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.
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.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
Now you can’t even find the fucking thing when you need it. Thanks, “UX design”.
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 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.
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
Now: I
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.
Do you remember the feel of switching from 1998 to 2001? It felt like stepping into the future.
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
'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
I’m partial to 2006
We’ve gotta bring back frutiger aero.
