There's an article I found linked at MacCentral that seems to come from a different world than everything we've discussed here in terms of the X GUI. An excerpt:

quote:

Simplicity Works

The simple-minded approach also is evident in the design of Apple's stores as well as in the user interface for the latest version of the Macintosh operating system, OS X Tiger. In both the store and the OS, Apple has adopted a design ethic that is very clean and uncluttered. It is a sort of minimalist European style.

By contrast, Microsoft's products continue to defy simplicity. For instance, the color-filled Windows XP often requires configuration and tinkering. The upcoming Longhorn OS due for release in 2006 will integrate more and more tools into the Windows OS. But for the average user, the bells and whistles only serve to add more complexity, according to analysts.

"Mac OS X, it's very simple in a way. It's very white and translucent. There isn't a lot of color like in Windows," said Wilcox. "In XP there's a lot of color, and you can use themes to even add color to the desktop."

As Wilcox sees it, too much color does not make computing simpler. For example, the little color available in Apple's OS X makes it simpler to use. The things that are important stand out more. The Macintosh computer uses color where it is necessary to draw the user's attention to important things.

The full article:
Lessons From The Mac

Any comments about this observation from the Bizarro world?


Markle

What is the surprise?

The first time I booted Mac OS X I said to myself less really is more.

Oh Mercy. I'm speechless.

This has to be some kind of a joke. The Aqua interface is the most overdone, inconsistent and confusing interface the Mac has ever had. Plus, it's taken so many friggin' CUES from Windows, that it's equally confusing to use.

I mean come on, the command-tab array? That's Windows. The Dock goes against the old Mac AHIGs, and puts that functionality at the bottom of the screen like the Windows Taskbar. The big, over-rendered icons (and too colorful!) are nothing but screen real-estate stealers, and the use of color in LABELS is absolutely the worst inteface element I've ever seen on any platform.

There are valid arguments, some echo those we've been saying here for years... but it's like they're using a different OS X. The arguments about simplicity and strategic use of color are much more appropriate to the LEGACY Mac interface, than they are to the happy horseshit of OS X.

Basically, OS X is a windows-polluted hybrid of NeXT and the MacOS. Purists like me want to see the real minimal and simple metaphor driven UI sensibilities of the legacy get reinjected into Aqua. I think that would give it a whole new life.

The Mac interface was always about Less is More. With OS X, Apple abandoned that in favor of a marketing agenda that basically says digikids are so friggin' stupid, that all we have to do is pummel them with eye candy and visual superabundance and they'll love us.

I say the MacLash is coming, where all the happy horseshit will get dated and tired, and go out with a whimper. People want minimal. The iPod is proof of that, and even THAT Apple is screwing up, trying to add more bloat and color.

Strip the interface down to its bare essentials, its pure function and usability, and it will be magnificent again. Keep slathering on bullshit, and it's going to stay insulting and newbie-centric, not adequate for pro users.