Feedback: Drop the custom graphics & CLI interface

J

Joe Wildish

Junior Member
Guys, it looks like this is a great product, despite some problems people are having (but that's why it's beta!). However -- drop the custom graphics in the GUI; they just look amateurish. Most of the screen designs are fine, and adhere to Apple human interfaces guides. But the graphics for the icons are frankly appauling. They look very amateur. Please get rid, it doesn't do the product justice!

Also.... I didn't get the chance to poke around before my machine died, but is there a command line interface? It would be very welcome for major implementations (in fact, necessary I would say).
 
Exactly. The custom (non-standard) graphics were my only real complaint as well. Not necessarily 'amateurish', but they do clash with everything else on my desktop(s). It's a total departure from the whole Apple philosophy of style and consistency, and Mac users are going to object. At least make them right-click removable.
 
Yes :) Each to their own I guess... I don't like the "New", "Save", etc, at the bottom of the management console. I think they totally out of place in OS X. IMHO :).
 
Look at the icons that come stock in OS X on your dock. You really think the icon for address book or iCal looks like it belongs with the Safari, Dashboard, QuickTime, and other icons? Look through your application directory and look at some of the pre-installed app icons, especially in the utility folder.

I rest my case. :D
 
LOL I have to disagree. At least they are vector-based and therefore render appropriately. The Parallels icons look like some kind of scaled down GIFs!
 
Joe Wildish said:
LOL I have to disagree. At least they are vector-based and therefore render appropriately. The Parallels icons look like some kind of scaled down GIFs!
Click to expand...

I'll grant you that. :D

My point was, coming to OS X from Windows, I noticed right away that many of the icons don't look at all like they were designed by the same people. You see that from 3rd party mac apps, which is to be expected somewhat, but even within the apple supplied apps many of the icons have an inconsistent feel.

For example the icons at the top of the Mail window have a bezeled "button bar" look that you don't see in other apps. The icons for the network utilities in the /Applications/Utilities folder look like they were designed by completely other people than who designed most of the iLife icons. Etc, etc.

Other people have complained about Apple not following their own guidelines consistently, and from my perspective, I think they have a point.
 
Scott, you are right in that there are inconsistencies with the Apple apps; I remember when the brushed metal effect came out, and the "controvesy" it caused! :) However... if the same people who do Apple icons were doing the Parallels ones, I'm sure I wouldn't have felt the need to post, if you get my meaning ... :)
 
anshar said:
And what do you think about main application icon? Is it also inconsistant with Mac GUI?
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The linked hoops? They're OK. I'm more concerend about things like the Play and Stop buttons!... actually, scratch that; I'm more concerned about the app trashing my harddrive! But that's in a different thread :eek: :D
 
The most dangerous kernel panic in network driver was fixed in Beta2. AFAIK there are still some problems with main driver when 2+ VMs running, but it will be fixed soon as well.
 
I'm guessing the icons being used are the same as those in the Windows version of the product. For that reason, it makes sense...so that anyone already using Parallels Workstation on Windows will feel right at home on the Mac version if/after they "switch".

I'd much rather let Parallels do the fantastic job they are doing working on quick fixes to real problems in the betas and deal with graphics issues later, if at all. :)
 
Agreed - I could care less about the graphics - as long as it runs Windows flawlessly, I could care less.
D

Ensoniq said:
I'd much rather let Parallels do the fantastic job they are doing working on quick fixes to real problems in the betas and deal with graphics issues later, if at all. :)
Click to expand...
 
Anytime people start complaining about looks you can get an idea how well you're doing :)

That said, Mac users are a picky bunch and great apps often come with great polish. Rarely do you see a crappy Mac app with a great interface. Mac users have a feel for this and look out for it.

Your application icon looks great and very Mac like. I recognized the rest of the interface as Qt widgets. I don't mind it much as I know that the backend of your product actually profits from its cross platform roots.

I believe in this case Mac users should take notice that everywhere it makes sense (installer, application icon, respect of OSX folder locations like ~/Library) you have made an effort to be Mac like and shouldn't worry much about the main app window that's hardly ever in focus.

For me, PW is a headless built in Linux box anyway and all I see is the doc icon.
 
I think the type of inconsistencies the OP was referring to is:
'Ok' in a dialog box, where the Mac standard is 'OK'
Open/Edit/Save buttons, if in addition to being in the menu structure, are typically at the top of the interface, not the bottom.
Nothing else in OS X does a colored gradient stripe in the GUI.
Start a New VM wizard. Look above the the T in 'This Wizard'. See the break in the shading and box outline?

It's this kind of details that many Mac users notice and focus on. These things make the GUI (but not the performance) feel like using a cross platform Java app, or X11. It's nothing that detracts from the functionality of the app, but Mac folks tend to look at form too.
 
I also would prefer it if the interface was a little more cocoa-ish. The inital window, which show the current VM configuration is very un-Mac OS X. Using the default widget would probably make it better. The same goes for the New VM, Open, Edit and Save buttons.

I don't have any problems with the icons on the right of the screen and on the buttom when the VM is running :)
 
My biggest problem is with the buttons (Stop, pause, etc). It really makes me feel like I'm using a cheap shareware app. Why not make the app feel more Mac-like? Just copy the look of the buttons in iTunes and Safari. That can't be so hard. :)
 
Just do it

Seems to me that the bottom line here is this: Apple publishes interface design guidelines that are (for the most part) time-tested, and they signal to Mac users that they are using a quality program. To the extent possible, PW should follow 'em!
 
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