Apple’s Liquid Glass is Home windows Vista carried out properly

It is exhausting to take a look at Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic and never take into consideration Windows Vista, Microsoft‘s much-maligned OS which additionally touted transparencies and glass-like results as a daring new imaginative and prescient for computing. You may see the similarities between Apple‘s UI and Vista’s “Home windows Aero” design language in all places, from the glassified app icons in iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26 which look so much like VIsta’s shiny icons, to the clear backgrounds utilized in drop down menus, which hearken again to VIsta’s clear window borders. The important thing distinction is that Apple is simply doing all of it higher. (Sorry, not sorry, Home windows followers.)

Whereas Microsoft began off with an intriguing concept, it didn’t execute the Home windows Aero UI properly in Vista. Principally, that is as a result of Vista itself was an enormous mess — it was far slower than Home windows XP, it was notoriously buggy and it dealt with drivers poorly. And for those who really wished to partake within the glory of Aero transparency bars, you wanted a pc with a robust GPU. That was way more uncommon in 2007 than it’s at this time, when even built-in graphics can run fundamental 3D and fancy UI components properly. With its homegrown chips, Apple additionally offers respectable graphics capabilities in its gadgets that assist iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and different new software program releases with Liquid Glass.

It additionally helps that Liquid Glass is not actually an enormous change for Apple, in contrast to the bounce from Home windows XP to Vista. Apple has been creeping in direction of a flashier UI and extra widespread use of transparencies ever since iOS 7 was launched in 2013, which dropped the archaic skeuomorphic design development in favor of a flatter and extra trendy aesthetic. So certain, your icons and menus might have a bit extra shine to them in iOS 26, however they principally work the way in which you keep in mind. (You could possibly additionally argue Apple itself kickstarted the transfer in direction of transparencies in desktop working programs with the unique Mac OS X in 2001, which gave its iconic dock a shiny background.)

I can argue for the general knowledge of Apple’s Liquid Glass, at the least in comparison with Home windows Vista, and personally I additionally suppose it provides iOS a much-needed dose of persona. However I can not actually persuade you in any other case for those who suppose it seems ugly, as lots of my Engadget colleagues do. Senior Information Editor Avery Ellis calls it “busy and obnoxious,” and Editor-in-Chief Aaron Souppouris famous that “it really appears like Aero, rooted within the mid ’00s…. I do not want mild refracting round my pause button.” Truthful complaints! And as typical, you can too cut back transparency results and movement components in Apple’s Accessibility Settings, if these components really hassle you.

However after spending a little bit of time with the primary iOS 26 developer beta, I am extra intrigued by Liquid Glass than the rest. It makes app icons appear like tiny jewels that I simply need to contact, and I dig the transparency results all through the OS — they nearly seem to be a preview for a future the place we’re utilizing holographic Apple gadgets. (That is additionally one thing I felt whereas utilizing visionOS on the Imaginative and prescient Professional, which served because the launchpad for Liquid Glass.) I additionally genuinely love iOS 26’s revamped Safari, which helps you to browse utterly in full display. As you scroll down, the placement bar on the backside of your display shrinks and will get out of the way in which. However for those who scroll up or faucet into the placement bar, it pops again as much as provide the sharing and navigation choices you are used to.

It may be that I am a sucker for novelty. Again in my Home windows XP days, I used to make use of apps like WindowBlinds to customise the OS and add clear results. And there are indicators that Apple could also be going a bit too far with transparencies, like with the iOS 26’s Management Heart (above). It seems superb for those who’re swiping it down whereas inside an app, however for those who’re on the house display, it is simply one in every of many ranges of glass-like home windows. I may see that being a bit overbearing for some customers.

It’s additionally price noting that interface redesigns are sometimes rejected at first look, particularly because you’re seeing them abstracted by way of screenshots and movies. Even Apple’s slick advertising and marketing magic doesn’t replicate the expertise of utilizing Liquid Design. In my expertise, iOS 26 actually isn’t that completely different from every part that got here earlier than. When you recover from the preliminary shock of a brand new interface, you might even see it with new eyes.

There’s additionally nonetheless loads of time till Apple’s new working programs arrive this fall although, and the corporate is commonly fast to tweak main design adjustments if beta customers complain about them. I may see Apple firming down the Management Heart’s clear background, and even higher, giving customers extra management over the quantity of Liquid Glass components in your display. Personally, I don’t thoughts it when corporations stretch their interface beliefs a bit too far – there’s all the time room to maneuver again. That’s much better than being too conservative and by no means actually pushing your aesthetic imaginative and prescient ahead.