I see what you mean... followed the link and thought....who in their right mind would pay for such rubbish?  Certainly not I.

To say that the direction icons have been going recently is somewhat disappointing is a complete understatement, to say the least.

Yes, by all means make an OS as efficient as it can be for those who want ultimate speed and performance, but don't sacrifice appearance to achieve it and bring back Aero.  It may have used some resources, but it needn't be activated by default, just make it an option for those who DO want it.to escape this crazy 'flat phase' the movers and shakers of PC world seem to be going through.

It's a bit like condoms, really... one size does NOT fit all... nor do 'flat' GUIs appeal to everyone.  So okay, Microsoft, leave the prettying up of OSes to companies like Stardock, but at least give them an acceptable appearance for those who do not customise their desktops.   Oh, and thank goodness for Stardock providing us the tools to vastly improve upon that which is sup-par in Windows, aesthetically speaking, that is.  I love Win 8.1 in its customised state, it is fast, efficient and stable, but the default GUI is crap,

So there you have it, Microsoft... and please learn from this thread/your mistakes.

voo, one of the greatest of the masters, has returned for a visit. YAY!

So it might be, but the Vista/Aero 'look' is considerably more pleasing than this flat crap they're trying to peddle now.

Newer isn't necessarily better, and this icon debacle is proof of that... nor will it win over those who've been sitting on the 'Windows fence' since Win 8 hit the shelves.

Seriously, those icons are positively childish and MS ought to be ashamed it didn't come up with better.  I mean, they expect Win 10 to go into millions of homes and businesses worldwide, but if that's the best they can do then millions of discerning users who don't customise ARE going to seek alternative PC/computing solutions.

To put it in 'cinema' terms, Apple [and possibly Linux] would be rolling in the aisles at this turn of comedic events.

Yup, this is the one time in the history of Apple that it DID'NT 'invent' something.... not even Apple would want to lay claim to this unsightly mess.

Again, thank goodness for Stardock & Winstep.

Aloha citizens!

Apple is getting its stick for Yosemite as well. As it is being discussed all the time on Macrumors. Before the 10.10.2 update there was 355 1 star ratings versus the 133 5 stars.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2014/06/os-x-yosemite-design-changes.html

This is true.

damn doubtfull anyone would consider windows10 a flop due to the flat icon design.
Would be worse than rejecting windows8 because of a new interface as only reason.  

The buying public is fickle and a hard bunch to persuade, so if a handful say Win 10 is 'crap' because of this, that or whatever, people will stay away from it in droves.  It doesn't have to be bad, a handful of so-called experts is all that's needed to condemn an OS to failure.  Vista wasn't that bad, nor was Win 8, but both failed in the marketplace because various media personalities put the mocker on them.... and from there a few million people knew of dozens of others who thought they were crap. 

So yeah, Win 10 could equal Vista and Win 8 in the fail stakes. It won't matter that Win 10 is superior under the hood to all OSes before it, if so n' so from such and such magazine says it's crap, then Win 10 will fail, cos basically, people are sheep and quite easily led... gullible is another term.

It shouldn't be, especially when improvements under the hood warrant its uptake, but for the abovementioned reasons, people will reject Win 10 if vthe media crucify it.  Frankly, I am appalled at the icons being touted as the system set, but I believe in what the OS will have to offer outside of the GUI and will upgrade to it without hesitation... I do. after all, have IP to change that which is offensive to the eye.

Yeah, I get your point, and to most rational thinking people it makes sense, but we're talking about a buying public with little or no mind of their own and will believe somebody who new somebody whose sister went out with a bloke who knew somebody who tried Windows 10 and didn't like it... and from there it snowballs until the gerneral populace has an aversion to it.  And guess what, that Windows 8/8.1 that everybody hated [before], well that'll become the next best thing since sliced bread and Win 7. 

Yup, they'll all be goving Win 10 a miss and waiting for 11... until Win 12 looks more inviting because 11 has this something or other wrong with it..  The truth is, the buying public is never satisfied with whats on offer,  No, the next edition is newer, so it has to be better... until it arrives and the next one is one the drawing board for a future release... and so on... and so on.  Put bluntly, OS developers can't win... the media and consumer is there to ensure that.

And then you get a company like MS giving them good reason to reject the OS by coming up with atrocious and childlike icons that offend even average users, let alone those who are discerning.

It's true what you say!.   If joe user doesn't like the GUI then he's going to give the OS a miss... first impressions and all that, but that doesn't necessarily make it a bad one.... or that the kernel is feched.  True, MS botched Win 8's UI, but the addition of Start8 and the 8.1 update make it a solid and very reliable OS that more than rivals 7.  The same is likely of Win 10.  Under the hood it is fast, efficient and reliable, but it could well be another flop due to the childish looking icons/UI.

However, it is true that the buying public often has no mind of its own. and will reject an OS based on hearsay.  I lost count of how many people I heard rejecting Vista on the basis of hearing it was 'crap' from this or that source... and in most cases they hadn't even seen it, much less gave it a go.  Same with Win 8, there were people queuing up to call it crap without a shred of personal experience.  It's true each could have done with some refinement prior to release, but neither was a bad OS... and nothing like the calamity that was ME.

After playing around with windows 10 preview i am quite liking the new look

Someone tell me this is a joke! 

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-10-build-10009-images-leak-online-shows-new-icon-updates

Ah...superbly mastered by a dyslexic 10 year old with Tourette's ....

I'd sell him for medical research...