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

Poker Mac 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.

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.

Mac Musings

Aquard

Gerard Bagwin - 2000.02.29 - Tip Jar

Aqua Blows

There, I said it. I hate Aqua and the QuickTime 4 interface. I hate those traffic light buttons. I hate the rounded off appearance. And, I have a whole rant about the menu bar: that retarded Mac OS smiley in place of the Apple Menu (what are we supposed to call it now, the Wacky Smiley Face Menu?), that pointless Go menu, and that functionless Apple in the middle of the menu bar. Hey Apple, you want to put a Apple in the menu bar? Put it where it belongs: to indicate the Apple Menu, like it has for the past sixteen years!

The ideal OS should be fast, have useful features, work on all Macs with sufficient memory, stay out of the way, and have a non-obstrusive interface (which is definitely not Aqua!). With these specifications, I arrive at the conclusion that System 7.5.3 was the best system software ever. Like I really need throbbing buttons all over my screen while I am trying to be creative. And what's with the crazy colors everywhere? What is this, Windows?

Don't get me wrong, swanky looking hardware, such as the colorful iMac and the iBook, is cool. The G3 and G4 mini towers could lose those ugly handles. Apple also needs a modular, non-tower desktop machine. They need an intermediate Power Mac 7x00 desktop case - but of course with snazzy colors and finishes. Swanky user interface is overkill. I am sure those throbbing buttons take up memory and bog down system performance at times when performance is crucial.

A back to basics OS is what we need, not inconsistent icon sizes and photographic toolbar icons that mean nothing. We are already getting some of this in Sherlock 2.0 in System 9 (that "Mac OS" phrase doesn't exactly roll off the tongue). Screen shots of AppleWorks 6 show grossly oversized photographic toolbar buttons. Reaction to the Sherlock buttons that I have read hasn't been so great.

I think I am going to stick with ClarisWorks v4, and with v1 on my 68000 machines. (Anybody have a copy of ClarisWorks 3?) In fact, I am typing this in ClarisWorks 1 on my Mac SE running System 6 that I have owned since I was six years old (my primary computer is a Power Computing PowerTower Pro 225 clone, and my PowerBook is a 100). I am using this computer and this version of this software to prove you do not need snazzy interfaces and software full of features you never need to get a job done. LEM

Opinionated? I'll say - and I agree with quite a bit of it. (But then, I still use ClarisWorks 4, Emailer 2, Word 5.1, Home Page 3, and Photoshop 4 on a SuperMac S900 introduced in August 1996 running a 1997 vintage G3/250 processor.) Feel free to email Gerard with your comments. And if you would like to publish a response at Mac Musings, email your comments to me. Dan Knight , publisher, Low End Mac

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

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

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.