Apple's Mac OS X may gain multi-sized icon interface

[AppleInsider]

Apple Inc. has developed an enhancement to its Mac OS X Finder user interface that will allow for different-sized icons within the same window as a means of representing their importance, a recent patent application has revealed.

In the filing, made last December and published for the first time Thursday, the Cupertino-based Mac maker notes that conventional graphical user interfaces already allow users to alter all icons of a display system or window from one size to another size based upon their preference.

"However, such difference in size does not indicate the relative importance of the files or program represented by the icon, since the change in icon size is performed universally for all icons in a container, such as a folder or window," the company wrote. "Accordingly, in order to present a more informative and personalized user interface, a manner of describing to a user relative importance of an icon in relation to other icons in a system is desirable."

Apple said it has developed a user interface which allows a user to adjust the size of icons based upon the user's preference or based upon a characteristic of the objects that the icons represent. The filing states that, "When the icon sizing is performed according to a user preference, a relative sizing scheme or an arbitrary icon sizing scheme can be employed to variably size icons."

The Mac maker's invention includes a method and associated apparatus for efficiently employing arbitrarily sized icons to represent objects within a display device. "To this end," Apple wrote, "a user's arbitrary sizing of various icons in accordance with the present invention generates icon representations that can advantageously represent categorization of application or file importance, and/or the size of a file represented by an icon."



Additionally, the new icon interface would make way for the user to designate one preference value for a plurality of grouped icons to be sized accordingly. For example, as shown in the image above, icons 46 and 48 labeled "BBEdit Startup Items" and "BBEdit FTP Temp", respectively, illustrate multiple icons that are grouped and sized equally. This is also shown for the smallest icons 50-57.



Once a user has chosen the relative size of each of the icons that are to be sized, Apple's icon sizing application will calculate the relative size of each icon to be displayed on display device, the company said.

The filing, titled "Graphical user interface for computers having variable size icons," is credited to Apple User Interface Design Team members Arnaud Gourdol and Donald Lindsay.[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ] (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2637)

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[Bacillus]

Three words: PLEASE UPDATE FINDER

[ebaker280]

This is not a new idea. We had this back in the old Commodore Amiga days! Ah, memories... It was nice then, and with OS X's fantastic, larger icon support, it will be brilliant for Leopard.

[lostkiwi]

Ahh... AmigaDOS. Fond memories.

[digitalclips]

Ahh... AmigaDOS. Fond memories.

Playing Pong all day in the University bar. Those were the days

[caliminius]

Is it just me or does it seem pretty asinine that you this concept can be patented?

Stripping away the technical jargon, it comes down to "multiple sized objects on screen simultaneously." Hardly a revolutionary concept.

[digitalclips]

Is it just me or does it seem pretty asinine that you this concept can be patented?

Stripping away the technical jargon, it comes down to "multiple sized objects on screen simultaneously." Hardly a revolutionary concept.

I guess once Steve experienced the shock of seeing Windows 1.0 after allowing Gates access to the pre release first Mac OS under a confidentiality agreement to develop Steve's concept (Office) Word, MutltPlan, Chart and File for the Mac Plus (I still have them by the way) he's been a little more careful ;)

[JohnnyKrz]

Notice that the windows in the drawings are from the Classic OS - in fact, they look like System 7 or earlier due to the drawing. I wonder, as others have suggested, if this idea is just as old. It does seem like it would be simple and useful, however.

[brianus]

Yeah, it could be they're resurrecting old interface ideas they never used but had played around with. Weren't there also rumors that the "piles" interface might be making a comeback too?

[Hobbes]

Last December? Seems like it's from around 1999.

Honestly, I don't see this particular idea as very promising. Seems messy, confusing, and awkward. I don't want a folder to be absolutely enormous just because it, say, contains 100 or even 500 items.

[solipsism]

Am I the only one who doesn't see any real world relevance in this. To me, this is just fluff.

Does it determine size by the counting the number of items directly in the directory or by adding the amount of space used within that folder?

[revs]

this isnt new. you could do this in 10.0 (or 10.1 or so)

[scotty321]

*YAWN.*

Instead of giving us multi-sized icons, which NOBODY needs or wants, why doesn't Apple learn something from Path Finder and update the damn Finder?

Sometimes Steve Jobs hits a homerun and is a brilliant man, other times he's just an arrogant stubborn child.

[digitalclips]

*YAWN.*

Instead of giving us multi-sized icons, which NOBODY needs or wants, why doesn't Apple learn something from Path Finder and update the damn Finder?

Sometimes Steve Jobs hits a homerun and is a brilliant man, other times he's just an arrogant stubborn child.

You should get in touch with him, I bet he would welcome your genius to help him on his bad days :rolleyes:

[alansky]

Displaying files and folders in Icon view might be fun for dilettantes, but it's hard to imagine a clunkier, less useful way to look at dozens of folders each containing hundreds of files. What a mess that would be!

[intlplby]

they haven't even gotten the grid on the desktop to lines things up properly and now they are doing this?

they need update the finder before adding stuff like this. until the finder is fixed, ideas like this will make things worse instead of better

[willrob]

There was an Application Enhancer that did this back in OS9, I think. It doesn't seem Apple can patent this, since it already existed.... but if there were no previous patents, maybe they can. Has anyone patented the wheel yet?

[desarc]

Is it just me or does it seem pretty asinine that you this concept can be patented?

Stripping away the technical jargon, it comes down to "multiple sized objects on screen simultaneously." Hardly a revolutionary concept.
bass [beer] has trademarked the triangle. i don't think it's ridiculous. neither is this.
jobs should have trademarked *gets instead of widgets. then vista would have to call it's gadgets "doo-hickeys"

[JeffDM]

bass [beer] has trademarked the triangle. i don't think it's ridiculous. neither is this.
jobs should have trademarked *gets instead of widgets. then vista would have to call it's gadgets "doo-hickeys"

One can trademark certain specific shapes and color combinations, and I don't have a problem with that. That just prevents a competitor or a knock-off company from trying to use that, because there's a lot invested in making the brand and trademark, I really don't have a problem with trademark law as it is.

But still, I'm just not seeing what's so special about varying icon sizes. It's a good idea, but I'm just not seeing how there is so much invested in this idea that a patent is necessary. I think the patent filing was probably more work than updating a file management program to take advantage of the idea. I don't see this as being the result of a lot of expensive research either, maybe the time spent sketching it on a dinner napkin is it.

[g3pro]

Notice that the windows in the drawings are from the Classic OS - in fact, they look like System 7 or earlier due to the drawing. I wonder, as others have suggested, if this idea is just as old. It does seem like it would be simple and useful, however.

Actually it's Mac OS 8.

[tink]

BBEdit 5.0 (now @ 8.6) and and that cool OS 8 look and feel.

[subtleGradient]

This was fully supported in Jaguar but disabled in Panther.

It was an extremely useful feature and I seriously hope they bring it back!

[Xapplimatic]

Some may think this idea odd, or a no brainer, but I have wished for it several times so that I could make applications and their support files stored in the same drawer more distinct than having to manually trudge about for the app in a minefield of various not uniform other icons... Hopefully it will have a "supersize apps only" option.. :)

[Porchland]

In other news, the lint tray in my dryer was full and I cleaned it out. Oh, and I found a quarter on the sidewalk this morning.

[icerabbit]

How many versions of OS X will it take before they naild this?

The Finder still has problems remembering window states, views, ... and we're at 10.4.9

Here's to hoping for a seriously updated Finder in Leopard :)

[auxio]

Sometimes Steve Jobs hits a homerun and is a brilliant man, other times he's just an arrogant stubborn child.I didn't realize Steve Jobs was doing software development in addition to being CEO, on the BOD at Disney, and giving numerous presentations and interviews. Man, he must be a busy guy...

[Feynman]

this isnt new. you could do this in 10.0 (or 10.1 or so)

Currently there is no way to have different size icons in the same folder. That's what this patent is revealing.

By the way, I love the Mac OS 8/9 window widgets :)

[Henriok]

This is not a new idea. We had this back in the old Commodore Amiga days! Ah, memories...
I can't recall that Workbench could resize the icons according to some rule, like file size. This seems to be the second part of the patent. And.. I think you could resize individual icons in OSX even now. I think I've seen some hack on OSXHints that did this.. The setting didn't stick for very long though.

[zenwaves]

What if you could set a preference for the icons to be sized proportionally to the number of times application X was launched or folder Y was opened?

[cmatech]

Three words: PLEASE UPDATE FINDER

what is wrong with the finder? I use it, it works for me. What does it need to do that it doesn't now?

[SS3 GokouX]

This looks more like Mac OS X Server 1.0 with its larger icons and icons in toolbar Finder windows.

[Louzer]

How many versions of OS X will it take before they naild this?

The Finder still has problems remembering window states, views, ... and we're at 10.4.9

Here's to hoping for a seriously updated Finder in Leopard :)

Well, being that the one of the biggest complaints throughout the history of OS X was the inconsistencies and general unfriendliness/uselessness of the Finder (and I'm already ignoring all commentary about how its no longer a 'spatial' finder, or the talk that the OS 9 finder was the greatest of all time, none of which I particularly believe), and all Apple has done over the years is change superfluous UI elements (look, no more tool bar icons, they're now on the side!), I don't hold out too much hope. Unless this is going to be one of OS X's "secret features" we've heard so much about.

My prediction is that, of all the things apple does, the changes to the finder will all be in the areas that work well now and screwing them up, not touching the stuff that was already screwed up (we can send robots to mars but we can't set column widths to cover all windows in list mode? Or, even easier, have the stupid computer remember that you actually did check "Display all file sizes"?), and basically be told by the faithful that its even better then before.

[DeaPeaJay]

What if you could set a preference for the icons to be sized proportionally to the number of times application X was launched or folder Y was opened?

That's *exactly* what I was thinking. It would be like a tag cloud (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud) The most important items that you access the most could be given dominance over the others. It wouldn't be as dynamic as a tag cloud since it's just one user using it, and you might also have an issue with a new *very important* file being left to the bottom because it's new and hasn't been clicked on a lot. Unless the sizes would change depending on their most recent activity. Or if a change is detected in activity it would automatically adjust. It could become a complicated algorithm, but if it worked reliably I can see how it would be useful.

[DeaPeaJay]

we can't set column widths to cover all windows in list mode?

huh? I'm trying to make sense of what that means. Can you elaborate please?

[solipsism]

That's *exactly* what I was thinking. It would be like a tag cloud (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud) The most important items that you access the most could be given dominance over the others. It wouldn't be as dynamic as a tag cloud since it's just one user using it, and you might also have an issue with a new *very important* file being left to the bottom because it's new and hasn't been clicked on a lot. Unless the sizes would change depending on their most recent activity. Or if a change is detected in activity it would automatically adjust. It could become a complicated algorithm, but if it worked reliably I can see how it would be useful.

Or the scrolling menus in Windows XP/2000. Just kidding, but that did come to mind.

[solipsism]

huh? I'm trying to make sense of what that means. Can you elaborate please?

If Louzer means what I think he means, if you alter the width of one column while in list mode, it doesn't keep that setting for future use or auto-adjust the other columns automatically.

It's really a pain in the ass. I'm going to some very negative feelings about Apple if the Finder isn't updated by the time Leopard ships.

[DeaPeaJay]

I for one don't want Finder to be like Path Finder. It could use some enhancements here and there, but for goodness sake. Path Finder is an ugly, horrible, bloated mess. Not attractive at all and provides way too much "features" for my liking. I don't care what Merlin Mann and Leo Laporte say.

Some things I'd like to see in Finder

Better use of meta data, similar to how iTunes will provide different fields for movies than it does for music or for podcsts. Do the same in finder, and let people set custom tags.

Have "browse" functionality similar to iTunes.

That's all I can think of really.

EDIT: Fixed the application I was talking about. I meant Path Finder, not Quicksilver.

[solipsism]

That's all I can think of really.

That is it?
I'd like to be able to set Finder windows up once and have them remain where I put them the next time.
I'd like for my entire system not to freeze when it can't find a previously used network share.
I'd like the ability to remove old network shares without having to use the Terminal.
I'd like to see the total size of selected items at the bottom of the Finder windows instead of the number of items selected and the available space left on the disk.
I'd like to have a Cut option like in windows, instead of having to drag and drop to achieve this functionality.
I'd like not to have to "yo-yo the mouse at the top or bottom of the Finder window to get it to scroll far enough for me to move a file/folder.
I'd like Finder not use .DS_Store files, which may not be possible; but at the very least, I'd like Finder not to use them on non-HFS+ partitions.
I'd like Finder to be able to read Windows shortcuts. After all, all it needs to do is parse the fie for the location.

[JohnnyKrz]

I agree that there is a problem with Finder keeping certain prefs. Otherwise, Finder is excellent in my opinion. There are so many different ways you can use it. I always find new ways other people use it completely different from my own. Personally, I almost always use column views unless I really need to see info about a list of items and my Finder always keeps things in columns unless I double-click the item. Generally, I think Apple is good about not changing things too much when they add new features so they can go unoticed if you don't use them.

EDIT: I also agree with solipsism

[auxio]

If Louzer means what I think he means, if you alter the width of one column while in list mode, it doesn't keep that setting for future use or auto-adjust the other columns automatically.Yeah, that's a pretty annoying problem. You figure with all of the .DS_Store files Finder poops out everywhere, it'd be able to keep that setting.

And I love column view for navigating quickly through filesystems, but I've had the auto-preview cause Finder to beachball on a number of occasions. Multi-threading for Finder would be nice.

Also of annoyance: if you use Apple-K to connect to a network share, sometimes the little window which shows "Connecting to ..." doesn't close when you finally connect to the network share. And you can't close the window at all. The only way to get rid of it is to relaunch Finder.

And as mentioned above, Finder is pretty brain-dead when it comes to network shares which disappear.

[auxio]

I'd like Finder not use .DS_Store files, which may not be possible; but at the very least, I'd like Finder not to use them on non-HFS+ partitions.I seem to remember a tip on MacOSXHints about stopping this. Let me check...

Yup:

Here's the first tip for stopping .DS_Store creation on network volumes (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2005070300463515)
And here's the second tip for stopping creation of resource fork files and stopping poop files from being created on USB drives (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051121091532444)

[solipsism]

There are several. I use Blue Harvest (http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/).

In fact, most of Finder's flaws are handled wel by 3rd-party developers. I just wish Apple added them as default. There is even an app that will read Windows .LNK shortcut files from OS X called WinShortcutter (http://www.lobotomo.com/products/WinShortcutter/index.html).

[theGAR]

Instead of giving us multi-sized icons, which NOBODY needs or wants, why doesn't Apple learn something from Path Finder and update the damn Finder?

Well, I sure want it.

I have a lot of Photoshop and other picturefiles, who I like to set at maximum size (256) for easy viewing. But with the other file icons and folders in there it looks awfull.
So now you have a nice preview of your pictures, and HUGE folders or other file icons next to it. Very unbalanced and unnecessary.

Apple should make it an option. Then if you don't like it, don't use it.

[solipsism]

Here's the first tip for stopping .DS_Store creation on network volumes (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2005070300463515)

I forgot about the command line option to keep them from even being created in the first place. Thanks. :-)

MacOSXHints.com should be the homepage for all switchers. The main site and it's forum are, in my opinion, the best places to really get a firm grasp on OS X's capabilities.

[DeaPeaJay]

And as mentioned above, Finder is pretty brain-dead when it comes to network shares which disappear.

Are you sure abou that? I don't think it's a problem in the latest update released (10.4.9) I seem to recall the network share disappeard, I never saw a spinning beach ball and then an alert window informed me the share had disappeard and it let me disconnect from it. :) I think they finally fixed it!

[alansky]

Some may think this idea odd, or a no brainer, but I have wished for it several times so that I could make applications and their support files stored in the same drawer more distinct than having to manually trudge about for the app in a minefield of various not uniform other icons...

Why would you need to do this with any regularity? Your most-used apps should be one click away by means of icons in the Dock, and there are various ways to set up easy access to a folder full of aliases for your other, less-used apps. Nobody lauches apps by hunting for the application file in a "minefield of various not uniform other icons." Icon View is silly anyway, presenting the user with way too much visual clutter to quickly find anything. Personally, I use column view exclusively and have even disabled "icons" altogether in Finder View Options. I also write filenames in all lowercase without spaces (emulating, ironically, Windows' brain-dead requirement of years gone by). Folder names have initial caps and word spaces. This makes it very easy to distinguish files from folders at a glance.

[AISI]

Is it just me or does it seem pretty asinine that you this concept can be patented? Stripping away the technical jargon, it comes down to "multiple sized objects on screen simultaneously." Hardly a revolutionary concept.

From Arnaud Gourdol's blog: Are Software Patents Detrimental to Innovation? (http://arno.org/blog/2006/10/are-software-patents-detrimental-to.html) "A patent cannot be used to protect an idea or concept. It has to protect a specific manner to accomplish something."

According to his resume (http://www.arno.org/resume/) he worked at Apple from 1992 to 2001.

The patent application No. 20070079255 (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=%22Apple+Computer%22&OS=%22Apple+Computer%22&RS=%22Apple+Computer%22) was filed last December but is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/478,006 filed Jan. 5, 2000.

[tundraboy]

You can patent this? Another example of how ridiculous the US patent system has become.

[melgross]

Last December? Seems like it's from around 1999.

Honestly, I don't see this particular idea as very promising. Seems messy, confusing, and awkward. I don't want a folder to be absolutely enormous just because it, say, contains 100 or even 500 items.

I do see a use for this. Often, in a folder there is one item that you need to access. Making this one item larger will make it easier to select it. Your eyes will automatically be drawn to the larger item.

[tink]

http://images.apple.com/chatterbox/us/2007/04/3829/img/ttl.gif

Sorry to be redundant. Sorry to be redundant. Sorry to be.....:rolleyes: but after getting yesterdays Apple Developer Connection email invitation to WWDC 2007 the more I think the Finder will be utilizing the core strengths of the OS like Core Animation. Obviously nothing in the invite says that, but hay ... it all comes together at WWDC.

We all know that Apple likes to highlight and utilize their own tech wherever and whenever they can. I think the Finder will be one of these "Apps" .

There is so much there with spotlight, core data, core animation, etc. that can be truly useful to the Finder and to showcase the tech..... :\

[Neruda]

That is it?
[list] I'd like to be able to set Finder windows up once and have them remain where I put them the next time.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this. But I hate when I set a Finder window to List view and then when you click on another folder the view changes to something else. I would be nice to make a selection and have it be universal no matter where you go afterwards.


I'd like for my entire system not to freeze when it can't find a previously used network share.

I have never had this happen. Can you force quit/relaunch the finder?

I think Leopard will FTFF. This will be one of those secret features, as tink suggested.

[solipsism]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this. But I hate when I set a Finder window to List view and then when you click on another folder the view changes to something else. I would be nice to make a selection and have it be universal no matter where you go afterwards.


Exactly that. If I change the View then leave the View where I put it. If I de/increase the Finder's window size then leave the Finder's windows size that way until I change it.

[melgross]

Why would you need to do this with any regularity? Your most-used apps should be one click away by means of icons in the Dock, and there are various ways to set up easy access to a folder full of aliases for your other, less-used apps. Nobody lauches apps by hunting for the application file in a "minefield of various not uniform other icons." Icon View is silly anyway, presenting the user with way too much visual clutter to quickly find anything. Personally, I use column view exclusively and have even disabled "icons" altogether in Finder View Options. I also write filenames in all lowercase without spaces (emulating, ironically, Windows' brain-dead requirement of years gone by). Folder names have initial caps and word spaces. This makes it very easy to distinguish files from folders at a glance.

That's just you. Other people prefer it otherwise. When Apple announced that column view was going to be the only was of using the Finder, people revolted, and rightly so.

There is a place for both, because neither is ideal for all situations.

[willrob]

This is what I used to use to have multiple sized icons:

http://www.pixture.com/software/macosx.php

[JeffDM]

Icon View is silly anyway, presenting the user with way too much visual clutter to quickly find anything.

Except when browsing folders full of images, the are all previewed at the same time rather than the paltry one at a time with column view. It would be nice if they offered this for PDFs and show a sample poster frame or album cover of videos too.

[Kolchak]

Icon View is silly anyway, presenting the user with way too much visual clutter to quickly find anything. Personally, I use column view exclusively and have even disabled "icons" altogether in Finder View Options. I also write filenames in all lowercase without spaces (emulating, ironically, Windows' brain-dead requirement of years gone by). Folder names have initial caps and word spaces. This makes it very easy to distinguish files from folders at a glance.
I also much prefer column view for almost all my finder windows, a major attraction being able to see previews of PDFs and videos. I don't use your habits for naming, though. There's nothing wrong with using caps and spaces for file names since they make the file names easier to read, especially if they're long. I use all caps for folder names to distinguish them from files, but I still use spaces in them. I'd have no use at all for this multi-size interface.

[JeffDM]

I didn't realize Steve Jobs was doing software development in addition to being CEO, on the BOD at Disney, and giving numerous presentations and interviews. Man, he must be a busy guy...

Supposedly he sets the tone for the development.

I've seen noted in several places that Apple doesn't code to their own human interface guidelines that much anymore, nor have they updated those guidelines for more modern apps.

[DeaPeaJay]

I have never had this happen. Can you force quit/relaunch the finder?

I think Leopard will FTFF. This will be one of those secret features, as tink suggested.


Force relaunching the finder never seemed to help me when it hung up.

But as I already said, they fixed it in 10.4.9. Am I the only one excited by that?

[auxio]

Are you sure abou that? I don't think it's a problem in the latest update released (10.4.9) I seem to recall the network share disappeard, I never saw a spinning beach ball and then an alert window informed me the share had disappeard and it let me disconnect from it. :) I think they finally fixed it!Yeah, it has gotten better of late. Another quirk which annoys me though is, when connected to SMB shares, if you put the computer to sleep and then wake it up again, it automatically disconnects you from the share without giving you any notice.

Perhaps there's nothing in the SMB protocol for maintaining connections across sleep sessions, but at least give notice when you disconnect a share and possibly give the option to reconnect to it.

[Xiaopangzi]

I'd be willing to bet my new car that no matter what patent clerk views such an application, they would undoubtedly reject it with the claim that it "can be easily devised by anyone skilled in the art and thus does not constitute a new innovation."

[DeaPeaJay]

Yeah, it has gotten better of late. Another quirk which annoys me though is, when connected to SMB shares, if you put the computer to sleep and then wake it up again, it automatically disconnects you from the share without giving you any notice.

Perhaps there's nothing in the SMB protocol for maintaining connections across sleep sessions, but at least give notice when you disconnect a share and possibly give the option to reconnect to it.

I wouldn't know. I try to avoid connecting to windows machines if it all possible ;)

[caliminius]

Maybe if they're going to mess with the icons, they should give them 3D properties as well, like distortion points and effects so that for example as a folder's contents grow, the folder icon expands like a balloon.

And they give them material properties like defining the icon as metal, wood, or furry. Apple could then update your desktop based on the local weather conditions. If it's snowing in your area, all your icons start gathering a coating of snow as the day progresses. To remove the snow, you have to click the icon and wiggle it around to shake off the snow. Or if it's foggy, a layer of white haze can float over your desktop making it difficult to see things. Furry icons would grow hairier as time progressed. Metal icons tarnish, wood or organic icons (like Handbrake's pineapple icon) would rot. You'd have to take care of your icons by washing, polishing and grooming them.

And they could extend this real world feel to apps and files. Documents would have their pages yellow as time passed and finally rot away to nothing. If you worked on a Word doc while it was raining, rain drops would splash on the "paper" and smear the ink. If flammable documents were too close to Disco while it burned a disc, they could catch on fire and be destroyed.

Software companies could offer their products in different materials. Wood programs would rot and stop functioning pretty quickly. Steel programs would last a long time. Someone developing a fantasy game could offer their game in dragonscale or mythril. And think about how wonderful a rhinestone studded silk program would look.

It would be glorious! And more innovative than this icon if nothing else.

Man, I've got way too much time on my hands...

[WakeCharlie]

I dunno if anyone has said this already but this seems to make the most sense if you can resize the icons with a touch interactive display. The other method I could think of would be to select the icon size from a dropdown menue with preset sizes. By looking at the different sizes in the patent we're looking at quite a few size options. If you could use two fingers, a la resizing of pics on the iphone, this could be done much more simply and intuitively with the actual icon size sinking up your size selection to the most proximate prestored/preset icon size. This might bode well for those anticipating a touch input sub-compact in the not-so-distant future. Cheers.

[ecking]

I would love this icon size thing in the applications folder, make all the small one time install codecs and folder small and my most used apps big.

[crees!]

http://images.apple.com/chatterbox/us/2007/04/3829/img/ttl.gif

Sorry to be redundant. Sorry to be redundant. Sorry to be.....:rolleyes: but after getting yesterdays Apple Developer Connection email invitation to WWDC 2007 the more I think the Finder will be utilizing the core strengths of the OS like Core Animation. Obviously nothing in the invite says that, but hay ... it all comes together at WWDC.

We all know that Apple likes to highlight and utilize their own tech wherever and whenever they can. I think the Finder will be one of these "Apps" .

There is so much there with spotlight, core data, core animation, etc. that can be truly useful to the Finder and to showcase the tech..... :\

Check this out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMCxRl0NzqM
Does anyone know if this is a 3rd-party Finder replacement app or what? Because from what I see here I REALLY like.

[EruIthildur]

That is it?
I'd like to be able to set Finder windows up once and have them remain where I put them the next time.
I'd like for my entire system not to freeze when it can't find a previously used network share.
I'd like the ability to remove old network shares without having to use the Terminal.
I'd like to see the total size of selected items at the bottom of the Finder windows instead of the number of items selected and the available space left on the disk.
I'd like to have a Cut option like in windows, instead of having to drag and drop to achieve this functionality.
I'd like not to have to "yo-yo the mouse at the top or bottom of the Finder window to get it to scroll far enough for me to move a file/folder.
I'd like Finder not use .DS_Store files, which may not be possible; but at the very least, I'd like Finder not to use them on non-HFS+ partitions.
I'd like Finder to be able to read Windows shortcuts. After all, all it needs to do is parse the fie for the location.
I am sick of the damn network freeze also.

[JeffDM]

There was an Application Enhancer that did this back in OS9, I think. It doesn't seem Apple can patent this, since it already existed.... but if there were no previous patents, maybe they can. Has anyone patented the wheel yet?

That would be called prior art if a programmer or company not involved with Apple did this. If it's contested, then the prior art would be used to declare the patent invalid.

[tink]

Check this out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DMCxRl0NzqM
Does anyone know if this is a 3rd-party Finder replacement app or what? Because from what I see here I REALLY like.

Looks legit to me. I haven't been privy to any of the leopard builds, so I really don't know.

Whats up with that iPod running OSX and navigation with a stylus though at the end of that movie!. :wow:
Probably just a movie playing full screen.







!

[hey]

What if you could set a preference for the icons to be sized proportionally to the number of times application X was launched or folder Y was opened?

You'd have a lot of unhappily married porn addicts.

[vinney57]

*YAWN.*

Instead of giving us multi-sized icons, which NOBODY needs or wants, why doesn't Apple learn something from Path Finder and update the damn Finder?

Sometimes Steve Jobs hits a homerun and is a brilliant man, other times he's just an arrogant stubborn child.

Wow, you must be like a King or something. :no:

[macwiz13335]

I don't know if this was already posted (I'm not going to read through 69 posts), but when I saw this idea, I immediately thought of its use for software DMGs. Imagine the main application being a huge 128x128 (or whatever the maximum size will be) icon and the instruction files and other items being 48x48.

[dacloo]

Nah, these are all hacks or applications. Just like Path Finder; it feels like an app, instead of an integral part of the operating system. All these apps and hacks don't seem to integrate well. In the end, we need Apple to do it, because third party developers don't have access to certain OSX parts; it's not their fault these applications don't work well.


There are several. I use Blue Harvest (http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest/).

In fact, most of Finder's flaws are handled wel by 3rd-party developers. I just wish Apple added them as default. There is even an app that will read Windows .LNK shortcut files from OS X called WinShortcutter (http://www.lobotomo.com/products/WinShortcutter/index.html).

[PB]

Maybe if they're going to mess with the icons, they should give them 3D properties as well, like distortion points and effects so that for example as a folder's contents grow, the folder icon expands like a balloon.

And they give them material properties like defining the icon as metal, wood, or furry. Apple could then update your desktop based on the local weather conditions. If it's snowing in your area, all your icons start gathering a coating of snow as the day progresses. To remove the snow, you have to click the icon and wiggle it around to shake off the snow. Or if it's foggy, a layer of white haze can float over your desktop making it difficult to see things. Furry icons would grow hairier as time progressed. Metal icons tarnish, wood or organic icons (like Handbrake's pineapple icon) would rot. You'd have to take care of your icons by washing, polishing and grooming them.

And they could extend this real world feel to apps and files. Documents would have their pages yellow as time passed and finally rot away to nothing. If you worked on a Word doc while it was raining, rain drops would splash on the "paper" and smear the ink. If flammable documents were too close to Disco while it burned a disc, they could catch on fire and be destroyed.

Software companies could offer their products in different materials. Wood programs would rot and stop functioning pretty quickly. Steel programs would last a long time. Someone developing a fantasy game could offer their game in dragonscale or mythril. And think about how wonderful a rhinestone studded silk program would look.

It would be glorious! And more innovative than this icon if nothing else.

Man, I've got way too much time on my hands...
It is me or this reasoning has some little issues? :D :lol:

[Messiah]

Multi-sized icons?

Oh Boy!

Why didn't I think of that?

Oh wait, I did:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=24333

[pOps]

why don't they just give finder the same options as the desktop first?
- snap to grid
- show item info
- show icon preview
- keep arranged by (name, date, size, kind, label)
but then while utilizing all the grid points, instead of only half of them (seriously annoying)

and then, but only then, I would love to be able to make the "icon previews" larger for picture files, smaller for folders, and iconless for installers. mac developers should look at Linux as well as macOSXHints..

[solipsism]

Oh yeah. I forgot to add somethng to my list of ways the Finder needs to be fixed.

A RESTORE OPTION IN THE TRASH.

[foomeister]

Apple should do some research before trying to file a patent!
This feature has long been implemented in GNOME's Nautilus file manager since 2000. Plus a kind of level of detail (LOD) view when zooming into the file list!

Nice feature though. Apple isn't alsways in the lead ...

[caliminius]

It is me or this reasoning has some little issues? :D :lol:

It seemed perfectly illogical when I wrote it.

Although on a serious note, it would be pretty cool for an OS to have a built in physics model API. It might even help get more games written for the Mac when the developers knew they had a free, universally available physics engine. Core Physics. It could be useful in more than just games. All programs involving drawing and animation could benefit from its inclusion at the OS level.

[mr_cazorp]

My pr0n icons alone would each require their own 30" cinema display.

[Zoc]

It might even help get more games written for the Mac when the developers knew they had a free, universally available physics engine. Core Physics.

This is not what games developpers want. They want something exposing the SAME API on Win32 and MacOS. "Core Physics" would be an apple only API, useless for game coders.

By the way, you can already find multiplatforms 3D engines (OGRE) and Physics engines (ODE, NEWTON...) for free.

[caliminius]

This is not what games developpers want. They want something exposing the SAME API on Win32 and MacOS. "Core Physics" would be an apple only API, useless for game coders.

By the way, you can already find multiplatforms 3D engines (OGRE) and Physics engines (ODE, NEWTON...) for free.

As long as DirectX continues to be pushed by Microsoft, a unified set of API's will never exist, so I don't understand why I codifed Apple "Core Physics" API would be useless.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but I've read several articles about the problems with transitioning games from Windows OS X has been often times because of the middleware involved, primarily physics engines for 3D games.

If companies aren't willling/able to license the corresponding Mac version of the physics middleware, wouldn't a free Apple-supplied engine fill that gap?

[John]

Multi-sized icons?

Oh Boy!

Why didn't I think of that?

Oh wait, I did:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=24333

Yeah, but only four years ago. How about six? ;)

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/01q2/macos-x-final/macos-x-11.html

[PB]

:lol:

Nice fight here. I am not sure though if variable icon size is something I would like to see in the Finder.

[melgross]

:lol:

Nice fight here. I am not sure though if variable icon size is something I would like to see in the Finder.

Why not? You wouldn't have to use it.

[PB]

Why not? You wouldn't have to use it.
If so then OK, but otherwise I don't know.

[dfiler]

Is it just me or does it seem pretty asinine that you this concept can be patented?

Stripping away the technical jargon, it comes down to "multiple sized objects on screen simultaneously." Just a new version of putting air in a bag and charging people to breath.

I think Copyright and patent law are completely off course, accomplishing the exact opposite of their original intention. All they accomplish any more is to give corporations advantages over small businesses and individuals.

Funny thing is, OS X has supported this functionality for years already. Hopefully this filing simply means that apple has figured out something useful to do with differently sized icons.

[melgross]

If so then OK, but otherwise I don't know.

This seems as though it would be the kind of thing found under the Finder Prefs menu, or possibly, the Appearances menu.