Aqua To See Leopard Refresh?

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Not to flame you, but if you want to have menu bars attached to windows, why don't you stick up with Windows instead?

Apple has had the menu bar at the top, detached from the app window, since the Lisa and the Mac System 1, for two reasons: to save screen space, and to take advantage of Fitt's Law... Unless you work with a 60'' screen or something along those lines, you'll still be better off with Fitt's Law for the menu bar... Windows only takes advantage of it on the Start button, and on the close button and the app icon menu on maximized windows...

At first, I preferred the menus on top of the window as well. Now, I could never go back - I love the menubar!!!

 

[aLoC]

no idea. picture from google. cool though, I'll see if I can figure it out

Double clicking any playlist opens it in a new window.

 

[MacVault]

[attn, possible flame bait]
all this glossy aqua illuminous aero stuff is just at the surface.... what about giving us something useful - like the option to have the Menu Bar attached to its application window? I find it anoying having to move the mouse across acres of other windows and desktop to go to the menu bar. it was appropriate in Lisa and original Mac days with their tiny screens but not when large screens are the norm. why not allow the user to choose?
[flame bait off]

YES! You've got my vote! The more I use OS X the more I dislike the menu bar. I much prefer how Windows has the "task bar" at the bottom of the screen and then menus are on their respective windows. I wish Apple would do this. The current OS X menu bar is too OS 9-ish.

 

[panamajack]

Apple Gazette ?

It appears as though the power of a single thread has shut down the site ...

It's a topic for another thread I realize, but folks here on the forums (as well as MR writers) constantly grade sites "reliability" (usually negative), I'd like to know what readers top 5 rumour mill sites are ?

 

[MacVault]

Am I the only one that doesn't like Aqua as much? The big chunky traffic light buttons, the lovely grey pinstrips, the bad looking brush metal, the schizophrenic dock icons (i wish they matches more. Have you seen the new time machine icon? it looks absolutely out of place)...etc... [snip]

No - You're not the only one who doesn't like Aqua. I very much dislike it... the buttons, the the rounded bubbly scroll bars, the pinstripes, brushed metal, etc. The Dock I just don't like at all. The more I use XP/Vista the worse I feel about the OS X GUI. Apple needs to fix all this with Leopard. Refine and polish the UI, etc. Apple really needs to work on the way users interact with networking, shares, etc. OS X's networking really sucks. Windows is way ahead in all of these areas.

 

[Panu]

Is Fitt's Law a Good Fitt?

Apple has had the menu bar at the top, detached from the app window, since the Lisa and the Mac System 1, for two reasons: to save screen space, and to take advantage of Fitt's Law

I follow the reasoning behind having the application menu always at the top, but now that monitors are getting to be the size of football fields, that puts the menu too far away. Since the menu and the application window are in different places, if you are looking at the window, you aren't looking at the menu, and you might not notice that it changed--especially when you accidentally switch to a hidden application.

For example, I have unblocked pop-up windows in Safari by mistake when I wanted to empty the Trash in Mail with Command+K.

I can see disadvantages to having the menu bar in the application window, because that means that an application must have at least one window open at all times.

I'm not entirely happy with either approach. Being a user, I can point out the problem. Not being a user-interface designer, I can't come up with a solution.

 

[Nym]

No - You're not the only one who doesn't like Aqua. I very much dislike it... the buttons, the the rounded bubbly scroll bars, the pinstripes, brushed metal, etc. The Dock I just don't like at all. The more I use XP/Vista the worse I feel about the OS X GUI. Windows is way ahead in all of these areas.

Windows ahead of OSX in terms of GUI? WHOA, that's a first
I can never understand some people.. do you prefer the Windows All Programs infinite list compared to the dock? or the Program Files mess compared to the Applications folder? I just don't understand ...

 

[AidenShaw]

...I have already gotten a blue screen in Vista when I tried to install--not use--a driver that turned out to be incompatible...

It actually makes a lot of sense for an incompatible driver to cause a crash during installation - that's when the driver's code is loaded into memory, connected to the kernel routines and data, and its initialization and startup code is executed.

If it's written for an older kernel, there is a lot going on that can go wrong if the driver's APIs and data don't match the system.

I've also had one Vista bluescreen installing a bad driver. The dialog went something like:

[Vista] This driver does not appear to be compatibile, continue or cancel?

[Aiden] Continue

[Vista] This driver really looks strange, are you sure that you want to continue?

[Aiden] Yes

[Vista] This driver is infested with maggots, and smells of week-old carrion. Are you really, really sure that you want to continue?

[Aiden] Yes

[Vista] BSOD

 

[AidenShaw]

do you prefer the Windows All Programs infinite list compared to the dock?...

Check Vista, it's changed a lot for the better in this area....

 

[MacVault]

Windows ahead of OSX in terms of GUI? WHOA, that's a first
I can never understand some people.. do you prefer the Windows All Programs infinite list compared to the dock? or the Program Files mess compared to the Applications folder? I just don't understand ...

Yes! WAY YES! The Program Files menu is way better than having to open a finder window to open an application/program, and the dock is just intrusive and breaks the whole "smoothness" of the Desktop.

I wish Apple would take on the enterprise market but I think the OS X UI is one thing that needs to first be fixed in order to work for the enterprise mkt. The current OS X UI does not lend itself well to an enterprise/integrated/feature rich world where UI conventions need to be more consistent, intuitive, etc. This is where Windows XP/Vista excels. Take browsing for networks for example in OS X, or setting up file sharing, printers, etc. The OS X UI for these things is HORRIBLE-designed, inconsistent, etc.

 

[Rychiar]

i wish they'd make everything black including window backdrops, god that would be soooo much easier on the eyes especially on the bright as hell new imacs

 

[AppliedVisual]

i wish they'd make everything black including window backdrops, god that would be soooo much easier on the eyes especially on the bright as hell new imacs

I don't know about all black... But going dark like the pro apps or other applications I use regularly (Luxology's Modo), would be great. It would also be nice if Apple could allow a lot more user customization in terms of light/dark and color.

 

[fixyourthinking]

It appears as though the power of a single thread has shut down the site ...

It's a topic for another thread I realize, but folks here on the forums (as well as MR writers) constantly grade sites "reliability" (usually negative), I'd like to know what readers top 5 rumour mill sites are ?

Aren't there only about 5 anyway (that matter)

Macrumors is FAR above the rest ... the other sites are filled with weirdos and busy bodies

 

[kalisphoenix]

Yes! WAY YES! The Program Files menu is way better than having to open a finder window to open an application/program, and the dock is just intrusive and breaks the whole "smoothness" of the Desktop.

I wish Apple would take on the enterprise market but I think the OS X UI is one thing that needs to first be fixed in order to work for the enterprise mkt. The current OS X UI does not lend itself well to an enterprise/integrated/feature rich world where UI conventions need to be more consistent, intuitive, etc. This is where Windows XP/Vista excels. Take browsing for networks for example in OS X, or setting up file sharing, printers, etc. The OS X UI for these things is HORRIBLE-designed, inconsistent, etc.

What would you suggest?

 

[guzhogi]

I remember in Mac OS 8.5, Apple actually included a feature where you could've changed the appearance of everything, like Kaleidoscope & shape shifter. Apple should really bring that back.

As for the menubar vs. having menus in the windows like Windows, Apple should let people decide for themselves where they want it.

For the Program Files list, you can just add the Applications folder to the dock and it'll work the same way. Plus, you can set the dock to hide itself when not in use. Just put your mouse over the separator between the application icons & the trash, right or control-click it and select turn hiding on. That'll save some screen real estate.

If you guys really like the Windows GUI that much better, why use Macs? Windows (and everything else MS) is already the enterprise standard, unfortunately. Personally, I prefer Macs, but only b/c I'm more used to them. I kinda like the look of Mac programs. Very clean. I feel that w/ Windows programs, everything is so messed up and in so many different area while Mac programs have everything in the same folder. No extra files all over the place except for a few programs.

One feature from Windows I would like is a program uninstaller. I know a lot of programs put "installer receipts" in the System/Receipts folder. These mainly keep track of what the permissions of the installed software should be. Apple could add what was installed where in them to make deinstalling easier.

 

[Panu]

Oh Ess Ten Ten dot Four dot Eight?

That makes it sensible to call all of them "OS X." I see no reason why Apple should have released OS11, OS12, OS13 and so forth, as opposed to 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4. If anything, this helps Apple to build a solid brand for the OS.

In OS X 10, the Arabic numerals for ten are redundant after the Roman numeral ten. (OS ten ten?) The duplicate ten pushes the release numbers down so that the major versions look like dot releases.

It would be more in line with general practice to remove the 10. The first release of Panther would then be OS X 3.0, and the current release of Tiger would be OS X 4.8

Then it would look more like what it really is.

(I've said it II or III times: I don't like mixing Roman numerals with computer technology. The II just seem to clash. I don't see anyone making a LXIV-bit processor.)

 

[dongmin]

"Illuminous" is like "irregardless" -- not a word!

A dead giveaway that this rumor is TOTAL BS. Apple is different, not illiterate.

 

[Hobofuzz]

YES! You've got my vote! The more I use OS X the more I dislike the menu bar. I much prefer how Windows has the "task bar" at the bottom of the screen and then menus are on their respective windows. I wish Apple would do this. The current OS X menu bar is too OS 9-ish.

Then why don't you go use Windows?

 

[inkswamp]

I just don't see them scrapping the whole thing for a dot release of the OS. [...] Doesn't make sense to replace the UI in a dot release of the OS.

You're joking, right?

 

[inkswamp]

A dead giveaway that this rumor is TOTAL BS. Apple is different, not illiterate.

Ever play that old game where one person whispers something to someone and that person in turn whispers it to the next person and so on? By the time you've finished passing it around the whole room, you'll find that the original message is no longer the same--sometimes not even remotely close. Things get changed as they pass from person-to-person, inevitably. I'm betting if this rumor is real that this "illuminous" is a mishearing/mispronunciation along the way that has been passed along.

And remember: Apple is, in fact, misusing the term exposé. The concept is to expose all windows, but that's not what exposé means.

 

[Lepton]

Assist works INCREDIBLY well too. I love it. Just tell the Newton to "remember tomorrow", and it'll set up a To-Do for tomorrow. Tell it to "Schedule friday" and it'll add a meeting to friday. Tell it to "Call -insert name here-" and it'll search for the name specified in the Names database and ask you which one to call. Tell it to "Find Me" and it'll bring up the Find program, put "me" into it, then display your info.
Apple could easily implement the Assist functionality into Mac OS X. I wouldn't be surprised if there was already a 3rd-party program that does this, actually.

Newton Intelligence was amazing and great, the Newton database system was great, the writing and drawing stuff was great, the Newton OS was great, the development system was great! The handwriting recognition was very good at the end and the current Ink is better. You could put a modern version of it on a phone right now and it would be like Manna from Heaven.

The only thing wrong with Newton at the end was its form factor was too big and that became no problem years and years ago. They said they didn't want to support two OS's then, and there were big internal political problems, but that's way under the bridge now and they could take on a phone OS easily, if they are taking on a phone. I loved that Newton, loved developing for it. My detailed take on what Apple's high end handheld device will do is here.-Mike from myallo.com

 

[MacVault]

Then why don't you go use Windows?

I'm not going to stop using OS X but I think I will start to use Windows for the strengths it does have.

 

[boxlight]

Here's another spiffy thing to do:

1. Hold down control
2. Scroll up and down with your mouse (or trackpad).

If you ever wanted to watch a video fullscreen off a website or in QuickTime (without the pro version), here's a quick, easy and free way to do it! (I think this requires 10.4.8, though.

Nice -- but how do I make the mouse cursor vanish?

 

[thewhitehart]

Leopard OS X, illuminous it will be!

(Is it just me, or is he wearing Ellen Feiss' sweater in this picture?)

 

[Nym]

Yes! WAY YES! The Program Files menu is way better than having to open a finder window to open an application/program, and the dock is just intrusive and breaks the whole "smoothness" of the Desktop.

I wish Apple would take on the enterprise market but I think the OS X UI is one thing that needs to first be fixed in order to work for the enterprise mkt. The current OS X UI does not lend itself well to an enterprise/integrated/feature rich world where UI conventions need to be more consistent, intuitive, etc. This is where Windows XP/Vista excels. Take browsing for networks for example in OS X, or setting up file sharing, printers, etc. The OS X UI for these things is HORRIBLE-designed, inconsistent, etc.

Like any Windows expert (which seem to like the problem solving OS) here's the solution, kill the dock process and run you're applications from the applications folder... IMO the dock is a Mac trademark, and I've never found it intrusive...
You find OSX non-intuitive? How? You open the finder and there it is, Home folder, Music, Movies, Documents, Applications.. what's the problem??
In college we had 3 computer labs, one with Mac's and the other 2 with PC's, every network connection functioned properly, printers and whatever, I guess that is up to the guy who sets up the network...

Please use Windows, anyone who has such a grudge against Mac's shouldn't even use them, there are alternatives you know?