Browser overrides like this are definitely in the negative UX column, but better bluetooth controls, a new consolidated settings panel, and smoother window management are all positives for me. FWIW I haven't hit a situation where I've been forced into edge (yet).
- More snap zones and ways to trigger snap
- Snap zones can be pulled up or switched to as a group
- More things moved in the Settings app
- Settings app is now uses a more traditional left pane navigation instead of a list of large boxes for touch
- Window layouts better remember and adapt to monitor changes (such as unplugging from an TV)
- AutoHDR
- Separate wallpapers to different virtual desktops (makes remembering where you are easier)
- Defaults to the new Windows Terminal
Some of the other changes (mica, new start menu, new context menu, rounded window look, new themes, taskbar tray area changes, variable Segoe UI, new Store, widgets) I'd call a wash. They are there and changed but overall I can't say any have been particularly noticeable or helpful like the above items.
Serious question: why didn't they just do this in the first place? It can't be hard to check if the user has a touch input and dynamically resize buttons / list items, then size them back down when the user is done. They do exactly this for "Tablet mode"[0] in Windows 10.
This, and the pitch black dark mode that honestly looks dreadful on non-OLED, makes me think they don't really take customisation into much consideration.
[0]: https://www.howtogeek.com/221973/what-is-tablet-mode-in-wind...
Regarding dark theme the dark app background is 12.5% gray and the lighter offset backgrounds are 17.5% gray. If it appears pitch black it's not because the theme is made for OLEDs rather your displays are miscalibrated and completely crushing blacks. If you enable transparency effects the color of your background will blend with these and raise/lower them accordingly.
Hmm, are you sure about this? From a quick search, I'm able to find plenty of people complaining about the dark background being pitch black[0] (there's also a Feedback Hub item linked in there, not able to open it as I'm on Linux). I might be wrong, but I am fairly sure my display is not mis-calibrated, as I actually spent a lot of time calibrating it when it got here (have only had it a handful of months). The only downside of the monitor is that blacks really smear when you move them around, whereas dark greys are substantially better.
That's one of the reasons I really dislike the pitch black mode, anyway. It also just looks horrible on anything that isn't AMOLED, IMO.
> If you enable transparency effects the color of your background will blend with these and raise/lower them accordingly.
That's only for surfaces with blur enabled though, like the sidebar in Settings or the taskbar. Non-blurred surfaces are pitch black.
[0]: https://old.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/6nzs34/any_way_t...
As much as I'd like to be able to claim to be a color expert that can eyeball HSL values with enough certainty to give the answer in decimal percentages the above numbers are from color picker readings of a screenshot of my install.
> I'm able to find plenty of people complaining about the dark background being pitch black[0]
I can't speak about what was true 4 years ago in a preview build adding dark theme, or Windows 10 at all for that matter as I don't have a current install anymore, but for Windows 11 today the above are the measured values.
> That's only for surfaces with blur enabled though, like the sidebar in Settings or the taskbar. Non-blurred surfaces are pitch black.
For that particular preview version of 10 perhaps, in Windows 11 there is also a new opaque material called Mica used heavily throughout the interface as it has less of a performance hit (no blur/transparency) https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/style/m...