When will we get res. independence?

[Jiddick ExRex]

I was really looking forward to this feature in Leopard and then Apple cancelled it. Signs are showing that it was a feature they would have implemented if they had the time though, vector images instead of bitmaps used as GUI buttons for instance, interesting stuff.

I was just thinking that I don't need resolution independence at all. My eyesight is good so I can still see what is going on on a 1680x1050 monitor but then I remembered: the higher resolution, the more crisp and nice everything will look, this is why full-HD televisions were invented.

When do you think this feature will be implemented, if at all?

 

[hodgjy]

You might want to read this if you haven't already:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/9

 

[TheStu]

Ugh.... 2-3 hours later I am finally done reading all that, and the associated links, and their associated links, and.... o man, I think my eyes are bleeding!

Anyway, back on topic. I personally am looking forward to ResInd, not because I have ridiculously high DPI screens, but rather because I have a low DPI screen (compared to others). Let me shrink the entire UI of the OS, so that the menubars are smaller, text is smaller, everything is a little smaller. Not so small that it is silly, but small enough to still be read when it is dark, I am tired, and the screen brightness is low. That way I can dedicate more of my screen to multiple windows, something that OS X is quite well suited for IMO, and will be happy until they release a WSXGA screen for the MacBook.

Basically I would like to see ResInd first, followed by a 1 step bump in screen res on all teh portables. The DPI is already as high as the industry allows on the desktops, but with teh introduction of the Lenovo ThinkPad x300, we see that there are WSXGA 13.3" screens, and we all know that WSXGA+ screens exist in 15.4" for the MacBook Pro, and WUXGA for the 17". Of course, since I am in fact just one guy, and my wishes are not to be conveyed as dogma to Cupertino, I am not sure if this will ever happen.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

You might want to read this if you haven't already:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/9

Unlike Quartz GL, Apple has actually provided a pretty clear message to developers about resolution independence. There have been sessions at the past few WWDCs about how to prepare applications to run properly at scale factors above 1.0. The real hold-up has been Apple itself, however, which doesn't quite have resolution independence working correctly across all of Mac OS X's GUI frameworks. Also, the exact details of how resolution independence will interact with the various APIs have changed as recently as WWDC 2007.

Nevertheless, the rumored date for resolution independence to appear as a user-visible feature in Leopard is 2008. Early 2008? Late 2008? If Apple knows, it's not saying. And so the question posed two years ago still stands. Which will come first, affordable high-PPI display hardware or a resolution-independent version of Mac OS X? The wait continues.

Yeah, I read this the day after Leopard was released but of course forgot the technical details. I could only remember what he said on the mix of bitmapped detailed elements and vectored simple elements.

This would indicated that the late Leopard updates will get resolution independence however. 🙂