File talk:Windows NT 4.0.png

Plus! icons

Does NT 4 have the "Show icons using all possible colors" item (in the Plus! part of Display Properties) checked by default? I'm wondering since none of my NT 4 installs have it checked, so they don't have the Windows 95 Plus! icons, yet this screenshot currently does have Plus! icons. It's not checked on either my NT4 Workstation SP6 install or NT4 TSE install, but maybe that's because they weren't using 24-bit colour when originally installed. @FleetCommand: did you check that box yourself, or was it already checked? —ajf (talk) 17:41, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

@Ajfweb: Sometimes yes. I don't whether the code that enables it is part of the device driver installed or outside the device driver. But there is something else too: Windows Setup on some computers becomes so friendly and loving with the graphic card that the setup process runs on a higher color depth altogether. Fleet Command (talk)

Wow, really? I thought Setup was always 16-colour. That's pretty amazing! I probably shouldn't be listened to since I don't like the Plus! icons, but I think that most NT4 systems wouldn't have the full colour icons option on by default (a quick google image search seems to confirm this), so the screenshot would ideally use 16-colour. But it's not really a big deal. —ajf (talk) 05:45, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

That's what I thought too, even until the time of Windows Vista. For a good part of my life I installed Windows in 16-color mode, especially Windows XP, whose 16-color mode setup is really a buzz-killer. But then, in Windows Vista's time, Microsoft stopped checking for manufacturers and brands, and started checking for capabilities. ("Check for capabilities" has become Microsoft's moto these days.) Fleet Command (talk) 06:10, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

And thank goodness for that. Having OSes install and not use anywhere near your display's native resolution or maximum bit depth by default is a waste! —ajf (talk) 06:13, 8 November 2015 (UTC)