throwing aqua out the window

tubgirltubgirl
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
i find most aspects of macos x and macs enjoyable and i do find it to be one of the more pleasant workstation experiences.

however, i have some difficulty adapting to some of the ideas which the ui (aqua) is built upon.



now, how would i go about writing my own 'aqua' with my favorite (x11) window manager as model.

is writing such a replacement even possible? (or legal?)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Would you care to be more specific about what you would like to change? Aqua is really a set of user interface guidelines. There is nothing forcing programs to use them, however your ability to prevent programs from using them is pretty limited. You could just run X11 and your favorite window manager, but then you would be limited to programs written to run under X11.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    tubgirltubgirl Posts: 177member
    -decent window management with keyboard support. i dont get along well with trackpads.

    -sloppy focus

    -menubar in each window. i find it really frustrating to move the pointer from one end of the screen to another go through the menus, selecting and then go back to where you were... (and repeat a moment later) and it gets even worse when using a dual monitor setup (which i usually do)

    -general freedom of choice regarding color themes etc.





    Quote:

    You could just run X11 and your favorite window manager, but then you would be limited to programs written to run under X11.



    yes, i tried that. not a very satisfying experience...

  • Reply 3 of 7
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Welcome to the Mac OS. You're going to need a hell of a lot of skill and time to put your own Aqua replacement together. Changing the appearance is one thing. changing the layout and behavior of the GUI is another can of worms entirely. Apple simply doesn't provide the means to make this easy, even for themselves. As a matter of fact, it's strongly discouraged. Plus, the desire to have a menubar in each window, a complete break with the Mac OS philosophy and HE guidelines and puts you in "heathen" territoy. So watch out!
  • Reply 4 of 7
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Blasphemy! 12 "hail Jobs", before going to bed for you.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tubgirl

    -decent window management with keyboard support. i dont get along well with trackpads.



    Such as? I do keyboard window management constantly, so I'm curious what you're looking for.



    Quote:

    -sloppy focus



    I presume you're talking about focus-follows-cursor... you can get that from a couple of places: CodeTek's Virtual Desktop includes it, for instance. (CTVD user, don't use this feature though.)



    Quote:

    -menubar in each window. i find it really frustrating to move the pointer from one end of the screen to another go through the menus, selecting and then go back to where you were... (and repeat a moment later) and it gets even worse when using a dual monitor setup (which i usually do)



    Ain't gonna happen. But what you can do is find a utility to give you the menu bar as a contextual menu under your cursor, ala NeXT. I *just* saw one a few days ago, and now I can't remember the name... anyone? Looked slick.



    Quote:

    -general freedom of choice regarding color themes etc.



    There are ways, although I admit I don't really go in for that sort of thing.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    tubgirltubgirl Posts: 177member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    (...) what you can do is find a utility to give you the menu bar as a contextual menu under your cursor, ala NeXT. I *just* saw one a few days ago, and now I can't remember the name... anyone? Looked slick.





    i'd really like to try that one. give me a hint and i'll try to google it up.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    tubgirltubgirl Posts: 177member
    think i found it...

    http://homepage.mac.com/khsu/DejaMenu/DejaMenu.html



    i'll give it a try.
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