Do away with the GUI altogether and just give us a terminal prompt.
It would be nice if OSX had themes to choose from, but that's not really on my top 10 list for things I'd like to see in Snow Leopard.
I don't think we will be seeing themes anytime soon.
Apart from the fact that Steve Jobs loathes the idea of people putting puppy wallpaper and gee-gaws all over his pure interface, the most likely thing here is that we are getting a new UI due to the re-coding of the Finder.
If the Finder is being completely re-done in Cocoa (and it is), and resolution independence is also a goal, then all the previous interface stuff is probably out of the question or would at least need to be re-drawn and re-coded itself.
Personally, I hope they don't offer themes, but it would be nice to see a tiny bit more customisation. A big pet peeve of mine which has lasted through multiple OS-X versions is the colour of the highlight. I just don't like that blue highlight colour on the menus and have always wanted to change it but it's impossible in OS-X. You have one option only which is to switch to "graphite" but then you lose all utility in the "traffic lights" feature. You can have one or the other but not both.
Perhaps a few subtle and well designed variations could be built in, like "hot, warm, and cold" variations of the same interface or simply the ability to make some minor individual changes like highlight colour without changing the entire UI.
I agree that the Aqua interface is overdue for replacement, but I'm not sure I like the new iTunes appearance any better — it seems too bland, as though it belongs in Linux or something.
-I agree. Itunes is flat.
Otherwise: Love to see systemwide dynamic lighting + shadows using a 3d vidcard to give it a more dimensional and live appearance. Pick a general point where the light would be coming from, & when you move a window, it would interact with the source and relative to its environment.
Do away with the GUI altogether and just give us a terminal prompt.
Blinking slowly and ominously, like HAL's light.
Are we just following Steve Jobs into a long, slow, grey decline? It was all bright chirpy and lickable when OSX debuted and now after 8 long grinding years it has slowly worn us down to a bleak dark soulless dull winter of terminal doom.
Just make the interface nice and unified. I personally don't mind the Aqua interface, but some hate it, so the better option might be to give users a limited choice. One "Pro" theme that uses minimal colors and a "Consumer" theme that uses brighter colors and effects.
I also never understood why Apple doesn't take the time to do the little things (giving users new desktops and user icons, ect). We all know how to change these ourselves, but Apple SHOULD add them with each OS release.
Why have a Jaguar pattern and not one for the other cats?
Why have a basketball icon, but no football or golf ball?
How about a screensaver that shows photos of all the great Apple products ever made. Some nice Apple wallpapers.
Your thoughts?
While I appreciate the concepts of your ideas, I'd like apple engineers to stick with what they are good at. Users can define the content of the pics in the OS, no reason for them to waste their time doing something a user could do.
Funny people claim it's outdated, when it's just refined. Turning on graphite, quitting the Finder and hiding the Dock the UI draws very little attention from me now, and when it does draw attention from me, it's in the form of keyboard shortcuts, context menus, and toolbars, and for that the color scheme is perfect, white for the menus, gray for the toolbars with shadows acting and white for the inactive windows.
Funny people claim it's outdated, when it's just refined. Turning on graphite, quitting the Finder and hiding the Dock the UI draws very little attention from me now, and when it does draw attention from me, it's in the form of keyboard shortcuts, context menus, and toolbars, and for that the color scheme is perfect, white for the menus, gray for the toolbars with shadows acting and white for the inactive windows.
Sebastian
As Oscar Wilde said:
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."
?or in Apple's case, with every version of the OS.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see this as the move to bringing back a more neXT-like interface. Not quite all grey, but more monochromatic and understated.
They may keep the bright red, yellow and green buttons on each window but I see the elimination of Aqua as a welcome move.
Should I wait for Snow Leopard? How long do folks think I will have to wait?
It's scheduled for around June this year, but there's no firm date. Personally I wouldn't bother waiting — Snow Leopard won't have any significant new features, just performance improvements. You can upgrade later if you want to, at a fairly modest price.
You all should just load Shape Shifter on your machines and quit your complaining. Unsanity has some other pretty nifty apps that tweak the UI to your liking, like sound sets with XSounds, and Windowshade. These are a bit taxing on your system, but with todays speedy machines, you hardly notice the difference, and they are worth it if it means that much to that user. It's definitely fun, and easy to say the least. After we got past that Leopard install with Application enhancer all sorted out, we're all good
Personally, I like to be able to sit down at a machine and tell which version of OSX is installed on a Mac by looking around at the OS. But I agree about the personality icons and desktop designs. We could use some new ones. But Having an over all consistent UI (sans-aqua) is what they are going for with S.Leapord. This is gonna be OSX as it was meant to be.
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
It's scheduled for around June this year, but there's no firm date. Personally I wouldn't bother waiting ? Snow Leopard won't have any significant new features, just performance improvements. You can upgrade later if you want to, at a fairly modest price.
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
Oh and I thought you were going to give us a real solution.
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
I think I read that Leopard's UI is built differently than before, something to do with moving toward resolution-independence, and parts of it are "hard coded" rather than being simple bitmaps that can be swapped out.
I tend to believe that if Apple successfully designs for functionality, the results will be naturally stylish. I also think simple, "boring" widgets are fine if they are interactive in an interesting way. For example, the 2D version of the dock is obviously much simpler than the 3D version, but having it hide and pop up when needed makes it seem pretty slick and elegant. Likewise for the simple media interface controls associated with QuickLook popups and the Leopard QuickTime Player and DVD Player apps. Do scroll bars need to be fully visible all the time? Maybe not -- they aren't on the iPhone.
Comments
Do away with the GUI altogether and just give us a terminal prompt.
It would be nice if OSX had themes to choose from, but that's not really on my top 10 list for things I'd like to see in Snow Leopard.
I don't think we will be seeing themes anytime soon.
Apart from the fact that Steve Jobs loathes the idea of people putting puppy wallpaper and gee-gaws all over his pure interface, the most likely thing here is that we are getting a new UI due to the re-coding of the Finder.
If the Finder is being completely re-done in Cocoa (and it is), and resolution independence is also a goal, then all the previous interface stuff is probably out of the question or would at least need to be re-drawn and re-coded itself.
Personally, I hope they don't offer themes, but it would be nice to see a tiny bit more customisation. A big pet peeve of mine which has lasted through multiple OS-X versions is the colour of the highlight. I just don't like that blue highlight colour on the menus and have always wanted to change it but it's impossible in OS-X. You have one option only which is to switch to "graphite" but then you lose all utility in the "traffic lights" feature. You can have one or the other but not both.
Perhaps a few subtle and well designed variations could be built in, like "hot, warm, and cold" variations of the same interface or simply the ability to make some minor individual changes like highlight colour without changing the entire UI.
I agree that the Aqua interface is overdue for replacement, but I'm not sure I like the new iTunes appearance any better — it seems too bland, as though it belongs in Linux or something.
-I agree. Itunes is flat.
Otherwise: Love to see systemwide dynamic lighting + shadows using a 3d vidcard to give it a more dimensional and live appearance. Pick a general point where the light would be coming from, & when you move a window, it would interact with the source and relative to its environment.
Do away with the GUI altogether and just give us a terminal prompt.
Blinking slowly and ominously, like HAL's light.
Are we just following Steve Jobs into a long, slow, grey decline? It was all bright chirpy and lickable when OSX debuted and now after 8 long grinding years it has slowly worn us down to a bleak dark soulless dull winter of terminal doom.
It's the recession look, guess.
i would like a new interface that works better with multiple screens.
osx is working fine on one but if you are used to 2 or 3 screens it just sucks.
in multimon working windows is really nice. apple should do something. a better menubar for example
And they should make the Spinning ball CHANGABLE !!!!!!!
Just make the interface nice and unified. I personally don't mind the Aqua interface, but some hate it, so the better option might be to give users a limited choice. One "Pro" theme that uses minimal colors and a "Consumer" theme that uses brighter colors and effects.
I also never understood why Apple doesn't take the time to do the little things (giving users new desktops and user icons, ect). We all know how to change these ourselves, but Apple SHOULD add them with each OS release.
Why have a Jaguar pattern and not one for the other cats?
Why have a basketball icon, but no football or golf ball?
How about a screensaver that shows photos of all the great Apple products ever made. Some nice Apple wallpapers.
Your thoughts?
While I appreciate the concepts of your ideas, I'd like apple engineers to stick with what they are good at. Users can define the content of the pics in the OS, no reason for them to waste their time doing something a user could do.
Sebastian
its time to change that. im not very sure if that interface change will be enough.
i would like a new interface that works better with multiple screens.
osx is working fine on one but if you are used to 2 or 3 screens it just sucks.
in multimon working windows is really nice. apple should do something. a better menubar for example
If you're using multiple screens or just can't be arsed with the menu bar at all, try Deja Menu.
Sebastian
True.
Funny people claim it's outdated, when it's just refined. Turning on graphite, quitting the Finder and hiding the Dock the UI draws very little attention from me now, and when it does draw attention from me, it's in the form of keyboard shortcuts, context menus, and toolbars, and for that the color scheme is perfect, white for the menus, gray for the toolbars with shadows acting and white for the inactive windows.
Sebastian
As Oscar Wilde said:
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."
?or in Apple's case, with every version of the OS.
They may keep the bright red, yellow and green buttons on each window but I see the elimination of Aqua as a welcome move.
Should I wait for Snow Leopard? How long do folks think I will have to wait?
It's scheduled for around June this year, but there's no firm date. Personally I wouldn't bother waiting — Snow Leopard won't have any significant new features, just performance improvements. You can upgrade later if you want to, at a fairly modest price.
MacRumors' buyers' guide http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ is worth keeping an eye on if you're planning to buy new apple hardware.
Personally, I like to be able to sit down at a machine and tell which version of OSX is installed on a Mac by looking around at the OS. But I agree about the personality icons and desktop designs. We could use some new ones. But Having an over all consistent UI (sans-aqua) is what they are going for with S.Leapord. This is gonna be OSX as it was meant to be.
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
It's scheduled for around June this year, but there's no firm date. Personally I wouldn't bother waiting ? Snow Leopard won't have any significant new features, just performance improvements. You can upgrade later if you want to, at a fairly modest price.
MacRumors' buyers' guide http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ is worth keeping an eye on if you're planning to buy new apple hardware.
Thanks!
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
Oh and I thought you were going to give us a real solution.
Want a preview of OSX post Snow Leopard? The look will give new meaning to dull as?
If you're using multiple screens or just can't be arsed with the menu bar at all, try Deja Menu.
Sebastian
I love XMenu. The old drop down menus have not been surpassed for efficiency compared to the bloody Dock.
Oops, oh well, just checked Shapeshifter's Leopard compatibility. . WTF? They STILL haven't updated it??? Well then, it's STILL great if you're not running Leopard just yet
I think I read that Leopard's UI is built differently than before, something to do with moving toward resolution-independence, and parts of it are "hard coded" rather than being simple bitmaps that can be swapped out.
I tend to believe that if Apple successfully designs for functionality, the results will be naturally stylish. I also think simple, "boring" widgets are fine if they are interactive in an interesting way. For example, the 2D version of the dock is obviously much simpler than the 3D version, but having it hide and pop up when needed makes it seem pretty slick and elegant. Likewise for the simple media interface controls associated with QuickLook popups and the Leopard QuickTime Player and DVD Player apps. Do scroll bars need to be fully visible all the time? Maybe not -- they aren't on the iPhone.