We all know that the most common element on Earth is water, but Aqua is also the name of the graphical user interface and primary visual theme of the Mac OS X operating system. Obviously, its looks are inspired by water, using droplet-like elements, as well as translucency and reflection effects. Originally designed to complement the iMac and Power Mac G3/G4 models' looks, Aqua changed with time, as Apple moved to the brushed metal looks in 2003-2004, and included the brushed metal look while de-emphasizing the old pinstripe backgrounds and transparency effects. Since 2007 will be a year with a lot of changes, or at least that's what everybody expects, the Mac OS X interface should change as well, especially now when Vista is knocking at the door.

A few days ago, Apple Gazette published an article about "a tip from an Apple insider", and despite this being only a rumor at this time, a change of the Aqua interface doesn't seem like a Mac that can be mounted right into your brain... This rumor is about the fact that the Aqua user interface will be replaced with a completely new UI named Illuminous. The source moved on a step further and claimed that a demonstration of this new user interface will be done at Macworld 2007, in San Francisco.

This rumor started to grow when Apple posted a position on Monster.com seeking a visual interface designer "to conceive, design and develop future enhancements to Aqua, the dynamic user interface to Mac OS X", earlier this year.

Probably Illuminous won't even be called like this, but for now, we don't have another name, so... how's this new user interface for your Mac going to look like? Blank, this is the information we can find at this time, although some may figure out some hints about the future when looking at the latest iTunes release, and breaking news from MacShrine state that "Apple continues to gloss over the interface, refining it even more and there is an overly presence of black gloss". So, until we'll know something for sure, let's try to imagine us using a black interface Mac OS X Leopard...