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Light for me - I find it harder to read things on a dark background.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I find the opposite true, but I have moderate dyslexia, and it helps reduce eye strain. for some reason dark mode fixes the words bumping into each other than light mode for me. but there needs to be a pretty good contrast for this to work well.
there are quite a few studies that back this up.
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Back in the day, all we had was dark mode (monochrome). I prefer the light myself, but I do have a universe (space) background. Does that count?
"When you are dead, you won't even know that you are dead. It's a pain only felt by others; same thing when you are stupid."
Ignorant - An individual without knowledge, but is willing to learn.
Stupid - An individual without knowledge and is incapable of learning.
Idiot - An individual without knowledge and allows social media to do the thinking for them.
modified 19-Nov-21 21:01pm.
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Call me a sith but I have the dark mode on. Much much less pain in the eyes in the end of the day due to less contrast.
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Rage wrote: Much much less pain in the eyes in the end of the day due to less contrast.
It's not the contrast, it's the brightness. Most people have their monitors set up so bright it's like staring at the sun. No wonder it gets painful.
Right now, both of my monitors have their brightness set down to 0 (that's right, zero). Contrast on one is set to 50%, the other at 75%.
I've been setting up my monitors that way for decades, and I've never felt that any pain could be attributed to staring at a monitor all day.
Of course I can't say how good your display will be with brightness at 0 if you're using a dark theme. But the default light theme has been working great for me since Windows 3.0...
Oh, and a good reason to avoid dark theme...on a bright, sunny day, the layer of dust isn't visible. 
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I agree, so many people have their screen way too bright.
Funny anecdote is that I was told at the time that the switch from dark to light background was made because it is more readable and reduces eye strain.
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the Kris wrote: I was told at the time that the switch from dark to light background was made because it is more readable and reduces eye strain
Once color monitors were commonplace, I remember reading that green over black was considered to be the worst color combination imaginable. I have no problem believing that.
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Much Like Diets...
This is very individual
I used to run DOS: Yellow on Blue, I do Yellow on Black now.
But I have changed my editors away from dark mode.
I grew up on Green and Amber (an improvement) monochrome monitors.
Agree with others than many people have their monitors too far away, and also too bright.
FWIW, you should be able to read your text on your screen without "acquiring" the image.
(For laymen, that is without using the fousing muscles in your eye). This reduces eye strain.
[Imagine trying to read your screen with your eyes dilated!]
in fact, I print a screenshot of text, and TAPE it to the monitor, I keep tweaking the font until it matches properly. Then I measure the distance from my face to the monitor (usually about arms length plus a bit).
I bring the PAPER in to my eye exam. I show the doctor where to hold it, and after he has dilated my eyes, he holds the paper, and adjusts it until I can read it easily. THAT becomes the distance I place my monitors.
I had LASIK 22 yrs ago, and do not regularly need glasses any longer (But I learned this about 5 years before I had LASIK and my Rx was stable that entire time)
There is a website on REVERSING Myopia (most computer people could use this advice)
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Part of the problem is that monitors seem to come from the factory with 100% brightness! I always try to keep the brightness down to a comfortable level.
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I prefer Light mode. Except for picture books, every book I've ever read has been in Light mode.
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
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Light mode for Windows, because the dark mode isn't nice. It's difficult to make a nice dark theme. For VS and VS Code I use dark mode as it's easier on the eyes.
For web pages I sometimes use the DarkReader plugin. Maybe CodeProject needs a dark theme?
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I use dark mode, my eyes are sensitive to bright light since cataract surgery. I also use Dark Reader add in for Brave but it has its problems.
>64
If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.
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The purpose of dark mode is simply to reduce eye strain when used in low light conditions.
If you are in a well lit room, then light mode is more likely to be preferred. But it a darker room, a bright screen can start to get uncomfortable fast, and I can only assume will have long term affects too.
You may ask, who works in a dark room?? Well, probably not many. But with all the mobile devices being used for so much non-work related stuff these days, a lot of people are using Windows in bed where it is darker.
Ultimately, it is a usability feature. Although no doubt some people will use it just out of preference.
I prefer light mode myself, I don't use Windows in bed. If I am on my Android phone in a dark room, I just turn down the screen brightness to reduce strain.
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TBO, I've never even tried dark mode. I've been on light mode for 22+ years...it would probably be a shock to the eyes! 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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DarkMode : Solid UseCase
Here's the one case I really like DarkMode:
I wrote a Garage Door opener app for my Android Phone.
At night I would pull it up (from my phone on my car dashboard) and it would blind me.
I altered the UI so it would use DarkMode and I'm very much happier now.
EDIT - 2nd Solid Use Case
I remembered this one after I posted.
I read on my iPad or Kindle Fire at night.
It's very nice if your reading on the browser and it has a DarkMode setting, because reading in a dark room with light mode is blinding (and may waken herself).
Also, Kindle Reader (app) has had darkmode for a long time (white text on black background)and is necessary for night time reading.
However, mostly, it has just taken off with "those darn kids". 
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All those dark side advocates annoys me... But they make a lot of noise...
At any rate I suspect the main reason Microsoft is pushing dark mode is that, I believe - it's not a given, that it uses less energy with some display types. Hence could offer longer battery life.
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Studies have shown, most people who prefer dark mode, simply have their screen brightness set way too high (or code in dark rooms, which is quite as unhealthy for your eyes) so the dark mode craze is somewhat overblown. I personally agree with studies showing more favorable-for-reading contrast with dark text on light background... But there's always people for whom it is genuinely more pleasant.
I think it's kind of a big deal, because mobile systems have been doing it for basically forever and there is a number of people preferring it.
My personal take on it, with Windows offering generally more, erm, streamlined (so less flexible-if-one-is-really-into-customization) I like it. I personally prefer things otherwise light, but the task & title bars dark (so app mode light, system mode dark) so they'll kinda blend in the background with my monitor & overall not-too-bright room atmosphere, allowing for better concentration on the task at hand (while remaining accessible if needed).
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Dark mode can save energy and pixel life on OLED screens.
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My eyes have used to light mode ever since Windows 3.1. It was never a problem to me. I too find the existence of 'dark mode' weird. I have never used it on PC. Aren't we supposed to work in a light environment? It's useful on mobile, when I playing with my smartphone before bed.
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The "dark" vs "light" debate is silly - use what works for you. Personally, a bright screen (mostly white, with dark text) kind of "overwhelms" me. I prefer darker outputs, find it easier to read and interact with, so I go dark all the way (including using DarkReader for Firefox, dark themes for JetBrains IDEs, dark editor themes, etc)
------------------------------------------------
If you say that getting the money
is the most important thing
You will spend your life
completely wasting your time
You will be doing things
you don't like doing
In order to go on living
That is, to go on doing things
you don't like doing
Which is stupid.
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I had cataracts and, after surgery, secondary cataracts - recent laser surgery corrected.
I simply could not read anything with a white background without getting really close to the screen.
It was worst on web sites that use a light gray font color on white - and it's amazing how many do.
The Ease of Access (Accessibility) settings on Windows have never been perfect. High contrast simply did not work for me.
Dark mode, however, was a nice in-between and allowed me to work.
Cheers,
Mike Fidler
"I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright
"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright
"I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit, but it wouldn't matter." Steven Wright yet again.
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Really like dark mode because it is easier on the eyes. The first time I tried it they were like, "ahhhhh, thank you." I work generally in a darker room environment which could be part of the preference. I didn't know we were "not supposed to" work in a darker environment. I like it. Hmm, dark room and dark monitors. ...maybe contributing to potential SAD-like symptoms in the winter months?
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Dark mode saves power on most devices. In theory it also reduces eye strain, but the reality is that it's far more difficult to get colors to pop on a dark canvas so it generally increases eye strain unless the entire color scheme falls into the garish range with bright, clashing colors.
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I suspect this change was motivated by programmers. It was visible in their Visual Studio sooner (to me). I think that a lot of programmers like to use darkmode because it can make the different colours pop a little more making it easier to read their code. Plus a lot of us older school programmers used to program with monochrome monitors so we are pretty used to something like that already.
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There seems to be many advocates for light mode so I would speak up in support of dark mode. 
I use dark mode and was really happy when Windows 10 offered a dark mode. My screen brightness is set low. I've always used dark mode when its available.
In my work place (when we were on-site), the lighting is very low - it seems to be the preference of the majority of the developers here and dark mode works better in those conditions.
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