Thinner windows borders in Windows Blue but no ones noticed?

April 4, 2013

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...

3,041 · April 4, 2013

This is as it should be. I've disabled windows borders ever since Vista. The defaults just look stupidly big

April 4, 2013

Nice. Much better.

2,756 · April 4, 2013

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.

7,414 · April 4, 2013

Pretty sleek! Thanks a lot for the info!

One of the thing I hate from Windows 8 is those awful big and insane borders! Yuck!

I've always used TinyWindow borders to reduce it to a decent size.

http://winaero.com/comment.php?comment.news.96

29,110 · April 4, 2013

Looks nice with smaller borders...but I never really paid attention to them. Most apps I work with are in full screen.

44,702 · April 4, 2013

The borders have always jarred on recent versions of the OS, glad to see this!

16,490 · April 4, 2013

that does have a much cleaner look.

1,761 · April 4, 2013

Waaaaaay better with the thinner borders :)

49,337 · April 4, 2013

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:

Edit: Better image

April 4, 2013

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.

16,490 · April 4, 2013

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.

26,500 · April 4, 2013

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 ;)

April 4, 2013

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.

1,232 · April 4, 2013

I made the reg and applied it and it does indeed looks nice.

14,919 · April 4, 2013

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:

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

26,500 · April 4, 2013

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.

1,784 · April 4, 2013

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!

April 4, 2013

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).

April 4, 2013

All the pictures in the other threads still have the same border size....

4,535 · April 4, 2013

Works on Server 2012 as well, for anyone who might be curious >.<

1,711 · April 4, 2013

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.

April 4, 2013

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.

April 4, 2013

What about the menu that pops up when you right-click on anything in the taskbar?

4,535 · April 4, 2013

It's also thinner with the reg trick.

Sign In

Thinner windows borders in Windows Blue but no ones noticed?

Recommended Posts

W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

Link to comment

Share on other sites

DrCheese

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Neu B

Link to comment

Share on other sites

(Account no longer active)

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Jose_49

Link to comment

Share on other sites

techbeck

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Dick Montage

Link to comment

Share on other sites

LittleNeutrino Veteran

Link to comment

Share on other sites

daniel_rh

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Steven P. Administrators

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Quppa

Link to comment

Share on other sites

LittleNeutrino Veteran

Link to comment

Share on other sites

HawkMan

Link to comment

Share on other sites

W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

Link to comment

Share on other sites

+therealDamien Subscriber¹

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Brandon H Supervisor

Link to comment

Share on other sites

HawkMan

Link to comment

Share on other sites

ingramator

Link to comment

Share on other sites

W32.Backdoor.KillAV.E

Link to comment

Share on other sites

notchinese

Link to comment

Share on other sites

articuno1au

Link to comment

Share on other sites

MDboyz

Link to comment

Share on other sites

KRazpopov

Link to comment

Share on other sites

dr_crabman

Link to comment

Share on other sites

articuno1au

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Recently Browsing 0 members