Mac OS X’s Scalable Keyboard Is Not A Sign Of The Apple Tablet
As much as I like the idea of an Apple tablet—and even with the surprising XL tablet rumours—I have to dismiss Leander Kahney’s thoughts on Snow Leopard as a step for a full Mac OS X tablet.
Kahney argues that the “new” virtual keyboard and Exposé in the Dock are signs of preparation for an Apple tablet:
The more I play with Snow Leopard, the more it looks like it’s designed to run Apple’s upcoming tablet.
However, there are simpler explanations than these conspiracy theories (without even entering into the debate of iPhone OS—the most likely candidate for a 10-inch tablet—vs Mac OS X. Clumsy desktop operating systems don’t translate well to slates, as Windows has demonstrated many times).
The virtual keyboard has been in Mac OS X forever as part of the input system. In fact, it was part of the old Mac OS as well, and was incorporated as part of the input menu system in Mac OS X. In Snow Leopard, you can activate it using the Keyboard panel in System Preferences. Go there and check “Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar”.
Before, the keyboard window used to be so tiny—as you can see in the top image—that it even made people whine about it in Apple support forums. Fortunately, Apple changed this and now you can resize the window as much as you want.
There’s no magic here. It’s just a vector-based app that can be scaled at any size you want. The same happens with the Character Viewer.
So, if this is not a sign of the tablet, what could it be? Apple has been working on a fully resolution independent display model since Mac OS X 10.4. During every Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has been preparing developers to ready their apps for the jump. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard implemented a system wide resolution independent model (unfortunately, it was systemwide and not on a per-screen basis).
The objective: To be able to use ultra-dense resolution displays without making everything on the screen tiny. As a user, if Apple decided to turn on this feature, you would see that menus, icons and buttons use the same physical space no matter what display you use. Things would have the same size but would look sharper on a display with more pixels per inch. Example: A button will be one inch wide in a 24-inch 1080 pixel-wide display and a 24-inch 2160 pixel-wide display. However, it will look a lot sharper on the 2160 pixel-wide display because it will be made of more dots.
If you have the developer tools installed in your Mac, you can check the scalability of the user interface using Quartz Debug. This tool allows you to zoom in and out of the user interface, seeing how everything—except bitmap elements—scales in real time, with no pixelation.
What about Exposé on the Dock? I’m a believer in Occam’s razor theory: the simpler theory is always the better. In this case, Exposé on the Dock is just a more convenient way to see your open application’s windows. More intuitive and easier to use for the normal user than hot corners or function keys.
Bottom line: I’ve no doubt that touch interfaces will come to Apple devices, but these two functions are not any indication of it.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
I used to agree with Kahney that the one and only way to do a Mac Tablet right would be to have it run full Mac OS X. But after seeing this concept
([www.cultofmac.com]), which is very elaborate and put together very well (and which, ironically, is heralded at Cult of Mac for being so brilliant), I've come to the conclusion that a tablet should be easy to use and intuitive, rather than complex but stuffed with features. So Kahney's showcased project actually pushed me more towards Jesus' view that "Clumsy desktop operating systems don't translate well to slates, as Windows has demonstrated many times."
ohcyt
@MauraCabaret: Mostly for emergencies -- say you have a broken keyboard, but need to type something. As long as you have a mouse, you're all set. Can also help with accessibility issues. There are probably even people who prefer VKs to the real thing, but I can't imagine why.
Communist Pope
@endless06: You need to hone your Googling skills some.
[io9.com]
There's multiple resolutions available.
Obee Juan
@endless06: Oh man, I so want this in a nice large size for wallpapering.
RoboBagins is the 13th Cylon
@32ndnote: I just don't have the heart to tell him that it's "Bettie Page", not "Betty Page"
You sure the scaling of the on-screen keyboard is new? I know that you used to be able to change at least between a couple of sizes with the old one.
BriceBogdan
@donlphi @endless06 @pixelpushing: As 32ndnote said, Jesus made it, but I thought I'd add that it was for this:
[www.startrekmovie.com]
@dvdman98: it takes snow leopard .5 seconds of holding down and icon in the dock to initiate exposé.
@tdk08: I did find it the slightest bit choppy. However the lack of being able to set an amount of time you have to click an application is plain annoying. Almost makes that feature useless. Might as well mouse to a hot corner.
dvdman98
@[gizmodo.com]
@endless06: So hot, but shouldn't that be a hairbrush instead of a phaser?
...And I'm stressed out that she's wearing RED! Stay away from that transporter room!
pixelpushing
Jesus Diaz: so awesome he enjoys things ages ago.
@tdk08: i dont have slowness/choppiness (2.66 GHz, 2 gigs of ram, 2008 iMac EDIT: oh and my 2007 2.16 GHz 2 gigs of ram white MacBook doesn't have that issue either)
@donlphi: i too wondered this, so i took a look on google images. all i found was this picture.
endless06
I know this doesn't have to do with the topic, but this is the second time I've seen that background. Where can I find it?
Otherwise... I agree with the article.
donlphi
Exposé on the dock doesn't mean anything when it's slow and choppy even on a high end machine (unlike in Leopard!) and I'm not the only one with this problem.
tdk08
awww, the speculation. unless you are one of these guys dressed in black robes working on cupertino underground that have your fingerprint erased and your memory reorganized when you leave the building, we just simply dont know.
and if you do know, jobs will come for you and eat you faster than steve balmar would.
@tdk08: That's really surprising to hear people are experiencing that. In my case it was the opposite.
Leopard's basic dock functions were choppy on my 2.2ghz C2D MBP with 4gb of ram. Installing Snow Leopard made everything smooth. No choppiness at all. Even with the new features...
bjamieson
actually, the woman is bigger on the one i have so i can upload if anyone wants...
hey guys, thats a photo from jalopnik... it's a promo for some car or the other (cannot remember). anyway, its below, if not, i can upload:
[farm4.static.flickr.com]
Could you link to the source file of that desktop image?
I...don't think you're using Occam's Razor properly.