Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Metal Interface on Mail?

Good job, Apple! Why don't you just destroy every single thing I love about X. After 10.24 created problems on three formerly stable machines, it's nice to see that Apple is backing down when it comes to disappointing me.

This is weak.

Dan
 
i'm not sure why people are getting their panties in a knot here.

look at safari and how easy it was for someone to create a hack that allowed for a pinstripe UI. it's not like you can't change the UI of apple apps.

come on people, this OS is a version of unix/distant bastard cousin of linux. if it can be hacked it will.

i'm willing to wager money that if they do release this updated interface, someone will have a haxie within weeks.
 
and just to add to what Hitman is saying - it is only how the
application looks. If you don't like it, I'm sure you will have no
problem living with it. And if you just cant stand it, there will
most probably be a GUI mod.
 
wow i had no idea how many HATE the brushed metal. :D hehehe i am always on the minorities side hmmm, well i like that :D tells me im doing something right :D

seriously though, the white trimmed windows with the strips is what i dont like, i prefer the grey. anyway, we can always use a mod to change things to our preference.

i know i know, "BUT I DONT WANT TO HAVE TO USE A MOD, IT SHOULD BE BUILT INTO THE OS."
why? to satisfiy you? what im saying is apple isnt going to satisfy everybody. however if you can prove that the majority doesnt like it apple MIGHT do something about it.

anyway, apple already stated that anything to do with the internet will be brush metal. damn dont have a link to it but i think its pretty well known.


edit
hmmm, maybe im wrong, i THOUGHT it was reserved for internet apps...but then what about sherlock and iMovie. guess im wrong.
 
Originally posted by e2chris
i dont believe you guys are fighting over a GUI color... lol
Click to expand...

well, believe it or not your eyes and what it perceives are an important part in an overall computer experience which apple specializes in :rolleyes: and we are simply discussing their progress.
 
brushed metal is just a trend they are going through, or a phase more precisely. in a year from now it will be something different, but that year cant come soon enough because brushed metal is an eyesore, from a design aspect it completely sucks.
 
Re: how about speed...

Originally posted by suzerain
maybe instead of making Mail look like a cheesy imitation of a 1980s stereo component, they should, like make the damned program faster!
Click to expand...


it works fine for me, ive been using it for the last two years. tibook667 512ram
 
Stick with Aqua

Originally posted by vniow
Ick, this is what it'll look like:

attachment.php
Click to expand...

Apple should dump the metal look period. The only apps that look good with the metallic look are quicktime and iTunes. Safari looks like crap with metal, so does iSync, iCal, iMovie, Address Book, etc... metal should be for media players ONLY!

The Metal look + colored icons = bad mix.

Apple is messing up something they got right the first an example of this the Show/Get info box... damn disclosure triangles

:mad:

I hope there's a way to get rid of the metal look on these apps it should be an option.
 
Originally posted by hitman
i'm not sure why people are getting their panties in a knot here.

look at safari and how easy it was for someone to create a hack that allowed for a pinstripe UI. it's not like you can't change the UI of apple apps.

come on people, this OS is a version of unix/distant bastard cousin of linux. if it can be hacked it will.

i'm willing to wager money that if they do release this updated interface, someone will have a haxie within weeks.
Click to expand...

Third party hacks and GUI mod's sloooooow X to a crawl :mad:

First Party solution's PLEASE!

Some ideas:
http://www.geocities.com/juan_m
 
Originally posted by pantagruel
brushed metal is an eyesore, from a design aspect it completely sucks.
Click to expand...

Can you give some reasons?

Personally, I think Aqua is a design nightmare. It's two metaphors at once--the pinstripe panels that look like nice wallpaper or bond paper--and the garish, lollipop-colored aqua widgets that seem to have nothing to do with pinstripe. They clash. It looks awful.

Brushed metal is easier on the eyes and does not clash as badly with the widgets (in graphite coloration at least), but even here I think they should change the buttons and scrollbar to something more metallic-looking, furthering the metaphor.

Maybe some peope think brushed metal looks cheesy because it reminds them of appliances from the 70s? Guess what folks--design tastes are cyclical, and brushed metal is now considered classy, not cheesy. If you think it looks cornball, you're probably showing your age (i.e. old enough to remember the era AND still be embarrassed by it).
 
Re: Re: how about speed...

Originally posted by beatle888
it works fine for me, ive been using it for the last two years. tibook667 512ram
Click to expand...

i never said it didn't *work*...aside from its bizarre interface, it seems to work fine.

it just works verrrrry slowly...things that literally take less than a second in eudora can take up to 10-20 seconds in Mail. that's a major difference.

for instance, sort a mailbox with ~7,500 or so messages in it. highlight 100 emails and drag them to another inbox.

if you compare side by side with...well...any other email program, you'll see a noticeable speed difference.

if it was a small speed difference, i wouldn't be bitching...but from "instant" to 10 seconds? to do something simple like change from sort by subject to sort by date?

apple has proven that they can write fast software, now that they have released Safari. it's time for iCal and Mail to follow suit.

editing my post to put it on topic: i think the problem with the brushed metal is that it doesn't look like brushed metal. rather, it looks like grey stripes with a cheesy blend. my guess is that's why a lot of people don't like it. (hold some brushed metal next to your screen and you'll see what i mean.) but, as someone pointed out, it is nice to have windows that are draggable from anywhere.
 
Here's another thought - I might like the metal interface if it wasn't so awkwardly implemented. I often notice that metal apps, such as iTunes and QT Player look nice only when they have a border. This was a handy feature in 9, and may serve to make the god-awful ugly Safari a contender in my browser experience.

Metal without a border is a sham. I would rather sacrifice a few pixels of real-estate by having a slightly larger window than hate my GUI. And, btw, I gotta say I hate metal with a fiery passion.

One last note - Apple obviously responds to user comments on forums across the web... perhaps they will notice the backlash against metal if enough people raise their voices.

Dan
 
Originally posted by beatle888


edit
hmmm, maybe im wrong, i THOUGHT it was reserved for internet apps...but then what about sherlock and iMovie. guess im wrong.
Click to expand...

Well, when apple came out with the imac, SJ stated that the i stood for internet. Guess he blew that out of the water awhile ago too. Just what does the i stand for now in all the i apps? Got me. It's just silly really.
 
Originally posted by Awimoway
Can you give some reasons?

Personally, I think Aqua is a design nightmare. It's two metaphors at once--the pinstripe panels that look like nice wallpaper or bond paper--and the garish, lollipop-colored aqua widgets that seem to have nothing to do with pinstripe. They clash. It looks awful.

Brushed metal is easier on the eyes and does not clash as badly with the widgets (in graphite coloration at least), but even here I think they should change the buttons and scrollbar to something more metallic-looking, furthering the metaphor.

Maybe some peope think brushed metal looks cheesy because it reminds them of appliances from the 70s? Guess what folks--design tastes are cyclical, and brushed metal is now considered classy, not cheesy. If you think it looks cornball, you're probably showing your age (i.e. old enough to remember the era AND still be embarrassed by it).
Click to expand...
Sorry but brushed metal and the form used by apple is not retro (70's) your thinking of stainless steel and chrome looks, not the same. and where else are you finding brushed metal that is considered classy, a car?
sorry but I dont compare the look and desing of software to cars, otherwise my Windows would be tinted. hahha, that was bad.
 
themes

Someone earlier mentioned Themes by Max Rudberg...I'd like to echo that it's very easy to theme your mac.

For those of you who like Brushed, he has a theme that will make it all so.

For those, like me, who got tired of Aqua, he has a beautiful, simple theme called Rhapsodized that has the elegance of OSX with the clean look of Rhapsody...best of all, brushed apps are retained, but toned-down considerably (except iTunes and Quicktime--for some reason).

Give it a try.
 
as long as mail is improved, i don't care so much how it looks. it will look okay regardless - apple is king of elegant ui.
 
Originally posted by bretm
Well, when apple came out with the imac, SJ stated that the i stood for internet. Guess he blew that out of the water awhile ago too. Just what does the i stand for now in all the i apps? Got me. It's just silly really.
Click to expand...

I don't think he ever said it stood for internet. To the best of my
knowledge, that is just a large misconception, and it really stands
for imagine.
 
Oh, please!

I can't believe that so many have posted to this thread (now add one more). I was at Kinkos yesterday and they were having problems getting their scanner to work on some sweet looking Dell equipment. The guy scanned it finally on the old G-3 Mac they had that the designer in back would not let go of -- despite some paid agreement with Dell for this neat new equipment.

They were still rebooting XP Pro (Microshaft's latest and greatest) after the Mac had ONCE AGAIN paid for its keep.

The point of this is -- the Windoze world is still drooling over our OS (whether they admit it or not) and we are up in arms over a RELATIVELY meaningless GUI transition that will be here for the next year or so, maybe? If you don't like it then change it with Software.

I happen to LIKE the fact that the GUI is more closely representing my TiBook (after all, it is the YEAR OF THE LAPTOP). Some others would disagree. Oh well, MOVE ON!
 
Originally posted by alset
Here's another thought - I might like the metal interface if it wasn't so awkwardly implemented. I often notice that metal apps, such as iTunes and QT Player look nice only when they have a border. ...
Click to expand...

That's what I don't like. Right now I am looking at a window (Safari) with a metal top that has rounded corners; but the left side is a blue line, and the right and bottom sides are blue, 3D scroll bars, with square corners. Mixed metaphors! Would you expect such a weird concoction from a company famed for the quality and consistency of its user interface?

And, for that matter, we can't select from a set of themes?! What's going on, are Apple and Microsoft trading places?!!
 
I already have my Mail.app looking like this now. I just edited the .nib files in the app's package contents. Simple as pie with the devtools. I think it looks a lot better, but that's just me :p
 

Attachments

  • mail.jpg
    mail.jpg
    57.2 KB · Views: 646
Duality...

For those of you who like brushed metal and hate/dislike Aqua, there's Duality + Max Rudburg. For those of us who like Aqua (or any other theme for that matter) and dislike brushed metal, we have to manual disable BM for each app in interface builder. (or use metallifizer which is only slightly better). I like my apps to stick with the aqua theme primarily because my duality themes don't apply to brushed metal apps. I like to pick ONE theme, and have all my apps look the same, and i DON'T want that theme to be brushed metal.
 
Three steps

Step 1: Download and install developer tools, and open Interface Builder.

Step 2: Uncheck "Textured Window" from every window you don't want to be brushed metal.

Step 3: (insert Goldblum chuckle here) there's no step 3, there's no step 3!

-----

(Step 4: SHUT THE **** UP.)

I am SO SICK of hearing that brush metal sucks, that it looks cheesy, blah, blah, blah. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T USE IT. It's as simple as that. Apple has always made tons of choices for its users without really consulting them, and no one has complained -- I don't see how this one is any different. Hacks/workarounds have always come out, and this issue is also no different. Just follow the above 3 steps.

Plus, I really can't fathom how 1 inch of brushed metal in Safari can make it look bad. Yeesh, the brushed metal is only in the toolbar! That's all! I hardly even notice it anymore!

*shakes head* Some people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back