Advertisement

After 14 years, the "Preview Kid" on OS X's Preview icon is no more

Earlier this week we covered many of the new icons users can look forward to in OS X Yosemite. As opposed to iOS 7, the iconography in Yosemite is rather impressive. Instead of blindly adhering to a flat design aesthetic, OS X Yosemite's icons appear a bit more nuanced and elegant, seemingly an indication that a lot more thought (and time, most likely) went into the design process.

While design changes to the Finder and Trashcan icons are the most noticeable, you may have missed the significance of Apple's brand new Preview icon. By itself, it's not too shabby, what with a scenic photo nestled beneath a loupe.

But the redesign of the Preview icon also spells the end for what some are calling the Preview Kid.

For approximately 14 years, the Preview icon in OS X looked like this - an adorable little kid having a grand old time by the water.

os x preview icon kid photo

OS X Snow Leopard? He's there. OS X Jaguar? He's there. Yep, this kid is as old as OS X itself, even gracing the original Dock that was introduced in OS X 10.0.

After 14 years, there's no question that he's had an incredible run, but with college probably looming next year, it'd be pretty darn selfish of us to expect him to hang around the Dock forever.

So, Preview Kid, wherever you are, a hearty bon voyage! is in order. We can only hope that your time in OS X was as meaningful and memorable to you as it was to all of us.

via Reddit