[joebadmo]

I couldn't disagree more. I think the visual execution is great, and really cohesive with the rest of Google's re-design. I also prefer the black/dark themes. I imagine it has the functional benefit of using less power on OLED screens, as well.

But the visual stuff is almost beside the point. I've been an Android user for a couple of years now, and the sense I always got was that the OS was very engineer-driven, with plenty of interesting features piled on, but no real sense of user experience. Duarte is clearly bringing a lot of focus on UX, by optimizing real usage patterns, making them fast and delightful.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised at where Android is going.