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Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

anders.unix.se

81–90 of 241 posts

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#81

The itunes interface hasn't changed much in the last 13 years. Not many software products go that long without a major reskin, especially seeing as it came from a company that prides itself on it's progressive design.

I quite miss the brushed metal look. It is interesting that you could take OSX from back then and put it in front of someone today and it'll behave mostly the same. Sadly the same could not be sad about mainstream Linux environments (GNOME3, Unity etc.) or Windows 8/10. Windows 10 you can to some extent. Thought provoking.

I don't miss brushed metal in general because they started putting it in too many places. The early concept was that it fit programs that mimicked hardware devices, and iTunes was saying "Look at me, I'm your stereo system."

Then Panther (10.3) came along, and Finder went "Look at me, I'm your filing cabinet!" Eeeeeh, ok I guess? That's when it started to feel tacky and overused for me. Maybe because I only ever had one iTunes window, but the message of "You have 4 filing cabinets open on your desk" is a little bit weird.

As far as iTunes in general goes, I wish it'd go back to being a simpler MP3 player. They've got so much stuff in it (iOS device sync, music store, internet radio, Apple Music, podcasts, iTunes U, whatever else I've forgotten).

All the different layouts, the way the playlist sidebar appears and disappears, the multiple navigation schemes sharing one bar (pick source on the left, sometimes an icon and sometimes hidden in a dropdown, change view layout in the center) doesn't work well. Just the other day I switched modes and then was thinking "Wait, where did the list of recently added items go?" I found it in the albums layout by clicking through random stuff until I got the one I wanted, but I feel like if an MP3 player makes me hunt for something then the interface has failed me. The iTunes version screenshotted here never had hunting.

Family members have asked me "Where did X go?" on more than one occasion after the redesign, and I can't answer is quickly as I'd like anymore...

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#85

That Return to Castle Wolfenstein screenshot... Thanks for reminding me that I'm getting old.

That got my attention as well. There was another person with the game in their dock, which I noticed first. I may have to install it from Steam and play it again sometime..

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#86
post #73

One thing to note: the aspect ratio of the screens. No 16:9 or 16:10 back in that day. (Do some of them almost look square, or maybe rotated 4:3?)

The way I remember it is 4:3 was by far the most common aspect ratio of the day (it's 640:480 and 1024:768).

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#87
post #63
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was probably the cheapest way to get a terminal to unix running at the time. I've been in lots of shops where the given computer is Windows, because that's what the rest of the company runs, and most of my time is spent in terminal windows to unix (Unix long ago, Linux these days). I recall trying to get actual unix on a PC, back around '94 or '95. I actually contacted the local Sun rep, and it was cumbersome and exp…

ugh. hummingbird. don't remind me.

Yeah, I worked at a largish government agency that ran Hummingbird. We had a mix of AIX servers and Windows clients and Hummingbird was critical for a handful of things. Can't say I have many fond memories about that whole architecture, but it was part of a complex web of software that let us anachronistically hold out against adopting Active Directory.

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#88

The itunes interface hasn't changed much in the last 13 years. Not many software products go that long without a major reskin, especially seeing as it came from a company that prides itself on it's progressive design.

I'm looking at my itunes 12 window right now and it looks quite a bit different to my eye (most music players have basically the same form of 'controls on top and a big list of songs').

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is where I got started using Linux. Oh the memories. I even have some of my (terrible) screenshots on there and had submitted a bunch of news articles and hundreds of comments. Now I don't even remember my username.

Oh the memories of nights spent downloading sources on Dial-Up and nights compiling them on Gentoo. Back then we all had hope for the bright future for Linux on desktop, but it never made it, now we are all on OSX :/

Most of my developer colleagues indeed are using OSX, and have for years already. Using Stetson-Harrison method, we have 80% OSX / 10% Linux / 10% Windows.

Re: Screenshots from developers and Unix people taken in 2002

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> clean and neat Really? You miss that special "concrete gray and primary blue" feel? I think I used every MS operating system starting with DOS, and I miss exactly none of the "historic" interfaces. To the extent I get annoyed when institutional IT departments force you to use the "classic" theme on modern windows boxes ("It's faster!" - no, it isn't to any human perceptible degree, and I appreciate not having to st…

> "It's faster!" - no, it isn't to any human perceptible degree MS uses it as the default on server systems because it is faster and IT departments are often forced to make the best of aging hardware, and sometimes turning off the effects can, in combination with a lot of other little tweaks, contribute that little bit needed to make a system useful for another budget period.

I always thought that it was because servers tend to be used via remote desktop, and the classic UI compresses better and feels faster across a network connection
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