Snow Leopard, the next major version of Mac OS X, will include minor tweaks to the user interface, according to MacRumors' Arnold Kim.

"The new theme will likely involve tweaks to the existing design and perhaps a 'flattening' of Aqua in-line with Apple's iTunes and iPhoto interface elements," Kim writes.

AppleInsider's Kate Marsal posted a screenshot of some controls purported to be part of the new interface, dubbed "Marble." It's unclear where the screenshot came from, as Kim writes that development builds have so far used Leopard's version of the Aqua theme. They could easily be Photoshopped screenshots of iPhoto or iTunes, so take that with a grain of salt.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber wrote that Marble was the codename for the new interface scheme in his Macworld predictions roundup, but said later he was wrong when it was not announced during the keynote. He wagered that the look would feature "iTunes-style scrollbars everywhere, darker window chrome, and a light-text-on-dark-background menu bar."

Snow Leopard is rumored to be released before the end of March.

The great Mental Floss blog actually did the research on something that occurred to me as soon as Steve said "Snow Leopard" during the keynote -- naming an OS after a cat "sometimes known as the ounce" might not be the best idea.

File this stuff in the "didja know" column: snow leopards aren't actually leopards -- they're actually closer in family to cheetahs, which means that the new OS might be a little closer to Aqua than we're all comfortable with. Also, they're pretty timid -- not only can they not roar (so new audio features in the OS are out), they're known to hide behind their fuzzy tails. We'll put it this way: you wouldn't exactly want to call your football team The Snow Leopards, so we're not quite sure why Steve decided to use the moniker.

Finally, the weirdest tie here is that the snow leopard as a symbol is already taken -- by the Girl Scouts of Kyrgyzstan. Of course, Steve's naming capabilities haven't really been up to snuff lately, and maybe he just didn't want to go with Cougar -- even though Apple owns it, they may not have been ready to take on all the connotations associated with that particular nomenclature. Then again, maybe this will be good for the snow leopard's image -- after seeing all these pictures of cool cats, if you feel you'd like to help them out, we're sure the Snow Leopard Trust would be happy to hear from you.

If you aren't hip on the un-Aquaness of the new iTunes 7, AquaT might just be the remedy for adding some of Apple's more standard UI elements back into their straying media software. As you can see, it brings the candy-blue scrollbars, light blue sidebar background and other various UI elements back in line with the rest of Mac OS X. It even goes so far as to make tweaks to some of the file type column names, like slimming down 'MPEG Audio File' to 'MP3' - great for those to whom screen space is a premium.

Now AguaT is free, and it works by replacing a few files inside of iTunes itself, so if you're at all worried about fubaring iTunes, or if you want to revert back to the regular iTunes 7, the author recommends (and I echo) backing up iTunes.app before applying this hack (clicking on iTunes and pressing cmd-d to duplicate it should suffice).

This looks like a well-done hack, but I agree with Dan: even though iTunes 7 is laughing at Apple's HIG docs, I'm diggin' it. Still, in the interest of 'to each their own,' I though I'd bring this to the table for y'all Mac OS X users keepin' it old school out there. Peace.

Apple seems to use iTunes as a test-bed for new user interface design styles, and iTunes 7 brings with it an almost complete overhaul the Aqua look we have all grown to love/hate/tolerate. While on the surface, the iTunes 7 interface may seem very similar to that of previous versions, there are a few very distinct differences that I think forebode greater system wide changes to come in 10.5 Leopard.

Since the initial version 10.0, OS X has gone through a variety of system-wide interface changes while still keeping some very important aspects of the original Aqua UI. First we lost the pinstripes, then we got brushed metal, and most recently, we see the move with most applications to a "unified" interface. With iTunes 7, Aqua is gone for good. Glossy radio buttons, scroll bars, control buttons and track information windows are all gone; replaced by sleek utilitarian sand-blasted metal. I think this is the first significant peek we've had into the rumored complete redesign of the OS X UI for Leopard.

I, for one, welcome this change. While the glossy days of old were an exciting way to draw new users–indeed, it was part of way I switched– it quickly became an eyesore for many; designers in particular. The introduction of the Graphite visual style fixed a lot of issues graphics professionals had with the bright colors of the interface clashing with their work, but everything was still not dandy. For pro and power users their Mac is not only a computer, it is the tool of their trade, and something they use day in and day out to get things done, and while no one wants to work in a badly designed, ugly UI, minimalist utilitarianism is sometimes the key to reducing distraction.

Of course, much of this is personal opinion, but it is an opinion I know is shared by at least a small core group of Mac die hards.

What's your take on the new interface? Is it just a fluke, or a hint at things to come?

It seems like even Microsoft's marketing department knows a thing or two about nerdy UI stuff, as a recent survey that offers copies of Vista Beta on CD asks what the fancy new 'let's make everything 50% transparent because transparency is teh r0x0r' effects in Vista are called. Wouldn't you know - Aqua is one of the multiple answers! Right up there along with 'Aero' (the correct choice) and 'Zero' (funny how they rhyme). I would honestly love to see the stats on these test results.

Fortunately, Microsoft also allows Vista beta hopefuls to share how the four-years-late OS truly makes them feel with another question: "Windows Vista brings _____ to your world" has three options: Confusion, Creativity and Clarity (nevermind the large Vista banner at the top of the survey page - pictured). Be careful how you answer kids; you do want that copy of the clarifying (hint hint) Windows Vista beta, right?

Right?

Thanks Ety