Comment by the_other
The pre 26.2 less-glassy options were bearable because they were mostly like pre-Tahoe. The post 26.2 less-glassy options are now so shit that I’m using glassy mode, despite it being also ugly, distracting and harder to read than ever before. Apple have absolutely trashed their OS and their “Apple make good UIs” pedigree. It’s such a disappoibtment. I hope they come to their senses in the next major release round.
Given the news a few days ago about the changes in UI design leadership at Apple (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142843), there is a light at the end of the tunnel.