Notices

There is the LED pattern editor that will let you change the LED colors and assign them for different notifications. I personally find it very useful. Now you just have to remember what color is for what notification.

Edit: Wikiwide beat me to it.

Sorry, I am aware of tbe LED pattern editor. I even have it installed. But I believe in a usable and intuitive UI out of the box.

Besides, I have yet to figure out how to indicate multiple events with the LED. One blink for an IM, two for an SMS, three for an email... then when I have an SMS [i]and[/] an email I would see two blinks, pause, three blinks, etc. Same for a new message (blinking blue) while charging finished (steady green). So many times I left the phone on the charger and came back to seeing blinking blue. Has it finished charging or not? Blinking blue on a steady green background would have answered it instantly.

Sorry about that OT diversion. Hopefully not that OT. It is about the UX, after all

This is not an update quite yet, I've got some extensive writing to fill in the 2nd and 3rd posts of this thread.

But here's some interesting images to capture your eyes.
Metro UI with rounded corners:
http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chor.../3l09yZ3.0.png
(its good, but other elements are still boxy which isn't quite appealing)

A comparison of icons for different ecosystems:
http://unleashthephones.com/wp-conte...wn-a-shape.jpg
All icons are actually same size, but the shape makes a difference how much space can be used inside that icon. To be more extensive;
Metro Icons = 100% space
iOS iCons = 93% space
MeeGo IcoNs = 86% space
WebOS IcON = 75% space

Is it really worth sacrificing all that icon space, just to have the icon separation seem more appealing to the eye?
I'm not sure that I agree. The Metro and Circle icons are extremes. The iOS icons seem much more balanced in this regard, and overall better. Then again, naked icons....

I have to say that an icon that's uniform in portrait and landscape size is much much more appealing.
However, I think a case can be made for square icons that house the icon labels inside... something Microsoft hasn't really exploited, and if they did, it could rival a "Nude Icon" styling.
Why?
Square (housing labels) = consistency, but less space for the wallpaper to show through
Naked = nowhere as consistent, much much more space for wallpaper to show through

So I'm a little divided here, how much emphasis can I put on a wallpaper ??
...but it is ugly to have a solution like this:
http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/a...8.1-images.jpg

Whereas something more like this seems much better:
http://nokiaandme.files.wordpress.co...umiacustom.jpg

And UIQ right next to it

The thing with GNOME 3 is funny. I hated it at first becuse it is so much different then GNOME 2 and it seemed useless on desktop. But then I learnd to use keyboard shortcuts and now I would never go back to GNOME 2. GNOME 3 is so much faster and unlike GNOME 2 it never stands between you and the work you do. Basically, I can have all my apps in full screen and I can still interact with shell, desktop, settings, whatever............ No need for start menu and panels. And if it ever ends up on some TS device it will be much better than GNOME 2. I had some HP convertible with TS back in the days and it was useless.

Quick reply... If that many points can be called quick.
MeeGo and WebOS icons are acceptable. Disclaimer: I used neither WebOS nor MeeGo (mostly Nemo Mobile and Maemo 5 Fremantle).

Metro UI is ugly. Just look at colours:
1. Skype = Windows Feedback;
2. Video = News;
3. Music = People;
4. Weather ~~ Calendar.
What's the point of having colors at all if they don't carry a meaning? Black-and-white, Metro would have fared better?

Look at it the other way around. If the icon takes up to 100% space in the grid, then any mis-clicks not only do what you wanted them to do; they also do what you did not want them to do, and it takes time to force the nosy neighbor to go away. If the click-able icon takes up only 90% or 80% of space, then the user instinctively tries to click closer to the center of the icon, and there is smaller chance of mis-click.
If Not-Naked Icon implies background of random, abhorrent color like in Metro UI, then I vote for Naked Icons. Still, 'ideal' choice for me would be the icon itself within thin ring around it, like in Nemo Mobile. The ring is used like a Throbber to indicate process of launch, and can also be used to say that there is already an instance of the app launched, or whatever.
Why is there so much empty, non-functional space inside the icons-widgets? If you are aiming for accessibility, then increase the icons, like, 1.5-2 times in each direction. If you are aiming for normal people, then decrease the grid step, so that they would to see more of either wallpaper or widgets-icons.

If you really have to have such a half-transparent background, then make it a gradient. At 'border' of an icon-widget, have the Greyness almost transparent. At the center of an icon-widget have the Greyness almost opaque. Do not forget that the font also needs to be not simple, plain white, but white-inside-black-outline, like it is done in subtitles by some (many? all?) video players to make them readable on any background.

Though, it would be an unforgettable experience, if somebody created a PNG standard which includes negative transparency. Transparency going from -100% to 100%. From -255 to 255. Or whatever implementation is easier. The main point is, you could make icons distinctive on any background. Microsoft used to have something similar in its ico.n or cur.sor format (do not remember exactly).

It's like having anti-matter on board of your spacecraft: whatever you meet, you can highlight your existence by bright explosion

Best wishes. Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Per aspera ad astra...

I could not agree more. When I upgraded my W8 to W8.1 and was greeted with the multi-coloured icon tiles, my first reaction was one of concern. Has something gone wrong in the upgrade? Do red tiles indicate incompatible applications? It had actually made me quite worried for a while until I realized that MS had just gone from a bad UI do downright ugly.

Regarding inverting transparency, I am sure I have seen it somewhere.