Re: Industrial as default theme?

["Eugenia Loli-Queru" <eloli hotmail com>]

> Regarding the discussion about light/dark of the default theme,
> I came across some comparative screenshots of Windows 9x,
> Windows 2000, and Windows XP that I thought might be interesting to keep
in mind:
> http://actsofvolition.com/images/screenshots/Display-95-through-XP.png
> http://actsofvolition.com/images/screenshots/Buttons-and-Tabs.png

Indeed, lighter themes are more "welcoming" and easier to the eyes. The
problem starts when you are over-doing it.

Look closely on the XP theme you link above and you will see that  it is not
as light as Industrial is here: http://img.osnews.com/img/7241/themes.png
On XP there is enough color contrast betwen tab views and window views on
the background, there is enough contrast on buttons and other widgets and
there is certainly enough contrast on the window manager's unfocused status.

Industrial feels blant and flat, without some light 3D effects like the one
found in the "Raleigh/Default" theme above or Win2k. Even Apple had to add
"stripes" on Aqua otherwise it was looking flat too (and stripes are also a
bad idea, as they are looking really bad depending on your LCD monitor's
quality and the gamma correction you use on them, this is why Apple is
already moving away from stripes and towards a more leveled up theme in
recent versions, e.g. Panther).

Rgds,
Eugenia