“When Steve Jobs takes the stage Monday at Apple’s programmers conference, he’s likely to give the world a glimpse of an upgraded Mac operating system that could herald the biggest changes to the machine’s interface in 30 years,” Scott Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report for Wired.
“At the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Jobs will probably show off Leopard, a Mac OS X update due in October that he has promised contains ‘top secret’ features. But perhaps the most important feature is one that has been overlooked by many Apple fans: a new set of tools for building program interfaces called Core Animation,” Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report.
“Core Animation will allow programmers to give their applications flashy, animated interfaces. Some developers think Core Animation is so important, it will usher in the biggest changes to computer interfaces since the original Mac shipped three decades ago,” Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report.
“The Core Animation ‘revolution’ is already starting to happen. Apple’s iPhone at the end of the month will see people using their fingers to flip through media libraries, and pinching their fingers together to resize photos,” Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report.
“Some Mac developers are so excited by Core Animation they are going to drop support for previous versions of their software, which won’t display their new interfaces on older versions of OS X, “Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report.
“Austin Sarner, an interface designer and engineer at software company madebysofa, says that the new style of Apple apps isn’t just about glossy effects — there’s a usability payoff as well,” Gilbertson and Leander Kahney report. “‘Animation in general creates continuity and more direct feedback to a user experience. In addition to obvious graphical speed boosts, the elegance (that animation) can add to a UI is pretty substantial,’ he says.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David A.” for the heads up.]
BOOM! over and over again
The next 48 hours are going to be sooooo slow ….
I agree! I hear the song in my head over and over again…..
BOOM! Here comes the BOOM!
Wow, that was amazing! They shipped the Mac 30 years ago! At the same time as the Apple II. Boy, that was some real innovation!!
hm… wow… im pumped! are you?
Off to my second interview with apple
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Ok…do I have a “problem” and need therapy if I took off of work monday just to watch a live update feed of the keynote from my MacBook pro?
Cool factor notwithstanding animation can be incredibly annoying. Dancing hamsters? Animated gif vomit everywhere on amateur web pages? Heaven forbid there should be any empty spaces. That animated opening and closing non-stop mailbox was a crime against humanity. Even subtle animation can be distracting especially if it’s repetitive.
Here are some examples:
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
Off switch, please. Or better yet, animations that are UI tested and useful.
here come the chairs!
“Off to my second interview with apple smile wish me luck”
I certainly hope it’s a corporate job and not retail.
@Alice. I hope you get it Alice!
I’m smoking hot for Leopard – RELEASE THE CATS!!
Good luck, Alice. I would love to work for the mothership!
No, smackman. The feed is your therapy. Just get a Mac-using doctor to write a note for you!
____________________
WWJD? (What would Jobs do?)
Something that Apple (and probably a lot of us Mac users) have known for some time. Animation, aka Eye Candy,aka visual feedback is actually supremely useful. Small magnification in the dock for extra feedback on cursor position. Animating closing windows to show where they went. Spinning beachballs etc.
Cool! Can’t wait to see the REAL Leopard power.
I will be sitting in from my MBPro to witness the LIVE coverage of WWDC Keynote from Asia!
I think Apple’s going to intentionally take OS X places they know Microsoft can’t easily take Windows.
JESUS, I HOPE APPLE DOESNT DO ANYTHING RIDICULOUS LIKE THIS TO THE INTERFACE. Keep the interface USABLE, not FLASHY & IN YOUR FACE. Time Machine is barely usable because it pays more attention to animation than functionality. STOP IT, APPLE!
Well…. Does this mean…. The Vista Aero interface will be already obsolete when Apple release Leopard?
WOW !!!!!!!!!
If you want me to read your articles, get that animated brunette off my screen.
She makes me worry that if she took a deep breath there won’t be enough air for the rest of us.
MacBill, I am also scared to death. Although Core Animation provides amazing capabilities, in the wrong hands this could spell disaster. Let’s hope Apple defines some clear guidelines on how to use animation in applications.
SO NOW WTF?
I was so used to the security and stability of OS 9 and PowerPC processors, then Steve Jobs goes and upsets everything by using inferior Intel chips and a flashy, insecure interface.
I don’t need no stinking EFI, no Mac OS X or flashy glitzy stuff. Everything for me worked JUST FINE, all this glitzy kids stuff hasn’t added anything to the usefulness of the personal computer.
It’s doing the same darn thing only it’s GRAPHICY FEATURE BLOATED TO ALL HELL!!!
Heck Pagemaker and Adobe Illustrator 2.0 runs faster on my MacSE than present versions types my iMac G5.
BRING BACK OS 9!
MDW: Period!
Yes I’m crazy.
That sounds awesome. I imagine that the finder and other UI will enjoy an update from this technology too. The downside is that, since MS doesn’t have anything like this, the really big companies that make apps for both platforms (read: Adobe) will remain stale.
MacGrumpy…. the 80s are calling you…
The thing I noticed about the new iPhone ads is that Apple is FINALLY showing what Mac OS X looks like and what it can do. Granted, it’s shrunk down to the iPhone screen, but the masses are probably seeing the Mac UI for the firs time.
Imagine if Apple actually made a commercial that was about the Leopard UI running on a full featured Mac… I can dream, can’t I?
… and while we’re on the subject of UI, when is Apple going to bring back sound sets?
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@Wingsy
What the crap are you talking about? What animated brunette?
I think Core Animation sounds really sweet. I just hope we aren’t getting all excited for the “revolutionary” look of iTunes without the blue gel.
Boy I hope interfaces don’t go crazy with animation. I don’t want to ‘watch’ my computer, I need to do work on it!! Too much visual busy-ness is a very bad thing. Notice how OS X 10.00 looked really glossy and had those lines on everything, and now the UI is much flatter and solid colored; visual interface and readability are not changeable, they must be legible all the time.