User interface thoughts

I develop on a Mac, but I run Windows and Linux (Ubuntu/Gnome) and so it’s very important to me that our L&F look good on all of them. Otherwise I’d just find a way to blend Quaqua and MacWidgets and be done with it.

There are things I prefer about the Windows/GTK+ style of doing things. I prefer a menu bar for the frame rather than a single menu bar at the top of the screen. I prefer resizing sides and corners rather than the single resize thumb on a Mac.

But to be a good citizen in the Mac world means doing things the Mac way on a Mac.

Does anyone run VMWare Fusion with either Linux or Windows in Unity mode? I do, and the “foreign” windows are extremely obvious. They stick out like a sore thumb.

Somehow, though, iTunes doesn’t really stick out as much on Windows. I hadn’t made the switch to Mac when Quicktime first switched to a Mac-like look and feel on Windows. It looked odd, but not as odd as Windows-style apps on a Mac.