Snow Leopard UI uncovered?

Developers may soon get to see the new user interface planned for Mac OS X Snow Leopard, sources claim. Described only as "people familiar with the matter," the sources say that the next developer build of Snow Leopard will introduce a major revision to the look of Mac OS X, such as an abandonment of the current color scheme, possibly in favor of a dark chrome aesthetic. The change has actually been planned since the beginning of the update's inception, the sources suggest.

Apple has previously stated that Snow Leopard will focus mostly on stability and security enhancements, though a number of components are known to be new or receiving upgrades. QuickTime X is switching to a minimalist design, while the OS in general should gain extra location and multi-touch capabilities. The code should also become Intel-only and add support for the ZFS filesystem.

There is a chance that the new interface will not appear in an immediate developer build however, as Apple management is said to be worried that the new interface will leak online, losing any impact in future announcements. The company may instead hold off until a feature-complete Snow Leopard debuts at WWDC, which the sources say may still take place two months before Snow Leopard is ready to ship. That period is thought to be needed for fine tuning.

by MacNN Staff