[SledgeHammer]

Originally Posted by Gizzer Thanks for the info - Unfortunately (I didn't make myself clear) I wanted to be able to embed the image in a post rather than link to it. A picture Any other ideas, or is this not possible with .Mac?

Sorry, I assumed you would know how to do that. Actually, I tried to tell you exactly how to embed, but it thought I was trying to actually embed an image and wouldn't just put the text I had typed, so I got rid of it. Anyway, to put an image in your post use {img}http:://urlofpicturegoeshere.com{/img} except replace the curly brackets {} with square brackets [] (Like I said, if I use the square brackets to show you, it thinks I'm really referencing a picture).

[IVIIVI4ck3y27]

Originally Posted by BuonRotto Well, I agree about the icon spacing at least. The OS still leaves icons too rarified. Kick: only kidding. Brad's right about Graphite. It's actually Aqua blue (hue:211) but with less saturation (approx 13% instead of aqua blue's 87%). My thing about it being an anachronism is that when OS X was introduced and they included graphite, it matched the color of the G4 PowerMacs back then. Now, they're aluminum -- which is actually a slightly warm gray. Anyway, my thought was that the graphite appearance could be replaced with either a true neutral gray or with a dark theme, though that could really make some toolbar icons and such obnoxious with a dark background. Still, I undertstand why Apple wants to control theming as a brand issue. I also sympathize with those who want to do their own, safe, theming, but remember how it worked back in the days of Kaliedoscope? You'd go through a different theme every hour, settle on something close to the default OS appearance for about a week, then realize that the default appearance still looked better and went back to what you started with. So in the end, I think about 98% of users would end up with Aqua even if Apple included theming in the OS.

Actually I know of many people that used and lived by the Kaleidoscope themes that were out there. The only argument with it was stability, as a well done theme while not necessarily the usable norm, it wasn't the exception to the rule. Besides, if Apple supplied multiple themes they'd all be well done because they'd be provided by people with a focus in UI design. If one was better than another would remain a mystery, but remember that Aqua also wasn't well received by all on initial launch and that Apple has continually evolved Aqua to try to make it more usable and better designed.

So I disagree with you. I think many would opt for one of the 3 themes Apple has been developing, or maybe another unnamed or unshown theme if Apple elected to offer more than 3.

[nassau]

Originally Posted by IVIIVI4ck3y27 User controlled spacing of desktop icons. Nothing is more frustrating to me in OS X than trying to place something on the desktop and having it automagically snap back to it's original positioning because OS X doesn't deem there to be enough space to drop the icon to.

you know you can hold down cmd while dragging to disable grid-snapping?

[IVIIVI4ck3y27]

Thanks for the tip Nassau, had never heard of that. LoL I guess it's the whole fact that I'm so used to OS 9 that I've not picked up on all of the key commands for X yet. LoL I still think controlling the spacing is an important addition, but that's a nifty tip to know. Thanks again.

[Brad]

Also, you don't have to use grid spacing at all. Just bring up the View Options window and un-check it. In fact, it's off by default in Mac OS X.

[BuonRotto]

In his defense, grid spacing is still annoyingly large in the Finder. It's actually worse when you choose to have a folder sort by some criteria. Looks OK if the icons are 128x128, but anything less and the spacing is, well, expansive.

[BuonRotto]

Originally Posted by IVIIVI4ck3y27 So I disagree with you. I think many would opt for one of the 3 themes Apple has been developing, or maybe another unnamed or unshown theme if Apple elected to offer more than 3.

I don't mean to say that themes have no place, just that there's a law of diminishing returns with user-defined skinning abilities. Besides, I can understand Apple's desires to keep the appearance of the OS consistent, not only to match hardware, but also to keep that "branding" thing going. I mean, I've seen any number of commercials where they show a web page, for example, and the widgets are clearly Aqua. I've even seen ads with invented motion graphics that mimic Aqua closely. If Apple had truly arbitrary theming, the connection wouldn't be nearly as strong, and the influence of these themes diluted if they didn't "protect" their look.

I would love to see the "graphite" appearance replaced by something along the lines of the pro app appearance, or at least with a color scheme that's more up to date. (Graphite is sooo 2001!) On the other hand, the idea of theming types of apps or apps in some contextual scheme is particularly interesting, and arbitrary theming would mess that up. Mess it up even more, that is, since the implementation isn't well documented and the application of these sub-themes like metal are played fast and loose. I would think Apple would have to pick one approach or the other: either make one consistent appearance that can be changed significantly universally, or have several appearances that have a clear and purposeful role in the user's workflow. In either case, I doubt we'll ever see any sanctioned form of user-defined skins or even a big range of prefab ones.

[Barracuda]

I would LOVE to see a theme built around those slick glossy white tabs featured on the iMac G5 pages at apple.com. The slight reflection of the typeface in the tabs is so cool and very refined looking! Imagine if the icons on tool bars in apps like Mail, or even the dock, had a similar reflective quality. That would totally ROCK and redefine Aqua!

[Chinney]

Originally Posted by BuonRotto ... I mean, I've seen any number of commercials where they show a web page, for example, and the widgets are clearly Aqua. I've even seen ads with invented motion graphics that mimic Aqua closely. ...

I meanwhile have noticed any number of news items, ads and commercials that feature 'typical' web pages or e-mail, and the look is definitely Apple - except it is the old OS, not Aqua. Are all the journalists and ad copy people still stuck in OS 9?

[BuonRotto]

Short answer: yes, they are. Still lots of 'em out there.

[drewprops]

I want the beachball to match the rest of the OS. Make it metallic or glass or something that looks more refined.

I want a better way to copy files.

The column-view has become my favorite way of file navigation. Make it even better, surprise me... I'm sleepy and have been working on my Mac all day making & moving files around.

Figure out a way to fool old Windows servers into thinking that my Mac is a Windoze machine so it doesn't concatenate filenames over 33 characters. (smacks hand, that isn't a design element you git)

I've said this before....build a calendar into the date/time menu in the menubar. Let me "see" today in reference to the month. Provide a way for me to crank up iCal from that mini-calendar.

Make it -really- easy to open the sound control panel from the volume drop-down in the menubar. REALLY easy I said.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by drewprops Make it -really- easy to open the sound control panel from the volume drop-down in the menubar. REALLY easy I said.

Hold option and press any one of the three volume keys on your keyboard. Voila!

[dglow]

Originally Posted by Brad Hold option and press any one of the three volume keys on your keyboard. Voila!

Wow, great tip! Thanks, Brad.

[Luca]

Holding down command to temporarily disable the snap to grid feature has been around since OS 8 at least. You've always been able to switch between grid or no grid. In fact, no grid is the default setup. How could you possibly think that you CAN'T switch it?

Anyway, doesn't matter. OS X needs better icons. The current ones are so 2001. Something slick and simple like the World Of Aqua set would be perfect. I also think a good feature would be some kind of more universal "go here when you want to do something" button or menu. The Windows equivalent would be the Start menu. In OS 9, you had the Apple menu for launching whichever applications you use the most, but most of the time you just double clicked the hard drive. In OS X, there are about a zillion different ways to do it - you can put the Apps folder in the dock, you can click the Finder icon in the dock and use the sidebar to open the applications folder, you can just double click the hard drive like before, and so on. It's great to have choices but these seem less than perfect, incomplete somehow. The quickest one is where you put the applications folder in the dock, but that doesn't occur to many people. Also, OS X handles it like any other folder and doesn't give it any kind of special treatment, so when you right-click it for the first time, your hard drive will grind for a bit to load up all the data and cache it. If there was some dedicated applications launcher (not the dock, one that lets you launch ALL your applications), it could be much quicker.