Two Apple Patents Issued in Late December

Reader and informant Eric C. Pollitt emailed us regarding the issuing of two Apple patents in late December. You won't be finding any dirt or Apple juice from reading these patents; in fact, the products described are not new at all. While the patent filing took place a few months earlier, the issuing of the patents occured about a month ago.

The subject of these two patents? Surprise, surprise: the much-criticized iMac mouse...and what appears to be a dialog box (a file copy modal window, as one reader described it).

In case reading patents is your idea of entertainment, I've included a couple excerpts below:

United States Patent D418,125
Jobs, et. al. ** Dec. 28, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cursor control device
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Design Claims
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ornamental design for a cursor control device, as shown and described.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Jobs; Steven P. (Palo Alto, CA); Ive; Jonathan P. (San Francisco, CA); Coster; Daniel J. (San Francisco, CA); Stringer; Christopher J. (Pacifica, CA); De Iuliis; Daniele (San Francisco, CA); Andre; Bartley K. (Menlo Park, CA); Howarth; Richard P. (San Francisco, CA); Seid; Calvin Q. (Palo Alto, CA); Satzger; Douglas B. (San Carlos, CA); van de Loo; Marc J. (Palo Alto, CA).
Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc. (Cupertino, CA).
[**] Term: 14 years.
Appl. No.: 96,012
Filed: Nov. 3, 1998Intl. Cl. : 1402
Current U.S. Cl.: D14/117.1
Field of Search: D14/100, 114, 117.1-117.9; D13/158; D21/385, 333; 200/5
R, 5 A, 6 R, 6 A; 273/148 B; 345/156-67; 74/471 XY; 463/36-39

United States Patent D418,122
Coleman ** Dec. 28, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modal window for a computer display screen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Design Claims
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ornamental design for a modal window for a computer display screen, as shown and described.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Coleman; Patricia J. (Montara, CA).
Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc. (Cupertino, CA).
[**] Term: 14 years.
Appl. No.: 86,243
Filed: Apr. 8, 1998
Related U.S. Application Data
Division of Ser No. 38,433, May 5, 1995, Pat. No. Des. 393.Intl. Cl. : 1402
Current U.S. Cl.: D14/114.2
Field of Search: D14/114, 114.1-114.9; D18/24-33; D20/11; D19/6; D21/324-33; 345/326, 339-40, 347-57

January 26, 2000

Another Look at Internet Explorer 5, Part Two - With Images

By Nick dePlume, Publisher / Send Feedback

Here's a continuation of my article on January 24, where I provided a brief review of my test of Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh, 5.0, outlining and picturing some tidbits which I didn't think had been looked enough. The original article can be found at our archives, and presents a look at the new about box, all of the color schemes, and a few other items, and includes some external resources for further reading. In this article, click on the links for images.

One of the new features is very simple, but greatly desired by many: the ability to cycle through browser windows with a keystroke. I found myself using this often when I used to use Netscape Communicator, as I typically have numerous browser windows open, and I had been waiting for this feature to come to IE.

Like in Netscape, you can now bring up a list of related links when visiting a page. The related links display is powered by the Alexa service, which Netscape Communicator uses also. A new toolbar can be made present at the top of the browser windows: the media bar. Want to play QuickTime media? Look no further than the new media bar.

Lastly, I was disturbed by the initial font display settings, it gave the browser a very Windows-like feel, for better or for worse (worse, most likely). I've received a lot of feedback from people who have used IE 5, finding that the default settings make the sites that they visit regularly look horrible. Luckily, everything can be easily managed from the the revised language/fonts preference panel.

If you have any IE 5 feedback, or if there is another IE 5 feature which you would like profiled here, send it on.

January 24, 2000

Another Look at Internet Explorer 5 - With Images

At Macworld San Francisco, Steve Jobs briefly demoed Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Mac, which is slated for a February release. Recently, several Mac-centric sites have posted high-quality visual reports of the next-generation browser (links to more resources can be found at the end of this article), but as I experimented with IE 5, I found that there were a few things which hadn't been looked at too extensively, and that I thought I'd share with readers. While I won't be going too in-depth, as many of IE 5's features have been reported or even officially released, I'm going to provide a very brief review from my use of an IE 5 beta.

One of the most noticable features of this new release is its interface. The toolbar is entirely customizable, making it easy to add frequently used buttons- or axe ones which are rarely used. Additionally, the color of the menus and buttons can be customized on-the-fly from a menu.

The available colors are based on the casings of Apple's more recent hardware offerings: [Click on a color name for an image of a browser window with that color setting.]

Blueberry | Bondi | Grape | Graphite | Lime | PowerBook Black | PowerBook Bronze | Strawberry | Tangerine

IE 5 also comes with an auction manager to manage online auctions. (MacNN AppleInsider's original report on IE 5 explains how the auction manager works, and has more extensive images.)

Lastly, here is an image of the new about box. As you can see, the new about box and splash screen are designed similarly to the spash screen of the already released Outlook Express 5.

Can't get enough IE 5 info and images? Here are some other places with more pictures and information which I didn't cover: Mac OS Rumors | AppleInsider | Microsoft's "Official "MacTopia.

What's your favorite IE 5 feature?

New Think Secret Design Debuts!

As you can probably see, Think Secret has a brand-spanking-new design, done by David Portela of WebDawn MultiMedia. This design gives the site a whole new look, and is very welcome after over a year of the horrible design done by myself (Publisher Nick dePlume- not a designer). Send your feedback and any bug reports to the webmaster.

Does Apple Need to Pursue the Enterprise Market?

A reader (who wished to remain anonymous) recently sent us his opinion on Jobs's statements to Fortune that Apple isn't pursuing the enterprise market actively- yet. My opinion: Jobs has done a great job of revamping Apple as a "cool consumer company," and he was probably right in making that his first priority. However, Apple should definitely be focusing on the enterprise market as part of their "outside the box" strategy. Anyway, read on:

If Jobs doesn't want to go after the enterprise market, he's going to lose in education. Going after the enterprise market, to me, at least means being friendly to it. And Macs are not entirely friendly now. They were much more friendly in the age of the dumb text terminal. More and more of our enterprise apps are Windows-specific or are designed for Windows first, and any other platform as a joke-like afterthought.

- Oracle Applications for human resources and finances - Apple touts MRJ's Java capabilities to run these Java applets, which they do, but far behind Windows.

- PeopleSoft - about the same as Oracle, but probably a little worse.

- Lucent voice mail messaging - universities are starting to wake up to voice mail, from what I've seen, but it doesn't look like Lucent's software runs on Macs...or in Java, either.

There are other notable problems. BSR's donations database systems. Data warehousing. Scheduling systems. Multi-user networkable calendaring systems. Conferencing/messaging systems designed for class support. Robust, scaleable, failover-safe file servers.

The Mac is falling behind in a lot of these areas. Over the past two years, the Mac population in my university has dropped precipitously, particularly in the administrative offices. Where the decisions are made, I might add. If Apple doesn't wake up to the growing client-server software incompatibility, and really evangelize some of these enterprise-level vendors, the higher ed market will erode. Drastically. Because these other vendors, having saturated the business world with their wares, are turning to higher-ed (and lower-ed, in some cases) and licking their chops. At the same time, Apple often looks like it's giving up here.

Sure, the Mac is great for content creation and faculty. But the faculty won't get Macs if the administration doesn't allow it. And if a person has to justify buying a more-expensive Mac, then add the RAM and other features necessary to run VirtualPC, and then add VPC on top of that, it gets darned expensive to use a Mac at work. And if you have to run VPC your whole day, why not just get a cheaper PC and have "fewer" headaches? Unfortunately, this is the line of thinking of many decision-makers in administration.

January 19, 2000

Apple's First Quarter Financial Results Announced

Today, at Apple CFO Fred Anderson's earnings call, Apple announced financial results for fiscal 2000 Q1. Net profit was $183 million, or $1.03 per diluted share. Revenues for Q1 were $2.34 Billion. Gross margins were 25.9%. Apple ended the quarter with over $3 Billion in cash. Overall, the results were very impressive.

When asked by a caller about Pismo, Anderson (not surprisingly) declined comment, stating "Maybe you're reading the rumors sites on that."

A first this year, the conference call was broadcasted via QuickTime 4 streaming, allowing regular Mac users (who might not want to call long-distance to hear the conference call) to listen in. The call has been archived, for your listening enjoyment.

More information will follow. AppleInvestors is recommended as a source for quality AAPL reportage; independent analyst Eric Yang does a top-notch job when it comes to AAPL.

The iCEO is Compensated with 10 Million Shares in AAPL Stock
(and a Gulfstream V)

Internet CEO Steve Jobs has been granted stock options to purchase ten million shares of AAPL common stock, and was also given a Gulfstream V jet for his use. From the press release:

"Appleís market cap has risen from less than $2 billion to over $16 billion under Steveís leadership since his return to the Company two and a half years ago," said Apple Board member Ed Woolard. "Steve has taken no compensation thus far, and we are therefore delighted to give him this airplane in appreciation of the great job he has done for our shareholders during this period."

This decision was apparently made unanimously by Apple's board of directors.

The iCEO's salary remains at $1 yearly.

Aqua Reader Feedback: Round Two
Edited by Nick dePlume / Publisher and Editor in Chief

...yet more selections from the reader feedback that we have received. Here are some reader comments both in favor of and opposing Aqua (although this time, we have several more pro-Aqua comments which were sent to us). Though I don't typically like to get into long sections of reader feedback day after day, I've decided to post a few more of the emails we received.

As for my opinion on the issue? I'm wary, but I'll Aqua a fair chance. I'll reserve my personal judgement until later. (I've downloaded Kaleidoscope and an Aqua Kaleidoscope scheme, so I'll see how that works out. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of Aqua as new information becomes available. -Nick dePlume

Reader One: It's Beautiful, Plain and Simple. Aqua is the Next Logical Step.

I don't understand why everyone is bitching about Aqua. It's a nice clean interface. To be perfectly honest, it's the best thing I've ever seen, and I'm very particular about this stuff. There isn't a Kaleidoscope scheme out there that I like more. It's beautiful, plain and simple. it functions well, and takes advantage of the Mac's hardware. Platinum can't do that. Windows doesn't do that.

Everyone writes in talking about how they have been a UI designer for years, and how they are so qualified to judge. Perhaps you are, but you probably aren't, and for two reasons. First, I don't think Apple has a group of janitors or security personnel working on this in their spare time, they have people that are probably making a few hundred thousand dollars a year to do this stuff. Beyond that, good for you, I'm glad you've been designing interfaces for ages. MC Hammer has been writing songs for a while now, and you know what, they suck now. Perhaps time has passed you by. I'm sorry to say it, but it may be fact, albeit a sad one.

Aqua is the next logical step in interfaces. Nobody likes things that are radically new for some reason. Hell, Platinum took some crap for a while, but as time went on, people liked it, and it's pretty damn good considering it was made over five years ago. The QuickTime and Sherlock interface have taken crap too, but they're growing on people, and they're the most functional thing I can imagine. What else would work so well with favorites and different channels without beginning to look a little cluttered?

I know people will be writing Think Secret to complain about this, and that's cool. You know what, I'll do you one better, please send any comments to aquarocks@mac.com.

- |trev

Reader Two: GUI Configuration in Sight for the Unix-based Mac OS X

First off I want to point out that the Anglo-centric crap was just that: crap. It was a cheap shot at trying to provoke a little pathos in your readers. Not unsuccessful of course, but cheap. And controversial as tech rumor sites can be, bringing race, class, or nationality into the mix when there isn't any good evidence to support such a correlation is like shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre--it's just plain dirty. Beyond that, please name for me one country where Apple has Authorized Resellers (hey, Apple isn't selling to the loincloth crowd 'cause they never did come out with that handcranked PowerBook) that doesn't use green for go, yellow for caution, and red for stop. I'll save you a trip to Sherlock 2: there aren't any. No one /with/ traffic uses any other system for their traffic signals. If you don't like the metaphor (I'm not sure I'm thrilled either) that's your problem.

Next is all the belly-aching I'm reading about how it looks. Cry me a river. Unixes are the most user-configurable OSs on the planet. You don't want it that way? There /is/ a way to change it. Whether or not Apple decides to include a GUI Control Panel to alter all the settings just how you like them, the HUGE community of unix geeks (one that we will all likely join in the coming few years) have been hacking their GUIs for years and will delight in mangling Apple's perscribed Aqua Finder-for-the-masses. What I'm saying here is that it is a non-issue.

- Kevin Gaussoin (formerly of MacLiving Daily)

Reader Three: Functions of Aqua are good; Bright Colors may be Annoying with Extensive Use

I sit in front of a Mac for 12+ hours each day, so I have to be very particular about what images, desktops, widgets, etc. are fighting for my visual attention. I prefer Apple Platinum, with soft highlights, a grey desktop pattern, and no Kaleidoscope. I hated the appearance of Aqua the moment I saw how much visual "eye-candy" it had, but I like the way it functions. My only hope is that there will be ways to change the over-bright colors.

As to the rest of the complaints that I've heard, I think people need to understand a little more about Aqua before they speak. The standard Finder windows are not going away, they're just not the default. I find the browser to be convenient, if different, and recommend that people check out Greg's Browser, an application that does the same thing. The magnification on the Dock can be reduced or even turned off. I'll have to see what it looks like on a big monitor at a high resolution before I choose my settings. As to 128 pixel Icons, cool! Not that I expect that I'll have that many, but the ability to scale any icon to any size really sounds tempting to me, and I'm sure software companies (and artists who design icons) will love it.

[Editor's note: a reader pointed out that icons designed to be viewed at 128x128 will become an undistinguishable mess at 32x32 and below.]

Cheers, and keep the discussion going. I think Apple needs to hear it.

Reader Four: Give Aqua a Chance

Why all the hand-wringing at this stage? I've read responses to your article, and to other articles and usenet posts where people are saying "I'll never use this" or "Windows here I come". Such empty threats make me laugh, someone would be so adverse to trying a "new" interface that they would go to an even worse one to prove a point?

The last time I heard such outrage and whining (not that you whined in your article, I don't agree with much of what you've said, but you did present it fairly) was about the original Macintosh Interface in 1985. It just seems incredible to me that so many "experts" and "long time" users are raising so much Cain over a demo. I suggest the naysayers give it a chance, see what customization is available, let 3rd parties have a crack at some enhancements and chill out until we can get our hands on the thing. FWIW, I hate the Mac OS standard Platinum interface and always have, Kaleidoscope does a nice job of quelling some of my complaints. I don't like being a window janitor either, how do you think products like GoMac and DragThing have become so popular? By the way, how are colored widgets any less obvious than gray pseudo-buttons to a new user? Perhaps the real problem many people have with Aqua is they may have to relearn some old habits and may experience a week or two of unfamiliarity with the new interface - egads, such inconvenience!

January 18, 2000

Aqua: A Collection of Reader Feedback
Compiled by Nick dePlume / Publisher and Editor in Chief

As a followup to last Friday's commentary regarding Aqua, the new interface for Mac OS X, I'm presenting some of the feedback which we received from readers. Read on for a few selections (from readers both in favor and opposing of Aqua- people seem to either love it or hate it), presenting some alternative views and new bits of insight. For easier reading, I've placed a short description above each piece of feedback. Got something to add? Email us. -Nick dePlume

Reader One: Programmer and Interface Designer Hates Aqua

Your latest article on Aqua is a winner. It's not hard enough hitting for my taste, but I figure that increases the chance it'll be listened to, and constructively, and that for sure is a good thing. Personally, I hate Aqua. I'm a Mac programmer and UI designer from way back. And I can't find much of anything good about Aqua. I definitely don't want to use it.

I note that a recent UI poll conducted by TidBITs (popular e-mail newsletter by Adam Engst and company) revealed that 95% of the 950 respondents to their poll hated the Sherlock/QuickTime player UI stuff. And I can only imagine that the numbers might be similar for Aqua.

I think polls are perhaps a good way to send messages to Apple management. Steve things he can force us to accept this crap. I think if some indication of the extent of the dissatisfaction with Aqua, the "principle-less UI" as I like to call it, could be made, then possibly there'd be some chance it'd get fixed. Which I hope it will.

Anyway, thanks again for a good, well put together article. Obviously, you pay attention to details, and know something about real UI design principles. We need more of that. We're in danger of losing the only tolerable choice remaining to Steve's braindead assetion that "artistic" flair makes a UI, not science.

Reader Two: Aqua is Revolutionary and Bold

I have a couple things I disagree with you regarding some of the more negative things you had to say about Aqua towards the first half of your recent article online.

Your first item that you disagreed with regarding Aqua was the color scheme of the interface widgets, if I am correct. Later you go on to say how effective the current platinum scheme widgets are in establishing clarity of purpose. I would say that I believe Aqua is accomplishing much the same thing from an interface perspective in regards to using color to identify the various widgets. As a user, when one sees the current widgets for the first time ever, I imagine the response would be much the same as it would be a user new to Aqua: "what does this thingy do?" Looking at it from that perspective, it won't make a difference whether a colorful round nyquil tab is used instead of a silver colored box with a line through it (for the windowshade widget). Anglo-centric view or not, it's a new interface, and everyone will have to learn it from the ground up, something that would have to be a sacrifice to be made if one were to begin using Aqua. Thus, anglo-centrism is irrelevant, whether or not the iCEO said it has anglo-centric connotations. The only thing that this anglo-centric color scheme will do is speed the re-learning of the interface components in the Western Hemisphere and in many other places, not necessarily hampering them elsewhere. Also, I know many people who use Kalidoscope schemes that make Aqua look like a nun standing next to a disco dancer. With that in mind, this also brings me to the point of subtlety in interface that you mentioned.

Most Mac users I know don't like how "boring" the freshly-installed look of Mac OS is, that is, the Mac OS logowall paper and platinum scheme with Charcoal font. These users immediately install Kalidoscope and change the interface to where looking at the screen is like looking at a Picasso. They have it down to an art...literally. And most people who use Macs are artistic in some sense...perhaps the very fact that they chose a Mac alone is proof that they, at the very least, disapprove of the ugly interface regime that Billy at MS has set up.

My second disagreement is with your mention of the new dock. The launcher is ugly and crude compared to the dock, if what I read about Aqua is correct. Seeing most UNIX variants including BSD and it's variants (which we all know Mac OS X is largely based on), RedHat, Slackware, and other POSIX compliant UNIXes run X11 with an interface that includes a dock of some sorts (GNOME, KDE, etc), OS X will be no exception. The dock element has become a growing standard in interface design, and even the "lesser" operating system (Windows) has embraced it. For a time, I used GoMac to put a bar on the bottom of my screen, and loved it. I will be glad that the new Mac OS has something like that built in. The fact that it will be customizable is the largest reason why it should be great, if not tolerable, to anyone.

Aqua is innovative. It is bold. It will require a lot of relearning, yes. That is something most Mac users who want to use Aqua will have to face. But innovation is usually followed by revolution. If the Aqua interface is going to be so bold as to slap the current trend of dull and boring (imho) interfaces in the face and usher in a new era in computer looks, then more power. Apple started something with the original Bondi BLue iMacs, continuing with the 5 colored ones. They have revolutionized the industry in design, and from how I see it, the little pebble has started an avalanche in design. I'll just sit back, and watch the computer industry rave at all the "new and innovative ideas" that PC vendors are employing and smile, knowing who and when gave birth to change.

Reader Three: "A Nice Tank But...Where Are The Fish?"

Just some comments from a keynote attendee via satellite...Yes, interfaces are certainly a major player in a user's overall experience, but I must confess: I was a little disappointed by the "Aqua Revelation" presentation.

It's obvious that the iMac look and design has been imported over into the new OS lock, stock and chassis, but I think, apart from the salient observations you outlined, there are some other serious considerations to take a closer look at here...

For one, this new minimized bar at the bottom -- I've jumped in the front car of roller coasters still eating a saurkraut sandwich and washing it down with a container of milk even as car went over the top and into its initial descent, so it takes a lot for me to get nauseous, but that's exactly how I reacted to the mouse being dragged along the bottom of the screen as the bar undulated in contorted waveform fashion in pursuit of the cursor. Clever concept? Yeah... Cute for a moment or two? Yeah... Permanent feature? No thanks... Too distractingly cutesy for my 10-12 hours a day in front of the monitor, Same reaction to the default button - cute but not really an added value to the user experience. At least slow it down to impulse speed... once every two seconds might make it somewhat palatable.

Even such simple user features as the following would really help in accelerating the overall time-saving aspects of the Apple OS:

1) Windows lets you click on any file name in any save dialog box, saving the user the unneeded additional task of having to type out an entire file name even though they only want to change or add a character or two to an existing file name in order to tie it in with that file/series of numbered files/project-grouped files...whatever. Apple still hasn't given their users this very Apple-like time saving feature. You can have it via a third party shareware item called Click Save-As (which you will not be willing to give up once you start using it!)

2) Including cascading menus as a Contextual plug-in as a far quicker alternate for those of us who find Apple's click-and-a-half folder-by-folder approach cumbersome and slow (after all, cascading menus on the Mac when NOW Utilities first introduced them before Windows 95 swiped the idea and made it seem like their own innovation.

3) Ditto for the ability to tile windows with the click of a menu or cycle between open windows within any given running application.

There are a lot of really great ideas that end up as third-party modifications to the OS which Apple blithely passes on integrating into their next OS revision... and their next one after that...and the next one following that...which leads me to believe that the widely-touted statement that "Apple cares about and listens to its users" remains a Madison Avenue ploy that keeps their PR front looking good while any dispute to that claim is met with their convenient catch-all, "Well, we haven't really noticed a significant number of people asking for/complaining about the lack of that particular feature," response.

So, from what I've seen so far, Aqua rates a C+ in my grade book and a review blurb that reads, "Apple's New OS is All Wet - A Nice Tank But... Where Are The Fish?"

Reader Four: Three-Color Traffic Light Fairly Universal

I've lived, worked or traveled in North America, Latin America, Europe, North Africa, Asia, and West and East Africa, and have never see a different traffic light color scheme than the one we use: red means stop, etc. What "other cultures" are you thinking of? There may be some primitive tribes in the rain forest who have never seen a traffic light, but then, people like that, they'll be using Win 2000 rather than the Mac OS.

Reader Five: Reader Concerned by Aqua; Quartz is Important

I found your review of the Aqua interface (Aqua: An Interface Design Review) very well done. You and a few other writers have begun to touch on issues that are very important to myself and other Mac users.

The real issues, I believe, that surround Aqua and Mac OS X have less to do with the colors and flash of the interface. I think the majority of Mac users agree that the development of the Quartz technology which makes much of that possible is a great advantage to the Mac platform. The specific choices of colors and effects used to create the various elements of the user interface will always be subject to the varied tastes of individual users and designers.

However, I am very concerned about the actual features of the interface. Many of the things touched on by your review go to the heart of my concerns. What will happen to disks that mount automatically on the desktop? What about the Apple menu and pop up folders on the bottom of the screen? I am confused about the issue of multiple windows open at once on the desktop, which Apple now seems to tell us is a bad thing.

Any way, I came across an analysis written by Bruce Tognazzini, someone who worked at Apple for many years and who I remember as a key player in the design of the original and evolving Mac interface. I am not sure I agree with everything he says, particularly about conforming to Windows standards and two button mice, but his point that the present Mac finder is incredibly powerful when compared to a hierarchic file browser hits the mark of my concern exactly. If Apple loses this power they risk losing much of the Mac advantage.

He also covers the practical benefits of the dock compared pop up folders and the value Apple menu. This might be an interesting read to you and others at Think Secret. You can find it here.

Mac OS X is poised to bring capabilities to the Mac platform that it has long needed and that may give it an advantage over its competition for several years to come. However, if it sacrifices many of the important features which have distinguished from other platforms I fear that it may end up taking the Mac community backwards to a point where it is just a flashier version of Windows.

I look forward to Think Secret's continuing coverage of this and other topics in the months ahead.

Reader Six: Big-ass Icons? No problem.

Wait.. you think that having user resizable icons is a bad idea? That big ass icons have to go?

Sorry.. but this system allows the resizing of icons from puny to huge. Huge may not be what YOU want.. but the visually impaired could prefer them. This is a huge non-issue.

Got feedback?

January 14, 2000

Aqua: An Interface Design Review
By Charles "Option 8" Mangin, Editorial Associate

Ever since the latest 'Stevenote' at Macworld San Francisco 2000, I've been mulling over my feelings about the biggest of the announcements Steve made while onstage. No, I'm not going to talk about his becoming permanent-but-still-prefaced-by 'i' CEO - yawn. We were expecting that at the last Macworld Expo in New York, if not sooner.

No, I'm referring to the extended demonstration Steve made of Aqua - the new interface for OS X. Thanks to a buggy game of Quake III Arena (no doubt the same pre-release build I've been struggling to play without crashing for weeks) the un-Jobs-like and awkward Aqua demo ran long.

Let's have a look at Aqua, shall we? Apple has been so kind as to post a doctored screen shot at http://www.apple.com/macosx/desktop.html - the basis for many a lawyer-magnetized Aqua knockoff from the various themes-making communities (Kaleidoscope, Gnome, KDE, etc). I've chopped up some choice bits to enumerate my points, and these are sprinkled throughout this article. [continues below image]

First of all, the point that struck me most, as an interface designer and general smartass, was the reliance upon color throughout the widgets and window controls of Aqua (Figure 1). The existing Finder interface makes use of color as highlight only, and isn't nearly as bold about its choice and placement of colored elements. Beautiful as it is, Aqua screams where an interface should whisper. (Don't get me started on the pulsing Nyquil Liquitabs that are the new default buttons in dialogs)

For instance: currently, scrollbars, progress bars, and highlighted items are the only colored pieces in the current Finder, and the default colors for these pieces are subtle, low saturation tones; all other controls are 'Platinum,' content not to draw too much attention from the windows' content. Platinum has two distinct advantages over Aqua: one, it is more usable on monitors at lower bitdepths - where 256 colors is still the least common denominator, and beautifully shaded buttons and finely honed colors don't stand a chance; two, it doesn't push any color buttons with non-anglo-centric cultures.

As a mass-market OS, the Mac OS has to be culturally agnostic, and not rely on metaphors that speak only to a small (globally speaking) population like users in the United States or speakers of English. For this reason, I shook my head at the 'traffic light' metaphor Steve mentioned early in the demo. In America and some other countries, Green=Go, Red=Stop, and Yellow=Caution. In other cultures, these colors denote completely different ideas, so the metaphor breaks down - specifically in places where traffic signals differ from those in the U.S.

One mitigating factor of the color usage might be in how customizable it is. If I'm stuck with the Cool Mint Listerine blue for buttons and bars, I might have to stick to OS9 until Kaleidoscope comes out for X.

Looking once again to the window elements, note that, until rolled over, they are only coded by color and position. The Close widget is adjacent to the Minimize widget, which is adjacent to the Maximize widget. On the far end of the window is the Swapping widget - briefly touched upon, swapping is a useful item, indeed, but hardly on the level of the grand triumvirate of window functions. Perhaps option-minimizing should activate swapping instead of giving it its own widget?

One of the most effective elements of Platinum are the easily distinguishable window controls - not only are the non-destructive minimize and resize (maximum size in some instances, optimum size in others, depending on context) diametrically opposed to the destructive close widget, but each has a distinctive look. A slip on the mouse from one to the next is an easily reversible maneuver, and it's impossible to slip and accidentally close a window instead of minimizing. Aqua throws this all out in order to be cute and implement a traffic signal that's not very helpful even to people who understand the metaphor.

The next piece is also a little troublesome, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. For a long time, the Mac OS has been very successful in being comfortable, intuitive, and subtle - something I cannot say about any Windows interface to date. The reason for this is something so simple it tends to escape a lot of observers: the Mac OS looks like a Mac.

Consider it: the gray - scratch that, Platinum - enclosures of Macs prior to the iMac bear remarkable similarity to the window frames and controls of the Platinum Finder. The idea to make your virtual desktop look and feel like the familiar computer on your real desktop is behind the original Mac OS (a screenshot of which Steve showed to start his demo of Aqua) - though difficult to pull off in 1-bit color on the original Mac.

So, with a new generation of translucent, fruit-flavored Macs, the tradition continues. However, I'm still undecided as to how much I like my blueberry G3 now that I've seen the Graphite G4 - so much so that I'm considering customizing it with silver spraypaint :) What shall I do when I grow tired of the flavor of the month, or if I'm more comfortable with my Mac Plus as a basis for my Mac interface? It's something to keep an eye on.

For a long time, screen real-estate was at a premium. 16- and 17-inch monitors were the exception, not the rule, and screen resolutions above 640x480 were reserved for power-users. Not so any longer.

And certainly, you'll never be able to run Aqua comfortably on anything less than 800x600 - likely not even that, with what I call Big Ass Icons. These things are huge! Sizes from 16x16 all the way up to 128x128! That is enormous for a control - and that's what icons are, really: controls. They represent nouns in the vocabulary of the interface, but they are also actions - applications, droplets, places to store things, etc. Aqua expands the vocabulary; windows can become icons, too - minimized in the way most other OSes have been minimizing things for a long time (the current generation of Windows 9x excluded). Anything in a window - a running application, an open document, a pane of the Control Panel - can be iconified, simplifying the job of desktop janitor. It is still to be seen how the new icon behavior jives with the old, however. [continues below image]

And what other new evil has Aqua brought into the interface scramble for real-estate? The Dock. Heaven preserve us from the Launcher gone rampant.

The only good point of the Dock is that it seems to be infinitely customizable: it can be tiny or huge, always there or never there, interactive to the point of entertaining. That and, rather than showing aliases or pointers to the items it contains, it actually eats the desktop icon of anything dragged onto it. There is no alias residue left over from putting an application into the Dock, and certainly no floating windowpanes around to clutter up the view. The dock itself doesn't get bigger the more you drag into it, either, it actually gets smaller - imagine that!

My impressions of Aqua are not all negative - in fact, I am really taken with some parts of the new interface. To me, the better points of Aqua are a direct result of the new Quartz graphics engine at its heart. Based on the Adobe PDF - nee Display PostScript - standard for displaying raster and vector artwork on screen, Aqua makes heavy use of the advanced graphics engine. Windows all cast shadows, not only on the desktop, but upon one another, giving the illusion of depth. Personally, I think dropshadows, while effective, are a little overdone these days (kind of like swing music) and getting to the point that the effect is diluted (a lot like swing music). I'll really enjoy the dropshadows, especially if (a.) the effect is something I can enable or disable if I want, and (b.) windows in front cast 'deeper' shadows than those farther behind, deepening the illusion of a third dimension. [continues below image]

The Mac is hands-down the only computer interface that can be called beautiful - Bill Gates could hardly dispute that. Pushing the envelope on a lovable interface once again, Apple put in two small additions that, while subtle, really spruce up the aging windows-on-a-desktop paradigm. The first is the aforementioned dimensionality, depth with a soft edge, comfortable lines and curves (even universal rounded corners on windows). The second is system-wide antialiasing of fonts and interface elements.

Antialiasing, in effect making normally crusty type on a 72 dpi monitor as easy to look at as a printed page, is not a new thing, though, as font antialiasing has been part of the Mac OS since Mac OS 8. The new spin is that it works more universally in applications and supposedly effects elements other than type - basically anything that Quartz renders from vectors to 72 dpi becomes smoothed in the same way type does.

What is new, however, is system-wide translucency. Okay, up to now, there have been third-party extensions and bits and pieces of individual applications that have implemented transparency here and there, but built into the system? Whoa. I'll admit, some of the applications of translucency are going a bit too far in emulating the iMac plastics. Its pure gee-whiz factor, though, outweighs any system slowdowns (on a G4 with Rage graphics acceleration? Psha.) and legibility problems...for a while at least. After the initial gloss wears off, I'd opt to turn it off, or at least tone it down.

Once again, this is something I want to be able to tweak - tastes differ when it comes to pure window dressing, which translucent panels are. The same can be said of the animations that go on with minimized windows doing the 'genie in a bottle' slurping to and from iconified state and various system panes popping in and out of title bars. The onstage demo showed a slowed-down 'genie' effect for fun, but I'm sure that some people are going to want that on all the time, while others will want it gone altogether. [continues below image]

In all, Aqua is definitely lickable, but I'll hold off on my final verdict until I've seen a few more things up close and personal. Namely, the 'browser' version of the Finder. Steve assures us the old-style, multiple windows finder is still there, as is the panels face of NeXTStep, but the cringing and audible groans in the audience could hardly be felt more than when Steve likened the new Finder option to a web browser. Too familiar to those of us who use Windows even occasionally, a web browser makes a poor substitute for the true file and volume browser that is the Finder. A good compromise is the way 'favorites' or system-level bookmarks for frequently-accessed files, folders, etc, are handled in an Apple-menu like manner rather than the current Navigation Services' favorites and recent items. Hard to tell, certainly, but I'm hopeful it won't end up looking like Windows Explorer with an Apple face.

Also yet to be seen is the effect of X's new filesystems and BSD underpinnings on aliases, folders, and 'proxies' - those tiny, yet uber-useful icons on windows that allow a user to manipulate the file the window shows, as if they were moving around the file's icon in the finder. And where is the application/processes menu nowadays? Is that it, under the Aqua Apple logo in the center of the menubar?

(Lick!) Mmm...Aqua!

January 10, 2000

Jobs Criticizes AppleWatches.com at Expo, Unaware of Approved License, MacWEEK Reports

I found this tidbit at MacWEEK.com to be interesting:

Steve Jobs cuts a friendly and confident figure when he's onstage for an Expo keynote speech, but a crowd of show-goers saw another side of the Apple CEO when he interrupted a stroll around the show floor Thursday afternoon to publicly berate staffers at the AppleWatches.com booth for selling wristwatches emblazoned with the Apple logo.

Booth workers were aghast when, observers said, Jobs waved his arms and loudly demanded that the booth close down immediately. The big man reportedly said the stylish watches were an "embarrassment" to Apple -- apparently unaware that the company is operating under a license approved by his predecessor, Gil Amelio (the license runs through 2001), and that all watch designs have been approved by Apple itself. Ouch!

The iCEO Deprecates Importance of Enterprise Solutions in Fortune Interview

In this interview with Fortune, Steve Jobs stated, "A lot of people can't get past the fact that we're not going after the enterprise market." While Apple is obviously making consumer solutions a priority, does this mean that "outside of the box" big-iron enterprise systems aren't in store for the future? Stay tuned. Got dirt?

O'Grady's PowerPage Changes to Go2Mac.com

The entire consortium of Macintosh news websites published by Jason D. O'Grady are now bound together at one central location, a Mac news start-page of sorts, called Go2Mac.com. This includes the original O'Grady's PowerPage for PowerBook news; NoBeige.com for news on Macintosh hardware and software; and the just-released PalmLounge.com, which is a resource for Palm Computing and Handspring connected organizers. My only question: what is the future of the O'Grady MemberPage?

Other Articles and News

Mac Users Get Equal Access [Wired News]
AOL, Time Warner to merge [MacWEEK.com]

January 5, 2000

MWSF Keynote Wrap-Up
By Nick dePlume / Publisher and Editor in Chief

Mac OS X took center stage today, as Steve Jobs kicked off Macworld Expo 2000 in San Francisco with his signature keynote. Jobs started things off by commenting that the keynote would be lengthy, but he predicted that the audience would be glued to their seats by the show. Indeed, the show ran for over two hours, but it was extremely well received by the audience of over 4,000 Mac fans.

Steve Jobs unveiled Mac OS X client's new user interface, Aqua. At the keynote, he noted that it would be easier and less confusing for beginniners, but would also allow professionals to have the level of control which they require. Aqua is quite a departure from the standard platinum look of Mac OS 9 and 8.6, but it brings the appearance of the operating system up to par with the stunning look of Apple's current hardware lineup. Translucent elements, most notably with the menus, are found all over with Aqua, in addition to a "dock" for applications, files, and websites, which Jobs demonstrated. And, when the dock became so full that the icons became too small to read easily, a "magnifying-glass" feature could increase the size of icons. [Check out a screenshot from Apple.com.]

Jobs also outlined a release schedule for Mac OS X, stating that a final beta would be released to developers in the Spring, while the final shrink-wrapped version of OS X would be available for purchase this Summer, and would be pre-loaded on all Macs in early 2001.

Internet Strategy

After a large amount of speculation and anticipation, Apple finally revealed their internet strategy. One of the main components of the internet strategy is the new "iTools," which function as Apple's new internet services. The iTools, which are accessable from a new tab which now adorns pages at Apple.com, include: a new way to protect kids on the internet, called KidSafe; a POP email service for Mac users at Mac.com; iDisk, which provides 20 MB of webspace on Apple's servers; and HomePage, which makes the creation of personal websites easy and quick. QuickTime movies can even be uploaded and streamed from the webspace, with the magic of QuickTime Streaming Server, for free- at the iMovie Theater. The iTools are available to users of Mac OS 9, which currently number over one million.

Additionally, the iReviews and iCards sections are now available at Apple.com for all. iReviews provides quality ratings of websites in organized categories, and iCards is a free email greeting card service which features many designs to choose from.

To top it all off, Apple announced a multi-year partnership with the EarthLink Network ISP. This makes EarthLink the exclusive ISP for Apple's Internet Setup Software, and Apple also garners a profit from Mac users which subscribe to EarthLink. Apple is also investing $200 million in EarthLink, and is receiving a seat on EarthLink's board of directors. "EarthLinkís internet service will be offered to new and existing Mac customers, and new customers will get a free month of service and their setup fee will be waived," an Apple press release stated.

AppleWorks 6 and Internet Explorer 5.0

The awaited major upgrade to Apple's productivity suite, AppleWorks, was announced and will cost $79. I look forward to trying this program out, as it is a significant improvement over AppleWorks 5.

Additionally, it was announced that Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Macintosh would be available in February. Keynote attendees got a look at the forthcoming web browser, and Steve was sure to reassert that it was still his browser of choice.

No Hardware Announcements

All those who predicted that Pismo, a revised iBook, a 17"-screen iMac, or multi-processor G4s (including myself, in the case of Pismo) would be announced today were taken by surprise, as there were no hardware announcements. However. While some may be complaining, I'm pleased that Apple didn't try to release Pismo (or any of the other rumored releases) before it was ready, and I think that the internet strategy announcements and the OS X preview made up for the lack of new hardware from Apple.

One more thing...

To great applause, Steve Jobs announced that after two and a half years at Apple, he was dropping the "interim" designation from his title of Interim CEO, while saying that his job duties would remain the same, and that shareholders felt that he could successfully serve as the chief executive officer of both Apple and Pixar. Jobs will continue to hold onto the somewhat title of "iCEO," because, as he pointed out, the "i" is a reminder to him of what's important: the internet.

Update: Mac Internet Explorer 5 Banner

As an update to yesterday's tidbit article, which featured a picture of a banner at MWSF for Mac Internet Explorer 5, before its official announcement: while IE 5.0 has already been announced, several readers wrote in to add their opinion on whether the banner was real or a fake. While some took issue to the fact that the bottom of the "p" in "Explorer" was clipped off, a reader who used to work in tradeshow design said that the bottom of the "p" was probably just covered by the "Macintosh Edition" sticker, as he used to print out vinal appliques to update and recycle existing materials while in the business. So, the reader concluded, it probably is just an IE 5.0 for Windows banner, which was recycled for MWSF.

Either way, IE 5.0 for the Mac has been announced, though you can check out a picture of the banner here. The banner in question is said to be found going down the elevator which you take when going to the exhibits on the south side of the Moscone, and other readers have confirmed its existance.

January 4, 2000

Mac Internet Explorer 5 Banner Spotted at MWSF?


[Click for larger version / Photo courtesy of Brandon Crosby]

Here's an interesting Expo anecdote: reader Brandon Crosby is summarizing and photographing the expo at his page, What's Happening at Macworld Expo 2000. While covering today's Warm-up Rally, he came across a banner for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5 Macintosh Edition, which hasn't been officially released but is generally rumored to be announced tomorrow. He snapped a picture of it, so give it a look.

Update: He says that it is found going down the elevator which you take when going to the exhibits on the south side of the Moscone. A wondered about the "p" being cut off in the word "explorer," so if any others can confirm this it would be appreciated.

Got dirt?

January 3, 2000

"Ask Steve Wozniak" Announced at Slashdot

At the popular Linux/geek site Slashdot.org, readers are being invited to post interview questions for Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The site states that all questions must be posted by noon Tuesday, and selected questions will be answered by Woz for a Friday posting. Several interesting questions have been posed (as you might expect, many of them also are Linux-related in some way), and I look forward to reading Woz's responses on Friday. Some excerpts from the questions that are being asked at the page:

"What's your take on the use of LinuxPPC vs. the Mac OS?"

"Do you think open-source and free software is really a revolution or only a hype?"

"How do you feel about Steve Jobs running Apple again, and do you agree with the direction he is taking with the company?"

"Did you like the portrayal of you and Jobs in the movie [Pirates of Silicon Valley]?"

"Do you and Jobs ever talk?"

"Do you, or have you ever used Linux?"

"Any comments about BSD as a sourcecode base for Mac OS X?"

...and a few subtle hints.

Remember our earlier statements around the time of the last Seybold conference, to watch IBM? No guarantees, but nonetheless, it would be wise to keep an eye on IBM. More details may be available later, though several possibilities have been discussed publicly in the past, elsewhere.

Q1 2000 Earnings Tidbits

Independent analyst Eric Yang's AAPL Investors has posted scads of new information in the past month regarding Apple's fincal Q1 2000. Such as:

"The redesigned iMac is showing itself to be even more compelling than the already popular original iMac. As for the iBook, based on the wholesale price of about $1410 per unit, this new product line is expected to generate around $320 million in revenue for Apple this quarter. While some cannibalization of sales of PowerBook G3 and iMac is to be expected, much of this revenue should be additive to Apple's top line. Based on these figures I believe revenue for the quarter will come in at around $2 billion."

and:

"Combining these gains [on Apple's investments in Advanced RISC Machines and Akamai] Wall Street expects Apple to earn this quarter, offset slightly by cash used for stock buy back brings the total positive cash flow for fiscal Q1 2000 to about $1.8 billion range. Provided that ARMHY and AKAM continue to trade at their current levels, investors can anticipate a $1.8 billion increase in cash and shareholders' equity on Apple's balance sheet when the company reports its earnings for fiscal Q1 2000 in January."

Get the full skinny on AAPL.O from AAPL Investors, it's an excellent public source for information on this.

Expo Resources

Need to satisfy your craving for MWSF 2000 speculation and pre-coverage? Look no further:

What Will, and Won't Be Announced At MACWORLD SF / The Mac Observer
Pre-MWSF Complete Rumors Report / The PowerBook Zone
Road to MacWorld Expo / Insanely Great Mac
Macworld 2000 Preview / The Macintosh News Network