OS XI Concept (With pictures)

[cambookpro]

I was thinking of what Apple could do with OS 11, and I was bored this afternoon so I decided to mockup Apple's next OS (Click for larger on all pics):

Here is what you are greeted with when you boot up OS XI. Your desktop no longer has any files, as explained later on. Notice the iOS dock/menu bar.

Here is the first new feature - iBoard. It's basically an extension of Dashboard that sits on your desktop.

Here is the new design of OS XI - sleek and black. Gone are the faux leather and ribbons, in with a new modern design.

The final new feature is, you guessed it, Siri. You can ask it all the usual questions, plus new ones that feature things like sport and iCloud integration.


Here are some Apple-esque promos I made for OS XI:

(Spelling mistake there, will fix later!)

So there we have it. Please post any suggestions and comments!

 

[iDuel]

Not a big fan of the iOS-like icons, but other than that, this mockup is pretty sleek.

 

[MikhailT]

Interesting concept but looks too much like Ubuntu:

 

[cambookpro]

Thanks guys for the comments. I agree the iOS icons may look a bit 'square', but I think we'd get used to them

Never actually properly seen Ubuntu, maybe it was inspired by a vague connection in my subconscious...!

 

[appleguy123]

I really like it, but we should have at least some access to the file system. I don't want to have to jailbreak my Mac.

 

[cambookpro]

That's where Terminal comes in!

 

[Comeagain?]

Your mockups are very impressive! I actually really like how the icons look (for iOS), but I think one really cool think (to me) is the icons having transparency (or at least the capabilities).

Btw, how did you pick the number "over 500 new features" and what were some of those ideas? I mean the things you haven't show in the pictures.

Also, where is the explanation for no files on the desktop?

 

[Brad9893]

First off, I think there needs to be a file system. I know I would be lost if the applications owned the files that were created with them. I have lots of files that go from Pages to Word (just one example), and it would be hard to swap between programs like that. Or what if you want to switch programs and move all of your files over? I just think it's not good for a desktop OS.

Also, I dislike how you have the time in the very middle of the menu bar. There are a lot of programs that contain a lot of drop down menus within the menu bar. What would happen then? The time would have to be pushed "off-center" and it wouldn't look so great IMO. That's why I think it's better with the time on the right like in OS X.

Also, in the dock you have a bunch of iOS like app icons. It looks pretty good now, but what about when you start putting third party apps in the dock? App icons in OS X can be any shape, so your continuity would quickly be thrown off. It works in iOS because all app icons are the same shape, but it wouldn't really look great if you are using current applications. Of course you might not be going for any type of continuity or similarity between icons, but I thought you were since you edited the iTunes icon. If Apple wants to have the same dock in iOS and OS X/XI they are probably going to keep the 3D dock like they have in iOS currently. I think they are big fans of the 3D "shelf". Could we also have the ability to have "folder" like icons in the dock, like we do in iOS and OS X's Launchpad? I know we can have folders in OS X's dock, but not like we do in iOS.

Additionally, perhaps there could be an option to put the Siri toggle in the menubar? Otherwise a lot of people will have to minimize all of their windows just to get to it which could be a bit of a hassle.

Overall, I really like what you did with your concept. It freshens up the appearance of OS X. It looks very nice, yet at the same time, it looks simple and elegant. Most importantly it looks like a finished and complete interface. One of my bigger complains about OS X Lion's user interface is that it doesn't look like it knows what it wants to be. It's a weird hybrid of AQUA and iOS GUI.

 

[cambookpro]

Your mockups are very impressive! I actually really like how the icons look (for iOS), but I think one really cool think (to me) is the icons having transparency (or at least the capabilities).

Btw, how did you pick the number "over 500 new features" and what were some of those ideas? I mean the things you haven't show in the pictures.

Also, where is the explanation for no files on the desktop?

500 new features was picked out at random - apparently Lion had over 250! Anyway, haven't thought of them all yet

No files on the desktop is sort of explained in the 'A breakthrough in operating a system' image.

First off, I think there needs to be a file system. I know I would be lost if the applications owned the files that were created with them. I have lots of files that go from Pages to Word (just one example), and it would be hard to swap between programs like that. Or what if you want to switch programs and move all of your files over? I just think it's not good for a desktop OS.

Also, I dislike how you have the time in the very middle of the menu bar. There are a lot of programs that contain a lot of drop down menus within the menu bar. What would happen then? The time would have to be pushed "off-center" and it wouldn't look so great IMO. That's why I think it's better with the time on the right like in OS X.

Also, in the dock you have a bunch of iOS like app icons. It looks pretty good now, but what about when you start putting third party apps in the dock? App icons in OS X can be any shape, so your continuity would quickly be thrown off. It works in iOS because all app icons are the same shape, but it wouldn't really look great if you are using current applications. Of course you might not be going for any type of continuity or similarity between icons, but I thought you were since you edited the iTunes icon. If Apple wants to have the same dock in iOS and OS X/XI they are probably going to keep the 3D dock like they have in iOS currently. I think they are big fans of the 3D "shelf". Could we also have the ability to have "folder" like icons in the dock, like we do in iOS and OS X's Launchpad? I know we can have folders in OS X's dock, but not like we do in iOS.

Additionally, perhaps there could be an option to put the Siri toggle in the menubar? Otherwise a lot of people will have to minimize all of their windows just to get to it which could be a bit of a hassle.

Overall, I really like what you did with your concept. It freshens up the appearance of OS X. It looks very nice, yet at the same time, it looks simple and elegant. Most importantly it looks like a finished and complete interface. One of my bigger complains about OS X Lion's user interface is that it doesn't look like it knows what it wants to be. It's a weird hybrid of AQUA and iOS GUI.

Thanks.

The file system is probably the biggest change here, but I think it could be done well. All the apps can import files, and you select these by choosing what type of file (picture, movie etc) and then clicking on it, kinda like iOS when you import photos. Of course there has to be some way to access it, this could probably be done akin to the Library folder in Lion.

I played with the placement of the time but for this concept's sake, I stuck it in the middle to make it feel a bit more like iOS. You could change this in the settings.

The dock icons I wanted to have a unified feel, so I went for an iOS look. I think if apps didn't support this yet, their icon could be put on a grey square (same size as the iOS icons) until they were updated, so all icons did have the unified look. I think the folder idea is good, hadn't thought of that!
I played around with a shelf but I couldn't get a good image to use for it, so that's the main reason it's not there.

Siri is meant to float on top of all the windows to be easily accessible, but I suppose you could put it in the menu bar if you wanted to.

 

[Fishrrman]

The "black menus" may look nice for younger folks, but for us older folks, they get very hard to see.

Fearless prediction: we aren't going to be seeing black menus in a future OS. Or, make it a "theme" that can be turned off, if one needs the clarity of a traditional "white" menu.

Having said that, where'd you get the nice "water" desktop picture?

 

[heisenberg123]

good effort on the mockup

without a file system how do you open a file with a different app?

example with a jpg you might want to open with preview 1 time, than the next time open with a editer like GIMP or Photoshop, than the next time open with Xee, I would not like to be limited

also what happens when you want to copy a file to a USB drive you have to open the file and click Save as than chose the USB as the location? its much easier to just drag it from Finder

also im not sure what your showing with iBoard? isnt that how you can currently show you widgets without actually going to the dashboard "desktop", i can currently bring my widgets up over top of my active desktop very similar to you picture, am I missing something?

 

[cambookpro]

The "black menus" may look nice for younger folks, but for us older folks, they get very hard to see.

Fearless prediction: we aren't going to be seeing black menus in a future OS. Or, make it a "theme" that can be turned off, if one needs the clarity of a traditional "white" menu.

Having said that, where'd you get the nice "water" desktop picture?

I do love the dark menus, but then again I suppose I've got good eyes! Will have to have a 'classic' option in system prefs.

The water wallpaper is the default iPad wallpaper, stretched to fill the screen. I'm sure the retina wallpaper could be a good wallpaper for MBAs at least? Can't find it online though.

good effort on the mockup

without a file system how do you open a file with a different app?

example with a jpg you might want to open with preview 1 time, than the next time open with a editer like GIMP or Photoshop, than the next time open with Xee, I would not like to be limited

also what happens when you want to copy a file to a USB drive you have to open the file and click Save as than chose the USB as the location? its much easier to just drag it from Finder

also im not sure what your showing with iBoard? isnt that how you can currently show you widgets without actually going to the dashboard "desktop", i can currently bring my widgets up over top of my active desktop very similar to you picture, am I missing something?

iBoard is just something to fill the space left behind by not having any files - it's basically the same as Dashboard but sits on your desktop so you can constantly see the weather, time etc.

The whole idea about no file system is quite a hard thing to get your (and my!) head around. I think each app could 'import' files from a central location which is hidden to users. Maybe it'll take a bit more thinking!

I think it's definitely the way we're going though.

 

[heisenberg123]

I do love the dark menus, but then again I suppose I've got good eyes! Will have to have a 'classic' option in system prefs.

The water wallpaper is the default iPad wallpaper, stretched to fill the screen. I'm sure the retina wallpaper could be a good wallpaper for MBAs at least? Can't find it online though.




iBoard is just something to fill the space left behind by not having any files - it's basically the same as Dashboard but sits on your desktop so you can constantly see the weather, time etc.

The whole idea about no file system is quite a hard thing to get your (and my!) head around. I think each app could 'import' files from a central location which is hidden to users. Maybe it'll take a bit more thinking!

I think it's definitely the way we're going though.

ill give you a scenerio and im interested how this OSX would handle it

i have 10 files on a usb i would like to move to my MBP

4 excel
2 Powerpoints
2 Word Docs
1 AVI
1 MP3

how do i copy them to my MBP

 

[cambookpro]

ill give you a scenerio and im interested how this OSX would handle it

i have 10 files on a usb i would like to move to my MBP

4 excel
2 Powerpoints
2 Word Docs
1 AVI
1 MP3

how do i copy them to my MBP

OK, quick thought and this is what I've come up with:

Option to copy all files on USB to computer, or you select the files you want. Press OK, and next time you open Excel, PP etc, you can choose to open those files.

It's a big change, but one I think could make the OS easier to use.

 

[Comeagain?]

They've got no file system on iOS, so whenever you open something, it gets copied and then changes don't reflect in other apps. This is unacceptable for a full device. Especially when you have to go back and forth between apps constantly to get things done. It takes too long to copy and import into each app, and then you get duplicates and such.

 

[cambookpro]

They've got no file system on iOS, so whenever you open something, it gets copied and then changes don't reflect in other apps. This is unacceptable for a full device. Especially when you have to go back and forth between apps constantly to get things done. It takes too long to copy and import into each app, and then you get duplicates and such.

...


I need some time to work this all out...

 

[hafr]

without a file system how do you open a file with a different app?

example with a jpg you might want to open with preview 1 time, than the next time open with a editer like GIMP or Photoshop, than the next time open with Xee, I would not like to be limited

also what happens when you want to copy a file to a USB drive you have to open the file and click Save as than chose the USB as the location? its much easier to just drag it from Finder

Have you ever used an iPhone? You take a photo with the camera app, or you save a picture that you've received in the mail. To view them, you open the Photos app. But if you want to edit them, you just open your picture editing app and choose the picture you want to edit. Having the apps take care of the file structure doesn't mean that a file will be locked into one app. The difference is that instead of finding the file you want to open and then choose which app to open it with, you choose which app you want to work with and then open the file.

To move a file to a USB stick, you could either have an app that works like Finder, showing you which pictures, documents and so on that you have on your computer, or you could export the file from whichever app you're working on it in.

 

[cambookpro]

Have you ever used an iPhone? You take a photo with the camera app, or you save a picture that you've received in the mail. To view them, you open the Photos app. But if you want to edit them, you just open your picture editing app and choose the picture you want to edit. Having the apps take care of the file structure doesn't mean that a file will be locked into one app. The difference is that instead of finding the file you want to open and then choose which app to open it with, you choose which app you want to work with and then open the file.

To move a file to a USB stick, you could either have an app that works like Finder, showing you which pictures, documents and so on that you have on your computer, or you could export the file from whichever app you're working on it in.

I like this way of doing it.
I think not having a file system could make the experience so much better when using a computer, just you need a good way to implement it and not mess it up.

 

[heisenberg123]

Have you ever used an iPhone? You take a photo with the camera app, or you save a picture that you've received in the mail. To view them, you open the Photos app. But if you want to edit them, you just open your picture editing app and choose the picture you want to edit. Having the apps take care of the file structure doesn't mean that a file will be locked into one app. The difference is that instead of finding the file you want to open and then choose which app to open it with, you choose which app you want to work with and then open the file.

To move a file to a USB stick, you could either have an app that works like Finder, showing you which pictures, documents and so on that you have on your computer, or you could export the file from whichever app you're working on it in.

have you ever heard of a jailbroken iphone (mainly so you can access the file system)

 

[Comeagain?]

It's a big change, but one I think could make the OS easier to use.

I disagree. The easy concept of "this is your picture. It is here on your desktop. If you ever want to find it, look on the desktop." or "It's in your downloads folder.". I have teachers who save everything to the desktop because they don't know how to look in Finder, but they know where the files are. Changes like that might be ok for us, but there are very new users who just like being able to see their document on the desktop. If they couldn't see that, they wouldn't know anything and could never grasp that "it's just there" or why it sometimes shows any changes, and sometimes doesn't.

 

[hafr]

They've got no file system on iOS, so whenever you open something, it gets copied and then changes don't reflect in other apps. This is unacceptable for a full device. Especially when you have to go back and forth between apps constantly to get things done. It takes too long to copy and import into each app, and then you get duplicates and such.

Not having a visible file structure doesn't mean every single app need to have its own copy. You're really looking for problems where there are none.

 

[Comeagain?]

have you ever heard of a jailbroken iphone (mainly so you can access the file system)

So jail breaking macs is the solution.

 

[cambookpro]

I disagree. The easy concept of "this is your picture. It is here on your desktop. If you ever want to find it, look on the desktop." or "It's in your downloads folder.". I have teachers who save everything to the desktop because they don't know how to look in Finder, but they know where the files are. Changes like that might be ok for us, but there are very new users who just like being able to see their document on the desktop. If they couldn't see that, they wouldn't know anything and could never grasp that "it's just there" or why it sometimes shows any changes, and sometimes doesn't.

It's a learning curve, but then so was moving from the command line to a GUI. I think it just could be pulled off.

 

[Comeagain?]

Not having a visible file structure doesn't mean every single app need to have its own copy. You're really looking for problems where there are none.

I'm talking about how iOS acts. Thats really what this is at this point.

 

[hafr]

have you ever heard of a jailbroken iphone (mainly so you can access the file system)

I was just trying to answer your question of how to open a file with a different app.