Last week I described a new technology/application that allows you to update your Operating System installation media by adding new components and software updates to the installation. This wee I want to talk about a new, completely unified window interface for an operating system. Before people call me a ‘thief’ I do want to say that I got my inspiration for this from the latest Adobe CS4 applications to sport this somewhat similar UI.
Right now, on all three major platforms, there is no single, unified window. What I mean is this: Applications either sport a somewhat standard UI (Firefox on Windows), a custom UI (Word 2007), or a completely abstract UI that does not share any sort of unified interface or components. Let me explain, on two levels. First off, most Windows applications have an integrated toolbar (usually right below the title bar), and OS X applications have their respective toolbar in the system bar located at the top of the screen. You see, while both of these may seem efficient in some user’s minds, they truly aren’t. On Windows, we are wasting precious vertical space to display both the title bar and the toolbar (as well as any other additional toolbars that may be found within the window). On OS X, the use of vertical space is about the same as Windows, but the idiocy of the UI is the biggest deterrent for the OS as a whole. The idea that your windows are floating around and the toolbar for that window remains stationary at the top is one flaw. But the other is the fact that, at quick glance, you don’t know what application you currently have active, because the toolbar remains in the same spot, and not within the window you are currently working on! Outrageous!
So, my proposal is this: a single, unified window that contains ALL aspects of that current window: toolbars, window controls, help system, pallets, and pop up windows. Basically, the window is a container for every element within the application, and not just a way to launch the various components and place them around your display. Let me show you a render I came up with (though somewhat incomplete). You see, this is a little mock up I made of a full screen chat client (yes, I called it Pidgin, like the real chat client). The window contains a sidebar that holds all of your contacts and active conversations, and an area for keeping all of your chat windows. But the most noticeable feature is a unified title bar and toolbar. On the left side of the upper portion of the window you find the standard toolbar (File, Edit, etc.)m just like you would on any other operating system. The difference here is that it is integrated with the title bar of the window. On the right hand side you see the ‘Pidgin’ window title (with a dropdown arrow), and some space at the far right. The space is where the window controls would go (minimize, maximize, exit), I just never got around to designing them.
Yes, the window is unified, but even more so than you can tell by just looking at it. Underneath the Pidgin menu (the arrow) you will find a central and default location for various commands, such as window arrangement commands, help, and preferences. Why waste space in the toolbar with a ‘Window’ menu, when we all know that every window created by the application is part of that application, as such, it is all stored in the ‘Pidgin’ menu. Also, Preferences and Help all have a central location to be accessed from. No need to find out where the options are for a particular application, because they are all in the same spot for every application.
Finally, I want to discuss the toolbar. To be honest, I do not use 3/4 of the toolbar menus for most of my applications. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of them? Yes, you can not only ‘delete’ toolbar menus, but you can drag them around in any order you want. Any toolbar menus that you have removed can be found under a sub-menu in the application (Pidgin) menu, so if you do need to use it, it is there. Accidentally delete a toolbar menu? Just press ‘Restore Toolbar’ under the toolbar menu, and BAM, it’s all back to normal.
A unified window is needed in today’s operating systems. I left Mac OS X because its window system was flawed on so many levels. I hope you enjoyed this week’s article!