I never understood the fascination with everything being forced white. The gray widgets and white content were perfect for drawing the eye to the important parts, ... the content.

In addition, the "classic" desktop of XP time wasn't flat grey. It was a warmer color, with a bit of beige. Wikipedia says image says #d4d0c8. Which was a lot nicer on the eyes all day long. How far backward we've come. Forced into narrow choices by folks who never heard of "Chesterton's fence."