> A measly 60 fps is plenty fast for UI that feels immediate. We had this in the 90's with software rendering, you don't need a GPU for that today.
No we didn't. We had nothing close to that in the 90s.
Typing was responsive, but that's not anywhere close to 60fps and a very small region to update to boot (120wpm = 600 keys/minute = 10 keys/s, or 10fps). Scrolling benefits from 60fps+, but in the 90s scrolling jumped by lines at a time because it couldn't do anything better.
You need a GPU to keep up with smooth scrolling at modern resolutions. But this also shouldn't be a surprise. What the article talks about is bog standard stuff for all current UI toolkits. It's what mobile platforms like Android have been doing for a decade now.
I thought moving to 144 Hz monitor made sense just for gaming, but now on 60 Hz monitor just moving the mouse on desktop feels as if the PC is struggling
No we didn't. We had nothing close to that in the 90s.
Typing was responsive, but that's not anywhere close to 60fps and a very small region to update to boot (120wpm = 600 keys/minute = 10 keys/s, or 10fps). Scrolling benefits from 60fps+, but in the 90s scrolling jumped by lines at a time because it couldn't do anything better.
You need a GPU to keep up with smooth scrolling at modern resolutions. But this also shouldn't be a surprise. What the article talks about is bog standard stuff for all current UI toolkits. It's what mobile platforms like Android have been doing for a decade now.