While I've never cared much for the System 7 look, I agree that the Platinum theme of OS 8 and 9 is great. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Platinum is my favorite operating system theme of all time. And while the strict OS 8 and 9 Platinum theme may have the problems you describe, I think that if Aqua never came along Apple probably would have added many of the features they ended up using in OS X to make use of the larger and higher resolution displays (unless it is just an optical illusion, I'm pretty sure the menu bar and window title bars are much larger in OS X. A 1024x768 screen in OS 9 feels like it has the same amount of room as a 1280x960 screen in OS X).
Some of the GUI modifications I have seen for OS X do a very good job of modernizing the Platinum theme, with smooth, 3D style gradients and even a Panther-style glossy transparent rainbow Apple logo. After a long time of trying out these various patches, however, I finally gave up, because there aren't really any that fully recreate the look. Some which have Platinum windows still have a modern menu bar, and vice versa, and if I remember correctly even the ones that looked pretty good had all three window buttons together, like Aqua, not on opposite ends like Platinum. It may just be that I started with Mac OS X in 2004 and never got to use the older operating systems when they were new, but there is a certain charm to the sharp, clean look of Platinum. And also, though apparently many people hated them, I really love the operating system sounds of OS 8 and OS 9. After using one of my old laptops for a while, using Snow Leopard seems startlingly quiet, though there is no way that system sounds could have been transferred to Aqua; all the system sounds would be drips and splashes, which would get annoying much faster than the simple clicks of Platinum. Steven On Sep 22, 2010, at 8:08 PM, Joshua Juran wrote: > I've always liked Apple Platinum (and the System 7 appearance before it), but > I can understand why Apple couldn't use it for OS X -- the stripes in the > window title bar don't mix with live window dragging and flat-panel displays. > > You can see the noise in System 7 window title bars if you look for it, but > the flickering in Platinum is just garish. > > (Hint: Drag an emulator window or screenshot to simulate the effect.) > > My favorite OS X appearance is iTunes 9. It's a beautiful-looking app -- too > bad its usability doesn't meet the same standard. Leopard largely adopted > the iTunes 9 appearance but kept the Aqua scroll bars (which are ostentatious > in comparison). > > Josh -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
