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::maroma:: · Nov 3, 2007, 07:24 PM

I love almost everything about Leopard. The only real problem I have with it thus far is Stacks. I think they are a poor replacement for the previous way folders acted in the Dock. But like BoingoBongo said, I'm willing to continue to use Leopard and wait and see if Apple fixes or adjusts Stacks to make them more useful, as well as fix any other issues that may arise. Overall its a cleaner, tighter, more functional OS in my opinion.

And as a designer by profession, I very much welcome this new interface. A more muted color scheme and simple folders are something that I consider a feature. One which I used to get by using themes. And the transparent menu bar doesn't bug me, and if it did I would simply adjust my favorite desktop images so that it was no longer transparent. I would also like Apple to stop using the bubble scroll bars and use the iTunes style.

I consider the issues I have with Leopard to be minor, and easily fixed by Apple if they see fit. Nothing I dislike is a deal breaker for me. To each their own. Besides, I'm sure there will be plenty of themes to fix any interface design issues people have.

angelmb · Nov 4, 2007, 03:48 AM

Originally Posted by BoingoBongo

I also like the translucent menu bar, especially with an orange wallpaper.

I like it way more than let's say the new Dock, it looks really good with the green 'CMYK' desktop from veer.com

Kevin · Nov 4, 2007, 07:02 AM

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

I'm sure there will be plenty of themes to fix any interface design issues people have.

Apple has now made it even more complex as far as what file it uses and what files it doesn't now. Themeing is probably twice as hard as it was before. And it was hard then. While I've hacked the scroll bars already, other things are getting harder to hack and find.

analogika · Nov 4, 2007, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Apple has now made it even more complex as far as what file it uses and what files it doesn't now. Themeing is probably twice as hard as it was before. And it was hard then. While I've hacked the scroll bars already, other things are getting harder to hack and find.

I don't know if you've read it, or if you're already aware of all this, but there's some background info here:

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: the Ars Technica review: Page 10

Kevin · Nov 4, 2007, 07:28 AM

Yeah I've read it. And I am excited to what OS X is GOING TO BE, but that doesn't mean it's not a hodge podge mess right now.

.Neo · Nov 4, 2007, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Apple has now made it even more complex as far as what file it uses and what files it doesn't now. Themeing is probably twice as hard as it was before. And it was hard then. While I've hacked the scroll bars already, other things are getting harder to hack and find.

Were you able to make fundamental changes or just alter the scroll bar's colors?

ryaxnb · Nov 4, 2007, 10:19 AM

Looking at Screen shots, my Totally Uneducated (as-a-high-school-student) Opinion is:
Leopard's Dock Looks cooler, but is nigh-unusable due to Stacks Lameness. New resolution: when I buy Leopard, I Buy DragThing. :-) Of course, you can turn off the cool look (which some hate) by a secret code. Apple should have done two things here: Make a non-hidden pref to turn off the look, and make some sort of pref, hidden or not, to turn OFF Stacks.

Menubar: I think the menubar looks cool, but I could totally see how it interferes with Real Work. Again, Simply turned on by default, non-hidden pref to turn it off (and adjust the transparency level).
Folders: Well here I'd like to mention that I think the Folder looks fine, however Siracusa is right that the Folder with Markings (e.g. Documents Folder) looks extremely hard to see, even with sharp eyes. Yet another third party program someone needs to make and I need to buy.

What they should have done: simply made actually icons-on-icons, not markings.
Finder: Ya, ya everybody yaps about the sidebar, which is good, I'm real happy with it, but what about the Greatest Improvement in OS X Finder History Since Spring-Loaded Folders Came Back?!?!?! I am speaking, of course, of Siracusa's much loved grid spacing adjustor. I actually like that too, being a heavy icon view user. It's very important to me.
QuickLook (and the Finder): It looks great! It works fine! It works over iChat and in CoverFlow! :-)
Unifed Interface: No Problems here. They finally got an interface we can all agree on, maybe. More Importantly, they finally got an interface all applications can agree on!

Kevin · Nov 4, 2007, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by .Neo

Were you able to make fundamental changes or just alter the scroll bar's colors?

My 10.5 finder now has the same scroll bars as iTunes does. I am working on the thumbs now.

.Neo · Nov 4, 2007, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

My 10.5 finder now has the same scroll bars as iTunes does. I am working on the thumbs now.

Where are those scroll bars located? Would be nice if you could write a small tutorial.

swiz · Nov 4, 2007, 06:17 PM

Scrollbars are located in:
"/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources"
The file is either Extras.rsrc or Extras2.rsrc depending on if you have an Intel Mac or PPC.
Open one of the files with "Themepark", which is free and available on MacUpdate or Version Tracker.
Look inside "PXM's" and take lots of Excedrin Migraine as you scroll and scroll and scroll... ...

Kevin · Nov 4, 2007, 06:26 PM

What swiz said. That's all ya gotta do.

When I get my PPC one done, I will paste them to the Extras2

pyrite · Nov 4, 2007, 08:26 PM

I like leopard. Neutral = good.

I mostly spend my time recording audio and I like an interface that doesn't distract - I love the Apple Pro apps' interface so this works nicely - the only distracting thing is the pretty dock, which I can disable anyway, and the transparent dock, which is a non-issue if you choose the right desktop. Stacks is handy imo if you don't expect it to be a full-fledged file browser (which it was never meant to be anyway). New finder is a big improvement in terms of layout, and I like the new folder icons, personally. No major complaints here.

Kevin · Nov 4, 2007, 08:31 PM

Launch the X11 app. Now put a window in the background. The title-bars still have the old stripes background.

Kenneth · Nov 5, 2007, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Trygve

System Preferences icon: The Apple light switch was fine. This set of gears looks scary and mechanical.

At first, I couldn't find the System Preferences. It took me days to pick up the new icon.

::maroma:: · Nov 5, 2007, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Kenneth

At first, I couldn't find the System Preferences. It took me days to pick up the new icon.

Days?

Kenneth · Nov 5, 2007, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

Days?

I'm not kidding. People with the iPhone/iPod touch should have no problem with the new icon.

MacosNerd · Nov 5, 2007, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Kenneth

I'm not kidding. People with the iPhone/iPod touch should have no problem with the new icon.

I have neither and it took all of 2 seconds to find it. Moving the mouse over it should have shown what it was also.

::maroma:: · Nov 5, 2007, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by Kenneth

I'm not kidding. People with the iPhone/iPod touch should have no problem with the new icon.

So the icon was in your Dock, and for days you didn't even hover your mouse over it? Did you think all those gears would eat your cursor?

- - e r i k - - · Nov 5, 2007, 09:02 PM

They are some mighty scary gears...

Curiosity · Nov 6, 2007, 01:57 AM

Originally Posted by viruscool

Personally I'm loving the new GUI updates, but I do agree some things, like the home folders need to be a bit more obvious that they are special folders and the blue light on the dock needs to be more obvious and not so subtle, but those things don't bother me that much. There are so many good things in Leopard that make those issues irrelevant to me.

I agree. I think that special folders should be obviously special, rather than the user having to peer closely at them to see that they are. I presume that one could change the folder icons the same way as in Tiger, creating a resource fork to display the new icon?