Is there also classic win8.1 metro look?

Yes, I have removed all the apps though. http://abload.de/thumb/untitledfxuak.jpg You just have to do what scatman said to use it.

I'd rather not lose Aero in exchange for the AOL Kids 1996 design which Windows 8/10 uses. I doubt there will be any real performance difference between Win 7 and 10, the hypothetical 1% here or there means nothing to me.

I'd rather not lose Aero in exchange for the AOL Kids 1996 design which Windows 8/10 uses. I doubt there will be any real performance difference between Win 7 and 10, the hypothetical 1% here or there means nothing to me.

I hate aero, so glad it's gone. Even more happy that they are shaving every pixel off the UI in 10. You're never going to get real performance increases from an OS (in terms of gaming) -- various animations can be sped up, better caching, etc can increase general performance, etc. Windows 8 is much quicker in that regard to 7 and 10 seems to increase it further.

Bring back Aero Glass and I'm fully sold.

Same here. Win 7 looks so much better then 8, this time at least colors are nicer and easier on the eye.

Aero requires horsepower from the graphic card which causes higher power consumption. This is why they moved away from it and it's never coming back. To be honest Windows 7 is so much snappier with Aero off.

Aero requires horsepower from the graphic card which causes higher power consumption. This is why they moved away from it and it's never coming back. To be honest Windows 7 is so much snappier with Aero off.

Still should be up to the user, not Microsoft, how they choose to use it.. if I want to tax my gpu a bit for Aero I should be able to. its windows, not IOS

Aero requires horsepower from the graphic card which causes higher power consumption. This is why they moved away from it and it's never coming back. To be honest Windows 7 is so much snappier with Aero off.

Aero is in 10, and probably 8 as well. It's just far less noticeable. Aero peek is in 10 anyway. And as far as horsepower is concerned, you're talking a couple watts more really.

Now, isn't it just like mikro$oft? 8 and 8.1 turned out to be lousy - driver and third party programs incompatibility issues, the marketing stirred on whether it is or it is not going to be any ''9'' in next version's name, etc. etc. End, now, in the middle of that fuss &mambo-jumbo blah, blah - lo and behold! Ten, like Khhhenn (from ''fish called Wanda'', don't use any greens - aren't ripe yet).

Aero is in 10, and probably 8 as well. It's just far less noticeable. Aero peek is in 10 anyway. And as far as horsepower is concerned, you're talking a couple watts more really.

A good interface design will convey information to the user while being as unobtrusive as possible. Aero as far as animations, GPU acceleration of the interface, etc is great. Aero glass was terrible. It wasted a ton of screen space and provided no usability enhancements. Steve Sinofsky (Former Windows Lead for both Windows 7 and 8) posted this in building Windows 8:

"In 2006, Windows Vista substantially changed the visual appearance of Windows, introducing the Aero visual style. Aero gave the appearance of highly-rendered glass, light sources, reflections, and other graphically complex textures in the title bars, taskbar, and other system surfaces. These stylistic elements represented the design sensibilities of the time, reflecting the capabilities of the brand-new digital tools used to create and render them. This style of simulating faux-realistic materials (such as glass or aluminum) on the screen looks dated and cheesy now, but at the time, it was very much en vogue."

The faux-realistic material look is called skeuomorphism. Apple's iOS was filled with skeuomorphic design principles. The industry has been moving away from this and towards a flatter design. Microsoft was actually first although I think Google's Material Design is the best looking yet. Anyway I agree with Steve, the faux-realism is cheesy as hell. I'm glad it's gone. It did nothing for the OS except take space and give cause for developers to do cheesy glass blur all over their horribly designed interfaces.

8 and 8.1 turned out to be lousy - driver and third party programs incompatibility issues, the marketing stirred on whether it is or it is not going to be any ''9'' in next version's name, etc. etc. End, now, in the middle of that fuss &mambo-jumbo blah, blah - lo and behold! Ten, like Khhhenn (from ''fish called Wanda'', don't use any greens - aren't ripe yet).

I've had no compatibility issues with 8. And the reason why they skipped 9 is because seven ate nine.

8 and 8.1 turned out to be lousy - driver and third party programs incompatibility issues, the marketing stirred on whether it is or it is not going to be any ''9'' in next version's name, etc. etc. End, now, in the middle of that fuss &mambo-jumbo blah, blah - lo and behold! Ten, like Khhhenn (from ''fish called Wanda'', don't use any greens - aren't ripe yet).

No issues of any kind. In fact win 8.1 x64 PRO is by far the smoothest MS OS I have ever used. No lag, no fuss it just works. It's also the ugliest, but that's another story. With Start8 and Modernmix I really have no complaints about functionality / performance.

dont know if it is a glitch. but I tried all the themes. and then back to my theme. and after that the start menu was black along with login screen.

Quite frankly that should be up to the users not the developers. It would have been ok to have Aero Glass turned off by default, but they were wrong to completely strip it out of the OS, removing freedom of choice for their users. Just as they were wrong to remove Windows DreamScene from Windows 7. Flat designs are so 1990's. I personally preferr the warm and organic look Aero Glass gives. And even in Windows 7 Aero Glass was always OPTIONAL.

Then download an Aero Glass theme for Windows 8. There are a ton of them. If Microsoft left every change in the OS they made as an option it would be a giant cluster**** of settings. Even popular linux distros don't do this. You could argue that Microsoft should maybe have a proper theming engine, I'll agree with that. But I won't agree that everything should just be optional. There will always be someone who is alienated by a change in UI. Skeuomorphic design's are 1970's. Design changes all the time, and old stuff always pops up again. I guarantee by 2025 someone will find some new spin to the faux look and it will pop up again.

So we went from windows 8... an OS that people loathed for having a touchscreen friendly interface.... to Windows 10... an OS people seem THRILLED by, long before it's even out, and just before it enters Preview state.... which is basically what everyone claimed Win8 was but wasn't... an OS for all platforms and devices? All because their beloved yet unnecessary Start Menu is back? Which is only made even MORE funny, because they brought the Start Menu back, but from looking at the videos of it, it's absolutely NO different than the Start Screen aside from it not being full screen.

Uuhm... no... i haven't used the pre-officially released Preview version of Windows 10, simply because i don't feel like installing it at this point since Windows 8.1 is actually RELEASED, less buggy, and running nice. But watching the video overviews of it, there's no difference whatsoever. When the new Start menu is clicked... yes, you get the things to go to your pictures and My Computer and all that fun stuff. Same exact stuff you'd find when you right-click the Start button in Windows 8. When you click All Programs, you don't get the folder by folder breakdown you used to get in Win7 and prior where you can launch apps and even uninstall apps. What you get is an alphabetical list of every installed program. Same as if you clicked the down arrow at the bottom of the "Metro" start screen. And then you have the ability to customize the little area of the Live Tiles portion of the new Start Menu, as well as what looks like a couple spots in the main part of the start menu to have frequently used apps. Which is exactly the same as the Start screen (Can have your most frequently used programs on the far left of the Start screen so they show up as soon as you'd press the Start button/Windows key, and then the rest of the Start screen can be categorized into groups of apps with the ones you use, but not as often). It doesn't take a lot of analytic ability to see it... You should try doing that sometime, rather than just thinking "YAY, it has a Start Menu. That's SOOO much better." It's like saying you're happy iOS has Widgets like Android does, ignoring the fact that iOS's are strictly in the notification pane.

Class A fanboy.. The world has changed, windows is only the dominant OS on the desktop, most of the world doesnt bother with a desktop anymore. If you look at TOTAL OS share instead of blinding yourself with the desktop you will already realise Windows is at less than 25%

If I have 2 phones and a desktop it's clear that twice as many people prefer phone operating systems over a desktop one, right? dat logic

Smartphones and tablets? Oh you mean the platforms dominated by superior android and apple software?

Now factor in Smartphones and Tablets....oh a whole new world just opened in front of your eyes Now while you enjoy posting old links heres one for you.. http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/12/13/microsofts-market-share-drops-from-97-to-20-in-just-over-a-decade/ Oh look a bigger, better world out there

Look I agree that phones and tablets are replacing traditional desktop PC's but most people have multiple phones and tablets for each PC device, which will skew those numbers. Plus the original Goldman Sachs' report is only consumer devices, not commercial ones, which basically makes the entire report useless in this discussion.

Dx12 launches with Windows 10, and there will also be a handful of games using it launched to, so won't have to wait till Christmas for them to start rolling out.

Dx12 launches with Windows 10, and there will also be a handful of games using it launched to, so won't have to wait till Christmas for them to start rolling out.

Windows 10 isn't due out till 2015 though right? So you mean next Christmas?

Yea, i think rumor points to it being launched around April 2015 IIRC.

Smartphones and tablets? Oh you mean the platforms dominated by superior android and apple software?

I hope this is sarcasm....