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Aqua Mozilla OK with Apple
MikeMo writes: "Turns out Apple thinks an Aqua Mozilla is OK, after all. Eric Yang had a chat with them and they made up." This is an update to this story.
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I'm not familiar enough with the "real" Aqua products to understand what just went down here.
It sounds to me like Apple did say it was okay to make an Aqua-like Mozilla -- but only using the "real" Apple tools, and therefore (purely my extrapolation) for Mac OS X users only. Aqua look-and-feel through "emulation" is still strictly forbidden.
Yes?
If this is the case, then the Slashdot was not overreacting at all -- it's still a "legitimate Aqua" sues "homebrew Aqua look" issue in which all non-MacOS users are forbidden from using nice shiny sea-blue widgets, etc.
Or am I misunderstanding?
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
From the article: "What Apple objected to was not Aquafying Mozilla, but rather the way I was doing it via emulation, thus not giving Mozilla users a pure Aqua experience. Apple is willing to provide information for creating real Aqua experience for Mozilla."
Does Apple mean they insist that Mozilla use native OS X widgets if it wants to look like an Aqua application? From my (admittedly limited) understanding of the Mozilla architecture, this is impossible. Mozilla's appearance is all defined at run-time, and everything including its own buttons, menus, scroll bars, is a Mozilla custom component, not part of the OS standard UI toolkit.
Am I wrong? Please correct me. But it seems like the only thing you could do would be to write your own browser using native widgets, and embed the Gecko rendering engine, ala Galeon. Mozilla's not going to give you a "pure Aqua experience" unless you rewrite it from scratch.
-- Some things are to be believed, though not susceptible to rational proof.
Slashcode really needs to automirror anything mentioned in a story that isn't set to expire...
yes well, I ripped this off from mackido.com (mmm, flamey goodness)
1981 - 1983 (Lisa and Mac Development teams)
* General User Interface
* Mouse
* Menus
* Controls
* Windows
* Desktop Metaphor
[1989 - Win31 first usable system but didn't get it working mediocre until Win95 - still not as consistent or good]
* Files -
* multi-forked filing system [WinNT 1993 - still not used]
* long file names (with spaces & special symbols) [Win95, not as versatile]
* automatic typed icons (type + creator) document centric filing mechanism [Win95, not nearly as complete or seamless]
* Design and Programming [Win3 - 1989, not as versatile]
1984
* Desk Accessories (copied in IBM-compatible world as "TSR")
* multitasking: Desk Accessories [Win3 - 1989, not as versatile]
* Sensible System folder organization [Win95 - not as clean, consistent or versatile]
* Dynamic, user-accessible system extension (fonts, INITs, control panels, DA's) [TBD]
* Drag-and-drop Application installation [TBD]
* fast and easy access to international characters [TBD]
* User-extensible font manager [TBD]
* Plug-and-play printing; page setup & print dialogs [TBD]
* Built-in clock with backup battery; reliable file dating. [about 1987]
* Sound
* Built-in speaker, 4 voice sound synthesizer, full digitized sound samples [SoundBlaster about 1987, but it wasn't common until about 1989]
* Speech
* Speech synthesis (Macintalk). [SoundBlaster about 1987, but not as widely used and not a system function]
* Floppy 3.5" floppy (400K) [about 1988]
* with automounting and auto-eject. [TBD]
* Also added a floppy disk cache [TBD]
* hot-swappable peripherals
* keyboard, mouse [1997 with USB, TBD popularized]
* MacPaint, MacWrite, MacDraw [Win3 - 1989, not as versatile]
* First person mainstream networked game (first person dungeon like game -- MazeWar, initially created at Xerox) [Wolfenstien or DOOM - 1992? far better graphics]
* Mac128K was an Ergonomic All in one Machine, semi-portable [1983 Osborn, sorta, some Compaq's in about 1993]
* Use of icons to label ports (all ports keyed to prevent mistakes) [1994?]
1985
* LaserWriter printer with Postscript (Apple also helped Adobe get off the ground as a company) [Win31 - 1991 was when Windows first supported Postscript, before then support was spotty]
* Networking (plug & play, integrated -- AppleTalk/LocalTalk) [1993 / TBD, WinForWorkgroups offered some networking as "option", not as easy or as integrated. Win95 improves it -- still not as easy, or ubiquitous as MacOS in 1985]
* Direct manipulation Resource Editor [TBD]
* Desktop Publishing (actually came from Mac Application called ReadySetGo, then Adobe Pagemaker, also Scoop, Xpress and a few others at about the same time, because of what the Macs WYSIWG capabilities) [Win31 - 1991 was when it first started working well on PC's]
* OOP / OOD (Object Oriented Design and Programming)
* Object Pascal (later borrowed by Borland) [1993]
* MacApp (first mainstream Object Oriented Framework, MS copied poorly with MFC) [1992 - MFC popularized]
* Movable Palettes
* Lifelike Interface [1994 - Bob]
* (forget the name, but there was a Finder Replacement that had an actual picture of a desktop, with a little assistant. Microsoft copied this about 8 years later as "Bob").
1986
* Plug-and play peripherals (SCSI) - ability to handle volumes/partitions to 2GB [1995+]
* Hypercard (simple object programming -- precursor to Visual Basic) [1990]
* Hypercard (simple hypertext linking -- precursor to the Web) [1993]
* First personal computer with 4MB linear memory space (Mac Plus) [1993 WinNT]
* Kanjitalk
* More versatile "Wavetable" sound manager [1989 SoundBlaster popularized]
* Memory Modules (SIMMS) instead of installing RAM chips [1988 - 1990]
* Dial in modem service. Apple create AppleLink communication service -- GE used the software to create AOL.
* Scroll speed throttle for uniform user experience regardless of processor speed. [TBD]
* ADB (Apple Desktop Bus): extensible, auto-config low-speed peripheral bus (precursor to USB) - [1997 with USB, TBD popularized]
1987
* Plug-and-play bus expansion (NuBus) [1995 PCI + PnP, 1997-98 popularized]
* Multifinder application multitasking [1991 Win31, 1993 WinNT]
* Ability to assign labels to files [TBD]
* Multiple monitor support: single large desktop [1998, TBD Popularized]
* Color QuickDraw, 256 color 640x480 graphics (same year as VGA with 16-color 640x480 or 256-color 320x200) [1991]
* Accelerated video cards [1991?]
* Full Page Display [1993]
* Dual Page Displays [1991]
* GWorlds (off screen graphics images used) [1992 - 1997, WinG didn't get working until Win95, and really working until DirectDraw]
* Built in masking, antialiasing and Dithering of images (actually masking and dithering was earlier). [TBD -- Done by programmers]
* Industrial Design: Snap Open Case (no screws) [TBD]
1988
* SCSI plug-and-play CD-ROM [1995 for PnP, not as easy or good]
* Ethertalk
* Superdrive, can read and write Mac, DOS, OS/2 files [TBD]
1989
* photo-realistic images (32-bit QuickDraw)
* 32 Bit Clean OS and 32-bit clean computers (software patches fixed older machines, no BIOS replacements) [1993 WinNT -- 2000 with Win2000]
* A/ROSE real-time operating system for smart cards [TBD]
* Multiprocessing (using cards like YARC and Radius Rocket) [1993 WinNT -- 2000 with Win2000 to popularize]
* Mac Portable, first mainstream portable with an integrated trackball and active matrix screen
1990
* Sound input [TBD]
* Built-in Ethernet (Quadra) [TBD, usually a low-cost extra]
* Publish and Subscribe and early work on Object Embedding (later to be borrowed and become OLE) [1992 - 1995]
* Aural feedback for controls (Sonic Finder) [Win95]
* Ability to assign custom icons to Finder objects [1989 through hacking, TBD]
1991
* Powerbook 100: first laptop with keyboard in back, trackball in front. [1993 - 1994]
* TrueType outline font technology (licensed to Microsoft)
* Balloon help (with contextual feedback) [1991 - Still not as versatile]
* Built in File sharing [1992 WfW, Win95 popularized]
* Robust aliases (unlike Windows' fallible "shortcuts" that came years later) [TBD]
* QuickTime [1992, Authoring not Available until 1995]
* Multimedia -- Apple created the term. They had been the first to integrate Sound, Speech, Text and Graphics (multiple medias), then expanded to include video (and later 3D) and pushed with CD-ROMs [1993 - 1995 until things worked right]
* Virtual Memory [1991 Win31 - 1993 WinNT, 1995 to popularize]
* Appletalk Remote Access [Extra]
* AppleScript: application and system scripting [1981 poorly, 1995 VBfApps, TBD]
* Integrated eMail [Win98]
* Integrated Keychain (Security) [TBD]
* Encryption and Security [1993 WinNT -- 2000 with Win2000 to popularize]
* Network Browser [Win95]
* Trash you have to empty (item in trash survive power down) [Win95]
1992
* Powerbook Duo: first dockable (e.g. "port replicator") but much more elegant [TBD]
* Global text input support (WorldScript) [TBD]
* ColorSync color matching [1999]
* Built-in CD-ROM's [?? 1994]
* Video Input - AV models
* Integrated DSP [1989 NeXT, 1996 with MMX]
* Industrial Design: Slide out Drawer [Some servers, rare]
1993
* Next generation speech synthesis
* Speech recognition (Speakable Items) [1996 - Win95 add-on, 1997 as powerful add-on, TBD to be popularized]
* Integrated telephony (Geoport) [Win98]
* First PC with built-in TV
* PDA [WinCE -- 1997 - 1998, but not as nice]
* Handwriting Recognition (Newton) [TBD]
* Gesture Recognition [TBD]
1994
* Powerbook 520: first widely-available laptop with trackpad.
* Power Macintosh: PowerPC RISC chip [1993 WinNT, most RISCs killed, TBD to popularize maybe 2001 - 2004 with Merced/McKinley]
* 68K emulation for seamless backward compatiblity. [TBD -- Alpha tries but not mainstream or as reliable]
* Graphing Calculator: real-time equation visualization, 2D and 3D.[TBD]
* MacOS on Unix (MAE)
* "Most Recent" folders
* Hierarchical menus
* Windowshade (collapsable windows)
* AppleGuide (help system with coachmarks) [TBD]
* PC Exchange (cross platform file compatibility) [TBD]
* Macintosh Easy Open (can open PC files)
* DOS/Windows compatibility cards and emulation software
* Threads [1993 NT, TBD to popularize]
* TCP/IP support
* Powerbook file synchronization [TBD]
* Continuous speech recognition and input (Cantonese dictation)
* Bento - Object Oriented Document model [TBD]
* IEEE-1394 (FireWire) [1998 as option (Sony), TBD popularized]
1995
* QuickTime VR, Conferencing
* Open Transport Networking (streams)
* QuickDraw 3D [1994 OpenGL, 1998 to popularize with Direct3D]
* Plug & Play PCI bus (PCI Only -- no ISA or older bus) [1995 Win95 was PnP support, general PCI earlier, PnP didn't work fully until 1997]
1996
* OpenDoc (Fully document centric interface model) [TBD]
* Integrated Browser (CyberDog) [Win98]
* Web as a data-type (CyberDog) [Win98]
1997
* Popup folders [TBD]
* Spring loaded folders [TBD]
* reorganized system folder [Still not as clean]
1998
* Sherlock full-text indexing and internet searching [TBD]
* Titlebar icons to represent the folder itself for dragging etc. [TBD]
* Appearance manager (Themes) [Limited in Win95, TBD]
* Audio Themes (Sonic Finder finally ships in 8.5) [Limited in Win95, TBD]
* Tear off Menu (Application Menu. Also Apple and NeXT merged, NeXT created them) [TBD]
* Resizable Menus [TBD]
* Customizable scroll bar behavior [TBD]
* Integrated System Wide antialiasing [1996 Win95 OSR2?, Win98]
* iMac - clear case, return of all-in-one, simplified design, ALL plug & play I/O, floppyless design [TBD]
* USB (Universal Serial Bus): this is a copy of the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB). Apple was also the first to make it ubiquitous and standard.[Added in 1996, support in Win98, TBD popularized]
1999
* Industrial Design: Handles + Door [TBD]
* AirPort -- Wireless networking made easy [TBD]
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
The designers at BMW do not really want you painting their cars in hippie rainbow colors, adding neon underneath and gluing crap to the hood.
But the designers at BMW aren't going to sue me if I paint the Virgin Mary on the hood!
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Its not that fact that he was trying to "Aquafy" it through "emulation" that pissed off Apple, its the fact that this Aqua theme would be available to users on other platforms (Linux/Windows).
Apple's aim with Aqua is brand identiy. They want Aqua instantly associated with Apple. They don't want there to be any question about it.
This follows the same logic they used when they sued three companies over iMac knockoffs. They wanted the "look and feel" of an iMac to be instantly recognizeable and associated ONLY with Apple. Even if you thought the iMac was butt-ugly, it stood out from run-of-the-mill beige PCs. It cried out that the Mac was alive and well, and assured that people would remember the design.
Granted, there have been a number of iMac inspired computers, but Apple has choosen its battles well.
The same goes for Aqua. I've seen a number of "Aqua inspired" designs, but the ones where an author obviously went in and copied and pasted Apple's UI elements into a theme file have all been brought to a quick end.