[Klug-general] Ubuntu Branding

[James Blake]

On 6 Mar 2010, at 18:54, George Prowse wrote:

> Actually, come to think of it, I remember a "Longhorn Style" in compiz 
> in 2005 - after which Apple *really* started ripping off all of Linux's 
> desktop goodies

**cough cough**  I don't mind a difference of opinion, but only when they are based on fact.

The design work on the Mac OS X Aqua UI started in 1997 and the new UI underwent user acceptance testing in 1999, with a public beta in 2000.  Much of this work built on top of the more than 6 years work the UI team have been doing for the ill-fated Copland OS (which was given up on with the decision to buy NeXT).  The UAT for the UI involved the laboratory analysis hundreds of subjects, and subtle changes to the UI as a result, to ensure its broadest acceptance.  Further changes were made to the UI in response to feedback of the public beta.

Quartz compositor has been in Mac OS X since the first internal versions in 1998, Windows introduced 3D compositing in 2004 with Desktop Window Manager in alphas of Longhorn.  Hardware acceleration was added with Quartz Extreme in Mac OS X 10.2 in 2001 (developer release).  

My understanding is (but I am shaky on this area with regards Linux) that implementing 3D compositing into X11 needed quite a few changes which resulted in first XGL (released in 2006), which allowed OpenGL to provide 3D services for window managers, and then AIGLX (I think 2007) that then allowed window managers to perform these functions themselves.

One of the reasons these could happen was that 

So, a timeline:

1998 Quartz Compositor (Mac OS)
2001 Hardware accelerated Quartz Extreme (Mac OS)
2004 Desktop Window Manager (Windows)
2006 XGL (Linux)
2007 AIGLX (Linux)


Aqua and Quartz Compositor contained transparencies and 'glass' from 1998 but a decision was taken to brand the UI to be consistent with the new industrial designs of the machines that Apple were producing at the time.  This resulted in the use the high contrast 'striped' UI.  The changes you are alluding to in Panther

The major changes you allude to was the move from the high contrast 'striped' UI to the more familiar brushed aluminium,  which reflect the changes in Apple's hardware design to move from white to aluminium - nothing changed under the hood.

James