|
[an error occurred while processing this directive] Improving OS XDavid
Getzin
Oct. 3, 2000 Letter sent to Apple on Sept. 26, 2000
I am currently testing OS X beta as a huge Mac fan and someone who
is very interested in the art of interface science. This message concerns issues of the dock, and how it could better
replace the Apple Menu and Control Strip. I am just getting used to using the dock and really love the basic
concept and utility, but with some minor tweaks it could be greatly
improved and quiet all the complaints about the lack of the
Control Strip and Apple Menu. First the short part, moving and hide/show of the Dock. The
magnification option, auto show/hide and the easy resize are very
intuitive and wonderful features. There are some things that could be
improved. The auto hide and show should have a user adjustable amount
of hysteresis included (perhaps the control of it could be
implemented similarly to the former control of hyst. for
spring-loaded folders). It pops up by accident too often, and when
the mouse slips away off of the the top, the dock recedes too
quickly. Building in adjustable hysteresis would help greatly. Also,
if you really want to add configurability, allow the dock to be
dragged to the left or right side of the screen. With hyst.
implemented correctly, it might even work to have it at the top of
the screen. A shareware utility for OS 9 called A-dock already
uses this dragging and hysteresis if you would like to see an
example. It is available at the following URL: <http://jerome.foucher.free.fr/ADock.html> Please don't have any qualms about using ideas existing in
shareware. The designers are readily contactable. I'm sure Apple has
done it before, and I'm also sure these guys would be thrilled to see
their metaphors inline with the Mac OS. Secondly, there is the issue that causes much fear and loathing;
the missing Apple Menu and Control Strip. I believe that this issue
could be solved by implementing popup hierarchical content menus when
clicking and holding on icons. This could be used in and outside of
the dock. Outside of the dock it would be a wonderful way to navigate the
desktop, you can very efficiently and intuitively work with this
method. This metaphor applied to files is powerful; if applied to the
dock, it could be magical. Now, the features of the apple menu could
be reimplemented in the desktop icon in the dock and activated by
clicking and holding. Clicking and holding on the Desktop app icon would release a
drop-up menu organized with the modifiable folder and hierarchical
options of the old apple menu. This pop up folder contents feature would be beautiful to
implement systemwide for all folders and folders in the dock. Using
this feature for folders in the dock would be amazing. That feature,
along with its cousin menu from the desktop icon, would give users a
truly superior replacement for the Apple Menu. Much of this code
existed in the Classic OS (for hierarchical menus). With the NeXT
style directory of icons as folders, it should be made that much
easier and was implemented in this manner by a shareware utility
called FinderPop. If you want to go all out to please Finder Pop fans, you can
implement hold click contextual menus with options like moving to
favorites, moving to trash labels, and setting file type. This exact same feature could be used for a control strip type
menu housed in the dock's system settings icon. A menu would popup
containing the icons and perhaps names of the various control items,
and each item would have a menu pop up from it that would not open
the settings app, but implement changes the exact same way the
control strip did. Once again, please seriously consider implementing these minor,
but powerful, changes to the Mac OS X interface. You will make many
users very happy, make many old users more comfortable with the new
OS, and make the whole system more intuitive and beautiful. I love it
now, but these changes would be a great help for everyone
concerned. Sincerely,
David Getzin
- <back to the
original article>
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject. Recent My Turn articles- Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18.
When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
- 'That's Not a Computer', 07.30.
Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
- Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02.
In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
- My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28.
The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
- More in the My Turn index.
Links for the Day- Mac of the Day: 'Sawtooth' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - Available in speeds from 350-500 MHz, 'Sawtooth' introduced AGP video to the Mac.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- November 22 in LEM history: 99: Gradebooks - 00: Leveraging Apple design - Quadra 630 to Power Mac 5200 - 02: Laptop or desktop? - 04: SuperDuper: Quick, easy, efficient backup - Cross-platform programming for the rest of us - 05: Mac video surveillance on the cheap - Which OS is best for my vintage Mac? - No 'best browser' for the Mac - Sorry state of browsers for classic Macs - 06: Core 2 means cooler running 'Books - 2.0 GHz G4 upgrade
Recent Content on Low End Mac- The Long Term Value of a High End Mac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 11.21.
Low-end Macs are more affordable up front, but the flexibility and upgrade options of a top-end Mac can make it the better value in the long run.
- iPhone #1 Worldwide, Google Voice Search for iPhone, iPhone 3G Battery Pack, and More, iNews Review, 11.21.
Also British accents throw off Google voice search, lots of new iPhone apps, universal USB car charger, new protective cases, and more.
- 15 Reasons Macs Are Better, Quad-core iMac in January?, USB 3.0 Spec Finalized, and More, Mac News Review, 11.21.
Also 25 years of Macs, 'Snow Leopard' in Q1?, SimpleTech's faster and greener hard drive, Hyperspaces, StarOffice for OS X, and more.
- DisplayPort Copy Protection, Trackpad Update, Netbooks Not to Be Taken Lightly, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.21.
Also Apple set for record sales, 4-finger gestures on original MacBook Air, MacBook Apple's best consumer notebook to date, Cricket laptop stand, bargain 'Books from $490 to $2,299, and more.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20.
Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20.
Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20.
HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19.
Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19.
The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19.
Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19.
Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20.
Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20.
Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20.
Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18.
Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18.
New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18.
Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17.
Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17.
Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17.
Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
Entire Low End Mac site copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to the webmaster.
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Computer. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, and PowerBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
|
