![]() For traditional Macintosh developers who have large code bases, using the Carbon software development kit is the fastest way to go. So there are two approaches to building Mac OS X applications and your choice will depend on a number of factors. If your application is to compete on Mac OS X, it had better take advantage of the Aqua interface and memory management features of the new operating system. When placed side by side with a new application, it appears rather pale. There is no window depth or shadows and you can only drag the outline of the window. However, one thing becomes perfectly clear when you run an old Mac OS application: it really looks out of place and kind of "cheesy". These applications' windows appear in the same desktop as new Mac OS X applications. When launched, Classic will let you double-click and run all of your old Mac OS applications, without the annoying separate world of the "Blue Box", also known as MacOS.app. Classic is basically the old Mac OS Finder. Of great importance to the existing Mac community is "Classic.app". Your icons should have multiple resolutions (16 by 16, 32 by 32, 48 by 48 and 128 by 128) to take advantage of Finder's magnified dock and inspector, otherwise, they'll look rather jagged. As the mouse rolls over the icons in the Dock, they are magnified. The Dock, located at the bottom of the Desktop. And true to the Macintosh Way, the Finder has preferences which allow you to adjust and turn off these features if they don't suit you.įigure 2. As your cursor passes over the miniaturized windows and application tiles, the icons underneath magnify so you can better see what's being represented. ![]() Features include "auto-hide" and a magnification mode to help the fading eyesight of the baby boomer generation. The new Mac OS X Finder sports the Dock, which is a user-defined set of application and document icons along the bottom of the screen. The singly focused window is a boon for neatness freaks - you select the window you want activated and all other windows will "genie" away. The single window mode selection button, located in the upper-right corner of a window. The right-most top button on windows switches the interface into single window modeįigure 1. The drawer is a sub-window which is attached to a parent window and can be pulled out as need arises. Revolutionary interface concepts such as the "drawer", pop-up and self-magnifying dock, drop-down sheets and single window mode address the desktop clutter that is the bane of modern operating systems. The use of subtle, fuzzy shadows on windows, semi-transparent title bars, animated effects and "gum drop" controls represent a breakthrough in UI design and an entirely new look and feel for Mac OS X. Without a doubt, the most immediately striking part of DP3 is the Aqua Interface - a truly liquid and almost candy-like user interface that is a pleasure to behold. This release represents a convergence of the best ideas from the Carbon (Mac OS) and the Cocoa (aka Rhapsody/OpenStep) worlds, and has everything you need to produce first class applications for the forthcoming Mac OS X release late this summer. The new Aqua interface demoed by Steve Jobs at MacWorld San Francisco is now in the hands of the Mac vanguard. The release of Mac OS X Developer Preview 3 in late February has ushered in a brave new world for both traditional Macintosh and veteran Cocoa OpenStep programmers. Educational Institution and Student DiscountsĬontributing Editor, Raven Zachary A Programmer's Introduction to Developing for Mac OS X.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |