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> But this kind of branding wasn't as prevalent before web apps invaded the desktop.

This is ahistorical. App branding now doesn’t hold a candle to the late-90’s mania for every app having its own skin engine. App-vs-platform UI deviation is a lot tamer nowadays.

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I remember the late 90s - early 00s very well. I remember that such "branded" apps existed, true. I also remember being annoyed enough at this that I always used equally functional but properly styled alternatives - which is to say, there were such alternatives.

> App branding now doesn’t hold a candle to the late-90’s mania for every app having its own skin engine.

I dunno, I would say the 90s (well, for Windows and MacOS, DOS and the other no-standard-GUI OS’s that were still very much alive in at least the early part of that period are a different story) were pretty much the low point in terms of degree of UI branding for “professional” apps.

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