While only a part of the Aero Glass, the blur effect harkens back to the original translucent visuals we had in Windows Vista and 7. However, if you happen to be in the B group, you'll see the blur effect on the Start Menu and the Taskbar ( Figure B). If you happened to be in A group, you'll just see the transparent effect on the Start Menu and the Taskbar ( Figure A).įigure A Windows Insiders in the A group will see the normal transparent effect. And, to test the waters, Microsoft decided to do an A/B test.
The Hint of AeroĪs Aul mentioned, they have been listening to the many Windows Insiders who have also been clamoring for the return of the Aero Glass effect in Windows 10.
This style of simulating faux-realistic materials (such as glass or aluminum) on the screen looks dated and cheesy now, but at the time, it was very much en vogue."Įver since Windows 8 first launched, a fairly substantial group of Windows users has been clamoring for the return of the Aero Glass effect to the Windows operating system. Jensen Harris, who was the Director of Program Management for the Windows User Experience for Windows 8, wrote in a 2012 blog titled " Creating the Windows 8 user experience" described Microsoft's reasoning: "These stylistic elements represented the design sensibilities of the time, reflecting the capabilities of the brand-new digital tools used to create and render them. While Aero Glass lived on in Windows 7, it was dropped in Windows 8 because it was considered outdated. Writing on the Windows Vista Team Blog, Jim Alchin, who was then in charge of the OS, said that Aero was an acronym that stood for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open. If Windows Insiders really like the blur effect, we will add it to more areas and even consider making it the default instead of standard transparency." The Aero Glass effectĪs you may remember, back in 2006 when Microsoft launched Windows Vista, they endowed the new operating system with all sorts of eye candy, like Flip 3D, Live Taskbar Thumbnails, and Aero Glass, as I described in the 2006 article titled " Windows Aero - Vista's premium user interface." Aero Glass was designed to make the Windows experience more visually appealing by providing a translucent, glass-like design for window frames, the Start Menu, the Taskbar, and other surfaces. 50% of you will see normal transparency on the Start menu and taskbar while the other 50% will see a blur effect on the Start menu and taskbar (like frosted glass). We're running a little A/B test with this build.
We've been working out how to satisfy this request, and are trying some things out with this build to see how you like them. In his announcement about the release of Build 10074, Gable Aul, who leads the Data & Fundamentals Team within the Operating Systems Group, described the graphical enhancements: "We've also heard loud in clear that many Windows Insiders want to see Aero Glass from Windows 7 make a comeback.
While the icons are still flat in Build 10074, there are hints that some eye candy will be present in Windows 10 when it ships later this summer.