In residential homes of the 60's and 70's, aluminum windows answered the need for maintenance freedom, lower cost and lightweight frames. They required no paint and were offered in earth tone brown, brushed silver and white. The only thing that had to be maintained and changed out over time was the plastic security latch or the screen.

Even today there are many residential homes that have the old aluminum four pane slider windows in the bedroom; four separate window pieces in a light frame that have a single pane of glass and can be removed simply by lifting them up and swinging out the bottom. They take some patience to figure out the order they go back in, but that is another story. These 30 or 40 year old windows still exist, simply because aluminum doesn't break down.

Nevertheless, the engineering is archaic in today's world of windows, and just because they are still in the wall doesn't mean they are doing your home any good. Due to the lack of energy efficiency alone they should be replaced.

Aluminum windows today come in more colours than white, brown and silver, and pretty much can be custom painted and ordered with any colour on them. They are manufactured far better today than yesterday. Importantly, all of them will be thermally broken; in other words, they have a rubber gasket in the middle of the frame that doesn't allow the cold air on the frame's exterior to travel through the frame to the interior.

Aluminum has the greater part of the market in high-rise construction and single-family home replacement because they are strong, maintenance-free, and very warm. When combined with good glass, they will probably outlive me.