Consistency, Thy Name is Not Microsoft (Premium)

Windows 10 has many problems, but one of my big pet peeves is the lack of UX consistency. Which at times makes it seem like no one in Redmond even cares about the quality of this once-proud product.

I've long railed against this problem, which falls into a bucket I call "finishing the job." And I'm not alone: On Twitter, on Reddit, and in the Feedback Hub that no one normal seems to use, users have been complaining about the lack of UX consistency in Windows for quite some time. And not just in Windows 10. This goes back decades.

The most recent example of this inconsistency, which is inexplicably touted by its makers, is the slap-dash nature in which Fluent Design System elements are being added to the system. In each of the past three Windows 10 versions dating back to early 2017, Microsoft has transformed bits and pieces of the system UX to include visual effects like the Acrylic translucency and the Highlight Reveal mouse-over. But in doing so, they have also left other parts of the system unchanged, creating a melange of the new and the old.

Maybe melange is the wrong word. Melange makes it sound pretty. it's not pretty. It's a mess.

But it's not just how and where Fluent effects are being applied---or not being applied---throughout the system. It's how every app, every window, seems to do its own thing.

Consider the Mail and Calendar apps, which do not statically apply the system-wide accent color to their title bars. And the related People app, which does: Even if you disable this feature, the accent color will be applied. (And that Mail has a background picture, while Calendar and People do not.)

Consider the Search box in the Settings app, which has a sharply-defined border. And the Search box in Groove, which does not. And look at the text headings in each window. Note that they are different sizes and even different colors (on the secondary heading). Note that the normal body text is a different size in each.

Consider that we can apply the system-wide accent color to Start, the taskbar, and Action Center (which is incorrectly identified as "action center" in Settings) together only, but not to each discretely. Only window title bars are handled separately in this regarded. (And, as noted, that setting is ignored by the People app.)

Consider Maps and Photos, which share nearly identically styled top areas. Except for the Search box, which is different in each.

Also, there are legacy UIs all over Windows, too, from the Vista-era graphics in Mobility Center and Control Panel to the weird, out-of-date apps like WordPad and anything Microsoft Management Console-based (like Event Viewer and Device Manager).

Once you see this stuff, you can never unsee it, folks. Sorry.

But as I noted in Microsoft, Please Pay Attention to What Apple is Doing with iOS (Premium), there's only one solution to this quality gap: Microsoft needs to stop adding new crap to Windows. Focus on quality and consis...