[dangus]

I'm not confusing web and desktop UI design. I presented examples of both areas that were miseralbe in the 90's.

There was not consistency between applications back then, only if you cherry-pick the ones that you like. Every Java GUI application would have a completely different UI from the base OS. Programs like America Online, RealPlayer, WinAmp, and Microsoft Bob, and Windows Media Player 7 and above would completely ignore existing OS conventions. Many programs had a habit of making the entire user interface out of bitmaps and only having a menu bar as the last vestige of the OS.

Websites might have been easier for developers to build, but they did almost nothing in comparison to what you can do with a web application now. Did Microsoft Word run entirely in a web browser like it does today? Were there any maps and driving directions where you could scroll the map without refreshing the page or order a taxi and visualize its progress? Remember typing your address into MapQuest and printing out your static map and directions list?

Arguably, delivering a 90's web app experience doesn't even require writing HTML code anymore and is therefore far easier than it was in the 90's.

[indymike]

> only if you cherry-pick the ones that you like.

As did you. Every item you've cherry-picked used a multimedia app paradigm (similar to a CD ROM of the era) or was a novelty (Winamp). If you look a best-selling titles of the era, you'll find a lot of buy-in to both Mac and Windows HIG. Back then people bought word processors, spreadsheets, and other software and had a pretty high expectation for interop and usability compared to now.

> Did Microsoft Word run entirely in a web browser like it does today?

Of course not! Developers were still figuring out what you could do with primitive browsers and limited servers. Most developers from the 90s were unaware of the web until 97-98.