I hate the modern ones you need to hover above so they even display, and then it's 1 pixel wide and a shade of grey that's about 2% darker than white.
Less functional and 500 lines of js garbage.
And the look and feel of the scrollbar is generally determined by the browser/OS. Unless someone does a custom scrollbar implementation, but that is exceedingly rare. So that thin rounded gray bar is a browser/OS design, again, without any JS.
And Microsoft Store. And the weather. And also in that edition that literally just launches a browser into a remote machine, they decided to make the Ctrl + Alt + Del menu also a browser. For some reason.
Oh, interesting, that's pretty new. Technically it's not an official part of the W3C spec yet, but it's close enough that browsers support it now. Though, it only allows you to control the bar color, track color (which is generally invisible nowadays, so track color changes nothing), and width. So, yes, more customization than was there before, but still extremely minimal.
JS is a programming language that runs from the website on your computer. By "JS scrollbar" it was meant that the scrollbar is generated by the code, as if it was a program.
CSS is just a sheet of rules on how things should look like, it's not meant to run programs. This person is pointing out you can just tell the browser to add a scrollbar to something using CSS, without programming.
1998 was truly the best time. When all OS widgets looked the same. And could be used in apps, and everything had a consistent look. Yeah you could override this in your app. But fuck people who did that. Everything looked so nice and uniform and you knew what to expect from a widget and its look and behavior. Get off my lawn.
I didn't try it yet, have this open for a while now. 😅
Supposedly, it allows to locate the searched folder, which native only recently added as a context menu.
imho the clustered version of the scroll bar buttons (like in Amiga Workbench 2.0+, Macintosh OS, macOS, KDE) make way more sense to me (minimal mouse movement to change scroll direction) than this spread out layout.
I'd say 2001 and 2006 purely because the scrollbar is textured in a way that make it seem dragable at first glance |=|.
Which is standard by now but still, besides that 1998 has all the other visual cues to denote what's clickable and i would otherwise agree as i generally prefer flatter designs.
Honestly I’m partial to it as well. Possibly for the same reasons, but also because the bar and buttons are clearly defined and have good contrast. The later designs begin to fade out until now the scroll bar is just a thin line, which is sometimes hidden, so you don’t see it unless you’re looking for it.
I love how 1998 looks. It is clean and servers the purpose. 2001-2009 feel over designed, 1988 and 2012 not sure whether the dark part is the scroller or the light part lol.
To me, they are just indicators of how much content I can expect. I scroll with the mouse wheel or using the page down/up keys. I don't grab the thing. I only need to see the indicator when I am scrolling.
But I wonder whether there is a accesibility aspect to always visible and wide scrollbars. I think, the best way to deal with it, is to make it an option how they look and behave.
What about some scrollable window with something like 10k+ lines, though? Sure, if you have a mouse with a free-spinning function, it's still doable, but a draggable scrollbar comes in handy then.
Maybe a smart way to handle that would be to show a wide scrollbar when there is so much content? Idk.
I would probably expect filters that are always visible regardless at which line I am currently. Sadly, this isn't the case very often and I have to go back to the top and apply the filters.
Touchscreens don't have wheels on them. Styluses/pens also don't (usually). The latter usually acts more as a mouse than a touchscreen in software, so you can't scroll by dragging the page.
Yeah they're not great in that regard. Still, i'd expect a setting in accessibility to help with this. I'm not near a computer now but i'll look next time
My only criticism is lack of affordance on the slider. Is the dark part the slider or the light part? Some of the newer ones have the little ridges for "traction".
Definitely either 88 or 98. Large, very visible, no bullshit. I prefer 98, but would also be perfectly happy with 88. The reason I like 98 better than 88 is because 98, while not as high of contrast, is closer to if it's physically there, with shadows and stuff, and therefore visually faster recognizable as a scroll bar, it's more intuitive.
88, because it covers visually impaired better. That higher contrast pays off.
But I remember you could do some color theming for the 98 version, so maybe it couldve been fixed in that regard. And I agree on the design being generally easier to understand.
I hate the modern ones you need to hover above so they even display, and then it's 1 pixel wide and a shade of grey that's about 2% darker than white.
Less functional and 500 lines of js garbage.
It's a few lines of css, no JS required.
And the look and feel of the scrollbar is generally determined by the browser/OS. Unless someone does a custom scrollbar implementation, but that is exceedingly rare. So that thin rounded gray bar is a browser/OS design, again, without any JS.
I don't know about scrollbars specifically, but apparently a lot of windows 11 is written in react
It’s the start menu that’s written in react.
Ew
And Microsoft Store. And the weather. And also in that edition that literally just launches a browser into a remote machine, they decided to make the Ctrl + Alt + Del menu also a browser. For some reason.
You can style the native scrollbars with css now
Oh, interesting, that's pretty new. Technically it's not an official part of the W3C spec yet, but it's close enough that browsers support it now. Though, it only allows you to control the bar color, track color (which is generally invisible nowadays, so track color changes nothing), and width. So, yes, more customization than was there before, but still extremely minimal.
what
JS is a programming language that runs from the website on your computer. By "JS scrollbar" it was meant that the scrollbar is generated by the code, as if it was a program.
CSS is just a sheet of rules on how things should look like, it's not meant to run programs. This person is pointing out you can just tell the browser to add a scrollbar to something using CSS, without programming.
I use pgdn btw.
Some suck, sure, but some work well. The ones on MacOS are good IMO, and some android ones (while others absolutely suck).
1998 was truly the best time. When all OS widgets looked the same. And could be used in apps, and everything had a consistent look. Yeah you could override this in your app. But fuck people who did that. Everything looked so nice and uniform and you knew what to expect from a widget and its look and behavior. Get off my lawn.
That reminds me.
Haven't whipped my llama's ass in a while.
I like how they added some grip between 2001 - 2009 so you would have some traction when you used then
My cursor kept slipping off them all the time anyway 😢
Now you can't even find the fucking thing when you need it. Thanks, "UX design".
UX, whatsat?
Also, it completely disappears after a second.
And why is it a different color on the addons page anyway??
Is that add-on good?
I didn't try it yet, have this open for a while now. 😅
Supposedly, it allows to locate the searched folder, which native only recently added as a context menu.
2009, pls.
But I guess with the end caps from 2006.
imho the clustered version of the scroll bar buttons (like in Amiga Workbench 2.0+, Macintosh OS, macOS, KDE) make way more sense to me (minimal mouse movement to change scroll direction) than this spread out layout.
OS X Lion apparently forgot to add the scroll bar entirely
Hope somebody got fired for that epic blunder
The only one that makes sense.
System 1 my beloved
1998 not only had the best scrollbar, but the best UI overall. Shoulda just stopped then and we would have utopia by now
I'd say 2001 and 2006 purely because the scrollbar is textured in a way that make it seem dragable at first glance |=|.
Which is standard by now but still, besides that 1998 has all the other visual cues to denote what's clickable and i would otherwise agree as i generally prefer flatter designs.
2012? Elder? Cmon, it wasn't that long ago... wait... no...
And then they got thinner every year while screens got wider..
But our eyes cant see more than a few pixels wide anyways!
An endangered species
1998 was in my formative years with computers, so I will always be partial to it. Xfce can get pretty close.
Honestly I’m partial to it as well. Possibly for the same reasons, but also because the bar and buttons are clearly defined and have good contrast. The later designs begin to fade out until now the scroll bar is just a thin line, which is sometimes hidden, so you don’t see it unless you’re looking for it.
I love how 1998 looks. It is clean and servers the purpose. 2001-2009 feel over designed, 1988 and 2012 not sure whether the dark part is the scroller or the light part lol.
Story of our society right there
To me, they are just indicators of how much content I can expect. I scroll with the mouse wheel or using the page down/up keys. I don't grab the thing. I only need to see the indicator when I am scrolling.
But I wonder whether there is a accesibility aspect to always visible and wide scrollbars. I think, the best way to deal with it, is to make it an option how they look and behave.
What about some scrollable window with something like 10k+ lines, though? Sure, if you have a mouse with a free-spinning function, it's still doable, but a draggable scrollbar comes in handy then.
Maybe a smart way to handle that would be to show a wide scrollbar when there is so much content? Idk.
I would probably expect filters that are always visible regardless at which line I am currently. Sadly, this isn't the case very often and I have to go back to the top and apply the filters.
Touchscreens don't have wheels on them. Styluses/pens also don't (usually). The latter usually acts more as a mouse than a touchscreen in software, so you can't scroll by dragging the page.
I miss my big chonky scroll bars. now they hide them.
Search for "Always show scroll bars" in settings
that'd be helpful if they were wider than 5px.
I'm in my 50s with macular degeneration so seeing small things can be difficult.
Yeah they're not great in that regard. Still, i'd expect a setting in accessibility to help with this. I'm not near a computer now but i'll look next time
|
2020
Now: I
We peaked in 2009
What was wrong with the high contrast of 1988?
It is at home in both light and dark mode
My only criticism is lack of affordance on the slider. Is the dark part the slider or the light part? Some of the newer ones have the little ridges for "traction".
The issue with 1988 is that it isn't intuitive what the background color is, and thus if the bar is up or down.
The middle years are obvious because of the 3d effect. The last one is obvious because the background is the same for both the arrows and the bar.
I think the last one is less obvious.
By 2026 AI does the scrolling for you, a feature made mandatory (all scrollbars removed) in 2028 😭
And pauses for 30 seconds over each ad.
More profitable to deliver ads seamlessly without pausing but shown continuously all the while scrolling. 100% profits!🤑💸
From next year the government will be allowed to scroll for you if they deem it in the interest of national security
Definitely either 88 or 98. Large, very visible, no bullshit. I prefer 98, but would also be perfectly happy with 88. The reason I like 98 better than 88 is because 98, while not as high of contrast, is closer to if it's physically there, with shadows and stuff, and therefore visually faster recognizable as a scroll bar, it's more intuitive.
Give me 98 with the little lines of the next 3. I think it enhances noticeability quite a lot without adding a distracting amount of contrast
Agree. 98 with grip would be my ideal.
88, because it covers visually impaired better. That higher contrast pays off. But I remember you could do some color theming for the 98 version, so maybe it couldve been fixed in that regard. And I agree on the design being generally easier to understand.
Do you remember the feel of switching from 1998 to 2001? It felt like stepping into the future.
It never got better than 1998
1988 still the best one, somehow
agreed. no embellishment, just design that makes the functionality obvious.
Yeah, and then talentless hacks kept fucking with it for almost 40 years just for the sake of fucking with it. Enshittification marches on.
2009 was peak
'98 to '09 was the sweet spot. Textures make the page slider easier to spot and use.
I miss that glass aesthetic from 2001
Seems like it’s coming back
1988 has the best contrast, I like that.
1988 was just peak ui design
2026: some invisible or light grey on white background |
We've gotta bring back frutiger aero.
I'm partial to 2006