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Hawkeye_a · Mar 27, 2009, 09:59 AM

Rumors abound regarding UI interface overhaul in Snow Leopard. Appleinsider and MacRumors have been mentioning it since MWSF09. Here are a couple of sample images/mockups. The new 'Marble' is said to resemble the new iTunes, iPhone and online .Mac interface.

Personally, i prefer Aqua's 'rich' colors/depth and polish. The new 'glass' type interface looks (i hate to say it) kkinda Vista-ish.

Ultimately i would prefer it these two "themes" were made an option to end users.

What do you guys think ?

nonhuman · Mar 27, 2009, 10:01 AM

I agree, definitely kinda Vista/Windows 7-ish. That said, I like it.

Spheric Harlot · Mar 27, 2009, 10:28 AM

Once anybody knows what it looks like, I'll let you know what I think.

jokell82 · Mar 27, 2009, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Once anybody knows what it looks like, I'll let you know what I think.

Exactly. No use complaining about something you haven't even seen yet.

Dakar V · Mar 27, 2009, 10:43 AM

I concur as well.

Maflynn · Mar 27, 2009, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by jokell82

Exactly. No use complaining about something you haven't even seen yet.

well that's unAmerican and un-mac like. We need to whine and complain even if its for stuff that hasn't been released yet

Salty · Mar 27, 2009, 12:00 PM

I think Apple keeps going for progressively more subtle and subtle till we're gonna end up with just... well flat grey?

I think they'd actually do well to make both a dark and light theme, but include one colour variable, and offer users a chance to pick a colour overlay. I know it doesn't fit Apple's way of doing things, but it would probably make the younger non-designer crowd happy to be able to change the look of their own OS. I know my sister has this awful gaudy pink and green colour scheme she picked out, but I imagine if she had a Mac she'd be just as happy if she had been able to overlay the windowing system with a subtle pink hue.

OreoCookie · Mar 27, 2009, 12:21 PM

HUDs are Vista-ish? I don't know Vista very well, but I haven't noticed any HUDs in Vista. Also, there have been precursors for years of this interface, so I don't think Apple has taken any pointers from Vista or Windows 7.

Regarding Aqua: I like it very much. I haven't seen Marble, but if it is anything like a mixture of Aperture + iTunes (dark tones, HUDs, etc.), I'd have to say that I prefer Aqua. But I'll have to wait for Apple's implementation to make comments on it.

Salty · Mar 27, 2009, 12:39 PM

Hud?

Dakar V · Mar 27, 2009, 12:42 PM

Heads Up Display

Salty · Mar 27, 2009, 12:45 PM

Heads up display? You mean like the side column things like in Mail and play lists in iTunes?

ajprice · Mar 27, 2009, 12:50 PM

I hope they do update the UI, of only to get rid of glossy Aqua scroll bars

Oh and Hud...

CharlesS · Mar 27, 2009, 01:26 PM

Shouldn't this be a poll?

I myself love the blue scroll bars, although I recognize that I'm probably in a minority here. The iTunes ones look drab and dull to me.

Dakar V · Mar 27, 2009, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by ajprice

I hope they do update the UI, of only to get rid of glossy Aqua scroll bars

I've been using graphite from day 1 because I can't stand the traffic light buttons and for some reason the blue scroll bars only seem to make them more conspicuous.

I didn't seem to mind Max Rudbergs's Aqua traffic light variations.

Salty · Mar 27, 2009, 01:50 PM

The traffic lights make it sooo much easier to trouble shoot my mom over the phone though

shifuimam · Mar 27, 2009, 01:59 PM

What kind of HUD are we talking about? I'm not sure how that fits into an OS, beyond the OSD that shows volume control and whatnot...

migel628 · Mar 27, 2009, 02:50 PM

Hopefully it'll be something that we can select, instead of something forced upon us.

Atheist · Mar 27, 2009, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by migel628

Hopefully it'll be something that we can select, instead of something forced upon us.

I seriously doubt it. Apple doesn't like to give us choices.

osiris · Mar 27, 2009, 03:16 PM

I'm not a fan of translucent or colorful GUIs, graphite for me.

This reminds me of the 'ole Kaleidoscope days. I had hundreds of some of the most bizarre color/window styles, I always seemed to use Copeland though.

0157988944 · Mar 27, 2009, 04:37 PM

i hope this only gets applied where it makes sense, as it did in Quicktime. I don't need disappearing title bars on all my windows.

JKT · Mar 27, 2009, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

What kind of HUD are we talking about? I'm not sure how that fits into an OS, beyond the OSD that shows volume control and whatnot...

The same time of HUD palettes that you can get in OS X at the moment. E.g. in Pixelmator:

Hg2491 · Mar 27, 2009, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by adamfishercox

i hope this only gets applied where it makes sense, as it did in Quicktime. I don't need disappearing title bars on all my windows.

That's what you think.

A drastic update or remake is necessary at this point, otherwise Apple will be left behind. They have had slight variations of Aqua since the release of OS X. Over the years it has gotten better though.

0157988944 · Mar 27, 2009, 06:08 PM

Wait... they will be left behind if they don't make a change just for change's sake?

The interface is not where they will be left behind. They are still very much ahead, and why fix what ain't broke? I'm happy that they are focusing on the behind the scenes stuff, and I dont mind a new look, but it's not necessary to "stay ahead"

mduell · Mar 27, 2009, 07:15 PM

Reminds me of Vista/Aero.

jokell82 · Mar 27, 2009, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by adamfishercox

Wait... they will be left behind if they don't make a change just for change's sake?

The interface is not where they will be left behind. They are still very much ahead, and why fix what ain't broke? I'm happy that they are focusing on the behind the scenes stuff, and I dont mind a new look, but it's not necessary to "stay ahead"

Resting on your laurels is exactly how you get left behind.

Just because you are comfortable with the UI doesn't mean that innovation isn't good.

Hg2491 · Mar 27, 2009, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by adamfishercox

Wait... they will be left behind if they don't make a change just for change's sake?

The interface is not where they will be left behind. They are still very much ahead, and why fix what ain't broke? I'm happy that they are focusing on the behind the scenes stuff, and I dont mind a new look, but it's not necessary to "stay ahead"

The Alum MacBook Pro's were fine. They were ahead of the game, everything worked and still Apple changed them. The have renewed almost the entire product line, why not renew the GUI too? I don't see a reason why to stay with what we have now. Plus, Apple has to set some new trends for others to follow

.

Chuckit · Mar 27, 2009, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by jokell82

Resting on your laurels is exactly how you get left behind.

Just because you are comfortable with the UI doesn't mean that innovation isn't good.

On the other hand, "innovating" your UI for no good reason is a recipe for turning everybody off your products because they can't use the damn computer anymore.

People here seem to be complaining that Apple has just been improving parts of its UI gradually rather than introducing something new and radical. But there are huge wins in having familiar elements to your user experience. Throwing all that out just for the heck of it doesn't make sense. If you can improve on something, sure, improve on it. But making everybody's shared knowledge worthless is a big price.

Curiosity · Mar 28, 2009, 12:30 AM

I like the traffic lights and the glossy blue scrollbars. What I do not like is the white backgrounds. I wish Apple would supply an interface to change colour schemes for the windows.

CharlesS · Mar 28, 2009, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Hg2491

The Alum MacBook Pro's were fine. They were ahead of the game, everything worked and still Apple changed them.

No they weren't, the Aluminum MBP was a lemon. I should know - I have one. The design was incredibly dated, not having been updated since 2003, having flimsy components like the latch, and a hard drive that you had to void the warranty to replace. Also, they shipped with a defective GPU and a case that overheats at the drop of a hat, and as a result nothing worked right. Apple should have recalled all of the damn things. Worst Apple laptop since the PowerBook 5300.

Hg2491 · Mar 28, 2009, 01:52 AM

Well, you got the idea. Because something it's good, it doesn't mean that it cannot be updated / made better.

Simon · Mar 28, 2009, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

People here seem to be complaining that Apple has just been improving parts of its UI gradually rather than introducing something new and radical. But there are huge wins in having familiar elements to your user experience. Throwing all that out just for the heck of it doesn't make sense. If you can improve on something, sure, improve on it. But making everybody's shared knowledge worthless is a big price.

I don't mind Apple gradually updating the GUI.

What I dislike is them doing it partially and inconsistently. The release OS X should be a production system, not a testbed. They cannot use a single app or group of apps to test something 'in the wild'. There should be a common GUI that behaves equally across the board. That however, they can improve as gradually as they like IMHO.

Hawkeye_a · Mar 28, 2009, 07:10 AM

I sorta agree with that. We have the aqua interface, the brushed metal and the marble all in the same OS release, which seems very inconsistent (a common complaint of Microsoft's OS' ?). I do think Apple needs to consolidate it's HIG and UI into a single coherent model.

Personally i'm happy with Aqua reserved for document based apps and brushed metal for single window apps (iTunes, iMovie). And if they do consolidate the UI to a single experience, i prefer Aqua (the blue and graphite was a great idea and should be in there as well to cater to those working with color).

It's not that marble 'looks' particularly bad, its just looks a little too ...... UNIX-y or Window-y for my preference.

One of the other things to keep in mind about the possible shift in OSX's UI is that the hardware design has come a long way since 2000 as well. Most hardware are now brushed metal and black (exception being the entry level MacBook), as opposed to white and translucent industrial designs of the earlier part of this decade.

moonmonkey · Mar 28, 2009, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

I don't mind Apple gradually updating the GUI.

What I dislike is them doing it partially and inconsistently. The release OS X should be a production system, not a testbed. They cannot use a single app or group of apps to test something 'in the wild'. There should be a common GUI that behaves equally across the board. That however, they can improve as gradually as they like IMHO.

Exactly, consistency has been lacking with previous GUI changes, I hope this is an old problem.

0157988944 · Mar 28, 2009, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a

One of the other things to keep in mind about the possible shift in OSX's UI is that the hardware design has come a long way since 2000 as well. Most hardware are now brushed metal and black (exception being the entry level MacBook), as opposed to white and translucent industrial designs of the earlier part of this decade.

...and Leopard's interface is dark Metal and glossy glass black.

Stogieman · Mar 28, 2009, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by Curiosity

I like the traffic lights and the glossy blue scrollbars. What I do not like is the white backgrounds. I wish Apple would supply an interface to change colour schemes for the windows.

Open a window in the finder. Go to View Menu>Show View Options. Select whatever color you want as background.

sek929 · Mar 28, 2009, 05:38 PM

Of course you chose pink...

hyteckit · Mar 28, 2009, 05:52 PM

Not pink. It's Fuchsia.

Get with the program.

sek929 · Mar 28, 2009, 06:02 PM

Hey, fush you.

olePigeon · Mar 29, 2009, 04:40 PM

It's not pink, it's litish red.

cgc · Mar 29, 2009, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by JKT

The same time of HUD palettes that you can get in OS X at the moment. E.g. in Pixelmator:

Have you used Pixelmator? Great program but the UI is hard to read. Looks ok, but not so usable.