Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!munnari.oz.au!cluster!metro!natmlab.dap.csiro.au!ditsyda!macuni!mqccsunc!ifarqhar From: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.OZ (Ian Farquhar) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Dog-ugly windows? Summary: Yes. Message-ID: <94@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> Date: 15 Jan 90 12:09:43 GMT References: <1990Jan11.063225.28025@i-core.UUCP> Sender: news@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz Reply-To: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mq.oz (Ian Farquhar) Organization: Macquarie University, Sydney Lines: 89 In article <1990Jan11.063225.28025@i-core.UUCP> pete@i-core.UUCP (Pete Ashdown) writes: >Speaking of ugly interfaces, is there any uglier than the Amiga's? I'm in >the process of programming a utility and in the process, I have almost >completely redesigned what the window for the program looks like. There certainly is! Have you ever used some of the utilities and games that come with a Sun? Text in buttons (gadgets to you or I) that are not centered, and many other graphic nasties. >I don't really like the Mac's interface much more. It does look slightly >nicer than the Amiga's, but not much. Agreed. However, you must admit that the interface was designed in the early 1980's. GUI's are like clothing, they go out of fashion very fast. Perhaps one day we will see designer GUI's sold by little anaemic looking men with squeaky voices and tape measures about their necks? :-) :-) ;-) >What I _do_ like is the NeXT interface. The machine is outrageously >expensive, the optical drive is outrageously slow, but the GUI brings tears >to my eyes. In the aformentioned program that I'm writing, the NeXT GUI has >been a very big influence. I applaud you attempts to produce a nice user interface, though the NeXT - being a Steve Jobs monochrome monstrosity - is designed with lack of color in mind. It is easier to design a really nice GUI like this, as you do not have to worry about color matching. For the most part the Amiga's default colors are well chosen, though the "light brown" looks more like orange to me. What is REALLY needed is a preferences selection to choose the number of bit planes. One thing that I would like to see someone on the net do is to put together some basic Graphic Design notes - color matching, proportions, centeres of interest and so forth. Basic stuff that any artist spends the first few weeks learning at art school. I do not have time to do this (though if people REALLY want it, ask me in March and I will pull out all of my old art reference material and do a small summary. >Which brings me to the final point. I heard a rumor that Commodore had >hired a graphic artist to redesign the look of Intuition. True?? A friend >of mine redesigned it himself with DPaint, and although it uses eight colors >it makes the NeXT GUI look like... well... like the current Amiga GUI. Is >there anyway I can get these pictures to the supposed graphic artist at >Commodore? Is this all a hoax? Are we going to be stuck with such a >dog-ugly interface forever? Zoo them, UUencode them, and post them to comp.binaries.amiga. I'd love to see them. CBM is present on the net, and would probably glance at them. You never know... I can also refer you to certain screen shots that have been published in Amazing Computing showing the new Amiga "Hand", which is apparently animated. As far as I am aware by reading these articles, this redesign is happenning. Unfortunately, I can say no more. One thing that CBM might like to do is hire a typesetter to redesign their manuals, which are pretty ugly. Please, keep away from TeX, and stop using Times-Roman and Palatino! Just flip though the Adobe type catalog and use some imagination! Sorry, CBM. I criticise you a lot. I like most things about the Amiga, but some things set my teeth on edge! +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+ | Ian Farquhar | Phone : (02) 805-7420 (STD) | | Microcomputer Support | (612) 805-7420 (ISD) | | Office of Computing Services | Fax : (02) 805-7433 (STD) | | Macquarie University NSW 2109 | (612) 805-7433 (ISD) | | Australia | Also : 805-7205 | +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+ "A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist." Sir Humphrey Appleby (Patron Saint of Public Servants) Yes, Minister. Yes, Prime Minister. +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+ | Ian Farquhar | Phone : (02) 805-7420 (STD) | | Microcomputer Support | (612) 805-7420 (ISD) | | Office of Computing Services | Fax : (02) 805-7433 (STD) | | Macquarie University NSW 2109 | (612) 805-7433 (ISD) | | Australia | Also : 805-7205 | +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+ D