Don’t get me wrong, the average X-interface looks great. Some are absolutely stunning. But, in my opinion usability has gone down the toilet. Almost everything that should be a clear distinction is displayed in shades of the same color, including icons.
I’m now running an XP-inspired theme on cinnamon so I at least have some functionality (e.g. title bar in a different color, buttons with clear borders, etc). I wish I wouldn’t need to, to have a productive interface. I wish for something beautiful and productive.
Seeing screenshots of someones Aero-inspired Steam-mockup inspired me to make this post. I found it attractive while I hated Aero when it came out and never used it (it was around the time I switched to Linux). Is there any theme/window manager/setup I should be looking at that I obviously haven’t?
I have the same problem with modern theming. Absolutely hate the flat, same-dark-color look. I need contrast. Unfortunately, the accessibility “contrast” themes that usually come with most DEs, are absolutely hideous and bare bones. What I need is a normal looking theme (round corners etc), but with a clear difference between title bars/widgets/menu bars in terms of colors. I could make my own back in the old days, but now that it’s all gtk+ API calls code, now it’s unnecessarily complicated.
You can always use Adwaita. Actually it’s my preferred theme. I find the user created ones too flat and unixporn-y.