Why oh why did Apple have to re-skin iTunes? Is it not bad enough to have Aqua, Brushed Metal and that other skin GarageBand uses? Now I have four different looks to Apple applications. And this latest one is terrible.
Not on its own – alone with no other applications open, iTunes 5 looks fine; quite pretty in fact. But on Panther, next to Aqua and Brushed Metal (which sit quite comfortably with each other) the new skin stands out like a sore thumb.
I know its an ageing gripe, but it does strike me as peculiar that Apple run with these different interface styles when so much else of their design has consistency rippling right through. And this new skin is so different to the others.
Comments
1
All the styles is rather wierd isn’t it..
I actually don’t like the brushed metal effect personally but like the new iTunes 5 style much better.
2
The GarageBand skin is just ghastly, although it does remind me of the wonderful Morris Traveller and its wood framed posterior.
3
I find it annoying too. If all the metal apps (Safari, iChat etc. etc.) would addopt this new skin it would probably look OK. Especially on Tiger where the new mail app has a similar look to iTunes 5. But since they don’t it’s a bit annoying.
Here’s a little conspiracy theory though:
Apple is working on making OS X’s GUI resoluton independent (they announced it a a developer conference last year). What if the new iTunes5 skin is in preparation for that since a gradient can be rendered at any res in perfect quality whereas a bitmap metal texture would need to be scaled and would not look as sharp. Perhaps the new skins are designed such that they can look perfectly crisp regardless of what res they are rendered at.
Just a crazy theory – I admit… but you never know! :D
4
James – it’s not like I don’t appreciate the new skin, it’s just that to my eyes it clashes awfully with the old ones.
And if Apple are working on making OS X’s GUI resoluton independent then why not wait to apply that GUI to the new OS rather than sticking on a single application now?
5
Seems like everyone wants their app skins to be consistent. I can understand wanting interfaces to be consistent (and I’m not saying Apple does that badly). But don’t different skins (when done well) help to reflect different purposes of applications?
I’m not saying Apple does this well either, but if everything looked exactly the same, it might all get a bit dull. Surely different skins, in principle, can make it easier to distinguish applications from one another?
6
Small Paul – I agree about different skins suiting different apps. Personally I think Aqua and Brushed Metal do co-exist quite happily, but the new kid on the block rather disrupts their relationship, IMO.
7
Yeah, it is a little annoying the way they bring in their skins piecemeal. Does turn the whole suite of programs into a bit of a rag-bag. Seems to be the new Apple way: ship software now, fix it later if we absolutely have to.
8
I hate to say it, but i do prefer it. Just a shame that, as you have said, we’re seeing more and more inconsistences in their UI designs.
9
This is exactly what I noticed as well. It immediately annoyed me, even to the point that I considered not getting it (although I did in the end).
Apple is a real disappointment with all these different interfaces (although I still love everything else about OS X).
10
I actually really like this skin a lot. Part of your issue is that you are still using Panther, instead of Tiger. I just upgraded the other day. In Tiger, Mail looks like this too. I soon expect a major Safari update that will update its brushed interface to this.
People complained about the brushed look forever and now it seems they are complaining about this new look. For better or worse I like it a lot. Its a lot simplier and cleaner. I look forward to all the other aps getting their update.
PS – There isn’t much I can say that will help Garage Band other than it has cool icons!
11
Phil – as I said, I do quite like this skin but it sits badly with the other looks.
I know what you’re saying, but you would have thought there would be a way to provide applications with an interface consistent with the operating system. Or have I come over all Windows now?
12
Yes, I’m getting a little bit annoyed by Apples lack of UI consistency.
13
In the last few weeks I’ve gone from a hard core Mac Addict to someone who is considering abandoning the platform. It all started with the release of iTunes 5, and that HIDEOUS new skin. I had a horrible realization: I was happier with my work machine (A lap top Dell) than my new Mini at home. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!? For a platform that used to be all about consistency, it’s now all about inconsistency. A lot of the textures clash. I have “upgraded” from 10.2 to 10.4. It still has some quirks I can’t stand. Lack of functionally when moving files around, NOT BEING ABLE TO CUT/PASTE A FILE. HELLO! How hard can a script be?! <<COPY FILE>> <<PASTE FILE>> <<DELETE ORIGINAL>> . Enough complaining. Sorry for the rant…I’m just very upset that I no longer love the company that I’ve believed in and supported for so long. (I even worked there for 2 years)
14
It’s nice i like it apple really needs to clean up though perhaps in leopard they will do that until then the garage band is really the only “bad” one. On the other hand by itself it looks nice (garageband)
15
why cant we choose which skin we want in each app? apple should offer a choice of skins like limewire, whos latest version has reincluded brushed metal again, so there must be a demand
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