Editing MacOS (section)

=== Aqua user interface ===
{{Main|Aqua (user interface)}}
[[File:Macosxpb.png|thumb|250px|The original [[Aqua (user interface)|Aqua]] user interface as seen in the [[Mac OS X Public Beta]] from 2000]]

One of the major differences between the [[classic Mac OS]] and the current macOS was the addition of [[Aqua (user interface)|Aqua]], a graphical user interface with water-like elements, in the first major release of Mac OS X. Every window element, text, graphic, or [[widget (computing)|widget]] is drawn on-screen using [[spatial anti-aliasing]] technology.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2008 |title=The Aqua Interface |url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGPartIII/chapter_11_section_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209044209/https://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGPartIII/chapter_11_section_1.html |archive-date=December 9, 2008 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |website=Apple Human Interface Guidelines |publisher=[[Apple Inc.|Apple]]}}</ref> [[ColorSync]], a technology introduced many years before, was improved and built into the core drawing engine, to provide color matching for [[printing]] and [[multimedia]] professionals.<ref name="davidson">{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=James Duncan |url=https://archive.org/details/learningcocoawit0000davi/page/6 |title=Learning Cocoa With Objective-C |publisher=O'Reilly |year=2002 |isbn=0-596-00301-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/learningcocoawit0000davi/page/6 6]}}</ref> Also, [[drop shadow]]s were added around windows and isolated text elements to provide a sense of depth. New interface elements were integrated, including sheets ([[dialog box]]es attached to specific windows) and drawers, which would slide out and provide options.

The use of soft edges, translucent colors, and pinstripes, similar to the hardware design of the first [[iMac]]s, brought more texture and color to the user interface when compared to what [[Mac OS 9]] and [[Mac OS X Server 1.0]]'s "[[Platinum (theme)|Platinum]]" appearance had offered. According to Siracusa, the introduction of Aqua and its departure from the then conventional look "hit like a ton of bricks."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Siracusa |first=John |date=October 28, 2007 |title=Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: the Ars Technica review |url=https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216092420/https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/3 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |website=[[Ars Technica]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publishing|Condé Nast Digital]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
[[Bruce Tognazzini]] (who founded the original Apple Human Interface Group) said that the Aqua interface in [[Mac OS X 10.0]] represented a step backwards in usability compared with the original Mac OS interface.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tognazzini |first=Bruce |date=February 2000 |title=OS X: A First Look |url=https://www.asktog.com/columns/034OSX-FirstLook.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927085032/https://www.asktog.com/columns/034OSX-FirstLook.html |archive-date=September 27, 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Matthew Paul |date=February 16, 2004 |title=My first 48 hours enduring Mac OS X |url=https://mpt.net.nz/archive/2004/02/16/os-x |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014095216/https://mpt.net.nz/archive/2004/02/16/os-x |archive-date=October 14, 2008 |access-date=November 5, 2008}}</ref>
Third-party developers started producing [[skin (computing)|skins]] for customizable applications and other operating systems which mimicked the Aqua appearance. To some extent, Apple has used the successful transition to this new design as leverage, at various times threatening [[legal action]] against people who make or distribute software with an interface the company says is derived from its [[copyright]]ed design.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2001 |title=Apple lowers boom on Aqua 'skins' |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-lowers-boom-on-aqua-skins/ |access-date=January 11, 2023 |website=[[ZDNet]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111105314/https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-lowers-boom-on-aqua-skins/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Apple has continued to change aspects of the macOS appearance and design, particularly with tweaks to the appearance of windows and the menu bar. Since 2012, Apple has sold almost all of its Mac models with high-resolution [[Retina display]]s, and macOS and its [[Application programming interface|APIs]] have extensive support for resolution-independent development on supporting high-resolution displays. Reviewers have described Apple's support for the technology as superior to that on Windows.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castle |first=Alex |date=February 19, 2014 |title=How to make the Windows desktop look good on high-DPI displays |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/2098586/how-to-make-the-windows-desktop-look-good-on-high-dpi-displays.html |access-date=September 25, 2020 |website=PC World |archive-date=August 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814125238/https://www.pcworld.com/article/2098586/how-to-make-the-windows-desktop-look-good-on-high-dpi-displays.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Andrew |date=April 13, 2015 |title=Using the Retina MacBook as a Windows PC |url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/04/using-the-retina-macbook-as-a-windows-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709032324/https://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/04/using-the-retina-macbook-as-a-windows-pc |archive-date=July 9, 2015 |access-date=9 July 2015 |website=Ars Technica |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hutchinson |first=Lee |date=October 28, 2014 |title=The Retina iMac and its 5K display… as a gaming machine? [Updated] |url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/the-retina-imac-and-its-5k-display-as-a-gaming-machine/2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710182330/https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/the-retina-imac-and-its-5k-display-as-a-gaming-machine/2 |archive-date=July 10, 2015 |access-date=9 July 2015 |website=Ars Technica |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The [[human interface guidelines]] published by Apple for macOS are followed by many applications, giving them consistent user interface and keyboard shortcuts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Malley |first=Kevin |url=https://archive.org/details/programmingmacos00omal_882 |title=Programming Mac OS X: A Guide for Unix Developers |publisher=Manning |year=2003 |isbn=1-930110-85-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/programmingmacos00omal_882/page/n33 7] |url-access=limited}}</ref> In addition, new services for applications are included, which include spelling and grammar checkers, special characters palette, color picker, font chooser and dictionary; these global features are present in every Cocoa application, adding consistency. The graphics system [[OpenGL]] composites windows onto the screen to allow hardware-accelerated drawing. This technology, introduced in version 10.2, is called [[Quartz Compositor|Quartz Extreme]], a component of [[Quartz (graphics layer)|Quartz]]. Quartz's internal imaging model correlates well with the [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF) imaging model, making it easy to output PDF to multiple devices.<ref name="davidson" /> As a side result, PDF viewing and creating PDF documents from any application are built-in features.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mac OS X. It's what makes a Mac a Mac. |url=https://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222230151/https://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx |archive-date=February 22, 2011 |access-date=March 2, 2011 |publisher=[[Apple Inc.|Apple]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Reflecting its popularity with design users, macOS also has system support for a variety of professional video and image formats and includes an extensive pre-installed font library, featuring many prominent brand-name designs.<ref name="Making the ultimate creative content OS from bits of Windows, Mac, and Linux">{{Cite web |last=Girard |first=Dave |date=September 9, 2013 |title=Making the ultimate creative content OS from bits of Windows, Mac, and Linux |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/making-the-ultimate-creative-content-os-ubercreate-os-1-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819081828/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/making-the-ultimate-creative-content-os-ubercreate-os-1-0 |archive-date=August 19, 2015 |access-date=14 August 2015 |website=Ars Technica |df=mdy-all}}</ref>