Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
Remarkable contradiction between us, Jan! I like the grey cockpit much better than the old brown ones! Tastes differ; I suppose I am a minority.
I got the chance to briefly fly in the KLM 787 simulator last year. Hope Quality Wings has the HUD right; it was a great help.
What remarkable contradiction between the extraordinairy gracious and joyful looking external of the 787 and its equally extraordinairy dreary and gloomy looking cockpit... What happend to the pleasantly inviting tan and light brownish colors of its predecessors ?.... Sign of the times ?.....
Just speculating here, but I'm wondering if the dark gray wasn't chosen to set off the big glass displays. They'd stand out better against a dark background.
Or maybe the designers just had a thing for industrial/modern - granite countertops, lots of chrome, stuff like that...