Apple's "New" GUI

[Dr.Jones]

If the transparent menu bar were to be accompanied with actual transparent (not opaque) menus, it wouldn't be so bad. But yeah, I'm pretty impressed with Leopard now, especially with the unified interface, new Finder, Stacks, and Quicklook. Definitely a much more revolutionary step than the change from XP to Vista, that's for sure. Should have been referred to as Mac OS XI (11.0) or something.

I dunno. I'm not impressed at all. New finder = unified skin + coverflow. Stacks is new, indeed, so is Spaces. Quicklook reminds me of quickview, something that came with win98. Transparent menu bar is exactly like vista's transparent taskbar. I wouldn't call these impressive.

Time machine (despite having a stupid name) might actually be useful, maybe once or twice a year. I never use iChat. I don't have a .mac account.

Core animation is not a user feature per se. It's a developer's feature.

New widgets ? How can some little apps that could have been coded by joe schmo accross the street and found through google make the list of great new features in Leopard ?

I consider myself a normal mac user (I'm not doing anything too high-end, and I do more than just web-browsing) and there is yet to be ONE feature in Leopard that will get me interested in it, or admit that a 20 months+ wait was worth it.

If Tiger was supposedly more advanced than Vista a year ago, it sure feels like Leopard is playing catch-up, and that is weird, illogical and deceiving. Maybe a stable version of boot camp in leopard will make me upgrade to it.

Edited June 12, 2007 by Dr.Jones

[rajputwarrior]

i love the new look, the reflective dock is just gorgeous

[Digitalx]

shape of the dock is fugly :s

[gazebee_]

I like everything but the transparent taskbar. Vista mhmm.

[Helba]

Some of you guys are indeed really critical. The dock is just a simple flat reflective surface under icons. Reflections are kinda cool, but I'll be the first to say nothing to write home about.

I think the new Finder stuff is cool, and a step away from tradition.

[Nexus-]

From the mostly negative comments in this thread it looks like apple will just have to demo the other 290 new leopard features (since Jobs only demo'd 10).

[.Neo]

Still think it looks better on a CRT than a TFT?

Yeah... Get over it already. ;)

IMO, it isn't as big of a deal as you're making it sound. It's called unified resources. Removing the pinstripe from every UI element it was present in doesn't require editing all of those UI elements, it only requires editing the pinstripe texture file. If this was a theme it would be categorized as a skin tweak and not a UI overhaul.

In the end it's all about replacing some image files. But that doesn't mean that from and end-user perspective it can't look like a different world. Plus removing the pinstripes really isn't just about removing one pinstripe texture file. If you think that it's clear to me you never looked inside Extras(2).rsrc before.

[Vice]

I just watched the keynote and I'm not really in to the new design. Infact I'd say this is a step back not a progressive step forward. I am severely disappointed with the transparent menu bar and the new finder. What works in iTunes does not work in the finder. I really am quite shocked at the new icons they choose aswell they look bland and uninteresting. What a shame.

[Quillz]

I just watched the keynote and I'm not really in to the new design. Infact I'd say this is a step back not a progressive step forward. I am severely disappointed with the transparent menu bar and the new finder. What works in iTunes does not work in the finder. I really am quite shocked at the new icons they choose aswell they look bland and uninteresting. What a shame.

But you haven't even used the new Finder, so how can you pass judgment on it so soon? And besides, the current Finder as it is is just too simplistic.

I like the new refresh given to Aqua. I was expecting something a bit darker to match the iPhone, but it still looks good.

[Vice]

I can visualise what it would be like to use. (I have a very vivid imagination!) and to me it just looks and would feel not very nice.

Also, you can just use iTunes.

I prefer the Finder as it is now. If anything the new Finder in Leopard is more simplistic. How many buttons did it actually have, what features does it have that the current Finder does not, except for Quick Looks, Coverflow and computer file shares not much. I am not impressed.

No doubt I will be upgrading to Leopard because I want Core Animation for my Apps and Quicklooks would be amazing for my workflow. But because I like some things I'm going to have to make sacrifices for the things I do not like.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

I really like it, finally unified the themes (no more brushed metal yay!), love how file type contents show up in the finder (thanks to quick look, which was called a "stupid feature", love the new finder (hate the current one).

The new finder alone was reason enough for me to get Leopard, everything else is just icing on the cake. :p

Edit: they do need to tone down the translucency on the menu bar though.

[Matt T]

I haven't watched the keynote yet, but from what I've seen from Apple's screenshots, my opinion is:

Loving:

• The dock
  
• Finder - Cover Flow seems much more practical than Vista's "icon previews", and I love the new source list
  
• Stacks looks useful
  
• Front Row - I'm glad they gave it AppleTV's UI
  

Hating:

• The menu bar... thank goodness that can be changed
  
• The consistency!! Argh, Apple, what have you done?!
  
• Dashboard - a new movie widget; where's the (rest of the) beef?
  

General notes:

• I'm loving the look of Leopard's installation disk. I know not important, but it seems Apple did a better job with this than the UI.
  
• The entire UI looks incomplete. Why the hell are there still Aqua elements everywhere? The (blue) pressed state of the menu bar looks f***ing awful, and in System Preferences (see the Parental Controls section of Leopard's web site) it clashes horribly with the new unified (*screams in horror*) UI. The entire UI just feels a bit like "Aqua 2.0 - now with added metal!" to me.
  
• What the hell happened to those secret features? The "s" makes that a plural, meaning more than two, but the only thing I notice that's any different is the desktop/UI.
  

Overall (and remember, I haven't watched the keynote yet), it's a nice update but I'm disappointed. I expected more than this from Apple's "biggest release of OS X ever". I hope they tweak the UI a bit more before October; bring on those glossy black scroll bars, Steve.

[MasterC]

I just finished watching the Stevenote, and I have to say, I don't really care for the new look. The transparent menubar looks cheap, and the dock looks just plain retarded imo. I just hope that the other 290 or so features make up for this ;)

[.kvn]

A few hours after the live text feeds, a good look at the Apple demos and then a watch of the keynote itself and I'm still impressed.

It's a step in the right direction again. Anyone saying this is a step backwards is welcome to stay backwards when we move to Leopard. Also, don't forget that this release is still subject to change and some things will change once the developers get a chance to plow through this initial release. This after all was a Developer conference so stop whining about no new iMacs or updates to iLife. All this will no doubt come along when Apple is good and ready to do so.

Until then, I'll be extremely content with Tiger on my iMac and thank the stars that Apple resisted temptation to try and emulate Microsoft's take on a new gui.

When Leopard's released I will update.

[.Neo]

I can visualise what it would be like to use. (I have a very vivid imagination!) and to me it just looks and would feel not very nice.

Also, you can just use iTunes.

Use iTunes to navigate through your files and folders? Not sure what version you are using.

[Vice]

Well I've tried it now. And I'm not impressed. Although the menubar looks a lot better in practice then it did in the presentations.

And .Neo don't be "that" guy. Because you cant pull it off, even with a leather jacket.

[.kvn]

Well I've tried it now.

What exactly do you mean? Have you managed to get a copy that was handed out yesterday? Or have you merely tried one of the previous builds that don't include these new features? Please enlighten me.

[cosine]

? Apple completely changed the look of all main windows;

? A redesigned Dock;

? New system icons;

? New menubar style;

? Complete removal of all the pinstripes throughout the OS;

? Introduction of system-wide HUD-panels;

? All mayor applications got an overhaul UI-wise.

-Apple unified the windows. Whoopee. We've had this look available via themes and Uno for...how long now? Not to mention, this is really nothing incredible.

-My dock has reflections. Yay. Is anyone actually considering this a feature? Hell, I find it annoying, simply because it makes the dock more bulky. I'm using a pretty small dock with cleardock and the reflections icons, and it's nice and minimal. It's functional, but stays out of my way. And the stacks, I'm pretty sure I took care of that a billion years ago by sticking a folder on my desktop where all my downloads go automatically.

-New Menubar? They made it...non-curved at the top corners and gave it a terrible transparency. It looks like something you'd see on a crappy rehash over at Macthemes.

-Pinstripes, again, minor editing of resources.

-HUD panels? What, you mean the transparent black windows? Those already existed before Leopard, for crying out loud.

-Yay.

And on the topic of Time Machine, since someone was talking about it - it's a great idea in theory, the problem is all the hard drive space it's going to suck up. I'd rather not have to buy an external hard drive to be able to actually use it. What we really need is a good undelete application, not something that makes a backup of a file if you delete a damn letter.

My biggest complaint is this. Apple always hypes the hell out of everything. And after all the hype, the Leopard delay, and all the jabs made at Microsoft, this is a pretty poor showing. The UI is sloppy. Honestly, I could live with it if it wasn't for the menubar Change the look, get rid of that terrible transparency. The rest is mostly superfluous crap, that I would even go as far as Aero to compare it to. There's no reason for the dock to have some stupid reflective floor gimmick. It's not functional in any way whatsoever and only makes the dock bigger.

[Vice]

What exactly do you mean? Have you managed to get a copy that was handed out yesterday? Or have you merely tried one of the previous builds that don't include these new features? Please enlighten me.

Neither I know a developer that does have a build which was handed out and he was nice enough to let me take a look through a session. Although it was choppy I got a feel for it.

[Southern Patriot]

There's no reason for the dock to have some stupid reflective floor gimmick. It's not functional in any way whatsoever and only makes the dock bigger.

While the functionality is debatable (I'd say it's more eye candy than anything), it does NOT seem to make the Dock any bigger. You can still resize the Dock to any size you like, just like always. I think the 3D effect is giving a false illusion of the Dock being larger because the icons now extend above the top of the Dock instead of being completely contained within it. It may be a tiny bit wider due to the angle of the sides, but I don't see how that would negatively impact anything as the extra space there is often unused anyway.

[LTD]

Some of these "I hate this" and "I can't stand that" comments are a bit confusing, given that 1) we are Mac users and 2) we are Mac users for very good reasons. Most of us come from a Windows background originally, so we know full well that we're mostly trading up, not down.

While I have no problem with reading this sort of criticism - no software/hardware maker is above it and there is always room for improvement, I'm a bit confused:

So, some of you *will not* upgrade to Leopard? :huh: which really leaves you with being stuck with Tiger, or what . . . switching to Vista or Linux?? Talk about trading down. Seriously, what else is actually better or more intuitive? It's still OS X. It's still Apple apps and iLife, etc. You might have a gripe with one or two features, fair enough, but I'm not sure it's a good idea close one's mind so quickly without looking forward to adapting yourself to the way Leopard works, and really imagining how it can improve your daily work. It's a huge step forward.

I'm truly shocked that we are ragging on a transparent menu bar. I mean, are you kidding me?? THAT'S the big deal?? Didn't Jobs tell us (at least imply) that it's there in order to not obscure your desktop background, or at least seem more seamless? I think Mac users have over the years become so accustomed to the luxury of the world's most advanced OS that we've resorted to micro-criticisms, which seemingly become the deciding factors as to whether or not we'll live with the OS.

Quite frankly, coverflow, quicklook, stacks, and spaces are some of the most tactile and spatial-oriented features I've ever heard of in an OS. I think after using it most of us will not only agree that these features represent the most natural way to use an OS, but also realize that we wouldn't want to part with these features.

Or not. In which case there's Vista, and Linux. I don't really need to tell you that these alternatives aren't really alternatives. Let's call a spade a spade.

[Vice]

Some of these "I hate this" and "I can't stand that" comments are a bit confusing, given that 1) we are Mac users and 2) we are Mac users for very good reasons. Most of us come from a Windows background originally, so we know full well that we're mostly trading up, not down.

While I have no problem with reading this sort of criticism - no software/hardware maker is above it and there is always room for improvement, I'm a bit confused:

So, some of you *will not* upgrade to Leopard? :huh: which really leaves you with being stuck with Tiger, or what . . . switching to Vista or Linux?? Talk about trading down. Seriously, what else is actually better or more intuitive? It's still OS X. It's still Apple apps and iLife, etc. You might have a gripe with one or two features, fair enough, but I'm not sure it's a good idea close one's mind so quickly without looking forward to adapting yourself to the way Leopard works, and really imagining how it can improve your daily work. It's a huge step forward.

I'm truly shocked that we are ragging on a transparent menu bar. I mean, are you kidding me?? THAT'S the big deal?? Didn't Jobs tell us (at least imply) that it's there in order to not obscure your desktop background, or at least seem more seamless? I think Mac users have over the years become so accustomed to the luxury of the world's most advanced OS that we've resorted to micro-criticisms, which seemingly become the deciding factors as to whether or not we'll live with the OS.

Quite frankly, coverflow, quicklook, stacks, and spaces are some of the most tactile and spatial-oriented features I've ever heard of in an OS. I think after using it most of us will not only agree that these features represent the most natural way to use an OS, but also realize that we wouldn't want to part with these features.

Or not. In which case there's Vista, and Linux. I don't really need to tell you that these alternatives aren't really alternatives. Let's call a spade a spade.

I'm going to upgrade for Stacks, Quicklooks, Core Animation. Obviously I want to upgrade for some of the features. But at the same time I'm not 100% about some other interface changes. btw the menubar transparency can be deactivated if anyone wanted to know that.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Well - it didn't blow me away (having now watched some demo's on the Apple site) but I think there are some excellent UI innovations in there and its just progressive improvement and modernisation of an already pretty darn nice UI.

I think for $129 its a superb value package. Time machine alone looks to be a very powerful application wrapped up in a pretty interface that I feel makes it worth the money alone. Its certainly not put me off wanting to upgrade to a Mac in the near future. Like many folks i'm completely lazy with my backups.. if all I have to do is slap in an external HDD and say "right, keep a back up of my files from now on" then I think thats a brilliant product.

And how right was Steve jobs when he said that desktops are only cluttered because of downloads? Thats exactly why my desktop ends up with 30, 40 items on it. Just have to admire the fact that he knows what people want from a personal computer.. and again, its reasons like that why i'm well determined to switch over as soon as I can raise some money! :)

[Menge]

i'll just remind people of the reaction of the crowd in the keynote stream when Jobs showed the new desktop:

Laughter.

i'm pretty sure they all thought it was a take on Vista (and some of my friends agreed with me on that)

I don't like the new desktop - even though the Leopard Server screenshot looks nice.

The unified UI, though, will come in handy

[cosine]

I think Mac users have over the years become so accustomed to the luxury of the world's most advanced OS that we've resorted to micro-criticisms, which seemingly become the deciding factors as to whether or not we'll live with the OS.

Hahaha. Christ, I'm dying here. No, you know why I'm being critical? Because somebody has to, and it's obvious that people like yourself aren't going to. Apple's entire advertising campaign revolves around saying "hay pcs suck get a mac lolz". The CEO of their company gets on a stage in front of thousands of people and takes childish pot-shots at the competition (of course, this is while they push the ability to run Windows as a major selling point of Leopard). Fine. Do whatever you want, it's not illegal by any means. But dammit, if you're going to spend that much time making fun of the other guy you sure as hell better be ready to deliver the goods when the time comes. And this is what they're showing me? This is what I'm waiting until October for? I've seen better themes done by amateurs on Macthemes, for crying out loud.

Of course, I'm not really surprised the guy with "apple cultist" as his user title and Neo are defending it valiantly. The Steve could go on live TV, tonight, and kick a puppy, and Neo'd be here 5 minutes later telling us how great it was. Apple could sell an aluminum buttplug with spikes and razor blades embedded in it, and Neo would buy one the day they got put up on the Apple store and post a glowing review.

This is the exact problem with most of the Apple userbase. It's filled with people who just got their Mac within the last 6 months who instantly feel the need to start lapping up everything and jumping to Apple's defense. If anything, we should be MORE critical of them, considering all the mocking they like to do of the competition. No, you're right, Microsoft might not be putting out "the world's most advanced OS", but at least they're not stupid ###### about it. Bill Gates is probably one of the nicest guys out there, and he's donated an incredible amount of his money to various charities.

And for the record, this is all coming from someone whose first computer was a Macintosh Classic. I've used Macs forever. I like them. However, I hate roughly 98% of everyone else who has one.