Apple. A Brief History of the GUI. Part Three: OS X

Creation - this is only link. When you ask creative people how they did something, they chuvtsvo a bit guilty, because in fact they did not, they just saw something. Over time, it becomes apparent to them. This is because they were able to connect their previous experience to create something new.
Steve Jobs.

As time went on, Apple forgotten past successes and current operating system is in urgent need of replacement. Projects Taligent and Corpland, aimed at creating a new generation of operating systems have not brought the expected results and were stopped, the problem will not go away. There was only one option - to buy an existing operating system and use it as a basis.

Among the options under consideration was Be Inc purchase plan at a price significantly higher than the market value of the company. Gasse joy knew no bounds: "I keep Apple for eggs and going as it should they squeeze", but his hopes did not materialize, as we know, Apple acquired the NeXT, which became the basis of the new operating system company.

Initially, the plan was simple: take the NeXTSTEP, «get into" it interface poppy wasps and obtain the desired result. It turned out not too good, but at the same time Apple developers saw NeXTSTEP capabilities allow you to implement some new ideas.

Among these ideas were translucent menus, shadows, glass buttons... When the conversation turned to the technical requirements, designers simply laughed.

One day Jobs summoned the head of the HIG group Ratslafa Cordele (Cordell Ratzlaff) and threshold perpetrate spacing:
-This is you guys have designed Mac OS?
Yes, we did.
Must-tell you what you are - a bunch of amateurs.
Then followed a long tirade as to what it is necessary to be an idiot to do this interface Macintosh ...

In Ratslafa by that time he already had some interesting developments, and he began to tell me that is not so in the current poppy interface and how it can be improved. At the end of the interview, Jobs said, "So why do not work on it? Come back in a couple weeks, see what you get. "

Unlike other companies (and most Apple earlier) design has been put at the forefront. First, the developers thought through exactly what they want to achieve, and only then watched as it can be implemented from a technical point of view. Take this opportunity Cordell tried to create the appearance of the opposite of the then-existing in the OS. What is the opposite of a computer interface? According to the conclusion of this "candy, liqueurs, delicious liquid in a glass ..." The new interface is radically different in appearance from the gray dull interfaces Mac OS, OS / 2 or Windows, as well as actively using the translucent elements, but the added transparency only when she could bring something new to the user experience (compare with Microsoft, often unthinkingly used with Windows graphic effects). One of the most notable innovations of "ten" has become Dock, clones which appeared instantly in the other and at the same time, causing the fierce criticism from priverzhentses classic interface, among whom was Bruce Tonyazini, the former head of Apple Group HIG. Another remarkable innovation was the use of animation. Minimize the application window - not just a beautiful effect. He also serves as an indicator visually binds a folding window to an icon in the Dock, and many such examples ...

It should be noted that the new interface was initially targeted at a wider audience. Jobs was well aware that the "old guard" can not accept innovations, however, opted for a larger army beginners.

To be continued ...