7 ms·

Apple's design of 10-15 years ago looks excellent even today. Truly - good design does not lose its attractiveness as styles and standards change. Most icons, f

Apple's design of 10-15 years ago looks excellent even today. Truly - good design does not lose its attractiveness as styles and standards change. Most icons, fonts, panels, colors of most of their old software and promotional materials look very pleasant, even in low resolution.

jdofaz 7y ago
It comes down to your taste, I thought aqua and the lickable interface was ugly then, and now.
throwaway2048 7y ago
the original osx pinstripe look is pretty hideous, and the faux glossy emboss look hasn't aged well either https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2016/01/mac-os-x-public-beta-05-100637717-large.png https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2016/01/mac-os-x-...
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  We'll say the same about flat buttons-that-don't-look-like-buttons too.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    The good thing about Material Design is that we don't have to wait for it to go out of fashion among developers. People have been saying it's butt ugly from day one.
  - throwaway2048 7y ago
    sure, but the discussion is about "timeless" design
- galad87 7y ago
  Fortunately they were toned down in 10.2.
- kitsunesoba 7y ago
  The 10.4 version and especially the 10.9 version of Aqua was basically perfect in my eyes… they had dimension and contrast without being overbearing and were bright and cheery without being blinding. I know people are fond of the 10.5 and 10.6 Aqua but I found its darker grey window chrome a bit too dreary looking.
- hokumguru 7y ago
  I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe the text shadows on the window title there are overdone but otherwise I think that looks great!
- ryanSrich 7y ago
  As a designer, I couldn't disagree more. The screenshot you linked is far better than 99% of design today. It took time and effort to create such engaging and aesthetically pleasing design. Today's designers don't care — the profession is overrun by MBAs calling themselves UXers.
- aspectmin 7y ago
  We have gained so much along the way (I.e. fast computing), but we’ve lost a lot as well - computers are nowhere near as friendly/stylish.
  - trilinearnz 7y ago
    Great point. I think part of this is that computers are now so ubiquitous, there is less call for making them approachable to people who are not using them. Personally I like the friendly stylings of old which were empathetic to users' needs. Computers these days seem to take themselves too seriously, and we've lost a bit of the fun as a result.
- aspectmin 7y ago
  Is there a good design book, or program that would teach design principles/philosophy like this? To me, a lot of these modern interfaces (eg Unity) feel like staring at a dark concrete city. I’d love to see some more of this come back.
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  I've never used them, but from what I've read 10.0–10.2 were pretty bad across the board, and 10.3 (Panther) was when OS X became a truly viable product. I think Apple knew this, too. If you look at the timeline of macOS releases, 10.0–10.2 were released in the span of just over a year, and 10.3 had barely a year of life before Panther replaced it (incremental annual releases are the norm now, but they weren't then). And of course, Apple was still supporting OS 9 at the time.
  - jsjohnst 7y ago
    10.0 -> 10.1 = 6 months 10.1 -> 10.2 = 11 months 10.2 -> 10.3 = 14 months 10.3 -> 10.4 = 18 months
- xvector 7y ago
  I love the vaporwave aesthetic of this photo! Thanks for sharing.
  - pyridines 7y ago
    When this design came out, I thought it was bold and futuristic. The "juicy" look is dated now, but to hear it described as "vaporwave" makes me feel old.
    - anthk 7y ago
      This. When I say OSX Tiger after sufffering Windows 98 (and having KDE3 in parallel) I was amazed, that doesn't look vaporwave at all. If anything, Amiga OS 3.1 and before is vaporwave. OSX Tiger was "UI done right".
- ukyrgf 7y ago
  Meanwhile I'd go out of my way to use system themers and programs that supported skins just to get that aqua aesthetic in Windows.
- anthk 7y ago
  OSX Tiger was not like that, it was the most polished UI from Apple ever since System 7.
Nextgrid 7y ago
I especially notice this with iOS. iPhone OS (back when it was called that) was a masterpiece of design with every app having its own, different personality while being simple & efficient to use. The last few iOS releases are a disaster on both fronts. Design-wise it’s completely blank, flat & empty, and usability wise a lot of the apps are just shadows of their former selves. Music, messages, maps, App Store, podcasts, etc. Even basic text editing was downgraded.

jdofaz 7y ago

It comes down to your taste, I thought aqua and the lickable interface was ugly then, and now.

throwaway2048 7y ago

the original osx pinstripe look is pretty hideous, and the faux glossy emboss look hasn't aged well either https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2016/01/mac-os-x-public-beta-05-100637717-large.png https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2016/01/mac-os-x-...

ceejayoz 7y ago
We'll say the same about flat buttons-that-don't-look-like-buttons too.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  The good thing about Material Design is that we don't have to wait for it to go out of fashion among developers. People have been saying it's butt ugly from day one.
- throwaway2048 7y ago
  sure, but the discussion is about "timeless" design
galad87 7y ago
Fortunately they were toned down in 10.2.
kitsunesoba 7y ago
The 10.4 version and especially the 10.9 version of Aqua was basically perfect in my eyes… they had dimension and contrast without being overbearing and were bright and cheery without being blinding. I know people are fond of the 10.5 and 10.6 Aqua but I found its darker grey window chrome a bit too dreary looking.
hokumguru 7y ago
I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe the text shadows on the window title there are overdone but otherwise I think that looks great!
ryanSrich 7y ago
As a designer, I couldn't disagree more. The screenshot you linked is far better than 99% of design today. It took time and effort to create such engaging and aesthetically pleasing design. Today's designers don't care — the profession is overrun by MBAs calling themselves UXers.
aspectmin 7y ago
We have gained so much along the way (I.e. fast computing), but we’ve lost a lot as well - computers are nowhere near as friendly/stylish.
- trilinearnz 7y ago
  Great point. I think part of this is that computers are now so ubiquitous, there is less call for making them approachable to people who are not using them. Personally I like the friendly stylings of old which were empathetic to users' needs. Computers these days seem to take themselves too seriously, and we've lost a bit of the fun as a result.
aspectmin 7y ago
Is there a good design book, or program that would teach design principles/philosophy like this? To me, a lot of these modern interfaces (eg Unity) feel like staring at a dark concrete city. I’d love to see some more of this come back.
Wowfunhappy 7y ago
I've never used them, but from what I've read 10.0–10.2 were pretty bad across the board, and 10.3 (Panther) was when OS X became a truly viable product. I think Apple knew this, too. If you look at the timeline of macOS releases, 10.0–10.2 were released in the span of just over a year, and 10.3 had barely a year of life before Panther replaced it (incremental annual releases are the norm now, but they weren't then). And of course, Apple was still supporting OS 9 at the time.
- jsjohnst 7y ago
  10.0 -> 10.1 = 6 months 10.1 -> 10.2 = 11 months 10.2 -> 10.3 = 14 months 10.3 -> 10.4 = 18 months
xvector 7y ago
I love the vaporwave aesthetic of this photo! Thanks for sharing.
- pyridines 7y ago
  When this design came out, I thought it was bold and futuristic. The "juicy" look is dated now, but to hear it described as "vaporwave" makes me feel old.
  - anthk 7y ago
    This. When I say OSX Tiger after sufffering Windows 98 (and having KDE3 in parallel) I was amazed, that doesn't look vaporwave at all. If anything, Amiga OS 3.1 and before is vaporwave. OSX Tiger was "UI done right".
ukyrgf 7y ago
Meanwhile I'd go out of my way to use system themers and programs that supported skins just to get that aqua aesthetic in Windows.
anthk 7y ago
OSX Tiger was not like that, it was the most polished UI from Apple ever since System 7.

Nextgrid 7y ago

I especially notice this with iOS. iPhone OS (back when it was called that) was a masterpiece of design with every app having its own, different personality while being simple & efficient to use. The last few iOS releases are a disaster on both fronts. Design-wise it’s completely blank, flat & empty, and usability wise a lot of the apps are just shadows of their former selves. Music, messages, maps, App Store, podcasts, etc. Even basic text editing was downgraded.