It's more like the last season Tom Baker / Peter Davidson era "starfield" title sequence.
the great old Disco Doctor years...
i love the new series. gonna be watching it tonight.
still can't figure out what the Dr is though, sort of a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Q (from Star Trek) with a bit of Dali mixed in. not to mention the deadliest guy in the universe.
friend of mine has that now, with some program that hides the menubar like the way the dock can be hidden. the result is that whenever he is working in a program there is always a sliver of the desktop along the top of the screen showing through. he doesn't mind it, and i'd assume this will be the effect of the Leopard menubar also, so at least one person i know doesn't see the issue with it.
i'm more interested in the GUI design logic that got the developers to all agree to change the menubar anyway. it appears Apple is stubbornly holding it's position on the matter, so it must hold some sort of significance, like maybe retraining users UI work experience for an even greater GUI mod which will eventually be coming.
What's wrong with the menubar? I love it. Got lots of goodies in mine that are always there so I can glance (and squint) at to see what I want to know.
The new menu bar is gonna be opaque. Opaque, not transparant! Just like in "Numbers" (from the iWork suite).
I think it is a great & subtle move. But I'd love to add two more things to it:
1/ One can alter the opacity of the menu bar in the "system preferences menu" from opaque to solid.
2/ No matter how much I am in love with the opaque menu bar, it would be great if the menu bar would disappear like the dock. It will appear automatically from the moment your cursor hits the top of your screen.
1. It think the proper word for it is translucent, you can clearly see it != transparent, but you can also see desktop picture behind it != opaque.
2. You mean, like it works in Quicktime fullscreen mode? That would be awesome.
Opaque means that you can't see through it. The menu bar in Numbers is light grey. Is that what you mean?
If you look at the column (A,B,C,D, ?) and row (1,2,3,4, ?) headers, you will notice that (after scrolling down) the content of your table shines subtly through.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
Opaque to solid, therefore, means that you would be changing it from non-transparent to non-transparent. You mean hidden to opaque (or solid)?
Good point. I meant you should be able to change the menu bar from transparent to solid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
We need to see the menu bar, because it's small, and when we shoot our curser up to it, we tend to aim directly at the item we want. If it were hidden, we would miss, and have to slide the curser over. Too much.
This should be an option in "system preferences" as well. I prefer the dock to be hidden. Whenever I need to open a program, I touch the bottom of my screen with the cursor to activate the dock.
Apple should offer the same option to the menu bar.
The one little tweak I'd like to see is the option to go right to the Login screen (without logging out the user) after waking up from sleep or after a user defined amount of time. This is the only real weakness the Mac has over windows when it comes to multiple users.
The one little tweak I'd like to see is the option to go right to the Login screen (without logging out the user) after waking up from sleep or after a user defined amount of time. This is the only real weakness the Mac has over windows when it comes to multiple users.
I don't follow. When my Mac goes to sleeep or is locked it never logs me out. I just sign back in and I'm good to go.
I don't follow. When my Mac goes to sleeep or is locked it never logs me out. I just sign back in and I'm good to go.
Which is fine on a single user machine. Not so much with multiple users. The way Apple does it adds a step to the process when dealing with multiple users.
Which is fine on a single user machine. Not so much with multiple users. The way Apple does it adds a step to the process when dealing with multiple users.
I still don't follow. With Fast USer Switching I easily switch between my Admin account and normal user account with ease. I simple choose the account I want to access from the Menu Bar, type in the correct info and I'm there. My other account is still running as if I was there. Even my IMs are waiting for me when I return. I can't imagine it being any easier. What part of your scenario am I missing?
I still don't follow. With Fast USer Switching I easily switch between my Admin account and normal user account with ease. I simple choose the account I want to access from the Menu Bar, type in the correct info and I'm there. My other account is still running as if I was there. Even my IMs are waiting for me when I return. I can't imagine it being any easier. What part of your scenario am I missing?
Which allows other people access to your account. I only find menu switching useful if you're switching if someone else wants to use the computer after you have. I'm talking about after the computer has been inactive for a while. As it stands, OSX takes you to a little black window that allows you either either enter your password and re-login or go to the login screen. That is an unnecessary step.
This should be an option in "system preferences" as well. I prefer the dock to be hidden. Whenever I need to open a program, I touch the bottom of my screen with the cursor to activate the dock.
Apple should offer the same option to the menu bar.
If Apple offered the option, that would be fine.
But, Apple seems to have little interest in offering options for some of its interface elements. Therefore, they must get it right for the majority of its customers, even if it isn't as "cool" looking.
Apple seems to have little interest in offering options for some of its interface elements. Therefore, they must get it right for the majority of its customers, even if it isn't as "cool" looking.
You could generalize that to everything they do really, including all their hardware. It doesn't even have to be right for the majority. As long as Apple's designers think it's what people want then it suddenly becomes what people want simply because there is no choice. Some might say that because people put up with it then they approve or grow used to it but usually it's because running OS X has certain benefits you can't get elsewhere.
Comments
MS has been yakking about a radical new interface change for years now... not including Vista, but something after that.
They've been yakking about radical new interface changes since '92. We're still waiting...
They've been yakking about radical new interface changes since '92. We're still waiting...
We almost got one, but Apple backed down, and gave us both.
After watching the Youtube of the new intro video, it reminded me of The Doctor Who titles...
Is it just me???
It's more like the last season Tom Baker / Peter Davidson era "starfield" title sequence.
But the real giveaway would be when Steve Jobs' head appears and recedes into the distance!
And when you pull up Time Machine a creaking, groaning noise sounds...
It's more like the last season Tom Baker / Peter Davidson era "starfield" title sequence.
the great old Disco Doctor years...
i love the new series. gonna be watching it tonight.
still can't figure out what the Dr is though, sort of a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Q (from Star Trek) with a bit of Dali mixed in. not to mention the deadliest guy in the universe.
friend of mine has that now, with some program that hides the menubar like the way the dock can be hidden. the result is that whenever he is working in a program there is always a sliver of the desktop along the top of the screen showing through. he doesn't mind it, and i'd assume this will be the effect of the Leopard menubar also, so at least one person i know doesn't see the issue with it.
i'm more interested in the GUI design logic that got the developers to all agree to change the menubar anyway. it appears Apple is stubbornly holding it's position on the matter, so it must hold some sort of significance, like maybe retraining users UI work experience for an even greater GUI mod which will eventually be coming.
What's wrong with the menubar? I love it. Got lots of goodies in mine that are always there so I can glance (and squint) at to see what I want to know.
What I'd like to know is if you can turn OFF the Menu bar transparency. Frankly, I think a transparent menu bar is a ridiculous idea.
And when you pull up Time Machine a creaking, groaning noise sounds...
That's your failing harddrive.
This will undoubtedly be possible via a hack in the terminal or simply editing a plsit somewhere...can any preview users confirm?
There's already a hack.
http://www.manytricks.com/blog/?id=14
That's your failing harddrive.
You're an evil man.
You're an evil man.
The new menu bar is gonna be opaque. Opaque, not transparant! Just like in "Numbers" (from the iWork suite).
I think it is a great & subtle move. But I'd love to add two more things to it:
1/ One can alter the opacity of the menu bar in the "system preferences menu" from opaque to solid.
2/ No matter how much I am in love with the opaque menu bar, it would be great if the menu bar would disappear like the dock. It will appear automatically from the moment your cursor hits the top of your screen.
1. It think the proper word for it is translucent, you can clearly see it != transparent, but you can also see desktop picture behind it != opaque.
2. You mean, like it works in Quicktime fullscreen mode? That would be awesome.
Opaque means that you can't see through it. The menu bar in Numbers is light grey. Is that what you mean?
If you look at the column (A,B,C,D, ?) and row (1,2,3,4, ?) headers, you will notice that (after scrolling down) the content of your table shines subtly through.
Opaque to solid, therefore, means that you would be changing it from non-transparent to non-transparent. You mean hidden to opaque (or solid)?
Good point. I meant you should be able to change the menu bar from transparent to solid.
We need to see the menu bar, because it's small, and when we shoot our curser up to it, we tend to aim directly at the item we want. If it were hidden, we would miss, and have to slide the curser over. Too much.
This should be an option in "system preferences" as well. I prefer the dock to be hidden. Whenever I need to open a program, I touch the bottom of my screen with the cursor to activate the dock.
Apple should offer the same option to the menu bar.
The one little tweak I'd like to see is the option to go right to the Login screen (without logging out the user) after waking up from sleep or after a user defined amount of time. This is the only real weakness the Mac has over windows when it comes to multiple users.
I don't follow. When my Mac goes to sleeep or is locked it never logs me out. I just sign back in and I'm good to go.
I don't follow. When my Mac goes to sleeep or is locked it never logs me out. I just sign back in and I'm good to go.
Which is fine on a single user machine. Not so much with multiple users. The way Apple does it adds a step to the process when dealing with multiple users.
Which is fine on a single user machine. Not so much with multiple users. The way Apple does it adds a step to the process when dealing with multiple users.
I still don't follow. With Fast USer Switching I easily switch between my Admin account and normal user account with ease. I simple choose the account I want to access from the Menu Bar, type in the correct info and I'm there. My other account is still running as if I was there. Even my IMs are waiting for me when I return. I can't imagine it being any easier. What part of your scenario am I missing?
I still don't follow. With Fast USer Switching I easily switch between my Admin account and normal user account with ease. I simple choose the account I want to access from the Menu Bar, type in the correct info and I'm there. My other account is still running as if I was there. Even my IMs are waiting for me when I return. I can't imagine it being any easier. What part of your scenario am I missing?
Which allows other people access to your account. I only find menu switching useful if you're switching if someone else wants to use the computer after you have. I'm talking about after the computer has been inactive for a while. As it stands, OSX takes you to a little black window that allows you either either enter your password and re-login or go to the login screen. That is an unnecessary step.
This should be an option in "system preferences" as well. I prefer the dock to be hidden. Whenever I need to open a program, I touch the bottom of my screen with the cursor to activate the dock.
Apple should offer the same option to the menu bar.
If Apple offered the option, that would be fine.
But, Apple seems to have little interest in offering options for some of its interface elements. Therefore, they must get it right for the majority of its customers, even if it isn't as "cool" looking.
Apple seems to have little interest in offering options for some of its interface elements. Therefore, they must get it right for the majority of its customers, even if it isn't as "cool" looking.
You could generalize that to everything they do really, including all their hardware. It doesn't even have to be right for the majority. As long as Apple's designers think it's what people want then it suddenly becomes what people want simply because there is no choice. Some might say that because people put up with it then they approve or grow used to it but usually it's because running OS X has certain benefits you can't get elsewhere.