Edit History

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

 

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices. Give me an 80s tech + sci-fi stuff vibe to it:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layouts.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

 

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices. Give me an 80s tech + sci-fi stuff vibe to it:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

 

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the

claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the

claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the

claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it made a little more practical.

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than this, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the

claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layout.  Something in this vein could have won if it made a little more practical.