Thinner windows borders in Windows Blue but no ones noticed?

By W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E
in Microsoft (Windows)

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W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

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Well i can't be the first to discover this, although after searching i've not found this on any site and thought i'd mention it because many people like myself don't like the chunky windows borders in Vista/7/8... Now i've found in Blue most software installation and notification/alert windows have the border size reduced. Some stuff in the Taskbar like Date/Time and Action Center have their borders completely removed.

But... all software seems to have the same border size as Windows 8 (so far). MS mentioned that they didn't reduce the border size in 8 because of software compatibility (some stuff relies on border size for buttons/UI to be correctly placed) so maybe this is why, but i hope they change this because it's inconsistent having two different sizes in Blue. Personally i'd like all borders removed so it matches the Metro/Modern design style! (updating the ancient desktop icons would be a BIG improvement too).

Screenshots...

post-484514-0-81784700-1365073866.jpg

post-484514-0-70834200-1365073875.jpg

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(Account no longer active)

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I'm for this change.

The window close/maximize/minimize buttons need to change to something more aesthetically pleasing. And that clock from Vista too.

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Steven P. Administrators

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I used a reghack to reduce the awful borders in 8 to what it looks like on Windows Blue (the Mozilla setup window border in the above image)

Copy below and save as window_border.reg if you want thinner borders in Windows 8 as well:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"BorderWidth"="0"
"PaddedBorderWidth"="0"

You might want to launch regedit and export/backup HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics first ;)

Nice that they are finally being looked at properly for Windows Blue, but we'd need to see a later build to find out what will happen I guess.

NM my reghack also removes the border entirely from the clock widget in Windows 8 too, so I'm guessing the screenshot was taken with a similar reghack applied already, or it really is the new way in Windows Blue.

My Windows 8 with the above reghack applied:

post-2-0-45756000-1365080647.png

Edit: Better image

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Quppa

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I noticed the same thing (after all, nothing else seems to have changed on the desktop in this build). The changes to the clock and notification centre flyouts seem to be intentional, but the thinner borders for some windows feel more like a bug. Pre-release builds of Windows 8 had similarly weird window borders in some cases.
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LittleNeutrino Veteran

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Neobond, made a .reg out of that and I am going to try it when I get home. Much better than running program I know nothing about.

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HawkMan

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what makes you guys think that the guy who took the screenshots didn't edit the border thickness himself ? MS has been pretty adamant about keeping the border thickness for usability reasons. No they really don't make windows exclusively for the "techie" user ;)

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W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

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NM my reghack also removes the border entirely from the clock widget in Windows 8 too, so I'm guessing the screenshot was taken with a similar reghack applied already, or it really is the new way in Windows Blue.

I took the screenshots myself, it's a clean install of Blue. No reg hack.

And like i said the new reduced border size ONLY affects software installation and notification/alert windows, plus the Clock and Action Center in the Taskbar. Nothing else is affected, so things like File Explorer and ALL software on Blue still have the usual chunky windows borders. It seems like MS are experimenting with border sizes.

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Brandon H Supervisor

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I used a reghack to reduce the awful borders in 8 to what it looks like on Windows Blue (the Mozilla setup window border in the above image)

Copy below and save as window_border.reg if you want thinner borders in Windows 8 as well:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"BorderWidth"="0"
"PaddedBorderWidth"="0"

You might want to launch regedit and export/backup HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics first ;)

Nice that they are finally being looked at properly for Windows Blue, but we'd need to see a later build to find out what will happen I guess.

NM my reghack also removes the border entirely from the clock widget in Windows 8 too, so I'm guessing the screenshot was taken with a similar reghack applied already, or it really is the new way in Windows Blue.

My Windows 8 with the above reghack applied:

post-2-0-45756000-1365080647.png

Edit: Better image

you don't even need to go to that much trouble with messing with the registry. the tool that Jose_49 posted a few posts above yours does that same registry tweak :p
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HawkMan

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I took the screenshots myself, it's a clean install of Blue. No reg hack.

And like i said the new reduced border size ONLY affects software installation and notification/alert windows, plus the Clock and Action Center in the Taskbar. Nothing else is affected, so things like File Explorer and ALL software on Blue still have the usual chunky windows borders. It seems like MS are experimenting with border sizes.

So basically dialog windows, who can't be resized and don't need borders got the borders reduced, while resizeable app windows still has normal borders. makes sense.

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ingramator

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Confirmed this is inbuilt! Had to actually check didn't immediately notice, come to think of it, looks really good! Nice to see MS improving on the desktop as well!

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W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

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what makes you guys think that the guy who took the screenshots didn't edit the border thickness himself ? MS has been pretty adamant about keeping the border thickness for usability reasons. No they really don't make windows exclusively for the "techie" user ;)

I've already said in my post:

... all software seems to have the same border size as Windows 8 (so far). MS mentioned that they didn't reduce the border size in 8 because of software compatibility (some stuff relies on border size for buttons/UI to be correctly placed) so maybe this is why, but i hope they change this because it's inconsistent having two different sizes in Blue.

Basically only certain windows in Blue have the reduced border size (maybe for the reason you mention).

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MDboyz

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That clock looks good. There is no need to change it.

I'm for this change.

The window close/maximize/minimize buttons need to change to something more aesthetically pleasing. And that clock from Vista too.

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KRazpopov

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That clock looks good. There is no need to change it.

It doesn't fit in with the generally flat UI that Microsoft are going for at the moment. They should swap the clock with something that lacks the gradients and reflections that are on the current one.

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