Re: Look and Feel

[Richard Frith-Macdonald]

On 11 Feb 2005, at 06:31, Jesse Ross wrote:
> > Having used both NeXTstep and MacOS-X (which I use daily), I can 
> > confidently say that for me the NeXTstep theme is more usable (better 
> > to sit in front of and work with all day) and far better than 
> > windows-xp (which I'm also forced to use occasionally).
>
> From a design perspective, what "makes" NeXTSTEP for you, and what 
> "breaks" OS X for you? I just want to get as much insight into what 
> people think the strongest elements of the current GUI are... what 
> does it offer that you don't find anywhere else? What makes it more 
> usable? Is it the functionality? Is it the colors? Is it the control 
> styles?
>
> Or, to put it another way, what would make you cry if it was gone from 
> GNUstep forever?

Unfortunately that's not easy to answer, as a lot of it seeps in at an 
unconscious level and I just  find myself more comfortable with one 
thing than another ... I was very impressed with the MacOS-X aqua 
interface when I first got it, but I don't like it as much now.
Anyway, while I'm sure a lot of the overalll effect operates at a 
subconscious level, there are
definitely a few things I consciously find irritating in the interfaces 
I have to use -

As far as functionality goes, NeXTstep and MacOSX are overall fairly 
similar.  The big annoyances being the scrollbar positioning and the 
menu functionality...

I quite like the MacOSX menu on my 12" laptop display, but on anything 
larger I hate it and want my NeXTstep menus (and torn-off menus in 
particular) back.  I also really liked being able to move the menu 
off-screen and get it back with the right mouse button ...
but now I have an apple laptop I don't have a right mouse button :-(

I preferred the scrollbar on the left of the window ... having it on 
the right seems like a dreadfully old-fashioned UI mistake.  If we want 
a different, modern looking interface, we should have the scroller on 
the left where it's easier to get to.

As far as appearance goes -

Clean, simple lines, basically rectangular.  If the control is actually 
a rectangle, it needs to be a rectangle visually too - I don't want 
rounded corners where it's unclear whether clicking on a pixel will 
activate the control or not. A small amount of rounding is OK, but the 
MacOS-X interface has too much for me.

Subdued and consistent color ... greys are good as long as we maintain 
sufficient contrast, gradients are bad ... I want my controls to be the 
same color from top to bottom, and left to right so that they stand out 
from the background uniformly.  In particular the border of the control 
needs to be clear/consistent.