Mac OS X Leopard will jump-start a new era in the way desktop applications are designed. With technologies like Core Animation, we're going to see extremely dynamic and powerful user interfaces in the not-so-distant future.

Doesn't this mean we're instead going to see ugly bloated software? It's a common misconception among consumers, who are used to seeing bloat. Here are some great examples proving that it's just the opposite.


Time Machine is the perfect example of this new blend of rich user interface design. Backup/Restore solutions have always had weak UIs. When Time Machine is activated for an application though, you can actually see the state of the windows from past to present, and sort through them in 3D as if you were traveling through dimensions in space. It uses Core Animation to accomplish this.


Nintendo's Wii shows that rich user interfaces are appearing everywhere, even outside the Mac world. The newly released News Channel has an absolutely stunning user experience (Video). It's a way no one has ever done news before, and only made possible with modern technology.


iPhone. Even mobile phones are learning from this development. Of course, you can leave it to Apple to be the first to actually do it. The iPhone is another great example of rich applications using animation through transitions and notifications. After watching a few demo videos on Apple.com, you'll know what I mean.

We saw the start of rich applications in the original release of Mac OS X, and this trend is definitely going to continue. I imagine in a few years, present day Mac apps will feel like Mac OS 7 apps do today.

Overall, these new developments prove that animations are far from "bad things" that developers should avoid. When done right, the resulting applications can be much more enjoyable and easy to use. And new technologies are making this easier than ever for developers to adopt. It's a really great thing.

iPhone

Apple today introduced the iPhone, the next revolutionary new product. What can I say? I love it. If you haven't already, go watch the Steve Jobs Keynote from Macworld today.

It uses a touchscreen to do almost all actions. Every application is intuitive and amazing. Words really do not do this phone justice.

The most important part of the phone - the software, looks phenomenal. Everything from the browser, to the email client, to a virtual iPod to Google Maps. The iPhone has it all, and it all works amazingly.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the iPhone browser was the Wii Internet Channel, and that's a good thing. This is how the web should be when its not possible to view every pixel at once. You can see the entire web page at once (scaled down), and zoom in/scroll around.

A missing feature is clearly games. But if they're on the iPod, they'll be on the iPhone. I'm positive we'll see at least one game ship with the iPhone, with more to come hopefully.

And regarding third party apps...nobody would like to see this happen more than me (Wallet for iPhone anyone?), but honestly I don't think its going to happen. The initial word on the street is "no", and the last thing Steve would want to see is his precious iPhone become a third party app nightmare. It does run OS X, and the apps are assumed to be written in Cocoa, so this is still a possibility in the future. You definitely won't see full blown OS X desktop apps without any revision on here though.

My only hope is that we see an AIM client for this phone. And that it comes to Canada soon.

tv

The tv finally completes the big picture in home entertainment. Now you can download Movies, TV Shows, and Music from the iTunes Store to your Mac, and sync or store it on your tv.

This is all a great effort to seamlessly connect the best part of your living room - the modern television, to content on your Mac. The days of heading down to Blockbuster late at night to rent movies will soon be over.