I used to work on a next-ish GUI toolkit (in plain C though, not Objective C) - http://runtimeterror.com/tech/lforms/ - which i mainly used under Window Maker (though it also has a Win32 backend) and my biggest issue UX-wise was how alien it felt in anything else outside Window Maker... especially the floating menus.
I like the look myself but i don't even use Window Maker itself that much nowadays (it is still my #1 WM for Linux, i just use Windows more).
What you describe as a "high water mark" is only optimal for a very limited set of use cases. Overlapping windows with toolbars, launchers, and mouse control is on average superior for the total set of use cases especially for non-expert users.
Have you ever used desktop solaris? it was terrible. I'll vouch. resize a window in the file manager, and every single item would need to be reprocessed and the entire system would lock until 1 by 1 they re-spawned. It was infuriating.
For me, the high water mark is Snow Leopard. I don't think I remember any single operating system iteration for which I held such little contempt. I only have fond memories of it.
(Second place is probably a tie between Windows 2000 and Windows 7 depending on how nostalgic I'm feeling.)
I was perfectly happy with the default/native skin for Windows 7, either with or without its transparency effects.
Like most people I greatly preferred Windows XP in its classic mode because XP's default "luna" skin was so hideous. Whereas the Windows 7 classic mode felt slightly broken and abandoned—new UX behaviours didn't quite line up with expectations set by the traditional interface design. A change of appearance is appropriate when there is a change of behaviour.
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Bless his soul for making this. It really brings me back.
For me, NeXTstep is still the high water mark of GUI design and usability.
I used to work on a next-ish GUI toolkit (in plain C though, not Objective C) - http://runtimeterror.com/tech/lforms/ - which i mainly used under Window Maker (though it also has a Win32 backend) and my biggest issue UX-wise was how alien it felt in anything else outside Window Maker... especially the floating menus.
I like the look myself but i don't even use Window Maker itself that much nowadays (it is still my #1 WM for Linux, i just use Windows more).
As a person who has fond memories of Solaris CDE and and Irix, I can sympathize with you.
However, overlapping windows and toolbars and launchers and mousey-mouse-mouse for everything ... it's bad usability and very inefficient.
The high water mark for GUI design is something like ion3/ratpoison, xterms running screen/tmux and a "desktop" that you never see ...
What you describe as a "high water mark" is only optimal for a very limited set of use cases. Overlapping windows with toolbars, launchers, and mouse control is on average superior for the total set of use cases especially for non-expert users.
The usability is perfect for me, but I recognise that different use-cases may vary.
It forged my sense of aesthetics, though (alongside BeOS).
""However, overlapping windows and toolbars and launchers and mousey-mouse-mouse for everything ... it's bad usability and very inefficient.""
Citation needed.
""The high water mark for GUI design is something like ion3/ratpoison, xterms running screen/tmux and a "desktop" that you never see ...""
Says who? Again citation needed.
Have you ever used desktop solaris? it was terrible. I'll vouch. resize a window in the file manager, and every single item would need to be reprocessed and the entire system would lock until 1 by 1 they re-spawned. It was infuriating.
For me, the high water mark is Snow Leopard. I don't think I remember any single operating system iteration for which I held such little contempt. I only have fond memories of it.
(Second place is probably a tie between Windows 2000 and Windows 7 depending on how nostalgic I'm feeling.)
Windows 7 in classic mode?
I was perfectly happy with the default/native skin for Windows 7, either with or without its transparency effects.
Like most people I greatly preferred Windows XP in its classic mode because XP's default "luna" skin was so hideous. Whereas the Windows 7 classic mode felt slightly broken and abandoned—new UX behaviours didn't quite line up with expectations set by the traditional interface design. A change of appearance is appropriate when there is a change of behaviour.