Windows 11 is far from the best at that though.

It doesn’t even look good.

I know taste is subjective, but a better comparison is the contemporaries of the time or at least taking a step back to consider the entire aesthetic.

If so, ironically, I think Vista should win.

Taste is objective. It is only subjective among the tasteless.

The OS has a purpose to be efficient and pleasant - anything that interferes with either is not a matter of taste, but a matter of poor execution.

Sure we have preferences, but truly beautiful things are hard to consider they are only so due to a matter of preference, and not objectivity.

one thing I think windows 11 does well is the icon design. The kinda glassy look they have is the perfect middle ground between the glossy hyperrealistic icons of yesteryear and the bland lifeless minimalist icons that became common after ios 7

Fair point, but the article praises Windows 11 for "cohesion" while the right-click menu literally has two different visual styles, and many system apps still use old UI. Even judging purely on aesthetics, that's inconsistent.

On the surface, Explorer looks more modern on Windows 11. But when you use it, you can "feel" it's still based on old Win32 APIs with just a layer of paint on top.

IMO, in a good way. It has a nice feel compared to the new laggy context menus and selections

They actually do mention bloatware in Windows 11, so it is a bit confused.