= Visually Appealing Windows Applications =
This is sometimes a hard area to explore. Windows applications are not known for their visual design savvy. There are however a few applications that rather nicely designed (visually if not functionally). *'''Paint (Windows 7):''' A shocking selection perhaps. Relative merits of the Ribbon UI aside, Paint for Windows 7 does look good visually. There are few stand out elements:**'''Tabs''' - Simple, smooth and they flow into the rest of the Ribbon.**'''Smooth Gradient''' - There is a nice smooth unifying gradient from the top of the tab to the bottom of the Ribbon UI.**'''Small Icons on Buttons''' - The smaller icons for "Tools" are nicely positioned in buttons that have a tactile feel.[[Image:Paint-Example-001.png]] *'''Postbox:''' Even though Postbox elected to keep the Menu Bar, it minimized the visual impact of the menu bar by having the line separator fade out. Also notable is that as a cross platform application it fits in with the native look and feel of both OS X and Windows.[[Image:Postbox-Example-001.png]] *'''Zune Player:''' The word "Zune" doesn't really evoke feelings of good design (industrial or visual). Yet the Zune Player application is quite attractive. Decidedly not native. It has a minimalist and streamlined look that fades into the background. The buttons look physical and pressable, but still soft. It has a simple back arrow, clear song controls and even a very nice subtle touch of a red glow on the bottom of the screen that gently pulses to the music.[[Image:Zune-Example-001.pngFirefox/Projects/Visually_Appealing_Windows_Applications]]
= Goals =
