back to article Windows Dressing: Psst... Fast Ring folks, whispers Microsoft. You're in this for the cool icons, right?

Good news everyone! While Microsoft seems unable to deliver a patch that won't leave Windows 10 in a parlous state for some users, it does possess the will to fiddle with the icons. Again. While the new Fast Ring Windows Insider Build, 19569, might still hang during installation for some users, and using the nifty clipboard …

  1. Marco van de Voort

    position, not picture

    I can vaguely remember from UI design classes that most people remember the position of an icon more than the action icon itself, specially for routine tasks.

    So one could wonder what this is good for.

    1. Giovani Tapini
      Mushroom

      Re: position, not picture

      Yes, but knowing how people behave is nothing to new, cool, icons right?

      For the same reason office 365 swapping meeting title to be the first input instead of "to" has me retyping stuff daily, in full support of your statement on position being more important. I am sure that change looks cool to someone, but to me its change for changes sake.

      Noticed icons getting bigger again in some places too - so they are more finger stab friendly regardless of the relevance on a non-touch device.

      We are probably only an inch away from 4HD Animated true colour icons in full fat finger size rows... perhaps I shouldn't raise this idea... gaarh

    2. Wizardofaus

      Re: position, not picture

      I hope that one day a UI "designer" goes to buy a car, and is told that the brake is in the trunk/boot, but not to worry, they'll get used to it.

    3. smartroad

      Re: position, not picture

      I also used to run heavily on shape, and to a lesser extent colour. I hate that Android is insisting all the icons be the same shape as I now can't find them as easy.

      When everything is the same "cohesive" shape and design, nothing is truly unique. These days icons are so bland that they could be almost anything, where before they actually tried to describe what you were clicking on.

      1. Snake Silver badge

        Re: position, not picture

        "I hate that Android is insisting all the icons be the same shape as I now can't find them as easy."

        Please don't tell me that you're still depending upon searching through an OS-sorted list like the App Tray, similar to that pathetic excuse for a 'modern' and updated UI, iOS, rather than use the real power of the Android UI, that being it's completely user-customizable Home screens which can include active widgets??

  2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "carrying more than a whiff of Windows 7 (or even XP)"

    Um, I use Windows 7 and 1 0 regularly. I can't say that the icons on 1 0 are so much more appealing. Maybe XP icons would be jarring, but I wouldn't know since I haven't used XP for more than a decade now.

    Frankly, I'm happy that the winter intern's work gets some recognition, but there are more important things to take of as far as Windows is concerned.

  3. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Linux

    lipstick

    on a dead pig would be a better phrase

    Perhaps we could come up with marketing phrases for windows update

    "Just because your computer worked yesterday"

    "What do you need fucked up today"

    1. Giovani Tapini
      Trollface

      Re: lipstick

      oi Bozza…

      to err is human, but to really fuck up, you need a computer

    2. whitepines
      Devil

      Re: lipstick

      How about Clippy?

      "I see your computer is working. Would you like some help with that?"

  4. 1752
    Happy

    SCSI drivers not being recognised

    This one installed! Yea! Does explain the last few on VMware Player not seeing the disk after the first setup reboot. And new icons, you spoil me!

  5. LenG

    New Icons

    Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I hate the phone-style icons. They are not actually even icons (by definition an icon is supposed to represent something which reminds you of the underlying functions) but actually glyphs - intrinsically meaningless squiggles which you have to learn to associate with the underlying function - and they tend to appear in different places with different applications. At least the old menus generally had the same function with the same label in much the same place.

    I liked the winXP interface. Or at least I did after I used the classic view option to make it look like Win2000. With the aid of add ons I could make Win 7 behave enough like XP so that I could still get back to Win2000. M$ screwed up years of familiar usage with the mess that was win 8 and then carried much of it over into Win 10 while removing most of the configuration options which would allow people like me make the thing look and feel familiar. I would like to meet some of the UI designers of that time ... preferrably in a dark alley while equipped with a chain saw.

  6. UKHobo

    Microsoft twitter copy check failure

    "Standalone security update (KB4524244) has been removed and will not re-offered"

    Plain English? Looks as coherent as everything else emitted by the borg.

  7. EnviableOne
    Windows

    you gota wonder when

    Those previously employed test and release wonks will be getting a Phone call from The MS HR team, I'd like to offer you twice the salary to come back as a contractor

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