Is iTunes 10 a glimpse into OS X 10.7?

My first thought as Steve unveiled the new iTunes 10 icon was probably the same as many: that's gonna stick out like a sore thumb nestled between Mail and iChat. And now I've has the pleasure of downloading and installing it, indeed it does! Next, it fires up, updates my library (quelle surprise) and whilst I wait, I notice how close to the top of the screen everything is. Where have the window controls go... ah! There they are! Okayyy...

iTunes has often been a little glimpse into the future of changes to OS X chrome and UI design: it's ideally situated in that it gets more regular updates than other applications, and has the excuse of being the flagship media player, and so it's allowed to not always play by the rules. iTunes was the first to have it's rounded corners squared (with Safari following), and the first to have the new graphite scroll bars. This time though, I think we might be getting a look at what the fabled OS X 10.7, or at least the post-Aqua UI, may look like. Lets look at them one at a time.

First, those windows controls. Although I don't think it's 100% decided, I suspect this is a test to see how the new style might go down. Remember the Great Safari Beta 4 Tab Test? So maybe this one won't stick either.

Second, that icon. A whole new set of application icons for OS X 10.7, following the iTunes 10 style. I really hope it grows on me.

Third, the lack of coloured icons. Look down the left column, so much easier on the eye. This simplification points towards an overall subtler look-and-feel (the last couple of revisions of OS X have moves towards black-and-white icons in the menu bar). Even the Preferences dialog has monochrome icons. If application icons are going to be as colourful (gaudy?) as this iTunes one, the lack of colour elsewhere will be a welcome contrast.

Forth, a new menu list style. A larger title area, with little notches instead of indented separators. Subtle, but a pleasant change and one that would seem odd if it wasn't the way forward.

Finally, of course, those scroll bars that we've had for a while: flatter, more subtle than the aqua ones we know and love(d).

I may be way off with some of these, but on the whole, I think we're getting a little glimpse into the future, post-Aqua user interface of OS X. Or will that be OS XI?

All Your Documents Don't Belong To Us

So I mentioned a thing we've been making. And now, we've made enough of it that we'd like you to try it. You'll hopefully find it really useful if you are: a) a scientist working in the biochemical field, or b) someone who reads PDF documents regularly.

Utopia Documents lets publishers, editors, and authors enhance their papers by providing links to data associated with their paper. It also allows readers to explore data that may be mentioned, but not explicitly included, within paper. Finally, it lets any of these people make private notes or have public discussions about any part of a paper. Oh, and it's just quite a nice PDF reader too.

It does all of this without ever storing or modifying the PDF files. Nice, huh?

Go and take a look, you might like it.

Getting Things Done

I bet one of the most common items on the lists of newly-enshrined GTD-practitioners is blogging about their fantastic new system and how better off they are than when they had a life-less-organised. I'd hate to break the stereotype, since stereotypes are so very, very useful, so here I go. Omnifocus. It really is very good. I really do feel like my head is clearer. I really do think I've had quite a productive week. I really have forgotten to put number23.org article-writing down as a project. Gah!

Anyway, enough of this thinly-veiled filler post. I'll wrap it up by giving you a hint of what's to come. Very soon I'll be waxing lyrical about a new application that really could change the way we interact with scientific literature, putting it right at the heart of the community and the data. Really. Not long to wait now...