Peak usability in my opinion. Space efficient and simple.

Not my favorite design and color scheme, but certainly better than what modern Windows looks like.

That has no direction and doesn't even look modern. And the line of text with "Windows Update is committed to helping reduce carbon emissions" is as superfluous as many other controls as well. I mean nice for MS, but it really doesn't belong there.

somewhere, "simplicity is a feature" got lost in the everyday computer experience

It seems sometimes the past is better than the future that came after.

In my opinion, peak usability for platforms I use:

- iOS 6

- Windows 7

- Snow Leopard

- Windows Phone 10 (may actually have been the best mobile OS user experience I ever had)

it's basically windows 95, there does not seem to be other influences?

Serenity is an amazing accomplishment. It’s odd to me though because I always hated the windows interface, even 3.11. It seems a lot of modern Linux desktops (I know serenity isn’t Linux) try to emulate the feel of modern windows but it ends up looking like a meh version of an already bad interface imo. I still prefer the look of enlightenment or motif+4dwm.

Windows 96 I'd say