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Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

lunduke.substack.com

11–20 of 23 posts

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#11

I’m still trying to sort out macOS keybindings on Linux. I put Arch (EndeavorOS) on a 2015-ish Retina MBP and everything “just works” much to my surprise. If I can sort out keybindings I could probably switch 100% but the inconsistency of clipboard actions from app to app is extremely frustrating.

Check out https://medium.com/@canadaduane/key-remapping-in-linux-2021-... for ideas. I plan on trying https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd on my new setup.

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#15
There's a lot to like about 1990s UI designs - for example, they tend to have clearly delineated controls and to be more easily discoverable.

The spatially-oriented Finder of classic Mac OS has some nice properties as well, such as visual stability and a 1:1 mapping between windows and folders.

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#16

There's a lot to like about 1990s UI designs - for example, they tend to have clearly delineated controls and to be more easily discoverable. The spatially-oriented Finder of classic Mac OS has some nice properties as well, such as visual stability and a 1:1 mapping between windows and folders.

I remember when Nautilus went spatial per default. The flamewars went on for months.

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#17
post #14

I'd prefer Mac OS System 7, a bit cleaner.

Not only cleaner, but a crisp, ultra-low latency responsiveness in the Finder that I call "movie UI quick", or "blank document UI quick". You don't see that kind of crisp/snap except in movies or when opening a new blank document. Other applications varied in that crispness, but were generally good.

I don't see much of that crispness these days on Linux, macOS, or Windows, but we're dealing with so much vastly more capacity and capabilities that I don't much begrudge modern UI's their relative slowness as it isn't mostly under their control. Ironically, on the web we're replaying a throwback to the "smart" mainframe terminals of yesteryear. But adoption of more intelligent UI mechanics (client-side caching of data in databases, streaming-to-cache scrolling lists so only the visible part of the list is rendered first, predictive filling of lists beyond the canvas-visible portion, etc.) to squeeze through rough/slow connections is slowly catching on. Meta and everyone else playing around with VR/AR will need all those techniques and more to render the kind of properties they envision into mainstream contexts.

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#19
post #3

"Make Linux look like BeOS 5" when?

ZevenOS did a remarkably good job of this: http://www.zevenos.com/

Their screenshot gallery gave an idea: http://www.zevenos.com/screenshots/screenshots-zevenos

A mini-review from back then: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/ZevenOS-5-0-delivers-...

I know, old -- but there are some comments in Haiku groups in various places that they are planning a relaunch.

It was a good-looking distro. I ran it for a while, and while it was basically Xubuntu but themed, it was very _nicely_ themed. Looked good, felt good, worked well. If you liked BeOS, which I did, a lot.

Re: Make Linux look like Mac OS 9

#20
post #19
post #3

"Make Linux look like BeOS 5" when?

ZevenOS did a remarkably good job of this: http://www.zevenos.com/ Their screenshot gallery gave an idea: http://www.zevenos.com/screenshots/screenshots-zevenos A mini-review from back then: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/ZevenOS-5-0-delivers-... I know, old -- but there are some comments in Haiku groups in various places that they are planning a relaunch. It was a good-looking distro. I ran it for a while, a…

Is there any connection to Zeta?
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