Which do you prefer, Classic or Aero?
When using Windows 7, do you prefer to use the Aero theme or the Windows Classic theme? I use the Classic theme on my Windows 7 VM (helps make them run a bit smoother), but I do use Aero on some of my local Windows 7 machines.
Comments
I have never used Aero for longer than it takes to switch to classic theme, when freshly installed. Never saw any need for it. Also in VMs I switch to classic mode for the same reason like you.
If existing, I would prefer a perfect Windows 2000 look. Also WinME looks quite nice.
Aero. Because without it, you don't get hardware accelerated graphics and I've noticed when watching videos you get pretty bad screen tearing if you use classic.
I do like the classic look though. Whenever I first used Windows 7, I would always switch to classic. But then I built my desktop and switched to Windows 7 as a daily driver and that's when I noticed the aforementioned screen tearing issue. After that I made the switch to Aero.
Aero, although I only grew to appreciate it after I briefly switched to Windows 10 and saw how blocky and flat the GUI was. Unfortunately, Aero does make my computer look like some sort of web browsing toy and takes me out of the production environment.
That's where Windows 2000 and its look come in.
VLC has options to set output drivers. Maybe there is opengl or something like that and this helps.
I'd say Aero, but not Windows 7 Aero (IMO is ugly with some shadows which don't belong in some places), rather Vista's Aero which looked amazing. Or even better, LH prereset Aero, man, that thing was really cool, it was just the perfect look: simple, beautiful, transparent. If I had to choose an Aero style, I would definitely LH prereset's Aero.
Classic, because I didn't like Aero ever since Vista was a new thing. Sorry, I'm not a fan of these fancy glassy effects or whatever else it had. I'm a sucker for simplicity and always have been.
I use Aero over classic on Windows 7, but I prefer Vista's Aero over Windows 7's Aero.
How are they different to each other, may I ask? I thought both Aeroes were two the same.
With Windows Vista, there was no Aero effect when a Window was maximized. There were other differences as well.
I always use Aero on Windows Vista and 7. Sometimes, I use the Basic theme on older machines with subpar graphics cards/chipsets for a performance boost. I rarely used Classic, the only time I really used Classic was when I felt like skinning Windows 7 to look like 2000 several years ago.
I really liked the Windows 8 CP Aero. It was a beautiful mix between modern metro and aero, and seemed very complete paired with aero icons.
Vista's aero had a slightly more pronounced glass "reflection" and darker blur than 7. There was an aero effect on fullscreen, but transparency was eliminated. Colors also influence Aero differently under vista, they are mixed with Aero unlike 7 which lights with the color(yielding more vibrance).
Windows 7 also used an overlay colorization scheme for inactive windows(much more pronounced in 6730), had a brighter halo and glow effect, as well as slightly more transparent windows. The glass effect "reflection" was also slightly reduced.
I used Classic on my alternate computer that used to have Windows 7 before it got upgraded to 10. Using Classic makes the computer run smoother without any problems. Aero on the other hand looks great but still isn't really my go to in a productive environment. I use Aero in virtual machines and my own personal computer, but even then the Aero in Vista is still better IMO. Aero Basic isn't really that interest for me - if the computer can't run Aero Glass, I'll just use Classic theme.
This should answer your question:
I did like Vista's Aero over 7's, but I still prefer classic overall. I think Windows 2000 looked the nicest.
Aero. 100% Aero.
I realize aero is rather inefficient and puts unnecessary stress on your PC, but I really like the look of it. It's rather disappointing that M$ didn't include it in W8 or 10. (Then again 8 and 10 are shit anyway, but that's beside the point) But to answer your question: Aero. Unless the PC running 7 (or Vista) is a piece of crap.