I prefer the UNO look as well. The current Leopard look is like having brushed metal all over the OS. Not as bad as brushed metal, but still. It clashes horribly with the white contents of most windows.
The darkness is a problem as well - if you increase your gamma to 2.2, things start to get unreadable. This is particularly prominent on the Windows version of Safari 3 where the bookmark bar is so dark you have to strain to see what is in it.
It's not just the window borders either. The scrollbars, buttons, widgets, etc, all look darker and more saturated in Leopard. The aqua scrollbars in the current beta look horrible. Aqua has gone from being a nice cool turquoise to some grey, drab mediocre colour. Very similar to the bland new folder icons.
Someone mentioned this in another thread, but it is really starting to look like a regression back to the platinum look of OS8 and 9.
At the moment, the current Leopard look is inconsistent and seriously rough around the edges. There's about four or five different styles just for a push button. Hopefully they'll clear all this up by the time it ships. Unfortunately, judging by iTunes and iPhoto '08 it's just going to get darker...
The darker gradient is meant to accentuate the active window...all the non-active windows have a lighter gradient. If the active window had a light gradient background, how would it be possible to rapidly differentiate between active and non-active windows? Sure, the non-active windows could be darker but wouldn't *that* be more distracting? Maybe not...I'm not sure. It would be fun to test it out.
It just feels normal though for the active window to be darker, more prominent.
The darker gradient is meant to accentuate the active window...all the non-active windows have a lighter gradient. If the active window had a light gradient background, how would it be possible to rapidly differentiate between active and non-active windows? Sure, the non-active windows could be darker but wouldn't *that* be more distracting? Maybe not...I'm not sure. It would be fun to test it out.
It just feels normal though for the active window to be darker, more prominent.
Actually, it makes more sense to me to make the foremost window lighter given that the rear windows are in shadow. But even so, between the huge drop shadows and the color difference, it's just going a bit too far.
It seems to me to be yet another Apple solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I have never mistaken foreground for background windows in Tiger. Mainly because they overlap each other and I can tell from the shape and the conservative drop shadow. The steps taken in leopard are just plain unnecessary.
Speaking as someone who uses Macs for creative work on a regular basis, it's nice to see the UI going darker. It will be far less distracting when switching between apps while working with visual media.
The main reason you don't like it is because it's not what you're used to. Like it or not, that's where Leopard is going. To get used to it, use a dark desktop image. I'm using the Leopard earth image. It seemed really dark at first, but now I'm used to it.
The main reason you don't like it is because it's not what you're used to. Like it or not, that's where Leopard is going. To get used to it, use a dark desktop image. I'm using the Leopard earth image. It seemed really dark at first, but now I'm used to it.
Comments
It just doesn't look as good as the gentler gray gradients
IMHO, it is n ot dark, but midtone. Midtone is the least distracting when the focus is not the OS but the task at hand.
I'm just stoked about the death of brushed metal!
It just doesn't look as good as the gentler gray gradients
I agree, the lighter gradient in Uno is far better than the dark one in Leopard. It would have been nice to have a choice about what color to go with.
The darkness is a problem as well - if you increase your gamma to 2.2, things start to get unreadable. This is particularly prominent on the Windows version of Safari 3 where the bookmark bar is so dark you have to strain to see what is in it.
It's not just the window borders either. The scrollbars, buttons, widgets, etc, all look darker and more saturated in Leopard. The aqua scrollbars in the current beta look horrible. Aqua has gone from being a nice cool turquoise to some grey, drab mediocre colour. Very similar to the bland new folder icons.
Someone mentioned this in another thread, but it is really starting to look like a regression back to the platinum look of OS8 and 9.
At the moment, the current Leopard look is inconsistent and seriously rough around the edges. There's about four or five different styles just for a push button. Hopefully they'll clear all this up by the time it ships. Unfortunately, judging by iTunes and iPhoto '08 it's just going to get darker...
The darker gradient is meant to accentuate the active window...all the non-active windows have a lighter gradient. If the active window had a light gradient background, how would it be possible to rapidly differentiate between active and non-active windows? Sure, the non-active windows could be darker but wouldn't *that* be more distracting? Maybe not...I'm not sure. It would be fun to test it out.
It just feels normal though for the active window to be darker, more prominent.
You guys aren't even trying.
The darker gradient is meant to accentuate the active window...all the non-active windows have a lighter gradient. If the active window had a light gradient background, how would it be possible to rapidly differentiate between active and non-active windows? Sure, the non-active windows could be darker but wouldn't *that* be more distracting? Maybe not...I'm not sure. It would be fun to test it out.
It just feels normal though for the active window to be darker, more prominent.
Actually, it makes more sense to me to make the foremost window lighter given that the rear windows are in shadow. But even so, between the huge drop shadows and the color difference, it's just going a bit too far.
It seems to me to be yet another Apple solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I have never mistaken foreground for background windows in Tiger. Mainly because they overlap each other and I can tell from the shape and the conservative drop shadow. The steps taken in leopard are just plain unnecessary.
The main reason you don't like it is because it's not what you're used to. Like it or not, that's where Leopard is going. To get used to it, use a dark desktop image. I'm using the Leopard earth image. It seemed really dark at first, but now I'm used to it.
What are you talking about?