What the Hell is Wrong with Panther?

[tjwett]

Ok, maybe I'm not seeing this correctly but I'm noticing some major issues here. What is bothering me is the fact that there appears to be atleast 4 different GUI themes going on at once in Panther. I see the original white Aqua (puke) menu bars on the desktop and in some apps. I'm also seeing the brushed metal in the Finder and some apps. Plus there appears to be a whole new thing going on with that solid gray at the top of certain apps and windows. This looks like a such friggin' mess! And then in Mail, you have a solid grey bar at the top of a white Aqua app?!? And an Aqua menu bar at all times with a brushed alluminum Finder??? I don't get this at all. Why not just make EVERYTHING brushed metal, or gray? this mixing and matching looks like a hack job. Can someone explain the benefit of this sloppiness and inconsistency?

[mnkeybsness]

i'm a little confused also...

my guess is that designers haven't really chosen what the theme should look like yet. they are saying that panther won't be available till year's end...that is a long time, and changing the theme can take a matter of seconds. all they need to do is drop in a couple different files to the system and viola!

[pyrotoaster]

Here's what I see (and I'm generally happy, particularly with the new Finder):

- Finder is brushed metal.
- The pinstripes have been generally toned down, but specifically at the top of windows (where the Red, Yellow, Green buttons are) where they've been removed in favor of a more solid color

Mail looks just fine to me. It appears to fit in with the rest of the OS very well. While it's a little odd that Mail isn't brushed metal, I imagine that brushed metal mail wouldn't have looked very good...

[tjwett]

Originally posted by mnkeybsness
i'm a little confused also...

my guess is that designers haven't really chosen what the theme should look like yet. they are saying that panther won't be available till year's end...that is a long time, and changing the theme can take a matter of seconds. all they need to do is drop in a couple different files to the system and viola!

this is a good point. i guess i'm just thinking as if Panther is complete and ready to go, when infact it's still very much a work in progress. i hope they do away with white all together, i hate Aqua. i could deal with that gray, or even the metal. all i want to see is that EVERY single app and portion of the OS matches.

[ezkimo]

If you look here:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/panther/finder.html

There is an image with brushed metal (at the top) and then one that is very similar that is aqua below it. I think that you will be able to decide if you want one or the other (themes).

-Zach

[medea]

I agree with ezkimo, looks like you will finally get the option to choose what gui you want.

[kansaigaijin]

just get duality and metallifizer and do it yourself and stop griping

[tjwett]

Originally posted by kansaigaijin
just get duality and metallifizer and do it yourself and stop griping

Duality is cute and all, but it wacked my last system out really bad. It's really not that safe. And why should we have to rely on a haxie? Wouldn't you rather see the OS have matching components? I would. Infact, I'd like to take it a step further and have Apple make it a rule that any developers must use a single standard theme for all OS X applications. Look how disgusting all those Windows apps are out there, stupid skins, ugly imagery, there is no consistency. I'd hat to see OS X take that turn. If we have a theme prefernece added, that would be nice.

[Arnel]

Originally posted by ezkimo
There is an image with brushed metal (at the top) and then one that is very similar that is aqua below it. I think that you will be able to decide if you want one or the other (themes).


I think the one underneath is a Save sheet rather than a Finder window... hence the Aqua appearance.

Neil.
a.k.a. Arnel.

[GigaWire]

When was it shipping again? Oh yea, the end of the year...

[rhpenguin]

Personally i do NOT like the brushed metal finder. Sure its okay in iTunes, but the whole OS?

Keep it simple and relatively clean looking. Which is why i like the Jag theme. Its simple, clean and not hard on the eyes.

[benixau]

Textured Interface is for programs that represent a real item or for a digital lifestyle device.
The finder i guess is supposed to represent a filing cabinet hence the metal.
Menu bar is still aqua though.

[whooleytoo]

Originally posted by benixau
Textured Interface is for programs that represent a real item or for a digital lifestyle device.
The finder i guess is supposed to represent a filing cabinet hence the metal.


That's Apple's UI guideline sure, but I don't think they're really following it themselves anymore. For instance, iTunes isn't really representing a real-life device, nor is iSync, or iPhoto, or Safari..


Menu bar is still aqua though.

To be pedantic, the metallic look is "aqua" too; Aqua describes the entire GUI, not just the pinstripe texture.

Mike.

[pellucidity]

iTunes 'represents' a stereo, and as you know Apple's guidelines are actually more to the effect of programs that interface with digital devices. iPhoto and iSync make a lot of sense in that context.

[jelloshotsrule]

i could see it being putting a few different looks out there and seeing what people respond to best... or possibly (hopefully) putting them all in as a themes type set up

i personally like the metal. but i could see how some of this here, and some of that there is a bit weird.

[benixau]

thanks pellucidity. i forgot about the digital device rule for metal. as a programmer i dont yet have the skill for hardware interfaces and so only the other is all i have to worry about.

I bet though now, if you looked at it without the metal, in the new aqua format then i thinks you would want metal back. i personally like it and believe that apple knows what it is doing.

btw - i know all about the layers of osx. it is just common to refer to the metal windows as metal or textured (per IB). The other format - being non-textured is normally refered to as aqua. This is because it was the only option in apple's first release of mac os x.