The first major update for Windows 10 came out recently. It adds the usual assortment of enhancements, fixes and tweaks, but of all of these things the one that pleases–nay, delights–me the most is allowing title bars to actually have color again.
In Windows 8 it was possible to adjust the color of the title bar but not the color of the text, which was always black. This meant you could make the text effectively invisible by making title bars black or some other dark shade. Windows 10 changed this by taking away all choice. You had black text on a white title bar, except for arbitrary apps Microsoft slapped color title bars on–and you also couldn’t adjust those, even to make them match the white ones. It was interface design channeled through a 1970 Soviet committee.
Now, though, I can have a friendly, soothing blue title bar on every program. I open Word and a wave of calm washes over me, like a gentle and warm tide. Then I struggle to remember how to make hidden text visible and start grinding my teeth. Focus on the title bar, I think, let the blue calm me. And it works. That and closing Word. Really, after a billion versions Microsoft should be doing more than slapping a coat of paint on the thing every couple of years. I’m leaning toward going back to WriteMonkey or some other tool that focuses more on actual writing and less on doing everything ever with text and stuffing the means to do these multitude of things in an endless series of icons, ribbons and dialog choices. (Hidden text can be shown by going to File > Options > Display and checking “Hidden text” under the “Always show these formatting marks on the screen” option. But you probably already knew that.)
Anyway, colored title bars are nice. Windows 10 is now officially 23% better.
