I know it’s just a joke, but I always saw this era of UI design as more inspired by concrete and stone than by metal.
Brutalist you mean?
Which modern, and modern-looking, UI is closest to this?
This actively tries to clone the NeXT environment, which is what this screenshot is.
I wouldn’t mind going back to a System 7 era UI. There’s a little bit of color, but it’s not all gradients and reflections.
Was always a fan of Next/GNU/Open/AfterStep and WindowMaker. WindowMaker becoming an active project again is really cool.
Solid Metal… Gear
It’s good, but it’s not BeOS good.
We got the same work done, but I don’t miss it. I suppose we needed this transition period of on-screen buttons that looked like raised buttons until we all got used to interpreting what could be clicked on without the visual clues. The bevels just took up space, I’m glad they’re gone.
iirc studies have shown the opposite. Interfaces that use visual cues for buttons such as bevels and other 3D skeuomorphism cause users to operate interfaces significantly faster and with fewer mistakes. You personally may not like the aesthetic, but the data is very clear that skeuomorphism makes people use their devices faster and better
