Apple Finally Nails Leopard’s UI, Removing the Ugly Bits
Posted on February 12th, 2008With the latest software update for Leopard (10.5.2) released yesterday came a few hidden surprises. Not the least of which was an option to disable Leopard’s most controversial, and in my opinion ugliest, feature; the translucent menubar. Apple has now included a check box in System Preferences, under Desktop & Screen saver, allowing the user to turn off menubar transparency altogether. This seemingly small change is far more significant than it looks.
Scads of third party tools that perform the same task have been available since the OS first shipped last year, but this is the first time that I can recall Apple having retrograded a feature at the request of users. The fact that Apple actually listened to the outcry of disgruntled Leopard users is staggering. Why Apple chose this path from the beginning is a mystery to me. It’s a visual effect one would expect to see in Vista, and that isn’t meant as a compliment.
Translucent menus are a usability nightmare. The effect makes text options less visible and muted. And aesthetically its charm quickly wears off once that semi-translucent menu bar turns into a blurry mess at the top of your screen. Needless to say I and legions of other users are happy to see the transparency effect go.
Thank you, Apple. You’ve made the right choice. Now, if you would kindly replace the homely looking Dock and kitschy space wallpaper with something more tasteful?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 7:35 am and is filed under Apple, Leopard, OSX. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Opaque. I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Greg M.
February 12th, 2008
“Opaque menus are a usability nightmare.” “Goodbye ugly opacity…”.
I suggest you look up the meaning of ‘opaque’.
Robert Schaaf
February 12th, 2008
Sorry, Freudian slip… I was borrowing the name of a utility for disabling the transparency effect, called OpaqueMenuBar.
Kent Pribbernow
February 12th, 2008
Since we’re piling on here, I will add that “And aesthetically it’s charm…” should be “And aesthetically its charm…”.
Patrick
February 12th, 2008
Damn, I’m going back to bed. Or should that be “I am returning to bed?”
Kent Pribbernow
February 12th, 2008
You don’t even realize you can change the so-called wallpaper on your computer all by yourself?
Nunuvyer Bizniz
February 12th, 2008
[...] bookmarks tagged tasteful Apple Finally Nails Leopard’s UI, Removing the U… saved by 8 others mightuchan bookmarked on 02/12/08 | [...]
Pages tagged "tasteful"
February 12th, 2008
Why even ask such an asinine question? I’m talking about Apple’s choice in default desktops, as a branding. Each release of OSX has had its own signature desktop. In past releases, since the inception of the OS in fact, Apple has followed along the same path with a clean blue (or optional graphite) theme that evolved over time. Granted, that motif has grown long in the tooth by now, and I am somewhat happy for its departure, but the blue desktops were always tasteful and elegant… the hallmark of Apple design.
Now, I welcome change as much as the next cultist, but Apple’s choice in signature desktops for Leopard seem oddly out of place and very… well un-Apple, for lack of a better description. Some of them look downright tacky. Take the Earth orbital images; which look like they were downloaded from Space.com. Maybe it’s a matter of personal taste, but I find them to be completely out of step with Apple design and branding. Yes, of course you can change desktops to anything that suits your fancy, including images of your pet cat. But default desktops are part of the branding experience, a visual metaphor that presents the OS to the user… “Hi, I’m Leopard!”. In that vein these images just don’t feel right to me at all.
The purplish celestial image that Apple chose as default isn’t even properly colorized. It looks too faded or subdued. I edited a copy and made colors richer and more vibrant. Click here and see for yourself the difference…
FYI: As clinically insane as it may sound, I rarely if ever change my default desktop. From OSX 10.2 Jaguar on.
Kent Pribbernow
February 12th, 2008
While we’re on the subject of things I don’t like about the UI, am I the only one who doesn’t like the new menubar’s squared corners? I wish there were a utility to return them to a rounded state, as in previous iterations of OSX.
Kent Pribbernow
February 12th, 2008
OK, I can see why people wouldn’t like the translucent menubar and menus: they may impede productivity. But, rounded corners? C’mon, man, that’s getting nitpicky. I’ve been using Macs since 1994, and (as I can recall) Classic Mac OS would have square corners when running in a notebook screen. Big deal.
Mario
February 12th, 2008
I plead guilty to picking at nits.
Kent Pribbernow
February 12th, 2008
Good looking website, Kent.
zato
February 13th, 2008
my version of 10.5.2 doesn’t include such an option. are you sure you’re not using a 3rd party app?
monstordh
March 13th, 2008
Whenever an OS update is available, I really don’t think about and just end up going for it but after I read your post, I just realized that the transparency is no longer there. I really had not noticed. How could I have missed that? Great that it’s gone though.
Jorge Quinteros
March 24th, 2008