I used to love experimenting with LiteStep and Winamp themes and browser themes when I was younger, but honestly user interfaces are Good Enough now that I'm relatively happy with the out-of-the-box experience. But it's still disappointing that a generation of potential computer nerds won't have the same experience of being able to treat their primary computer as a blank slate for personal expression.
Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
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Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#12> Remember changing colours on the computer? You can do that in Windows 10. It can also change automatically based on your current wallpaper. Similarly to installing Nova Launcher, perhaps the author need to use GNU/Linux or Windows instead of a Mac.
No. you cannot change colors in windows 10. You can only change 1 color which only Microsoft know on what exactly is used.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#13Hisham keeps popping up in my life, it seems. He's the guy who created both htop and LuaRocks.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#14There will always be tinkerers and people who want to customize their stuff to their personality, but I think the majority of people don't want to tinker, they want to "get shit done" and the standard wallpaper and theming of stuff now days is visually pleasing enough to not mess with it.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#15This seems to fly directly against recently articles about the massive uptick in iOS customisation after 14 launched. The #ios14homescreen hashtag on Twitter seems extremely popular: https://twitter.com/hashtag/ios14homescreen
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#16> Remember changing colours on the computer? You can do that in Windows 10. It can also change automatically based on your current wallpaper. Similarly to installing Nova Launcher, perhaps the author need to use GNU/Linux or Windows instead of a Mac.
Not quite.
You can set an Accent color and either a light or dark background - that’s it. You can’t specify each component color or named system color - such as separately specifying the colors of the scrollbar’ track and thumb - or icon text - or button shadows - and so on.
The old “Desktop Themes” feature for Windows 95 Plus! and Windows 98 let the user radically change the appearance of Windows - for better or for worse - when was the last time you saw a custom desktop icon pack or purple 3D face color?
But yes - all of this assumes the user is aesthetically capable - but neither was Microsoft: Google Image Search for “windows hot dog stand”. Be careful, you might get a migraine.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#17You renner the times where in a browser one picked colors and font for background, text and links and many sites followed those choices? Now one has to spent time to tweak the Userstyle By finding the right CSS classes and things to change
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Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#18> Remember changing colours on the computer? You can do that in Windows 10. It can also change automatically based on your current wallpaper. Similarly to installing Nova Launcher, perhaps the author need to use GNU/Linux or Windows instead of a Mac.
Windows 10 has themes now too
Except that Windows 10 themes are a severe security/malware hazard, not a customization of harmless graphical elements.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#19I used to love experimenting with LiteStep and Winamp themes and browser themes when I was younger, but honestly user interfaces are Good Enough now that I'm relatively happy with the out-of-the-box experience. But it's still disappointing that a generation of potential computer nerds won't have the same experience of being able to treat their primary computer as a blank slate for personal expression.
I was the same way with Windowmaker themes. Now I use a fairly boring desktop with a dark theme, and I'm happy if GTK and Qt themes coexist nicely.
With that being said, a lot of themes were UGLY or clones of OS X or Windows.
Re: Remembering Windows 3.1 themes and user empowerment
#20Up to Windows XP I used to change Windows colours and occasionally fonts and border sizes in order to distinguish real windows from fake ones in popups and banners, now the Windows 10 automatic colour changes are a mediocre substitute.