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Is it so bad to have a playful OS instead of it feeling blocky and boring? Blocky and boring is a good part of why I hate windows. What’s wrong with a bit of round and flowing?
Can we get back to real playful interfaces like Aqua on Mac OS X 10.9 and earlier? Not this half flat and confusing mess.
 
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Is it so bad to have a playful OS instead of it feeling blocky and boring? Blocky and boring is a good part of why I hate windows. What’s wrong with a bit of round and flowing?
I see where you're coming from, and I respect that perspective and I was thinking about your statement yesterday. But honestly, I have to disagree. It's bad, I'm sorry. It is so bad...

These devices are powerful tools, not toys. While there's room for creativity, it should be done with thought and respect for the user. Adding playful elements is fine, but don't turn it into something that feels like a high school kid's toy

And if you're going to experiment with design, it needs to be consistent and meaningful. Throwing in animations and transparency for the sake of looking cool in a demo just feels superficial. It needs to serve a purpose, not just look flashy.

Be professional!
 
I see where you're coming from, and I respect that perspective and I was thinking about your statement yesterday. But honestly, I have to disagree. It's bad, I'm sorry. It is so bad...

These devices are powerful tools, not toys. While there's room for creativity, it should be done with thought and respect for the user. Adding playful elements is fine, but don't turn it into something that feels like a high school kid's toy

And if you're going to experiment with design, it needs to be consistent and meaningful. Throwing in animations and transparency for the sake of looking cool in a demo just feels superficial. It needs to serve a purpose, not just look flashy.

Be professional!
Back to Mac OS 9 then? That was the last ‘professional’ looking OS.
 
Clearly not. Why going back to things? Why not improve the things they already have? Look, they still have a solid foundation. But they lack a solid hand to put things in order, unfortunately.
 
I wouldn't mind this (System 8) but high-res for 30th anniversary. ;)

Sys81.png
 
Clearly not. Why going back to things? Why not improve the things they already have? Look, they still have a solid foundation. But they lack a solid hand to put things in order, unfortunately.
I mostly agree, but I don’t think it’s a personnel issue, more an issue of vision. If the people in charge ordered something without joy and clinically professional, they’d get it done. I reckon they could probably pull off professional with a sense of joy and character too if they were set to it!
 
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True. I didn't want to imply that by being professional they have to design for enterprise bros. Far from it. Being professional, yes, I expect being creative, experimenting, adding playful elements while in the same time being consistent, careful, thoughtful about what they do. It’s about balancing creativity with a mindful approach, ensuring the design feels intentional and well-executed.
 
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And it will only get worse after Apple shutdown its Appleseed user group web portal where experienced beta testers provided feedback. I was one and reported perhaps 50 bugs a year to engineering but now I don't bother and I expect the other several hundred testers don't either — that's possibly >5000 bugs a year that engineering has little to no evidence about. We were never told why the portal was closed but my suspicion is that some of us got too vociferous about the quality of early Tahoe betas. The bug that annoys me most now is Finder freezes when some process grabs and won't release all the CPU resources for a minute or two.
I'm still enrolled in the Appleseed program and file feedback a LOT. Like, A LOOOOTTTTT.. I'm specific as possible and always include logs and sysdiagnose files. I can honestly say that no one has replied to or acknowledged anything I've filed since sometime in 2019 maybe...
 
I see where you're coming from, and I respect that perspective and I was thinking about your statement yesterday. But honestly, I have to disagree. It's bad, I'm sorry. It is so bad...

These devices are powerful tools, not toys. While there's room for creativity, it should be done with thought and respect for the user. Adding playful elements is fine, but don't turn it into something that feels like a high school kid's toy

And if you're going to experiment with design, it needs to be consistent and meaningful. Throwing in animations and transparency for the sake of looking cool in a demo just feels superficial. It needs to serve a purpose, not just look flashy.

Be professional!
Thank you for your clarity. Needless to say, I agree 1000%. Respect. APPLE PLEASE READ THIS.
 
The point is that this visual disaster should not require a complaint. It should only require competence on the part of Apple, which they clearly do not have.

View attachment 2590298
That’s is pretty bad. It’s clear it’s not actually a floating bar but it actually fills up the entire bottom area instead.

Edit: I also noticed you can drag the window in the area around it.
 
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I wanted to provide feedback from Apple site, but I couldn't think of a sentence without using F**** in it.
I'm with you on that one. I didn't swear, and no name calling, but the last comment I added to an issue I've filed was pretty clear how upset I am ;-)

If anything, maybe if someone actually DOES read these things, someone can take note: There's still plenty of anger.
 
I wouldn't mind this (System 8) but high-res for 30th anniversary. ;)

View attachment 2590245
I appreciate that hardware was the limiting factor of this eras GUIs; but looking ahead I would not be opposed to stripping things right back. Will never happen, but it’s a good dream.

As has been mentioned many times, Liquid Glass is an unnecessary resource hog. Refractions, reflections, and any other simulated property of glass does in no way improve the user experience.

Even to this day, users still love Platinum precisely because the interface is low-key, and easily distinguishable from content.

People didn’t buy Mac’s because the OS looked the best, they got it because it worked the best. And you can only do your best work when the controls are intuitive and easy to use.
 
intuitive? I've seen chefs who make glorious dishes but have zero mathematical intuition(be careful of what intuitive implies - I think you may be conflating a cultural element into your intuition - had a drill sergeant once tell me that field cleaning my weapon would become intuitive (maybe the word was second nature). easy to learn maybe, but intuitive - not really
 
Even to this day, users still love Platinum precisely because the interface is low-key, and easily distinguishable from content.

People didn’t buy Mac’s because the OS looked the best, they got it because it worked the best. And you can only do your best work when the controls are intuitive and easy to use.
I think you might be over-glorifying the past here. Mac OS 9 was an absolute hell to multitask on. I can’t ever imagine going back to that.
 
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I think you might be over-glorifying the past here. Mac OS 9 was an absolute hell to multitask on. I can’t ever imagine going back to that.
you can add os 9 was a pig to develop on, for all its faults os 10 onwards is a pretty solid programming platform, the ui is a matter of taste (maybe choosing the old look over the new for nostalgic reasons) my question is why apple periodically changes the default shell (not that it really matters)
 
my question is why apple periodically changes the default shell (not that it really matters)
To keep things fresh and interesting and to give a (false) sense of “newness” to consumers without alienating them too much.

In the end the changes are pretty superficial I feel since the most distinct interface elements are still in place and work the same. Going from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X was migrating to a completely different OS in every sense with just about only the concept of the Desktop, Menu Bar and Finder icon being recognizable.
 
It's interesting to note that the radii of the rounded corners seem to match that of the MacBook Pros and Airs they are selling now.
That may be why I like it better. I’ve only ever used it on my MacBook while my Mac Mini still runs Sequoia as a just in case for backwards compatibility with iPods. So it being more akin to MacBooks might b influential to my experience situation.
 
I guess history repeats itself
Sadly, you are right. There is nothing new under the sun. Every time I see a round button, I think I am back in nursery school. Apple did the same stupid self involved "look at us we are apple and will give you what WE want, NOT what you want" useless overhaul that was VISTA.
 
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MAC (not the fruity variant) don’t change their address, not for your Ethernet, nor for wireless. One could spoof MAC addresses depending on software/tools being used but you MAC (the fruity one) wouldn’t do that by itself.
Well, this used to be true in the past, but IEEE 802.11bh Randomized and Changing MAC Addresses (RCM) is a thing.
 
To keep things fresh and interesting and to give a (false) sense of “newness” to consumers without alienating them too much.
"Fresh" is meaningless. In what way is Tahoe fresh? It just means change in this context.

"Interesting"? The OS doesn't need to be interesting. It's a support function for apps/programs. It needs to be functional and to stay out of the way as much as possible. Y'know, so users can focus on their content.

In the end the changes are pretty superficial
The changes are anything but superficial. They are screaming to be noticed.
 
"Fresh" is meaningless. In what way is Tahoe fresh? It just means change in this context.

"Interesting"? The OS doesn't need to be interesting. It's a support function for apps/programs. It needs to be functional and to stay out of the way as much as possible. Y'know, so users can focus on their content.
Exactly. There’s really no other reason why Apple changes the appearance of their operating systems periodically: so the masses won’t get bored looking at the same icons and window styles. I’m not saying I agree with it.
The changes are anything but superficial. They are screaming to be noticed.
Liquid Glass is little more than an overly flashy new lick of paint on the same old stuff. Beyond the appearance really not that much has changed about macOS’ functionality and how apps operate. It’s the definition of ‘superficial’.
 
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