"Let users determine colors, not developers."

I'd like to add to this, "not Microsoft". For me, I think the issue is _why_ we can't change the background color. If the reason is that there are things with higher priority to implement, fine. I understand that they can't get to everything, and this is one thing that does have work-arounds. But if the reason is that they feel they know best how to color my program, that bothers me.

I agree that general business apps shouldn't be forcing a certain color on the users. But anyone writing general business apps should know that and to not allow the color to be changed just in case they don't know seems silly. Why are we allowed to change the color on _anything_, then? Why pick on buttons?

Then there's the issue that MS has no way of knowing what an app is used for. There _are_ cases out there where colored buttons are needed. Yes, they're a minority, but they do exist. And having to write a work-around because MS thinks it knows better than the developers is really irking.

So it all comes down to intent. Do they not allow it because it breaks their UI guidelines, or is it simply a matter of time or techinical difficulties? That, to me, makes all the difference.

Michelle