I was one of the Aqua haters, but I got used to it quick after installing OS X Public Beta and switching it to the graphite color scheme. Doesn’t mean I don’t miss OS 9 Platinum, though. I’d be interested to hear from anybody who spent time using the Dark Platinum/NeXT hybrid desktop of Rhapsody and OS X Server 1.0/1.2, although I have to wonder if there was ever anyone who used the server OS as a daily driver.
Fun fact: OS X Public Beta had an Easter egg setting that I can’t quite remember, defaults write com.Apple.something or other, that would set all Cocoa apps to a straight-up NeXTSTEP appearance. It completely broke usability, though, as windows would minimize into little squares in the corner of the screen a la NS rather than into the dock.
> Fun fact: OS X Public Beta had an Easter egg setting that I can’t quite remember, defaults write com.Apple.something or other, that would set all Cocoa apps to a straight-up NeXTSTEP appearance. It completely broke usability, though, as windows would minimize into little squares in the corner of the screen a la NS rather than into the dock.
Wow I've never read about this -- know of any screenshots? Would be really interesting to see what some of the default OS X apps looked with the NeXTSTEP appearance.
It’s not exactly what you’re asking for, but this Twitter thread from Stephen Troughton-Smith has screenshots of several stock OS X apps as they changed from NeXT/OpenSTEP → Rhapsody/OS X Server → Developer Previews → Public Beta → final release.
You could move/rename the `Extras.rsrc` file in `/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Resources/` and disable Aqua in the very early versions, returning lots of things to a Mac OS X DP2-style Platinum appearance:
Fun fact: OS X Public Beta had an Easter egg setting that I can’t quite remember, defaults write com.Apple.something or other, that would set all Cocoa apps to a straight-up NeXTSTEP appearance. It completely broke usability, though, as windows would minimize into little squares in the corner of the screen a la NS rather than into the dock.