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OwlBoy · Apr 18, 2007, 05:01 PM

Anyone else suspect Mac OS X 10.5 will come in black? It just seems like all the new styles and designs of late from Apple are headed this way. And their design is always reflected in the OS.

The whole WWDC website is dark, and has the same blue we see in the newer iTunes.
Worldwide Developers Conference 2007 - Sessions

The whole Final Cut website is even more White on Black, with fancy white on black tooltips.
Apple - Final Cut Studio 2

Not to mention the advertising style they are using on the Leopard site.
Apple - Apple - Mac OS X - Leopard Sneak Peek

The way Time Machine looks.
Apple - Apple - Mac OS X - Leopard Sneak Peek - Time Machine

The iTunes website has also gone all Black.
Apple - iPod + iTunes

MacPro too.
Apple - Mac Pro

The iPhone uses White on black in lots spots, and it also uses the same blue we see in the current iTunes.
Apple - iPhone

I think the current UI appearance we see in the Dev builds is just a prepping for a full overhaul.

Shiny Black is the new Pinstripes.

-Owl

brokenjago · Apr 18, 2007, 05:37 PM

Hasn't the Final Cut page always come in black?

OwlBoy · Apr 18, 2007, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by brokenjago

Hasn't the Final Cut page always come in black?

I was more-so talking about the website, and how it is matching all the new pages on Apple's site

-Owl

C.A.T.S. CEO · Apr 18, 2007, 05:40 PM

Yes, i do suspect it.

Madrag · Apr 18, 2007, 05:40 PM

hope not.
I don't think those sections in the site are the indicators of the overall colour of 10.5 I suppose these are more of an "in-your-face-beautifull-images-at-apple" kind of thing

Peter · Apr 18, 2007, 06:20 PM

hope so.

TheoCryst · Apr 18, 2007, 06:30 PM

Wouldn't surprise me, though it's anyone's guess at this point. It would be pretty sexy, though: I wager that may be one of the only ways Apple could out-sexy Vista (because lets face it: Aero may be irritating, but it's quite a bit more impressive than Aqua at first glance).

msuper69 · Apr 18, 2007, 07:33 PM

I hope so. Black is my favourite non-color. Black BMW, black RAZR, black MacBook. Black stereo equipment.

"Paint It Black" is one of my fav songs.

And I love the night.

Chuckit · Apr 18, 2007, 07:53 PM

I doubted it initially, but the site does really seem to be hinting at it. Looking on the Tiger preview site from 2005, it wasn't as strong, but it did mirror the OS in that the header had the unified look.

OwlBoy · Apr 18, 2007, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I doubted it initially, but the site does really seem to be hinting at it. Looking on the Tiger preview site from 2005, it wasn't as strong, but it did mirror the OS in that the header had the unified look.

Yeah, they love to do this. Like how they used Keynote for awhile before even announcing it.

-Owl

jmiddel · Apr 18, 2007, 08:56 PM

While msuper69 loves black I hate it, it is too solemn and light destroying for me. I love colors, so since we are all different in our preferences, why can't Apple give us choices, themes as they used to be called. Back in the ancient days of OS 9 I had everything themed in salmon, which probably would bother msuper69 as black does me. A good GUI should be adaptable to the users' preferences for it to offer maximal efficiency. Another example, the standard blue desktop irritates the heck out of me it hurts my eyes, so I use another much happier one. Same choice would be nice for the entire GUI.

fisherKing · Apr 18, 2007, 09:45 PM

it IS about time apple offered a variety of themes.

as for black, i've been using black themes exclusively (now in shapeshifter) since os 9 (with kaleidoscope!), and will continue to do so in 10.5...
whether apple offer is or not.

cubbie5150 · Apr 18, 2007, 11:16 PM

I hope so.... I switched from Windows only 45 days ago, but the one thing I don't really like is the Aqua interface--reminds me of candy or something. I typically prefer darker interfaces...I know, one can't account for taste...

Chuckit · Apr 18, 2007, 11:19 PM

I would really like to see themes as well. Apple has filed a patent for an interesting theming method, so hopefully it's intended to be used more than just internally.

Curiosity · Apr 19, 2007, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by fisherKing

as for black, i've been using black themes exclusively (now in shapeshifter) since os 9 (with kaleidoscope!), and will continue to do so in 10.5...
whether apple offer is or not.

How do you get the text to be readable in app windows that do not theme? That has been my problem ever since I tweaked my first theme. What colours do you choose for the text to make it readable whether the window themes or not?

hldan · Apr 19, 2007, 03:12 AM

Yeah, I have suspected it for a long time. Shocked no one has mentioned it until now. Time Machine nearly gives it away that Leopard is going to have at least black gloss accents in the UI. I have tried and tried and I literally can't stand Shapeshifter. It's utter crap and B.S. Just when you find a theme you like then it has visual text issues or the graphics of the UI are weird or it doesn't work well with many apps. I just end up returning back to original aqua. UNO is cool but it's just another haxie that somehow ends up getting uninstalled because it's not at all perfect looking either.
I will greatly welcome the new black look if it really happens but it would be great if Apple offers customization for the end user.

OwlBoy · Apr 19, 2007, 04:24 AM

Originally Posted by hldan

Yeah, I have suspected it for a long time. Shocked no one has mentioned it until now. Time Machine nearly gives it away that Leopard is going to have at least black gloss accents in the UI. I have tried and tried and I literally can't stand Shapeshifter. It's utter crap and B.S. Just when you find a theme you like then it has visual text issues or the graphics of the UI are weird or it doesn't work well with many apps. I just end up returning back to original aqua. UNO is cool but it's just another haxie that somehow ends up getting uninstalled because it's not at all perfect looking either.
I will greatly welcome the new black look if it really happens but it would be great if Apple offers customization for the end user.

Ditto on Shapeshifter and Uno.

-Owl

blackbird_1.0 · Apr 19, 2007, 04:34 AM

Originally Posted by OwlBoy

Ditto on Shapeshifter and Uno.

Thirded.

fisherKing · Apr 19, 2007, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Curiosity

How do you get the text to be readable in app windows that do not theme? That has been my problem ever since I tweaked my first theme. What colours do you choose for the text to make it readable whether the window themes or not?

some themes work better than others; photopro is nearly perfect, but best so far is 'cold'.

some text (ie file lists in dreamweaver) are grey (where they would be better black) but overall a usable theme.

and i'm spoiled: black just looks too good.
i have only seen the default apple theme when first installing 10.2, 10.3, 10.4...

Visualize · Apr 19, 2007, 10:05 AM

I noticed one thing that I think is proof of a User Interface change in Leopard. On the WWDC sessions page you can select different days to see what's on a particular day. I found that Thursday there's something called "Leopard User Interface Design".
Here: Worldwide Developers Conference 2007 - Schedules

Of course I may be reading into it too much. But I have high hopes for Leopard's UI.

Madrag · Apr 19, 2007, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Visualize

I noticed one thing that I think is proof of a User Interface change in Leopard. (...)

Could mean that, but could also mean what some developer section links have, which is the interface design guidelines, so that your app is within the standards...

Chuckit · Apr 19, 2007, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Visualize

I noticed one thing that I think is proof of a User Interface change in Leopard. On the WWDC sessions page you can select different days to see what's on a particular day. I found that Thursday there's something called "Leopard User Interface Design".
Here: Worldwide Developers Conference 2007 - Schedules

Of course I may be reading into it too much. But I have high hopes for Leopard's UI.

That would be there regardless. It will probably be mainly about integrating Core Animation to get cool interfaces like we see in iChat and Time Machine.

OwlBoy · Apr 19, 2007, 03:17 PM

Ah but you see that not all those things listed say "on Leopard" or such. So it has to be specific to Leopard is some way at least. That could mean just Core Animation, but it could also be about making things work with a new theme.

-Owl

Chuckit · Apr 19, 2007, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by OwlBoy

Ah but you see that not all those things listed say "on Leopard" or such. So it has to be specific to Leopard is some way at least. That could mean just Core Animation, but it could also be about making things work with a new theme.

Yes, the point being that Occam's razor suggests the former. The latter may be true, I just don't think it proves anything.

Hal Itosis · Apr 19, 2007, 04:12 PM

It's way (WAY) past time for Apple to provide us with
built-in theming / skinning abilities in the GUI, and to
give developers all such details about it as necessary.

A few choices beyond "Graphite" would be most welcome.
Let us have a Leopard that *can* change its spots.

As for black, it's all good and well for those who like it
but I think those black Apple web pages are fugly.

utw-Mephisto · Apr 19, 2007, 10:50 PM

Vista went black too ... Mmm.... ok, well kinda .. but still ...

G0Ducks · Apr 19, 2007, 11:37 PM

Hahaha, "And I love the night!" Child of the 80's? I don't know, for some reason, that came to my mind.

Btw, I am all for the shiny black interface, just as long as it is easier to skin that the current interface.

R

Originally Posted by msuper69

I hope so. Black is my favourite non-color. Black BMW, black RAZR, black MacBook. Black stereo equipment.

"Paint It Black" is one of my fav songs.

And I love the night.

msuper69 · Apr 19, 2007, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by G0Ducks

Hahaha, "And I love the night!" Child of the 80's? I don't know, for some reason, that came to my mind.

Btw, I am all for the shiny black interface, just as long as it is easier to skin that the current interface.

R

Child of the 80's. I wish.

Try the 60's.

alainmeyer1 · Apr 21, 2007, 04:02 AM

I would say a black UI could actually look very good.
Just they would have to get it right, because if it looks anything like the current developer build, I will be very angry...

Kevin · Apr 23, 2007, 08:52 AM

This is getting me excited actually. NO more stripes. I wont have to modify the finder's gui resources anymore...

First time I have been excited about OSX's GUI in awhile.

cgc · Apr 23, 2007, 10:02 AM

No. Why isn't this a poll, if so I want "Rhapsodized" as an option.