Apple bringing its operating system into living 3D?

If there's one problem with modern operating systems it's that they're all rather planar. Sure, OS X, Vista, and others have some 3D tricks up their sleeves, stacking windows and layering them on cubes and such, but when you get down to business everything's rather more Flatland than Lawnmower Man. Apple, at least, has a plan for changing that in its patent application titled "Multidimensional Desktop," unearthed by MacRumors, describing a way in which depth could be added to your typical virtual desktop. The patent covers dozens of scenarios, including geometric icons representing applications or documents being attached to the side surfaces, possibly replacing the rather tired "File, Edit, etc." menus at the top with positional hotspots on the right. Another example describes how light emanating from one 3D icon, a little sun representing the weather, could illuminate the other icons. It all sounds rather conceptual, but with the amount of detail included here (not to mention the familiar dock at the bottom) it's hard to label this is as just a flight of Cupertino creativity not intended for release.

[Via MacRumors]

[lfadsoi;moi @ Dec 11th 2008 8:31AM]

your mom is more flatland than lawnmower man

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 11th 2008 11:32AM]

oh come on, that made me chuckle, which is more than I can say for the average comment :)

[HunterXI @ Dec 12th 2008 10:18AM]

Yeah, c'mon. It's not everyday that Engadget is successfully witty. ;)

Wait, am I the only one who noticed that these images have 10.4's curved menu bar? Can you say "old patent"?

MacRumors... more like FailRumors.

[KarlW @ Dec 11th 2008 8:31AM]

I like the idea of contextual surfaces. That's about the only positive I can draw from this.

[bondsbw @ Dec 11th 2008 9:15AM]

Me too. I'm just a little confused about the menu bar being on the back surface. I thought the whole point of having the menu bar at the top was to give your mouse an edge to stop on, promoting easy, consistent movements. The Dock is the same way, although in this drawing it is unmoved from the screen edge.

[Coolty @ Dec 11th 2008 8:31AM]

Alright, I'll bite. Do we need 3-D Glasses?

[zioncat @ Dec 11th 2008 9:37AM]

I'm not a fan of Mac at all but that concept is actually intresting. Its always nice to see applications with 3D effects. I'm sure it will be amazing. That is amazingly expensive.

[loocas @ Dec 11th 2008 9:45AM]

zioncat, it's been around for ages, but Apple had to patent it to look as if they invented it.

[bob @ Dec 11th 2008 2:40PM]

doesn't linux already have this???
There is also a 3'rd party software for this for windows. I know that exists because i've used it.

[majdal @ Dec 11th 2008 4:18PM]

It's been done before... check out http://bumptop.com/

[loocas @ Dec 11th 2008 8:51PM]

Yeah... as I said, it's been done and the "rank" status of my post reflects engadget userbase quite well it seems.

[Kris120890 @ Dec 11th 2008 8:33AM]

This could be ideal for touch screen devices. wink wink.

[Angus @ Dec 11th 2008 9:23AM]

how do you do a 3D gesture on a 2D touch screen? do we have to hold in a special button for the Z-axis? that would be retarded and awkward

[@angus @ Dec 11th 2008 11:34AM]

@Angus
how is a special key supposed to help unless there are sensors on the z-axis? this is the ILLUSION of the 3D on a 2D surface. unless you can see behind the front most icons by sticking your head inside the monitor, everything has to be viewable from one POV: the front looking in.

if you want to access something "behind" other icons, you could just touch it to bring it to the front.

use your brain

[@angus @ Dec 11th 2008 11:46AM]

@Angus
how is a special key supposed to help unless there are sensors on the z-axis? this is the ILLUSION of the 3D on a 2D surface. unless you can see behind the front most icons by sticking your head inside the monitor, everything has to be viewable from one POV: the front looking in.

if you want to access something "behind" other icons, you could just touch it to bring it to the front.

use your brain

[1234321 @ Dec 11th 2008 12:36PM]

you pinch through the Z-axis

[Arran @ Dec 11th 2008 8:33AM]

I think I always knew that they were always going to make an OS for a 3D monitor provided they're still in business. A date would have been more shocking. Pretty much useless really.

[nickels @ Dec 11th 2008 8:35AM]

surely this wont help for us who play far cry 2 :P i know its apple, but microsoft would follow

[nick @ Dec 11th 2008 8:35AM]

Vista will need 4GB ram to startup with that

[loocas @ Dec 11th 2008 9:49AM]

I wouldn't worry about the RAM actually, more about the graphics card needs.

But hey, if it runs smooth and allows me to conveniently run my favourite apps, then why not add a bit of depth to the desktop. It needs it as hell! However, it also needs some genius designers and UI professionals, because if you don't get this spot on, your OS will be completely useless no matter what other highest-end features it carries.

[melloncollie @ Dec 11th 2008 10:16AM]

That's fine.
I can buy 4GB of RAM for $50.

[Kyle @ Dec 11th 2008 10:35AM]

vista already does need 4GB

[maveric101 @ Dec 11th 2008 5:13PM]

my 2gb laptop runs vista quite well.

[Ian Whelan (JOIN BAND!) @ Dec 12th 2008 12:46AM]

Vista was pretty snappy on a gig of RAM that I got my T61 with when I took it out of the box. Turning it on for the first time was closely followed by dismantling it to install another 2 gigs of RAM. I honestly couldn't have been happier with my OS choice. Vista is FANTASTIC with 3 gigs of ram, and a Quadro GPU, and a 2.5 GhZ Core 2 Duo, and a 1680x1050 15" screen, and, uh... Wow! No shit it runs well! I'd crap myself if it wasn't a speed demon on my laptop!

[Kelvin @ Dec 19th 2008 12:26AM]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think bumptop already does this.

http://bumptop.com/

[Jeff Hodges @ Dec 11th 2008 8:41AM]

It does and it's pretty awesome. (I'm in the beta)

[bogaty @ Dec 11th 2008 8:42AM]

Looks like Apple stole bumptop's idea!!!! I see big money in bumptop's future.

[Elora HRanma @ Dec 11th 2008 8:43AM]

And Metisse: http://insitu.lri.fr/metisse/
And Sun's Looking Glass: http://www.sun.com/software/looking_glass/

And simply having multiple desktops makes almost all that functionality redundant and confusing.
Apple is only adding eye-candy (external weather modifying illumination in my desktop? No, thanks) and its name. Of course, that will be more than enough for a lot of people.

By the way, I didn't know bumptop and it is quite cool. Its auto-sorting features is nice.

[Bryant @ Dec 11th 2008 9:00AM]

Microsoft tried this in numerous usability studies early on in Vista's planning stages.

It's safe to say that this is a bad idea until it can also be visualized in three dimensions by the human mind as well (i.e. holograms or a stereoscopic display)

[bondsbw @ Dec 11th 2008 9:17AM]

Bryant, I sort-of agree with you. The problem is that the actual human interface devices (mouse, screen) are only two dimensional. The way to make a good 3D interface for a screen/mouse is to take a 2D UI appear 3D, but still work in a 2D way. I think Apple's ideas here accomplish this, with the side bar, but I'm not convinced about things like the menu bar not being on the top of the screen where it is most effective.

[Lamp @ Dec 11th 2008 9:46AM]

even if apple completely ripped this off,
i dont think its possible to copywrite a dimension.

[Kelmon @ Dec 11th 2008 9:51AM]

@Elora HRanma

Thanks for the links - I remember seeing Sun's Project Looking Glass a while back and I didn't really see how 3D was going to help my work. I tend to think the same of Apple's proposal and therefore we really need to see this in action before we can see whether it is something worth getting excited about. I've tried 3D file systems in the past and, frankly, they just made everything more confusing.

[konshuss @ Dec 11th 2008 3:44PM]

will they be calling this Little Mac Planet?

[El Taco @ Dec 11th 2008 5:50PM]

Just watch - now Apple will ban Bumptop from being installed because it duplicates the features of OS X.

[Zombiotic @ Dec 11th 2008 10:07AM]

Linux has already had this for quite a while with Beryl.

[cb88 @ Dec 11th 2008 10:31AM]

except it actually makes sense on Linux... bumptop = clutter fail

[bogaty @ Dec 11th 2008 8:44AM]

At first glance this Apple idea looks really stupid - it actually wastes desktop space. Then I saw the bumptop thing and it makes a bit more sense. Still kind scratching my head over what this buys you.

[Major4Play @ Dec 11th 2008 8:54AM]

Once again Apple patent the incredibly obvious !

[Alexander @ Dec 11th 2008 8:56AM]

It is like old-school Shadowrun! Watch out for Black ICE!

/I did it all for the nuyen.
//See you, chummer.
///slashies

[Major4Play @ Dec 11th 2008 8:57AM]

I'll be surprised if this is anything beyond eye-candy. I have yet to make use of spaces, and I really tryed but not being able to set seperate wallpapers kinda kills it. Most of Apple's recent UI ideas have been pretty useless, including springloaded dock icons. I nearly creamed myself when i saw them demonstrated then when i finally got Leopard i thought "oh" half thought out and not useful.

[Charles @ Dec 11th 2008 9:46AM]

I have to disagree with you on that one. Not every person who uses OSX, works on their system exactly the same. For example, the introduction of Spaces was a dream come true to me as I often have several Adobe or Music production apps open at once, and each app has multiple windows open within itself (photoshop, and illustrator are a prime example of this). So with that being said, I come to notice that most of Apple's "eye candy" implementations are usually in the form of transitions, animations, and to make the look of the OS itself more engaging. New elements to the UI usually have a purpose or functionality thats pretty useful or improves productivity for users (depending on the user and how they use the OS of course).

Now as far as the 3D UI, I could pretty much see the direction they are heading in once I saw the new dock in Leopard. The big question is implementation. As long as this makes things easier and stays out of the way, I'm all for it. They've been pretty good with this OSX thing so far, so I'll at least give them the benefit of the doubt that they will do this the right way.

PS
Also, if this is never released to the public, we can all bet that this idea created more usability problems than it solved. OR knowing Apple, they will implement this idea in bits and pieces over the next several OSX releases.

[Kelmon @ Dec 11th 2008 9:54AM]

@Major4Play

I entirely agree that individual wallpapers would benefit Spaces but I have to say that I do find it very useful as it is today, as long as I know which Space I am currently working in.

[Danny @ Dec 11th 2008 10:16AM]

Well actually Spaces wasn't Apple's idea either - virtual desktops are damn near 20 years old in the unix world. Their implementation is elegant but not having different wallpapers is a ridiculous omission.

The 3d desktop is not really a remotely original idea either. It has been around for a long time and even if apple has the best chance of making it usable I still doubt that it will go anywhere. I tried the bumptop beta and found it useless and cheesy.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 11th 2008 11:35AM]

But Charles, having the features is nice. For example, I use expose and dashboard all the time. The only springloaded folders I use are the standard downloads and documents ones, but they're useful. Actually the term springloaded folders describes the ability to drag and hold and have the folder you're holding over pop open and reveal its contents, so that you can move into a nested series of folders with one action (even if it takes awhile to wait for all of those folders to open!)

I'm 99% sure you could get virtual desktops software for OS X just like you could for most OSes; I used them all the time in Linux a long time ago but find no need for them these days.

BTW, the Leopard dock sucks compared to the Tiger dock.

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 11th 2008 9:06AM]

One word: BumpTop.

http://bumptop.com/

[Will @ Dec 11th 2008 9:18AM]

Well, one closed-form compound word. Seriously though, BumpTop is neat. Now my desktop can look as messy as the rest of my desk.

[monkey @ Dec 11th 2008 9:10AM]

mmm, can't wait for my gfx card fan to kick in every 5 seconds as i move icons.

[nicko.dvz @ Dec 11th 2008 8:58PM]

It's already doing it on Vista.
Lol.

[anonymous @ Dec 11th 2008 9:12AM]

Three fingers up/down on the trackpad to navigate orthogonal to the plane of the screen ...

[SillyMcFakypants @ Dec 11th 2008 9:14AM]

Seem like its more next-gen of time machine than bumptop.