As always I strongly suggest to keep in touch with SkyOS (which becomed abandonware - last public beta here: http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/651) devs to try to involve them into a possible UI-upgrade.
Check out shots here: http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/404
skyos looks toylike in the worst way.
i donât know that folks in these threads have actually seen and appreciated what this gui does. aside from windows being constantly responsive and providing always instant feedback as a thing apart from the applications running inside of them, thereâs also a dynamic tiling system â have you seen the demo or tried it? so much of whatâs being suggested is a big step back from what weâve already got. while something like dropshadows and simple animations on minimizing and workspace switching would show respectively which windows are active and where windows have gone when minimized (a simple disappearance of a window signifies closure) would be helpful, there is a reason for these tabs (which, btw, have been partly adopted by every major operating system and web browser), for these high-contrast colors, for this windowing system.
I too sometimes think the that some of the people making comments about the Haiku UI have not used the OS at-all or at-least never tried pressing the second mouse button on the Desktop.
Too often it seems that posters think a powerful desktop is one covered with widgets and special effects.
While sometimes I get interesting answers, most times when I ask what improvements can be expected from the posterâs changes; the answer I get is silence.
It is not that Haikuâs UI is perfect, it is not! I can see a number of changes that if my programming skills improve enough I would like to try out. But rather most changes asked for seem to be to me to try and make Haikuâs UI be like that of other OSes out there even when the other OS does a far worse job.
What I want to see is descriptions/ideas that lead to A REAL IMPROVEMENT to the Haiku Desktop, and stop all the talking about stuff that does nothing but trying to look good.
And stop following the latest fashion in GUI designs, ask yourself hard questions about why a new feature is being pushed and what does it really gain you.
I worked on the original Mac, and even played around with a Lisa machine and a Xerox Star. My first GUI was GEOS for the C64, followed soon by an Amiga 1000. My best friend had an Atari ST, and I provided Apple Hardware support to the 1990âs. At the same time I had to work with Intel machines with Windows 3.0 to Windows 7 (Yes, that included Vista and NT). That is 30 years of watching fads come and go in the GUI work-space, and one thing I have learnt is that it is very likely that this yearâs MUST-HAVE feature will be next yearâs WE-DONT-NEED-IT old code. And all the effort put into coding it was a waste of time and effort.
Think before posting ideas on improving Haiku.
Earl Colby Pottinger
PS. And this goes triple for those who post ideas but donât plan to write a single line of code, expecting others to do the work they declare MUST BE DONE.
[quote=forart.it]As always I strongly suggest to keep in touch with SkyOS (which becomed abandonware - last public beta here: http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/651) devs to try to involve them into a possible UI-upgrade.
Check out shots here: http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/404[/quote]
SKYOS is the poster child of how NOT to run an OS development.
Like many Haiku enthousiasts, I like the current UI, and I think if some more themes could be provided as options, it shouldnât be a complete redesign.
Redesign hell, we donât even have a 1.0 yet, nor a beta. And we need apps more than a redesign. The current design is great, but could use some skins or choice of colors later! And SkyOS is butt ugly . . . You do realize this is a desktop OS right!
Itâs 7-ish (better than XP-ish), IMHO.
Youâre completely OT: this 3ad is about VISUAL redesign not FUNCTIONAL !
In other words i suggested the SkyOSâ UI for its graphic, not its functions.
Anyway my fav. UI is SharpEnviro: http://sharpe.sourceforge.net/
The main SkyOS problem is that was a closed source âalmost-one-devâ OS.
Hear, hear.
Regular drop shadows and a customizable theming engine. Thatâs the only eyecandy I need.
I like the way Window Maker on *nix has a button in the settings for turning on superfluous animations (min/max/close etc).
when talking about a gui, visual design Is functional design