Filed under: Software, Leopard
Displaperture 1.0
This one is for those that have upgraded to Leopard, but long for an OS X of long ago (or a few weeks ago, as the case may be). One minor change in Leopard, as seen to the right, is that the top two corners of the main menu bar are no longer rounded. They go right to the edge of your screen, which is a welcome change if you ask me. That unused space always bothered me, but if you're longing for those rounded corners long no more. Displaperture 1.0 brings those rounded corners back, and let you control just how rounded they are (and which corners get the rounding treatment).Displaperture requires Leopard, and is freeware.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Leaf said 10:06AM on 11-08-2007
Somebody actually took the time to program this. Who can't learn to adapt to something so minor and insignificant? I really want to know.
Reply
Nicholas Arvanitis said 10:11AM on 11-08-2007
This is getting quite sad actually. Just roll back to Tiger already if you hate it so bad.
Reply
JKT said 5:45PM on 11-08-2007
I recall long ago (around the time of System 6 or 7) that some smart developer made an INIT to use those wasted corner pixels. His utility put blinking HD activity lights in the corner so none of your menu bar space was taken up with this indicator. This developer might consider doing the same; instead of just rounding the corners, put something useful in that newfound black area.
Reply
Sam said 10:34AM on 11-08-2007
and not have quicklook, time machine or core animation? who are you?
go back to wintel, loser-face.
Reply
Miles said 1:23PM on 11-08-2007
The unused space bothered you? It's still exactly as unused as it ever was. It just doesn't look as nice now.
Reply
Brandon Martinez said 1:40PM on 11-08-2007
I like the square corners, never cared for the rounded (looked like a waste of space).
Reply
Gene Cowan said 10:37AM on 11-08-2007
To paraphrase the first commenter... "Somebody actually took the time to criticize this?"
WTF? Whatever happened to common courtesy? In the age of the internet, it has simply disappeared.
What, exactly, is the point in making denigrating comments on a post like this? If someone wishes to customize the appearance of their Mac, what does it matter to you? This is like criticizing someone for changing the name of their hard drive from "Macintosh HD".
Since opinions flow free here, I'll voice mine: the loss of the rounded corners on Mac OS X makes the whole thing seem unfinished. Apple has always been known for the fit and finish, the time they take to get the details right. The squared-off corners in Leopard seem particularly wrong in light of the rounding in menus that suddenly appeared.
If someone wants that final touch back on their screen, why denigrate them?
Reply
Mystic said 1:27PM on 11-08-2007
God, I love how all of these people who are afraid of change are trying to make Leopard be like Tiger. Between the dock and now the menu bar. Why did you upgrade then? For spaces and Time Machine?
Reply
R_K said 12:19PM on 11-08-2007
I really miss those round corners, which made the menu bar very special. Just imagine if all windows would become rectangle as in Windows - what your swallow that as well and bow to everything new?
Reply
Scott G. said 3:41PM on 11-08-2007
This post was so horribly worded. I feel mildly angry for having read it and re-read it, just to make sure I wasn't piecing things together wrong.
Do a better job writing posts, please.
Reply
Mike said 1:03PM on 11-08-2007
I don't support denigration of any kind, but as one commenter points out, Apple is known for the fit and finish of their products. If there are square corners on some things in Leopard it's because Apple purposely chose them to be. I also find a program like this to be a bit "anal retentive". Of course no one should care what someone else's desktop looks like, but as for my own - if it was good enough for Apple, why would I care to change it? And perhaps thats what the first poster was getting at? He sees it as a superfluous option for himself.
Reply
mdc said 11:15AM on 11-08-2007
One thing I've always liked is the rounded corners on the menubar. It's almost like it's homage to the original CRT monitors of the old Macs.
I don't remember which version of this app I tried but the images that covered the menubar corners (to make them rounded) moved when you invoked Expose.
Is this still true? (I'm at work and can't check)
Reply
Greg G said 3:42PM on 11-08-2007
I kinda liked the rounded edges.
Apple really needs to let people do more customization. Transparent menu bar or solid? Dock look? Rounded edges?
It wouldn't take too much more work, and it would let people make their Macs as unique as they want.
Reply
Rhywun said 11:41AM on 11-08-2007
@4:
Those of us who defected from Windows wonder what all the fuss is about. "The rounded corners are gone? Uh, OK." :)
I think the common refrain is that there is an *inordinate* amount of grief being expressed over some of the tiniest minutia.
Reply
Gene Cowan said 11:59AM on 11-08-2007
#6: A good point -- it illustrates what makes the Mac OS world different. Windows users are generally predisposed to shrug off nitpicky interface issues because Windows is such a counterintuitive, inconsistent mish-mash in the first place. Mac users have been trained by Apple to expect a consistent and well-designed interface, so we tend to go bats when something changes... especially when it seems to change for no good reason or doesn't add to the usability of the computer.
That said, I think there has been very little said about this particular change as opposed to, say, the new "Stacks" in the Dock and the changes in interface that brought about.
While one tiny change in the interface may seem insignificant, in a system like the Mac OS every piece works together to form a cohesive experience. Each little change is like pulling a thread out of the tapestry.
Whether the grief expressed is inordinate is, of course, a matter of opinion and mine is no more or less valid that anyone else's! I'm willing to bet that as Windows converts become more attuned to the Mac they'll start to bemoan the inexplicable interface tweaks in each system update just like the rest of us.
Reply
5cents said 12:11PM on 11-08-2007
loser-face. Who says that? Hahahaha
Reply
sam said 5:45PM on 11-08-2007
@5 - the corners do disappear when you use expose. it's surprisingly noticeable too.
Reply
SubGenius said 12:23PM on 11-08-2007
I can't stand the rounded edges on drop down menus.
Again it seems like a change for the sake of change and not for any good reason.
Reply
Sean said 7:21PM on 11-08-2007
I completely agree with Gene and R_K. I haven't upgraded to Leopard yet, but I'm planning to very soon. But I've spent quite a while trying to learn how to make Leopard look *more like Tiger*. When I realized that, I was kinda surprised. For every previous version, the UI look seemed to get better every time (and I think most people agreed). What happened with Leopard? I will definitely be installing Displaperture; hopefully by then someone will have figured out how to make the menubar itself look like Tiger's too!
I don't know why they changed it, and I don't know why I like Tiger's the way it is. But I do.
Reply
BHendrix said 2:53PM on 11-08-2007
Well, the attention seems inordinate if the issue doesn't matter to you, and reasonable if it does. We all have our peeves. I'll just say that the attention Apple pays to its UI and industrial design might also be considered 'inordinate' by industry standards.
The point #4 was making was that people on the web behave as they never would in real life, pissing on things left and right. Seems true enough to me.
Reply