Getting Your Feet Wet With Aqua
Pages: 1, 2
Aqua is already a success
Aqua is not only a big step forward for Apple and its users, it is a giant step forward for the computing industry. Apple has broken every metaphor, graphical link, and limitation from OS 9 that they could get away with. The question is, will we be daring enough to embrace change or are we too afraid to accept something new? Will we regress into the same old structures? Will we hack OS X to make it function like OS 9? Apple feels it is time to move forward, and I happen to agree. The old GUIs out there have grown stale. I can't believe that in 20 years of GUIs there isn't anything better than what we have. Time to move forward.
Aqua is already a success because it challenges the way we look at computing and our expectations of a computer. |
I think the hardest aspect of adapting to Aqua isn't for the users, but for the developers. Apple is asking them to rethink how they conceive and build software. They've asked them to stop thinking of image and size restrictions. They've asked them to break from the idea of what an icon represents and what it can do. Software developers can no longer view themselves as just code-cutters. Apple is asking developers to evolve with Aqua.
Aqua is art. It requires that we learn to embrace ideals and concepts that illustrators, video artists, editors, painters, animators, composers and publishers have been using for years. It is no longer enough for software and hardware developers to write code and build solutions, now you have to actually embrace media and artistic concepts. Looking back on the release of the iMac, iBook, and Cube, the organic design of the hardware and the resemblance to OS X was no accident. With Aqua, developers have to take their art a step higher, and I think that is the true beauty of this interface. It will force the industry forward. Aqua is already a success because it challenges the way we look at computing and our expectations of a computer.
Elements of design
I have been working in some form of design for over 10 years. I have always had a sweet tooth for organic designs found in Bang & Olufsen, Goudi, Porsche, etc. I love things that are fluid, simple, and intuitive.
I spent many years working in publishing, animation, interactive design, software and web development, and video editing. The one discipline I learned from all those art forms was that every detail counts. In the past 20 years, every piece of professional media created on a Mac meant something to the designer and every detail mattered. For the first time in history, you find their attention to detail in Aqua. This isn't just a bunch of goofy special effects and resource wasting toys, this is a level of detail unparalleled in the history of computing. There is method behind the apparent madness.
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For example, one of the most controversial items is the genie effect. While some find it annoying, I find it informative. It just told me where I can find that window when I need it. As a power user, I don't require it, but for newbies and people who never dig too deep into how their computer works, the window concept can be baffling. Silly to us, but empowering to others.
Media mavericks
What Apple has done is given developers an open hand at building out and participating in the evolution of X. We now have a blank check to try new things and break some rules that always held us back before. I've heard a lot of people ask why we need 128x128-sized icons. Who knows, maybe we'll have giant projection Macs in our homes in five years. The point is that Aqua has room for growth.
Where do we go from here?
In future pieces we are going to dive head first into the meat and bones of Aqua and get our hands dirty. We'll be looking into new terminology and what it means. We will dig into new metaphors and concepts. We will even build interface elements and icons. Finally we'll discuss Aqua with some developers who have been working with it for some time. I'm going to do my best to make this series informative without boring you to tears. However, if you feel moved to tears because of the eloquence in my discussions on Aqua, then I think you need to get out more.
Alan Graham is the creator of the Best of Blogs book series and is a frequent writer on the O'Reilly Network.
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Showing messages 1 through 11 of 11.
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OS X will be the future
2001-04-27 15:27:50 darokin [Reply | View]
I think that Apple has really gone out on limb by releasing OS X. They have really taken a chance that is forcing a lot of people to turn their heads and take a look at something no one has ever seen on a computer before. This is a very different operating system that I think will take a little time to get used too. Especially for all of us who have been using macs for a long time and have gotten used to its neverending new release yet same look OS's. I myself love it yet still find myself searching for things that were in their OS 9 position. Someone new to Macs shouldn't have much trouble getting aquainted for they wouldn't have to re-think the way they were used to doing things. Even if you were used to using windows the Mac dock is pretty similar to how window's dock is. Actually I have friends that were windows junkies and are now seriously considering a Mac. Heh, heh, heh...And then there is the Unix core for the programmers which I am currently trying to teach myself and am actually very excited about it! I think all in all Apple has done something that will push them ahead of the crowd. Long Live the MAC! -
OS X will be the future
2001-04-30 13:18:25 Derrick Story |
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I'm going through the same thing ... rolling along in Mac OS X then want to do something that I've done a 100 times in earlier OSs only to get lost. One thing that has helped me is the Mac OS X page on the Apple web site, See Mac OS X in Action. I finally sat down with a big mug of coffee and went through each of the short tutorials. It helped a lot ...
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Mac OS X
2001-04-24 22:51:25 charford [Reply | View]
[begin Rant, this is my opinion, if you don't wanna read, don't]
Like it or leave it, Mac OS X is a very big step for Apple. It was smart for Apple to add the BSD component to expand their market share.
If anyone here thinks Mac OS X is unfriendly I challenge them to install the first public beta of it, or even the server beta. Do you want to see hard to use, see that.
As for the comments about databases and Apples limited role in the internet (see above opinions), this is not Apple's problem. This a problem with the Web Browser, not with the computer or the OS. I can view on Mac OS 9 and a webroswer mysql, filemaker pro, 4D, or any other database designed to be available over the web. More and more programs are coming out for the macintosh.
As for the comment about market share, Apple has a lot more than people give them credit for. Designers, newspaper companies, education institutions all primarily use Mac OS. Porting it to run on a PC would be a hard and tedious problem, because Apple controls a lot of the hardware run on the mac, although control is being limited more and more with newer generations. Intel, AMD, IBM, all use a different chip archetecture in the development of their CPU's, in particular the algroriths differ a lot between a mac and a PC clone. Macs use reduced instruction set and PC clones use a complex instruction set. Now should Apple have to rewrite Mac OS to work on other computers, when they have a good neice as it is, with limited other OS's being able to run on their machines. Should apple shut themselves in the foot and cater for PC Markets? I think not.
Mac OS X is a smart move on apples part, although moving away from the old layout is different and may not be benefitial to them. It has been my experience so far that both power users and newbies alike enjoy the new desktop look once they get to use it.
[end rant]
Colin Harford
Systems Administrator
University of Alberta Students Union
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Looks and Ease of Use come last
2001-04-23 16:15:30 elliot4334 [Reply | View]
A user friendly GUI will not make or break Apple! Take Microsoft Publisher for instance. I can't recall how many millions of copies are in use, but it is certainly not because it is user friendly. The fact is most people are followers, good or bad the go with the crowd. When corporate America buys computers and puts their employee to work on them they are saying to the masses this is the best choice for a computer. When the employees turn consumers they stay with what they feel is safe. For this reason most people don't even know there is a better way.
Apple has always been easier, but its market share is well bellow that of Windows! See ease of use won't guarantee sales. For corporate America, Macs don't make sense from a cost stand point and therefore they do buy them. If employee see Macs in there work place they might consider them.
With the web taking over OS 9 is increasingly becoming obsolete. OS 9 cannot even access some web sites. OS 9 cannot take advantage of many web technologies. Designers are having to create web site that are dependant on databases, and there is no way to design and test a data driven web site right on a Mac running OS 9. Those who believe that Preemptive multitasking, protected memory, Apache, WebDav, etc. are of no concern to the average user are living in the dark ages. Apple has to make these technologies as easy to use as the original Mac made the computer to use and then make it affordable to corporate America. When this is accomplished the average user will feel comfortable with buying a Mac.
And for those who dare to be different, even if corporate America does buy into the Mac they will need the power of these web technologies to leverage their skills.
Ease of use has little to do with market share. Technology is everything—doesn't matter how it look so much as long as it works (Though I don't like this philosophy). The only reason Microsoft is spending money looks in XP is because Apple now has the technology. When all other things being equal, looks and easy of use come into place.
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When do I get OS X on my PC?
2001-04-23 09:56:42 mdubord [Reply | View]
Why doesn't Apple get it yet? Port the software! I don't want to buy an iMac or Cube to run OS X. I already have a computer (that cost a lot less than either of those). What I want is a real operating system (OS X) and that cool Aqua on my PC.
It seems like this is the biggest no brainer in the world. Even Palm is getting it. Anyone can make hardware, but not everyone can make good software. -
When do I get OS X on my PC?
2001-05-04 13:23:25 the.blackster [Reply | View]
Naw, apple gets it fine - it's the average pc user who doesn't get it. you can't take cut-rate hardware from different taiwanese manufacturers, throw it all together, and have it integrate as tightly as a platform where the components are designed to fit together. most definitely you can't take this same disparate hardware from disparate manufacturers, and throw an OS that is tightly integrated with the hardware onto it.
I don't see OS X doing much on the PC platform (even though i know darwin support on i386 is improving) - it's still MacOS, just more robust. -
When do I get OS X on my PC?
2001-06-15 05:48:11 collinar [Reply | View]
Microsoft has seen to it that the PC hardware specification is clearly defined, and powerful enough to run Windows XP, and thus Darwin; and should be able to run Aqua as well. If Apple fails to make Aqua available on the worlds most populous hardware platform (Intel x86), then they will fail as a company. -
When do I get OS X on my PC?
2001-04-23 16:24:43 Derrick Story |
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You may have it very soon ...
Apple is not making a big deal about this, but there's a release of Darwin that runs on Intel. You can read more about it in Chris Coleman's weblog, Darwin for Intel.
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Aqua Brings a Unix GUI to the Desktop
2001-04-20 22:29:06 Derrick Story |
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Suddenly, Apple has become a prime distributor of BSD on the desktop.
Over the coming months we'll hear lots of discussion about the pros and cons of Aqua. That's a good thing.
But in the end, I think Apple is going to do what others have had difficulity achieving -- bringing a great desktop GUI to Unix. -
Aqua Brings a Unix GUI to the Desktop
2001-05-04 14:00:36 the.blackster [Reply | View]
I'm a unix admin that acquired a powerbook G4 (my first macintosh) for the specific purpose of running os X when it came out. i hope i'm not an exception - i see tons of potential for os X. and aqua? my god, the most gorgeous interface i've ever used. a power user can get the best of all worlds with os X - aqua for all of its greatness and beauty, XonX for Xwindows support, command line, unix tools... i could just go on and on.
I too hope that OS X is a big hit - if nothing else, perhaps it'll help focus the limelight a bit back on that upstart linux' older sibling, BSD. -
Aqua Brings a Unix GUI to the Desktop
2001-04-21 21:57:32 Alan Graham |
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I also think what Apple has done is to bring an enormous amount of credibility to the platform. You have a $8+ billion company betting the farm on a platform that until now, has remained almost invisible to the end-consumer. Unix has always gained a large amount of respect from the tech sector, but has largely remained anonymous with many business professionals and consumers who wouldn't buy a "non-brand" version of a product. Red Hat...is not a brand 99% of consumers could recognize by name (unless you know them from the class-action lawsuit).
Most people still think of hardware and the OS as one in the same...a Sony, Gateway, Dell computer will always be a Windows machine, and an Apple will always be an Apple machine. Hard to seperate the OS from the machine...who has ever seen a Unix machine running in Sears or Wal-Mart (not counting the back room servers)?
Apple has given Unix a face and instantly increased it's market share. Unix also just got a big marketing budget and access to grade schools, homes and a wide variety of locations where it was never welcome before. I just hope we see some adoption, or we'll all be using XP.
