14 DAY TRIAL // As WWDC14 edges closer, more and more concepts are starting to emerge, giving us a glimpse of what might be in store for iOS and OS X customers alike. The latest example comes from designer Doney den Ouden, who envisions OS X 10.10 with a flat, minimalistic look.
Doney den Ouden says his concept shows “what a possible future OS X could look like.” He redesigned the menubar, the icons, and the dock to be more consistent with iOS 7, noting, “I think I'm pretty spot-on with this part.” He could be, considering all the rumors about OS X getting an iOS-inspired makeover this summer.
“Totally not sure about the Dock however; while I like the consistency of all rounded rectangle icons, I don't think this is going to happen,” adds den Ouden.
Well, if Apple goes the extra mile to give OS X a flat look, we don’t see why the redesign shouldn’t extend all the way to the iconography. Time will tell. den Ouden uploaded a full-screen Retina resolution image of his OS X 10.10 concept desktop, which you can download at the supplied link.
Again, there’s no reason to believe Apple will do anything different. As one developer recently demonstrated, the transition to flat graphics has been underway since 2013, starting with Xcode 5. In the Xcode interface there are several key giveaways of Apple’s plans with OS X, and they all point to a future desktop that looks a lot like den Ouden’s.
Everything from the fonts to the menubar icons and the Dock looks not only doable, but probable. The Dock is particularly easy on the eyes and downright a pleasure to look at, so if Apple has something like this in mind, we imagine it will make a lot of users happy.
Strangely, the way den Ouden puts it, it seems as if the minimalistic feel of iOS 7 works even better for OS X. Maybe it’s the gorgeous wallpaper, the warm shade of blue in the Dock, the transparency effects, or all of them combined that make this desktop look simply perfect! In any case, if Apple ships an OS X 10.10 that looks like this, few will resist upgrading even if the Mac maker puts a price tag on it.