Demoed suggestion
Apple's implementation
The original Flash demo can be found here. It demonstrates my initial suggestions for improving the Aqua interface after it was first announced.
It would appear so. At the January 2001 MacWorld Expo, and earlier, various changes to Mac OS X have been announced, many of them, according to Steve Jobs, in response to user feedback.
Following is a comparison between some of the current features of the new OS, and the suggestions which I (and no doubt other Mac users) put forward after the Aqua interface was first announced:
(Quotations in blue are from Apple's web site)
I criticized the central placement of the Apple icon and its lack of functionality:
"The Apple logo in the middle of the menu bar is not a good design decision. It looks off balance because the rest of the menu is left aligned (as it should be)."
Apple have finally reversed their decision to put a decorative logo in the center of the menu bar:
"Based on feedback from Mac OS X Public Beta users, you'll find an Apple menu and a clock in the top corners of your desktop."
I also suggested a revised purpose for the menu:
"I have made good use of the Apple icon however in my suggested changes. It can replace the need for a ‘special' menu (what could be more special than an Apple logo?), as well as provide a convenient link to system wide preferences (or control panels)."
The new Apple menu is similar.
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Demoed suggestion |
Apple's implementation |
I, and many other Mac users, had some problems with the bright candy-colored buttons:
"The traffic light metaphor is kind of nice..., but I don't want it... Not force fed to me anyway. As a professional designer who works with color, I would like to have the option of a more monochromatic (and less distracting) scheme."
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Demoed suggestion |
Apple's implementation |
Reducing on-screen clutter is one thing, but there are many times when I, and obviously many others, achieve a greater efficiency by working with multiple open windows. My comments included:
"Please, lets not have a big blank button on every window for a setting that many users will set and forget."
"...the window-mode button as demoed by Apple seems like such an ‘all or nothing' approach. Power users will expect that they can temporarily reverse the single/multiple window mode by holding down OPTION, similar to the current Mac OS. This would give absolute flexibility to window management."
Apple quietly did away with the purple window-mode button. They also included other options for generating multiple windows.
I argued that the Dock in its initial form lacked organisation, and was an unsuitable replacement for the existing Mac menus:
"Thankfully this is not quite the Windows task bar. For the imaginative user I think this has a lot of potential IF it can be customised and organised in a logical manner rather than just being a place to stick stuff."
I created a Dock which was labeled
and organised into sections: "current applications", "minimised
windows", and "shortcuts".
Apple similarly divided applications and other items, but without the text labels. Open applications are denoted by a small triangle below their icon in the dock.
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Demoed suggestion |
Apple's implementation |
I suggested that a better way of navigating windows was through a hierarchical application menu:
"Each application's windows
(whether it be visible or minimised) should appear in sub-menus off each applications
name, giving users the power to jump straight to any window. The Mac has long
needed a better way of navigating the many windows it generates (being the ‘Janitor'
as Steve Jobs puts it). This is it."
Apple have now added this same functionality to the Dock:
"In addition, the dock dynamically tracks the windows of running applications. That makes it easy to get to any window — even if you have 50 of them open. Just click and hold to see the document titles and even other options such as quitting that application. If you've stored a Finder folder in your Dock, clicking on its pop-up window will allow you to navigate the folder structure."
This is excellent news for Mac users in my opinion.
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Demoed suggestion |
Apple's implementation |
While I supported the single-click convenience of navigation buttons in the Finder window, I felt they ought to be customizable:
"Okay, we need the ability to customise the icons, or hide the buttons altogether if we are so thoroughly repulsed by them. I would also like to see ‘spring loaded folder' action apply to the buttons (unlike the [current] launcher)..."
Apple has since added this customization:
"We know you want to customize the Finder to your work style. You can move around the factory-installed buttons ... and you can drag your own folders up to the toolbar. But if you don't use the toolbar, you don't have to see it — a handy button in the corner will hide it for you."
Apple's implementation
"What about losing the desktop metaphor? I love being able to drag anything and everything onto the desktop in the current Mac OS (I remember criticising an earlier version of Windows for its void-like desktop)."
"The Desktop is your work (or play) area and retains the behavior you're familiar with, easing the transition to Mac OS X."
Although I didn't include it in my rationale, my demo featured a menu bar clock in addition to the potential for a mini-app clock in the Dock. I felt that time is such an essential element of our lives (and work deadlines!) that it deserves special prominence. After all, Aqua goes to such lengths to create the illusion of three dimensions, why ignore the fourth one—time.
Apple has brought this back too:
"Based on feedback from Mac OS X Public Beta users, you'll find an Apple menu and a clock in the top corners of your desktop."
I think it's a credit to Apple that they have listened to the feedback of their customers and admittedly adopted many of the suggestions in one form or another. Should the final release prove to be as stable and refined as promised, it is also worth applauding the transparency of the beta testing phase—as opposed to the "release now, fix bugs later" practice of many other big software companies currently. Of course, while this has left Apple open to criticism of an unfinished project and sacrificed the element of surprise—in the long term it makes good business sense to see the final commercial release really satisfy user expectations.
While I believe there is still room for improvement (we await version 2), the first release is going to be a lot stronger for the active involvement of the Mac community.
January 2001
To provide feedback, email to kal@starkis.com.au.