be honest

I've been wondering this same question and so has Dave. I've been using the white for some time now and I'm honestly quite adjusted to it by now. I would actually say it's probably harder to look at the old site now because of adjusting to the white version.

But how many of you who have actively been using the white version still find it blinding?

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Michael Tanczos

It doesn't hurt my eyes, I just dislike bright themes. Overall, the changes are quite nice. But I'll still be switching to a new color scheme once its available. I'd do the same for MSDN if they'd let me.

CM

I've adjusted, and I must admit I do like the new design. Although I did like the old one too, it's quite refreshing looking at a dark website among a vast see of intense white ones.

Plus it was a good dark site, not like many where they have a black background and the text in dark grey or dark red or something.

Personally, I liked the older color scheme which is why I use the www2 site. But no, it doesn't hurt my eyes. I think it's cool that they put up both schemes concurrently.

I'm serious here. There have been a number of people that have said "please switch, it hurts my eyes". For those people, does it actually hurt your eyes, or are you just speaking in hyperbole?

I don't find the white version actually painful any more (since it was grayed some), but when it was first revealed it was quite painful to look at. You're correct that it is far better after the graying than the sites you list. Honestly, I'm tired of the "We're not as bad" argument, though. I don't just mean this instance of it - the argument is abused by many, many people. I think the root problem is that many people don't understand (or don't appreciate) the difference between absolute terms (such as 'bad') and relative terms (such as 'worse').

As of right now, the white version is slightly uncomfortable to me on my home setup, and I think that if I used it for any prolonged period of time I would feel significant eye strain.

Most people complain of eye strain when using CRTs (at least in the CRT vs LCD thread), while I can easily use mine for long period (say 12+ hours) without problem. It seems to me that a likely contributor of that difference is that most people spend long periods of time on white screens (whether website or word processor) while I use modified system colors(so applications aren't as bright) and spend long periods of time on darker websites. LCDs have lower contrast ratios and are generally dimmer, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that those factors contribute more to eye strain reduction than the elimination of strobing refreshes.

What REALLY hurts, though, is when pages go from black to white as the site just did for me (it seems www and www2 were switched again for a few minutes)

Quote:

Original post by capn_midnight really, your irises should already be adjusted to reading from a white background.

I agree, don't forget about Google, Digg, Slashdot, CNN, FaceBook, and etc...

I can say for myself, at first it was just awkward seeing the pure bright white background, just because I was used to the pitch black theme, but now that it's been adjusted a bit, I like it.

It DID hurt my eyes the first time I viewed it. I guess I was expecting the black and blue and my eyes were not ready for the change. It is fine now.

I like the new theme, I love this one(link) I'm posting from it right now.

It hurts me to focus. So yes, it hurts my eyes

Quote:

Original post by Deranged I like the new theme, I love this one(link) I'm posting from it right now.

uh oh, it's using gradients, I can see a whole new level of screaming just on that alone.

I wouldn't say it caused physical pain, but with my very bright lcd monitor, it's sometimes uncomfortable reading large amounts of black text on white.

It's not that bad though. This page is really black-on-gray, and I use visual studio on the default black-on-white and I'm ok with it. The biggest thing is that there's lower contrast over the whole page - when I'm looking for something in particular on this page (like the quote button) sometimes I'll wander for a second :)

Quote:

Original post by capn_midnight [...]uh oh, it's using gradients, I can see a whole new level of screaming just on that alone.

I'd guess you're talking about my complaining about UI eyecandy (most recently vs VS2005). Really, though, it isn't the gradients that bothers me so much but two other factors: The colors used for them (which were system colors that didn't match the way I wanted the colors used) and the fact that the gradients were added on top of a theme (windows classic) where they didn't fit or contribute anything at all.

I actually quite like the way gradients were used in smart_idiot's theme for the new layout (well, mostly - the double-height ones for forum category names look kinda weird, and the glowish effect on the top of threads isn't so great). Once that theme is complete (has custom images), only a few more things will need to be fixed (such as the menus being somewhat slow to respond, menu items not being real links, and the menu items moving other menu items around when highlighted) before I'll be ready to transition =-)

I think the new design is great. The colors are a little bright for my taste, and I would admittedly probably switch to a dark theme were it available, but no, I have experienced no physical pain from it.

I personally don't see how anyone possibly could with what, two thirds of the internet being predominantly white. Here are some websites I regularly visit which are flooded in white:

ClanLib.org
MathWorld.com
Gmail
Boost C++ Libraries
Connexions
GameRankings

along with most of the others already mentioned.

Quote:

Original post by capn_midnight Quote: Original post by Deranged I like the new theme, I love this one(link) I'm posting from it right now. uh oh, it's using gradients, I can see a whole new level of screaming just on that alone.

Virtually the same theme gradient free

Quote:

Original post by Deranged I like the new theme, I love this one(link) I'm posting from it right now.

Thats quite good. Its a pity that clearing my cache was the only I could find to switch it off again.

I am forced to assume that people whom claim that a white page causes them physical pain are exaggerating. Otherwise, their entire internet experience is essentially an exercise in agony for them, in which case I should expect one would seek medical attention.

Quote:

Original post by capn_midnight Does the new site design *actually* hurt your eyes? I mean, seriously, do you actually feel physical pain from the site? I mean, considering other sites that you are likely to be using as well: MSDN Apple Developer's Site Sun Java Developer's Site STL documentation OpenGL documentation Standard C Documentation World Wide Web Consortium really, your irises should already be adjusted to reading from a white background.

The first one did. Since they toned down the "whiteness" a little bit, I think it's great. (It still looks pretty bland, like the out-of-the-box phpbb theme, but it's easy enough on the eyes)

I have no problem with it. My Visual Studio is also set up as default, which is largely white. As is MSDN and WOrd.

Dave