Mac OS X"s Aqua has matured very slowly over the last few years. It seems like many OS X users are tired of Aqua and ready for a new revolutionary GUI to compliment and enhance the experience of using a Mac. An increasingly popular theme for Apple"s latest applications have been smooth unified metal and dark glass. With each major update to one of Apple"s applications, its seems like the days with blue gel scroll-bars and candy bar progress bars are ending.
Its no question that Leopard will feature a new GUI, but no one really knows what it will look like. Its no doubt that Leopard will feature resolution-independent graphics support that will allow for greater resolution displays with the same and windows sizes. However, the details of the interface have not yet been revealed, but many are hoping that we will see the final announcement of Leopard features at Macworld 2007, where chances of a GUI announcement are high.
Apple Gazette has featured a new rumor from a supposed insider that has claimed that the new GUI that will replace Aqua will be nicknamed "Illuminous". Apple"s latest trend in its software GUI is a darker, flatter, translucent, reflective, "illuminating" glass appearance.
The genesis for this rumor started earlier this year when Apple posted a position on Monster.com seeking a senior visual interface designer "to conceive, design and develop future enhancements to Aqua, the dynamic user interface for Mac OS X".