14 DAY TRIAL // Say what you will about the advantages of one OS over another. It all comes down to everyone’s personal needs, making the debate of which OS is best somewhat irrelevant, if not childish. But, visually speaking, OS X has every right to the crown.
Especially Yosemite. As part of the complete overhaul commissioned by Jony Ive and Craig Federighi this year, OS X 10.10 got one major perk that makes it stand out like bird droppings on a black shoe – Translucency.
A visual gimmick pioneered in iOS 7 (as far as the Apple ecosystem is concerned), translucency gives users a better idea of where they are in a particular area of the OS. It also gives depth to the apps that have scrollable content to display, like Messages. On the Mac, this works wonders in situations involving overlapping windows.
On the marketing pages of OS X Yosemite, Apple explains that “By adding translucency to certain interface elements in OS X Yosemite, we’ve put a greater emphasis on your content.”
Using the Messages app as an example, the tech titan adds, “Translucent toolbars let you know there’s more to see than what’s visible in the window as you scroll. And a translucent sidebar lets you see what’s hidden behind the active window.”
Translucency somewhat “redesigns” your desktop based on the content displayed in the application windows, as Apple itself points out: “So the interface takes on the look of your desktop image and your content — making your Mac experience different from anyone else’s.”
The key takeaway from Apple’s marketing isn’t being different, of course. The company has long abandoned its “think different” catchphrase, and even its mindset is different these days. But its love for aesthetics continues to peak.
As we noted time and time again this week, Yosemite does seem to make a far better case for flatness than iOS 7 did. Whether it’s the icons, the color palette, the streamlined toolbars or all of these together, the overhaul makes so much sense that you begin to realize it should have looked like this all along.
Yosemite is already getting its fair share of nay-saying, so don’t expect everyone to agree that it’s a breath of fresh air. There are just as many people with an affinity for stronger color sets, words instead of symbols, and graphics that convey real-life objects (rather than abstract representations of things, like an envelope for the Mail app). But, as we said, it all depends on your computing needs and habits.
Disclaimer
This is a Personal Thoughts piece reflecting the author’s personal opinion on matters relating to Apple and / or the products associated with the Apple brand. This article should not be taken as the official stance of Softpedia on Apple-related matters.