Rumour of new Mac UI metaphor

"Piles" instead of folders

[BlobFisk]

Mac are rumoured to be implementing a new UI metaphor in the latest OSX release, Panther.

"They are kind of like super spring-loaded folders, without the folder. Advantages are: you can tell just by looking at a Pile what's in it, and have easy one-click access to all files contained in it."

More here... [homepage.mac.com]

[jimbo_mac]

I think the should change the name.
IMO piles does not sound good;)

[bird]

Maybe Hypercard has been gone for long enough by now that they may recycle the "stack" word instead of "pile".

The concept is kind of cool. I always hated spring loaded folders, because they would open windows on my desktop at very inconvenient moments (when stopping the mouse for a second while considering some other thought), which I then had to close again manually. Piles/stacks could avoid this issue while still providing the functionality. However, one problem they will have to solve is a way to operate them without keeping the mouse button pressed down. Moving the mouse around with a pressed button is not only inconvenient, but also one or the primary sources of RSI. If Apple can work around that, then they may have a big hit at their hands.

[Macguru]

>>recycle the "stack" word instead of "pile"

bird beat me on that. Ha memories, back in the 80's I programmed piles of Hypercard stacks. ;)

I like the new feature. It wont fit for larger projects with many files, but could be handy for most jobs.

[mivox]

Piles sounds like the organization system I used to use in my house... it wasn't very efficient. ;)

I'm not sure I like the demo on that page though... what I'd like to see is something more like a folder, but with a "contents list" that pops up onclick, kind of like the expandable navigation menus I'm seeing on more websites these days.

The animated "pile" of papers just seemed way too gimmicky to me.