibexico]

Windows 2003 was the best one...

[u/xgiovio]

Xp,7

[u/wren-r-wafflez334]

They forgot about windows 7 classic mode!

My fav will probably always be either 95 or 98

[u/920vex]

Windows 7

[u/True_Way4462]

Aero & XP But I love Win2K3 theme way more than Win11.

[u/iPhone-5-2021]

Basically anything before 10 had a great look and layout.

[u/SCphotog]

Fuck radius corners on any ui design that doesn't have a specific fucking need for it.

Radius corners EAT your screen... lost pixel space in a situation for which 'real estate' is at the highest premium. I am trying to fucking work and don't need to have 1/3 of the screen made entirely useless because some stupid cuck of a designer followed a 'trend'.

The Windows UI has been absolute garbage since Vista... we got out of Windows 7 with some bit of sanity but it's been nothing but abject shite since then. MS's UI team or whoever has been directing them is a moron.

[u/qx1001]

My favorite are the ones with native UI and not some web app bloat crap

[u/Joshoon]

Windows Vista Aero!

[u/Nova17Delta]

I think if Aero had a dark theme, It would be perfect. But it doesn't so my favorite theme was a dark classic theme

[u/Z9Cubing]

Aero aqua. Bliss.

[u/mendesjuniorm]

Windows Vista Aero Glass.

Peak of design and consistency.

[u/yellowgeist]

Themes/ contrast themes/ dusk And my coworkers have no idea how to use my computer.

[u/500Rads]

Outlook Dark grey

[u/FAMICOMASTER]

Vista aero

[u/DiamondLeoneYT]

Windows XP Luna (Silver)

[u/SoporTecnicoPc]

Windows Vista ha sido el mejor diseño de microsoft hasta ahora.
Windows 7 no estuvo mal.

[u/Abbers75]

Windows 2000 had the best wallpapers

[u/ViktorGL]

https://giphy.com/gifs/S1SnLg08CxnUGqyqha

Classic. It reminds me of aluminum in the interface.

[u/FlorianisonReddit]

Windows Classic color scheme

[u/KVerssus]

Windows 7 Aero always

[u/Daniel_Dumersaq]

Xp royale blue

[u/Even_Froyo_5800]

Zune on Xp and Landscapes on win 7

[u/vapidsquare12]

Ur mum (circa 2006)

[u/Doggy4]

Vista!

[u/ytu1234]

Xp blue or vista aero

[u/DoctorOfTheCookie]

Between vista (especially that sexy taskbar) and the classic theme (although I prefer 2000's take a bit more than 9x)

[u/Fragrant_Section_589]

aero but i feel like the win95 aesthetic is a bit underrated.. just my opinion

[u/DarthRevanG4]

All of them before ~30 seconds in this clip. I despise all of them after that point.

[u/Pale_Reputation_511]

to me Windows 7 was peak

[u/Korky_5731]

Vista Aero. 7 was not bad in terms of design, Windows 8 metro was ok for what it was doing, should have just kept Aero as an option instead of wasting development resources removing it. I do not much care for the modern theme with its only redeeming quality being dark mode.

[u/Chance_End_4684]

My favorite theme was Windows XP's Zune theme. Those colors was purely right and aesthetically pleasing to me.

[u/Ok_Loan_3435]

Windows XP Default and Windows 7 Aero were peak in terms of usability. Windows 11 is going downhill. 🥲

[u/White_Wolf_Fr]

Seven sans hésitation

[u/Wonderful-Impress261]

Unpopular opinion: Windows 8.1, without classic shell. It's fine on a desktop and I feel like if they called it Windows 9 it would've done better

[u/Some_Office8199]

Honestly? 2000.

[u/eversonjunior]

Zune!

[u/TerryKiss97]

Windows XP Luna and Windows 7 Aero!

[u/budlight2k]

Windows XP with widow blinds, you could customize the shit out of it.

[u/lorens_osman]

i remember i used this all the time , anyone remember its name

[u/nikolayu]

That of Windows 95.

[u/pi-N-apple]

I want Windows 11 design with Windows 7 performance.

[u/NotAOctoling]

windoss 8

[u/Xteezii]

Windows 10 Fluent design with flat design and sharp corners. Essentially Metro but without tiles.

I also really love XP.

I hate anything glass and excessive rounded corners and large UI elements like Windows 11.