'Multi-dimensional' Mac OS

Apple may be seeking to expand on some of the cosmetic changes in Mac OS X Leopard to make them more informative, a newly-published patent filing reveals. The filing, titled Multi-Dimensional Desktop, superficially depicts the current Leopard desktop, with the standard Menu Bar and three-dimensional Dock. In detail however the patent shows a desktop in which the 3D is more than an aesthetic touch, and signals a relationship between different items.

In the envisioned desktop, the 3D plane would extend past the Dock, allowing icons and windows to be positioned behind it. More crucially, the icons could depict information not typically available in Mac OS X, such as quick access to document types like images, music or downloads. Icons could be stacked along the Z-axis, and expand to display or open their contents.

A future OS might also be capable of displaying programs as operating behind the Dock, and even wrap them around to new 3D side panels. Both programs and icons could be kept in these panels, allowing people to stash items out of the way while still keeping them instantly accessible.

Perhaps the most radical interpretation of the patent would have the background of the OS shaped into an oval, and the side panels transformed into one continuous cone. In this configuration extra icons could be positioned to the sides of the Dock, rather than just behind it.

by MacNN Staff