ReactOS Forum

That is my visual ideas... Transparent bars on ReactOs panels, New - cool SideBar (gadgets), Big icons...

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Please View Full images... and comments.. like?
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The wallpapers are very impressive! Unfortunately, I have also some negative comments:
(Semi)transparent parts of the window are of no use (except for extremely rare cases), it's part of the WOW effect you use for a day to amaze friends and then turn it off because of its unusabililty. Several years ago I made a Delphi app with completely semitransparent window and it was actually very annoying. Also Windows 7's usage of gadgets looks better - no sidebar, just gadgets floating wherever you need them. I use RocketDock for similar purpose as the "My Documents" on top of the sidebar in your screens, but it comes with much wider range of settings. Of course, this all is my opinion only.

I like it. But I think we need a skin for the windows and not the transparent Cubism we have right now. A combined solution with a nice skin wouel be cool. And i like the icons.

I like it too, but i think that icons for My computer and My documents are too large.

I think ReactOs need to start with simple effects.. Transparent Title bars & Start Panel.. Maybe future is skins, shadow effects.. e.t.c...

Yes icons too large! This is only a concept!

q4a wrote:I like it too, but i think that icons for My computer and My documents are too large.

This won't be a problem if ReactOS allows the same behaviour for icon sizes as Vista does. Under Vista, icons can be as large as the ones shown in the above screenshots or as small as they are under Windows XP. You can easily change the icon size from the right-click context menu.

Debatably, larger icon sizes would be useful for users who are visually impaired or aren't dexterous enough to move the mouse over smaller distances.

I have to agree with the transparencies, I don't really care for them.

I also don't really care for sidebars, I don't use ti in Vista, I won't use it in ReactOS.

Aero-like and aer-compatible effects (give it a name like Mercury for example) will have to, at some point, be implemented for ReactOS, but these rather large GUI "improvements" are unlikely to be implemented any time soon, due to an incomplete GUI, incomplete kernel and lack of developers willing to implement such a thing.

Although I do like the concept images as they are now, there's many programs around (although i'm yet to find a GPL one) that provide transparency on pre-vista Windows OS's that will provide the same effects illustrated there.

The123king wrote:Aero-like and aer-compatible effects (give it a name like Mercury for example) will have to, at some point, be implemented for ReactOS, but these rather large GUI "improvements" are unlikely to be implemented any time soon, due to an incomplete GUI, incomplete kernel and lack of developers willing to implement such a thing.

Although I do like the concept images as they are now, there's many programs around (although i'm yet to find a GPL one) that provide transparency on pre-vista Windows OS's that will provide the same effects illustrated there.

May want to talk to ElementSoftware about that.

http://www.elementsoftware.co.uk/

The guy in charge was developing a visual effects suite that would bring Vista-like effects to Windows XP, named AniCore. But it seems to be just a package for use in Visual Studio now.

Hmm... It's a good start, though there are a few things you've yet to learn:

1. A good UI is more than just transparency. What separates a good theme from a bad one is not only flash, but usability and comfort. The shapes and colors we surround ourselves with has a profound effect on our state of mind and on our mood. The best working environment is one with easy, cool colors (Blue!) and soft, flowing shapes. The "Plastic" effect that's so popular works since the "Shine" makes things more inviting. The current ROS interface, which in the end amounts to not much more than a series of grey boxes splattered across the screen, destroys the feeling of comfort and calm that a good theme should provide, and your mock-up does nearly nothing to address this aside from just making everything transparent. Actually, the grey boxes feel REALLY OUT OF PLACE when compared to the icons and sidebar which are given a lot more polish, just like CAPITAL LETTERS just mixed IN the sentence FOR NO real REASON.

2. A good UI is MUCH more than transparency! Here's a good rule I like to use with transparency in UI design: If you can drop it, drop it. Yes, it can add more "Flash" to your interface, but it's far more important to maintain usability. The only places, and I repeat, only places and ways it should be used is in a way that either:

A. Goes unnoticed unless you really look for it. It can be used in small ways to provide very nice aesthetic touches without doing anything to harm usability. A slight (and I mean SLIGHT) transparency, like 95% opacity, in window decorations for example. I say slight, since it's still very important to keep a good contrast between the text and its background, since it'd be nice if you can read what's on your screen.

B. In a way that actually enhances usability significantly. There are fewer examples of these, but the easiest one is a transparent Command Line background. I dunno how I could live without it on my Linux partition: I can read something from behind the window and type out commands at the same time without having to do a mindless dance of moving windows around (great when reading instructions on how to get something working).



As for icon size, it's really a balancing act. On one hand, you have Fitts's Law (The time to acquire a target is a function of size and distance; Bigger objects on the screen are easier to aim for with the mouse, and thus are faster to navigate through), while on the other, you have saving space on the screen (If you make your file icons so big the user has to constantly scroll up and down constantly just to get anything done, then well that negates the point). It's up to user discretion, I think. I personally like to keep my icons big, but that's just my deal. Then again, I don't like the idea of Desktop Icons at all, but that's another argument for another day.

And sidebars... Well you either love them or hate them. I happen to hate them. I don't really think I have anything particularly enlightening or useful to say on them, so I'll spare you the angry rant.

Surprisingly, I actually like the transparency of the blue background for the title bar on the windows. I think what makes me like it more than other transparent designs is that the close, minimize, and maximize buttons are still completely opaque.

FlyingIsFun1217

Nice with Transparent bars and New - cool SideBar (gadgets).

But I like more better icloud system web OS design.

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