Mac OS X Leopard Screenshots

[CoreWeb]

There's really a lack of consistency in the design of Leopard as a whole...there are about 10 different button/window/color styles going on, and none of them are exclusive to an application. Basically, it makes basic app switching less intuitive, as the different application designs are not individually identifiable or visually the same.

Two other things I don't like: the not-rounded upper corners, which don't result in "more useable space" as you can't use that space anyway. All they result in is a less smooth and flowing look to the menu bar.

I also really don't like the fact that my desktop background has any bearing on the visibility or usability of the dock or the menu bar. I think we learned after the translucent menus in early versions of OS X that wanton translucence is damn annoying.


I can see the interface being workable, but it would have to allow a certain amount of customizability for turning things on or off...which we haven't seen in pretty much any other mac operating system. Maybe we'll be able to set it so stuff doesn't automatically deposit in a stack...I'll never use them, kind of like I never use the contextual menus that come up from the dock. No easier than having a desktop with it all laid out there for you to get to, instead of an awkward pile of them on the dock. Mouse movements upward on the screen are the least accurate because you have to use your arm...part of why I find the dock menus difficult.

Actually, it is supposedly very consistent, at least more so than Tiger. From what I can tell, there are two main window styles now: active and not active. Compare that to Tiger, which has active normal, inactive normal, active brushed metal, inactive brushed metal.

In addition, the menu bar, according to Steve Jobs, adapts itself to what is behind it. I think that this may mean that it changes color and opacity depending on what is behind it.

Also, having the menu bar on top is much better than having it built into the window like Windows, as you don't have to stop the mouse in time to hit the menu. In fact, you can just move the mouse roughly straight up, and keep going, and you'll hit the menu bar. Thus, one direction has no difficulty in aiming, where as built-in menu bars will cause difficulty in BOTH directions.

 

[inkswamp]

Anyone else find it curious that stacks is basically an updated version of the pop-up/tabbed windows from OS 9?

 

[tomd89]

Any more screenshots yet?

 

[nate13]

I really wish i had the money to go to that keynote... this looks like it could be worth the 2 year+ wait.

 

[zgh1999]

Any reason why the stacks are slanted?

Just curious as to why Apple make the stacks that way in default.

 

[tomd89]

Any reason why the stacks are slanted?

Just curious as to why Apple make the stacks that way in default.

easier to click with a mouse when there fanned out or something, that and it looks fancy.

 

[bobber205]

So

Much

Ass

Kicking

 

[3282872]

Lather...rinse ...repeat. It's an annual event.

LOL I love it, thanks for the laugh and filling me in on how the system works =). Personally, after using 9A410, I was sold just on the improvements in that beta version. Can't wait for the final release in October.

 

[nuckinfutz]

LOL I love it, thanks for the laugh and filling me in on how the system works =). Personally, after using 9A410, I was sold just on the improvements in that beta version. Can't wait for the final release in October.

Nice sig...you have some nice "toys" there man. Yeah the annual "gripe about OS X" happens until people realize that a fair amount of the niggling stuff they hate (slow gui or Finder) are gone or the general polish has improved.

I'm going to take plunge early and update the first week I can. I'll risk the barbs and bugs for the sake of Mactopia.

I see a 30" LCD in my future. I "hate" the way the text and icons are too small (yes I'm blind as a bat) so Resolution Independence is going to important to me.

In fact with 1080p projectors becoming more affordable (I know relative term) I just may be doing computing in 10.6 on a 8ft screen

 

[phide]

They are rounded in those screenshots. The screenshots are just too small to show it properly.

Bingo.

That, my friends, is rounded. Looks like the degree of "roundness" is identical to that of Safari and iTunes (on Windows, that is).

 

[CoreWeb]

Well that's a bit difficult to do when I don't even know what all is in it. If they are advertising 300+ new features and the biggest upgrade to OS X yet, then Apple should make a list. You pointed out some important stuff that was not included in the Keynote, thank you for that. Now let's see:

"List of Features:

1:______
2:______
.
.
.
300:_____"

Simple enough?


I am saying I want to know what I am getting for the money. Tell me all the features and then I'll know if it is worth the $ instead of being forced to make an assumption based on the unknown.

Apple will most likely do this a month or two before launch. They did with Tiger; they listed every one of the... what was it again? 150? 250? new features.

But in the end, those features specifically aren't the features I use in Tiger. It's the little things. I can't name any specific missing features, but whenever I try to use Panther (which is very rarely) it is a miserable experience compared to using Tiger. I imagine Leopard will be much the same way: subtle changes.

By the way, I hated the menu bar for Tiger when it first came out, but now I like it a lot. However, I like the transparent menu bar in Leopard at the moment - does this mean I'll end up hating it?

 

[MacPomme]

What I have seen and heard so far about Leopard is awesome. I want this operating system as my platform of choice for two simple reasons:

1. Its going to far more efficient for me doing those things we do all the time. Find and use information and documents - whether these be documents, photos, movies, audio files, websites or applications. And by use I mean everything from open, to edit, curt & paste, send, delete, rename, print, publish.

2. The applications that will come down the line that are Leopard only will have some really awesome power, functionality and presentation thanks to:
* 64 bit support
* Core Animation
* Xcode 3.0 and beyond

 

[rainydays]

Bingo.

That, my friends, is rounded. Looks like the degree of "roundness" is identical to that of Safari and iTunes (on Windows, that is).

We are talking about the menu bar.

 

[Porchland]

I'm really excited about Leopard. The feature set seems more evolutionary than revolutionary, but the new Finder looks amazing! If I can get around the system as fast as I can iTunes then my productivity will go thru the roof!

I would like to see Finder, iTunes and other apps that will use this setup to have dialog boxes that will allow you to narrow by category. You could select the category by pulldown menu, and you could have two or three of these side-by-side to use.

For example, in iTunes, if you're searching for Tony Bennett, you can put "Tony Bennett" in the artist box. That would be much more limiting than putting "Tony Bennett" in the main search box, which would give you "Tony Bennett" anywhere iTunes can find it, i.e., composer, album name etc. If the dialog box incorporates a pulldown menu to select a category, this would be an extremely quick search tool. Click on the box, choose "artist," type Tony Bennett. Done.

In Finder, if you're searching for a Word file, you could select a File Type dialog box and limit your search terms to Word files.

This is just a simple application of multi-variant database searching. With two or three of these boxes in database-oriented app, you could do some pretty fast, pretty sophisticated searching.

 

[Project]

I would like to see Finder, iTunes and other apps that will use this setup to have dialog boxes that will allow you to narrow by category. You could select the category by pulldown menu, and you could have two or three of these side-by-side to use.

For example, in iTunes, if you're searching for Tony Bennett, you can put "Tony Bennett" in the artist box. That would be much more limiting than putting "Tony Bennett" in the main search box, which would give you "Tony Bennett" anywhere iTunes can find it, i.e., composer, album name etc. If the dialog box incorporates a pulldown menu to select a category, this would be an extremely quick search tool. Click on the box, choose "artist," type Tony Bennett. Done.

In Finder, if you're searching for a Word file, you could select a File Type dialog box and limit your search terms to Word files.

This is just a simple application of multi-variant database searching. With two or three of these boxes in database-oriented app, you could do some pretty fast, pretty sophisticated searching.

You mean like Spotlight?

Or am I reading your idea wrong? Admittedly the mechanism for selecting specific file types in Spotlight is goofy.