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> their UI is a bit old school

This honestly is a (positive) feature IMO.



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> Check out that UI

Off-topic, but damn - tune down that candyness a bit and it looks much better and cleaner than what's there today.


> The UI is horrendous!

I'm not sure how it could remain as featureful as it is and improve the UI. So I'm quite happy with it.


> I intentionally left aside modern UI design trends (fancy animations, shadows, gray blurry lines, flat controls, acid colours, transparency). I like this accurate, clear, grayish, boring UI that just not hinder to get my job done...

Amen! The UI in the screenshots looks very tasteful to me, and it's nice to see somebody not conflating “no-nonsense” with “ugly programmer art”.

Looking forward to giving this a try.


> the user interface needs some work to modernize

No, it doesn't. Eventually people learn to use it, and everyone is happy that way.


> Why does Thunderbird look so old

UI isn't a fashion show. I'd much rather have a UI that looks older but is comfortable to use than something trendy.


> The UI isn't beautiful.

I disagree. HN's UI is perfect.


> You could in theory design a modern UI that resembles the classic UI, but it wouldn't really be "the classic UI".

I bet this would look awesome. Especially in high DPI.


> Strong agree. Concept sounds great. The UI looks like something out of 2005 and that's just not okay.

Why is that not OK? Wouldn't that mean that its UI has avoided the last ~15 years of general decline in structure and usability that we see commonly afflicting "modern" UI designs?


> It seems to me that preference for UI styles is completely personal, probably being influenced by what OS we initially used. As someone (potentially a lot) younger than many of those on HN, I like newer designs, and vice versa holds as well.

I agree that most of the preference is personal. I am not so sure on the age thing. I am likely on the old end of the curve here, yet mostly prefer the flat appearance. That said, there are a few elements of those old designs that I prefer. There are a few areas where those old interfaces shone: being able to distinguish between UI elements, higher contrast, consistency, and exposing functionality. That is to say: buttons don't need to be raised and links don't need to be underlined, but it is useful to know when you are looking at a button and a link.


> Despite the godawful UI

Simple is beautiful. It's also not that hard to use.


> I agree with this. Regular computer users are fin and like these UI changes.

<citation needed>. I don't think I ever saw anyone say more than "ok it looks kinda neat" and that isn't commentary on "liking" just "well, they changed it and it is not terrible yet".

Most of UI changes in long running software honestly looks like designers (or their managers most likely) trying to excuse their employment than anything acutally useful for the user


> It's pretty established that 90s UI was peak UI

Huh? No way I'd go back to the 90s for UIs. I'm not saying our modern UIs are perfect, and there is a lot of changes for fashion reasons, but there are generally far better these days on whole.


>The UI _was_ the best UI I had used but the recent rewrite set it back quite a bit. The UI designers seem to think that pretty is better than functional.

This applies to 95% of all modern software. Optimise UI for looking (subjectively) pretty in screenshots.


> the UI available in native options (browser or native apps) has gotten Really Good.

I actively disagree with this assessment. I think they've been getting worse.


> the changes in user interface should

Yeah, but that's not a consequence of better software!


> And it looks very dated -- old-style MDI interface and controls, System font everywhere, bare-bones interface...

Maybe it's just me because I am used to that interface, but it looks much more user-friendly than many of the modern apps I use:

1. I can tell at a glance what is clickable and what is not.

2. I can see the accelerator/shortcut keys for most of the elements.

3. Sections are grouped together, and on a single page. I don't have to click 'Next' to see the next three clickable widgets.


"...I'm sure we could all appreciate a better UI."

Absolutely not. One of the best things about HN is the barebones UI. I would be very annoyed if it got a more "modern", i.e. bloated and distracting, interface.


> The Yelp app/site is basically the same it was 5 years ago.

Out of context, that would be a good thing. I hate it when a company changes user interface every week, just to stay in fashion.


> The history/bookmark manager UI is 2000-ish and does not align with current mobile-like design trends.

That's a good thing, not a bad thing. Current UI trends are terrible.

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