Macenstein has published a screenshot from the latest build of Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2 (build 9C7) that shows that Apple has added hierarchical browsing to Stacks, bringing back the ability to dive down deep into your Mac’s contents via the Dock.
The site also reports that Stacks preferences now include the option of displaying a traditional Folder icon instead of an overlapping “stack” of icons in the Dock.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Thank Jobs! We’re going to stop hating Stacks if this is released to users.
Mac OS X Leopard’s Stacks’ default curving fan is ugly and virtually useless. The optional grid view is better looking, but just as pointless. Of course, users of former versions of Mac OS X who are now on Leopard know that what we’re really bemoaning is the loss of hierarchical folders in the Dock. What a stupid backwards step Apple made here! Where users could simply drag their drives to the right side of the Dock and “Boom!” in previous Mac OS X versions, now they just get an ugly dead end. “Stacks. An ugly dead end.” Some slogan. So, Apple, what was the goal, to make the Dock much less useful? To force users to go through the new Finder to see the snazzy new Cover Flow view? Seriously, what’s the point? Here’s hoping Apple fixes this (a third-party fix would be nice, but Apple should restore the lost functionality themselves) in a future Leopard update as soon as possible. – MacDailyNews Take, November 30, 2007
Let the UN-whining begin….
It’s obvious that Leopard was shipped out with a few loose ends to keep to the “end of October” ship promise. Let the polishing begin!
I’ll bet those screenshots won’t be up for long.
the fan is a Human interface design
it follows the natural curve of your wrist and fingers
for touch display and better ergonomics
this will take time to understand
putting the old way back is important and should have been there from .0 but it was more important to get the iphone launched
MDN is almost always right, but this OS X user happens to love the new Leopard functions.
GAH, please just fix the speaker pop already!!!!
Will it be snappier?
YEAH!
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Hope it is true. Looks like Apple has been listening!
I hate to admit it, but yeah I hate Stacks!
Well stacked is always important.
@ LORU
Do you have external speakers? I bet you do – that’s probably the speakers, unfortunately…
Apple does seem to listen to it’s user/customer base for most things.
Good riddance. That fan is the ugliest piece of UI since OS 9. Now Jeff Raskin’s decomposing corpse can finally stop boiling with rage. (and so can I)
-c
I must admit I dislike Stacks incredibly. What is the point of them? I use to have my Applications folder in the Dock so I could get to any App easily, but now it just shows a few with an option to ‘Show the rest in a Finder Window’.
What’s the point?
@ shiftOpt k
Let’s hope they start listening about the iMac screens, too. I’m starting to hear noise about that from non-Mac freak sources.
HierarchicalDock is a utility which successfully restores the original functionality under Leopard; It works quite well (with proper folder icons in the Dock, too!), but “native” support would still be optimal, of course.
I like probably many others have petitioned Apple to restore hierarchical access to docked folders. Let’s just hope they heed the friendly advice of the torch-and-pitchfork-wielding masses pounding their gates…!
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Dear God, I hope this rumor is true. Apple, fix the fu**ing dock!
The problem with stacks now is that if you have a lot of items in your dock and you click a stack it runs off the edge of the screen not allowing you to click the top few items – maybe it should curve the other way?
I think they need to return to the old (ie. Tiger) way of displaying Spotlight search results when you hit “show all”. The new Leopard display window is completely useless. But, I do like the new additions to the drop down menu when you first start typing in your search terms.
@ SlimJim
Exactly. The first thing I do on any Mac install is to drag my local disks and most-often-used network folders into the right side of the dock. I can get anywhere with a right-click, just like the picture above. Not with stacks.
“AAPL” mentioned Human Interface above, and I’m sure that was indeed the goal, but for a given number of folders in a stack, the fan was much taller than the old menu, so I have to move my mouse higher than I would have in Tiger. And that leaves out the fact that it’s only one layer deep.
Nice try, but sadly = fail.
spotlight results with added view options would help
Please please please let this be true!
Quick, someone call the FBI. The usual sycophantic MDN editors have been kidnapped and replaced with someone with some objectivity.
“Quick, someone call the FBI.”
Look out your window. Do you see the unmarked van?