Mac OS X Yosemite Beta Opens

New submitter David Hames (3763525) writes Would you like to test drive the newest release of the Macintosh operating system? Apple is opening up the beta for Mac OS X Yosemite starting Thursday to the first million people who sign up. Beta users won't be able to access such promised Yosemite features such as the ability to make or receive your iPhone calls or text messages on your Mac, turn on your iPhone hotspot feature from your Mac, or "Handoff" the last thing you were doing on your iOS 8 device to your Mac and vice versa. A new iCloud Drive feature is also off-limits, while any Spotlight search suggestions are U.S.-based only. Don't expect all your Mac apps to run either. Ars has a preview of Yosemite.

Re:Flat UI Design

[Anonymous Coward]

It's hideous; a plague pushed by "designers" who have run out of new ideas. You're not alone.

Re:Flat UI Design

[UnknowingFool]

Nope. While I agree that skeumorphism may have gone too far in previous designs, the shift to flat UI takes away from functionality sometimes. I want to clearly tell if something is touchable/clickable as opposed to nonfunctional text/graphics. All I can say is that it's not quite as bad as Metro/Modern. But that's not saying much.

Re:Flat UI Design

[gnupun]

I bet Jobs would not have approved of the modern (i.e. stripped of all soul, rich textures and curves) design of ios 7. Since it's so crappy (and bright) it's bound to get pushed into all OSes.

Re:Flat UI Design

[tipo159]

Clearly you are not the only one. The flat UI seems to be the hot idea among UI designers and I am sure that they are all impressing themselves with their work. But, to me, as a user, it is just a gratuitous change that does not contribute to the UI's usability. And, to my kernel s/w engineer eyes, it, for the most part, doesn't look as good as what it is replacing.

I wonder how long I will be able to get by with OS X Mavericks.

Re:Flat UI Design

[jbolden]

No lots of people dislike it. However it has some major advantages in terms of allowing screens to be more complex with a higher degree of understanding.

Deference — less competition between UI elements and application elements. What is expected is less noticeable
Clarity — text is legible at every size, icons are precise and lucid, elements are subtle and appropriate, and a sharpened focus on functionality motivates the design
Depth — visual layers and realistic motion are used to assist users’ understanding

That wasn't achievable with older hardware an OSes. Now that it is achievable it will allow for better applications.