Buttons and Baubles

Eye Candy

What is eye candy? What does it mean to the graphical user interface, and where does it fit in today's world? A few years ago, I was completely satisfied with the way that OS/2 looked. I accepted the look of the Workplace Shell as the standard for any operating system. At that time it was.

Even with the advent of Windows 95/98, OS/2 still looked as though it's graphical amenities were in line with the then modern computing world. Today, however, Os/2 looks a little long in the tooth, and it's showing it's age. OS X, WinXP, BeOS, and the various Linux flavors have taken the appearance of the GUI to a higher level [Ed: In terms of appearance only!]. Now, before I hear the boos and hisses, let me clarify something. I love OS/2. I love the way it looks right out of the box, and I believe the Workplace Shell to be the most efficient place in which to work [Ed: I completely agree!]. However, in today's world, OS/2 struggles when you compare it's graphical appeal to that of some of the more recently released operating systems. Why? Let us examine the world in which we live in.

Today's world is a strange place indeed. Today, it's all about visual attractants. Half naked people on television are promoting jeans and perfume. Does the fact that the actors and models appear half naked make the product that they're promoting better? No. But, as the saying goes, sex sells. The other day I saw a Dodge Neon go down the road past my house. It had the most rediculous spoiler that i've ever seen on the rear deck of a car. I thought a tiny Lear jet was flying in to make an emergency landing. Now, does that spoiler make that car go faster? No. But, there are many who would say that it looks cool. I could give dozens of examples of these types. Now let's examine GUI eye candy. Does OS X outperform another OS simply because of the Aqua theme? No. Is Linux better because of the graphical improvements to KDE? No. Would OS/2 attract more users who are considering using alternative operating systems if it looked more graphically current? YES! Now, before you feel the need to throw vegetables at me, examine the next two images. Consider this, and be fair. If you were a user who has only used Windows or OS X as your computing environment, which of the two desktops would more likely encourage you to try OS/2?
This one?

Or this one?

Some of us 'old timers' wouldn't care. But the fact is that there is a serious need for visual attractants in the GUI. Competition demands it. Being in marketing myself, I realize that selling only function and never form is a mistake. Selling perceived value is paramount to success. Sadly, in today's market, people perceive eye candy as value. If two internet marketers sold the same product, and one had a graphically brilliant web site, an the other a plain and drab site, who do you think would sell the most product?

The point here is this. The future of OS/2, as it appears to me, lies with eCS. I write this artical with the hope that Serenity Systems will recognize the need to improve the graphical appeal of eCS. Themes and the newer icons help, but the improvements have to start at the subsystem level. Most of us applaud Serenity Systems International for their efforts. Personally, I feel eCS is a fine product. This will open things up for debate, but I believe Serenity should put more work into the graphical appeal of eCS. In today's market, eye candy isn't everything, but it's more important than ever before.

A few years ago, I wrote an article in which I stressed the comming importance of visual attractants in the GUI, and the change in buyer perception. I sited an example where an audiophile grade entertainment system then was a good tube amp and a pair of Definitive Technology bi-polar speakers, and the audiophile grade system of the near future would be a Sony surround-sound-in-a-box system with more flashing lights than the robot on Lost in Space. It seems that I wasn't too far off. This is the world in which we live.

One of the greatest things that the OS/2 community has going for it is it's ability to support itself in the wake of IBM's abandonment of OS/2. Every day I'm amazed by the amount of software updates, driver updates, and so on that I see posted. I see the great work being done by the WarpVision team, OS2 Netlabs, the Mozilla team, and many others. I'm equally impressed by the services provided by OS2world.com, OS2.org the OS/2 e-Zine, OS2 VOICE, (half my daily email is from Mark Dodel), and others. We have many great people and organizations in our community working on many great things to help keep OS/2 alive. I submit that we must also address the need for theme managing software and other visual enhancement applications that might improve the graphical appeal of OS/2, so that we might attract more users who are looking into alternative operating systems. Right now we have two progarms that help in this area, Styler/2, and CandyBarZ. Let's give these efforts the support they need. If you're a programmer looking to play with the PM API's, a visual enhancement program of some type might be a great place to start. I personally would offer any support to any serious effort in this area. Sure, I'm a graphic artist, so i'm a little biased where graphics are concerned. But I'm also a long time OS/2 user who sees our numbers dwindling more and more each year, and I believe that with a little visual enhancement, and with the continued programming efforts by many, we can help keep OS/2 alive and even attract new users. If anyone can pull it off, it's the greatest group of people to ever grace this Earth, the OS/2 community.