Riemann Zeta Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I have always been a Mac OS person--OS X has always felt slicker, sexier and more stable than anything Microsoft released between 1990-2005. After playing around with the Leopard betas, I must say that I am thoroughly unimpressed. Simple bugs notwithstanding, I think that the UI is a bit of a step backwards from that of Tiger (at least, with UNO installed). As the axiom goes: if it's not broken, don't {censored} with it. Clearly, Windows XP was broken, it was the most broken, spaghetti-code OS ever released. And Microsoft largely fixed it with the NT6 kernel and Vista. They also added some really slick, pretty UI elements in Aero Glass. Now, Apple appears to be reacting to this with the transparent menubar in Leopard. But it just doesn't cut it compared to Aero Glass. Granted, many indiviudals think that desktop effects like translucency are just meaningless eye candy. But personally, I like eye candy; I just wish that Apple would give us consistant eye candy. I mean, what is the point of being able to see behind the menubar if the menus themselves aren't translucent. It would be far more asthetically pleasing if the menubar and all contextual menus were translucent, not simply 50% transparent, but differentially translucent with per-pixel shading/frosting (like the window borders / start panel in vista). Does anyone think that Apple will add this type of effect to Leopard before the final? It should be relatively simple, considering the power of their CoreImage and QuartzEX/QuartzGL libraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indeox Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Leopard already has translucency.... Look closer to the sheets when they drop down.... they're not just transparent anymore.... the text behind them is actually blurred (like behind frosted glass) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numberzz Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 i am one of the few that actually like the new ui, the only thing is that with a large dock, when you drag a window behind it, u cannot see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HackerName Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Aero Glass ahead of Apple? Give me some of that you are smoking. Nothing infuriates me more than those see-through borders with the static "gloss". Blech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghall Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 The only thing I HATE about the new UI is the transparent menu bar. The rest of the UI is sexy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graphxks Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Gotta agree, the translucent menu bar is UI nastiness. With certain backgrounds, the menus and menubar items become really difficult to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.C. Posted August 23, 2007 Share Posted August 23, 2007 I am still holding out for a new UI, when Leopard is launched Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~anima Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I like the new UI too. Its pretty up-to-date. Look at Wind Vista AeroGlass or KDE4... it s just new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knvb1123 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Gotta agree, the translucent menu bar is UI nastiness. With certain backgrounds, the menus and menubar items become really difficult to read. I agree fully. Apple should allow you to have a PrefPane so that you can choose your transcluency (blurring, frosting on or off), transparency (like percentage)... Then it would really be good. I personally don't want any of my UI (with text) to be transparent (dock is fine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damesj Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I agree fully.Apple should allow you to have a PrefPane so that you can choose your transcluency (blurring, frosting on or off), transparency (like percentage)... Then it would really be good. I personally don't want any of my UI (with text) to be transparent (dock is fine) Apple should incorporate something like that..shouldn't be to difficult either. Even Windows Vista has something similar, to an extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HackerName Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 The menubar in 9A527 is finally right. Uses less transparency and more blur for a much more pleasing effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yil2201 Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Yeah, that's great. Can you post a screenshot of the new menubar with an other wallpaper than the default one ? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookmark Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Check out this post here. The menu bar transparency has been reduced (and a slight blur effect added? hard to tell), and the Leopard Dock now is no longer semi-translucent, making for less noise. (The reflections and shadows could still use a little work, though.) A noticeable improvement! I've been warming to the translucent menu bar, and this tweak seals the deal for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yil2201 Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Looks so great, thank you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
an4rew Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 lovin the new one alot more, i like to see the mainbar at all times without putting my specs on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onizuka Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 It's a shame that top menubar borders are not rounded anymore... I've loved these rounded corners since I've been using Mac OS (it was system 6, but at that time I think they were rounded because of the shape of Macintosh monitors). In Mac OS 9 they removed the rounded corners and the system felt bare without them, it looked more like a Windows thing... Fortunately, the "feature" was back in Mac OS X, and in some way I think it's part of Mac OS identity... So what? They decided to remove it from Leopard?? For what reason? Or is it just the screenshots maybe? Or just the beta? I have my fingers crossed to see it back in the final release... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markus1982 Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 It's a shame that top menubar borders are not rounded anymore...I've loved these rounded corners since I've been using Mac OS (it was system 6, but at that time I think they were rounded because of the shape of Macintosh monitors). I agree. They were one of the little details that made OS X so much friendlier.Or is it just the screenshots maybe?No, they are definately not there.Or just the beta? I have my fingers crossed to see it back in the final release...I hope so, but I don't think so. I thought the menubar graphics were simply not ready, when I first saw the transparent menubar. But now, most details in it seem to be finalized and polished. I can't image it would take more than 1 minute in photoshop to create the black rounded-corner graphics. So why wouldn't they have it already included if they intended to do so?I fear it's time to say goodbye to rounded corners in menubar, Aqua, Apple-symbol on keyboards etc. What's the next thing they rip off of Macs personality? Maybe the friendly Finder-face-icon? The Apple-menu-symbol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onizuka Posted August 28, 2007 Share Posted August 28, 2007 Let's hope it's just one of these things they put in their betas to fool people before the final release... There is still a while before the launching of Leopard, these sort of things can still be fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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