Mike Elgan at Cult of Mac: "It must surely be a sign of the impending apocalypse that Microsoft's operating systems have 'more taste' than Apple's. I'm referring, of course, to Apple's inexplicable use of skeuomorphic design in iOS and OS X apps, and contrasting that with Microsoft's stark avoidance of such cheesy gimmickry in the Windows 8 and Windows Phone user interfaces. A skeuomorphic design in software is one that 'decorates' the interface with fake reality - say, analog knobs or torn paper. The problem is worse than it sounds." Won't come as a surprise to anyone that I wholeheartedly agree with this one. iOS and Mac OS X are ruined by an incredibly high Microsoft BOB factor. I have no idea how - or if - Apple will address this, or if the current downward spiral is going to continue.
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Member since:2005-07-12
The critique is way over the top. There is a vast difference between a pseudo leather background look which can - depending on personal taste - look pleasant or not and the QuickTime 4 problem where discussions were (rightfully) about a wrongly chosen UI control: You don't have to interact with the leather background so there's IMHO no problem to use something that looks 'real world'. From the 'use' standpoint there is no real difference if you use grey or pseudo-somehing.
You can see how ridiculous the discussion is if i start calling the white background in a MSWord document a skeuomorphism because it looks like real world paper. Is this a problem. No. Just one of those Holwerda stories stating the message that the success of Apple is the downfall of good IT ..
Member since:2007-11-09
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I don't think this critique is simply about the rise of Apple and the downfall of everything. It's a critique on the poor usability of modern operating system (and application) development. Everything we've learned in the last thirty years has been thrown out.
I have a Mac Pro and a PC w/ Windows + BSD on it. I'm not so narrowly minded that I think all things Microsoft and Apple are bad. I just find my computers less and less useful over time. That is a problem to me and it should be to anyone else who needs to get real work done. At the same time, I don't hear anyone I know claiming computers are getting easier to use. Most people are confused with the new interfaces too. Not only did they throw out what they new, they don't make sense and have no consistency. Every "screen" is different.
Member since:2011-08-13
Member since:2005-11-16
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Member since:
2007-11-09
I find that modern OS X is a nightmare with the leather bound address book and ugly iCal. Windows 8 looks like a children's toy with the colorful boxes. The era or professional, clean user interfaces is over. it really started going down with Windows XP on Microsoft's side and Lion with Apple, although let's not forget the brushed metal look they experimented with.
I've experimented with this real world object idea on an app. Eventually, I came to my senses because it truly was ugly. I had a "journal" view for a blogging app.
It's like every developer at Apple and Microsoft have forgotten history. Are all the old timers gone who remember Microsoft Bob and the Quicktime 4? It wasn't just them either. Some people may remember Packard Bell Navigator. (computers shipped in the mid 90s had it)
I don't think it's limited to desktops either. Some of the new mobile apps I've seen are just as hideous and it's even showing up on the web in some places. The era of ugly is upon us.