Low End Mac Reader Specials
TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
OWC: Get the Right Memory for Your Mac Top Quality, Competitive Price, Lifetime Backed Free Expert Support + Installation Videos too! MacBook & mini 8GB, iMac 16GB, Mac Pro up to 32GB. Click here
Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how
to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full
Tilt Poker Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.
Macs with Music
The Life and Death of Aqua in Apple Software and Mac OS X
- 2007.08.23
Bookmark in del.icio.us
Suggest to Slashdot
I mourn the death of Aqua. It's become fairly obvious that the life of Mac OS X will continue without it - Aqua is slowly dwindling out of Apple's programs and OS X.
Birth
Aqua was born when iMovie 2 came out. This was still in the Platinum era of Mac OS 8 and 9. The next trace of Aqua showed up with iMovie's music-playing brother, iTunes. This was in the late days of OS 9, and it was becoming fairly obvious this was going to be the user interface of Mac OS X.

The Aqua-striped menu bar as seen in the OS X Public Beta.
Then Steve Jobs made it official at Macworld 2000. With its pinstripes and smooth curves, Aqua complemented the iMacs, Power Macs, and iBooks of the time. And as Mac OS X evolved, Aqua evolved with it.
Life
In Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2), the changes were subtle, flattening out some of the icons and removing some of the pinstripes.

A Finder window in the OS X Public Beta - very obvious stripes.
In Panther (OS X 10.3), the changes grew much more noticeable. The new changes added the brushed metal look of the then-new Safari to complement the PowerBook G4 and Power Mac G5. There were new icons across the whole system, transparency was much toned down, and the Finder was totally redesigned.

Even the Dock has had strong Aqua stripes, as in this image from the OS
X Public Beta.
Not much was added to Tiger (OS X 10.4) from Panther beyond a new, toned down Apple icon.
Death
Aqua got put on life support when iTunes 7 came out. iTunes sports a new look with rubbery scroll bars and a plain metal look. All of Apple's new applications, including iLife and iWork, have begun sporting it.

iTunes 7 shows Apple's new, as yet unnamed user interface. Expect it to
be everywhere in Leopard.
The iPhone doesn't have single trace of Aqua in it! And all of the Leopard betas for the few last months use the currently unnamed systemwide look of iTunes.
I will miss Aqua and will enjoy using it on Tiger on my iMac G4/700 MHz, which is apparently going to be unsupported under Leopard, which "requires" an 800 MHz G4 or better (another rant).
Good-bye, Aqua, I hope to see you in another life.
Further Reading
- Aqua User Interface, Apple
- Aqua (user interface), Wikipedia
- Leopard, Apple
Recent Macs with Music articles
- Improve productivity with a second display, 03.20. There's nothing wrong with using just one computer screen, but adding a second can make you more efficient.
- Firefox a wonderful browsing experience on Mac or Windows, 08.24. Not only is Firefox a better browser than Internet Explorer, but it's also good enough to replace Safari as a Mac user's default browser.
- Reckless Drivin' a great diversion, 08.04. This bird's eye view racing game works on low-end OS X systems and is a fun way to kill some time.
- Building a low cost recording studio around an iMac G4, 07.24. "After learning about GarageBand, I had to have it. I scrounged up a used iMac on my local craigslist for $50."
- More in the Macs with Music index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com
