Muti-colored Labels in Panther

[wolfeye155]

Does anybody actually use this feature? I remember when they were previewing Panther they amplified the use of it but after I bought Panther, I never even bothered with it and kind of ignored it.

It'd be nice to hear from actual users who do implement this feature into their Mac OS experience. Do you guys find this useful and in what ways? At this point it seems kinda "gimmicky" but I could be (probably am) wrong.

Example (if I wasn't clear):
http://homepage.mac.com/wolfeye155/.Public/colorlabels.jpg

[Vox Barbara]

Originally posted by wolfeye155
[B]Does anybody actually use this feature? ...

I love this feature now, really. When i saw it the very first time in panther i was a wee bit annoyed because of its ...er... limitations. But then i get used to it and i am useing it on a regular basis.

Example:
I have a lot of "project folders" which i set to listview. Therein the very hot file (the masterfile) is labeled "red". So whenever i open that particular folder i am able to pick the hot file instantly. pdfs are usally yellow. and so on...

it is a usefull feature.

[BuonRotto]

This was an old feature of the Classic Mac OS, and a lot of long-time Mac users screamed until their faces turned blue that this was an essential missing ingredient in the Mac OS X Finder. Do a search on MacNN someday, and you'll see just how ridiculous the issue was with some people. Basically, some old users used color labels to organize everything, and without this element, their hard drives were apparently in total disarray. Anyway, Apple added labels back in with Panther to appease them.

I was expecting Apple to implement something more flexible and extensible while they were in the neighborhood, but I guess they decided that this would shut the cry holes of so many Classic users in the meantime. ;)

[Vox Barbara]

Originally posted by BuonRotto
..., but I guess they decided that this would shut the cry holes of so many Classic users in the meantime. ;)
You mean, this would shut the cookie holes;)

[rok]

the only thing i don't like about labels as they have been implemented is that, in a window list mode, it is REALLY difficult to read the labels and text, especially if there are a lot of labeled folders. those long lines of vibrant color are really distracting and difficult to scan quickly, unless you ONLY use one or two for your most critical stuff.

plus, while the whole gradient color thing looks cute on a few labels on the desktop, it gets jarring to see a lot of them stacked in a row in a window.

anyway, it would be nice if they could link the label color definitions to the whole mac os color-picker, even down to the tint and opacity.

[Vox Barbara]

Originally posted by rok
...those long lines of vibrant color are really distracting and difficult to scan quickly, unless you ONLY use one or two for your most critical stuff.


I pretty much guess that they are only meant for this purpose: to label critical stuff.

The other part you wrote, i agree completely.

[BigBlue]

Couldn't live without them, but they indeed need to be toned down (softer colors) and/or be able to make your own color scheme.

They could extend it, with some sort of 'marker icons' wich you could use instead, or in addition to, the Label Colors. Some people would prefer icon labels instead of colors, but I would use them both and on the same file sometimes. I wouldn't mind some extra marking-options on my files.
Marker Icons could be a star, an exclamation mark or question mark, numbers-in-a-circle, a skull, ... ;)

[Vox Barbara]

Originally posted by BigBlue
Couldn't live without them, but they indeed need to be toned down (softer colors) and/or be able to make your own color scheme.

They could extend it, with some sort of 'marker icons' wich you could use instead, or in addition to, the Label Colors. Some people would prefer icon labels instead of colors, but I would use them both and on the same file sometimes. I wouldn't mind some extra marking-options on my files.
Marker Icons could be a star, an exclamation mark or question mark, numbers-in-a-circle, a skull, ... ;)

or slightly pulsating or rotating.

[johnq]

I imagine Apple will improve labels in Tiger. Labels can just be yet another piece of metadata, why not let users store their own custom colors and limitless label text, not the mere 7 categories.

[BigBlue]

Originally posted by johnq
I imagine Apple will improve labels in Tiger. Labels can just be yet another piece of metadata, why not let users store their own custom colors and limitless label text, not the mere 7 categories.

We can have some more visual feedback fun here, then. The labelcolor fades in time, so you can see wich files you modified recently. File icons become more transparant the more you neglect them, or more grey. File icons grow the more MB they hold. When coming from a Windows machine, an icon gets a clowns nose and a silly hat. :lol:
I love metadata ! :)

[Vox Barbara]

Originally posted by BigBlue
We can have some more visual feedback fun here, then. The labelcolor fades in time, so you can see wich files you modified recently. File icons become more transparant the more you neglect them, or more grey. File icons grow the more MB they hold. When coming from a Windows machine, an icon gets a clowns nose and a silly hat. :lol:
I love metadata ! :)

:lol:
a fortiori!