Appearance Manager
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2008-04-20T15:37:30Z
AVRS
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[[Image:Drawing board.jpg|thumb|250px|The '''Drawing Board''' theme on a Macintosh computer running [[ClarisWorks]]]]
In the pre-[[Mac OS X]] version of the [[Mac OS|Macintosh operating system]], the '''Appearance Manager''' controlled the overall look of the Mac [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] widgets and supported several '''themes'''. The Appearance Manager was originally developed for [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s failed [[Copland (operating system)|Copland]] project, but with the cancellation of this project the system was moved into newer versions of the Mac OS, notably [[Mac OS 8]] and [[Mac OS 9|9]]. The current version of the operating system, Mac OS X, no longer directly supports the Appearance Manager, which can be considered "dead".
The Appearance Manager was implemented as an abstraction layer between the Control Manager and [[QuickDraw]]. Previously, controls made direct QuickDraw calls to draw user interface elements such as buttons, scrollbars, window title bars, etc. With Appearance, these elements were abstracted into a series of APIs that would draw the item as a distinct entity on behalf of the client code, thus relieving the Control Manager of the task. This extra level of indirection allowed the system to support the concept of switchable themes, since client code would simply request the image of an interface element (a button or scroll bar, for example) and draw its appearance. The Appearance Manager remains as part of [[Carbon (API)|Carbon]], but switchable themes are no longer supported in Mac OS X.
==Typography==
[[Image:Charcoal.png|frame|[[Charcoal (typeface)|Charcoal]] was the new default interface font in the Platinum theme, replacing [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]] from [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7]] ]]
By default, the Appearance Manager used a font called [[Charcoal (typeface)|Charcoal]] to replace the similar [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]] typeface that had been used in earlier versions of the Mac OS. A number of additional fonts were also provided, [[Capitals (typeface)| Capitals]], Gadget, Sand, Techno, and Textile. These fonts needed to provide not only the regular letters and symbols of any other font, but also those specific to the Mac operating system, such as the [[Command key]] symbol, {{unicode|⌘}}. Normally fonts were displayed at 12 [[Point (typography)|points]].
The Appearance Manager also applied [[anti-aliasing]] to type displayed on the screen above a certain size, by default 12 points. This improved the overall look of the text by reducing certain distortion artifacts intrinsic to computer screens.
==Appearance Themes==
[[Image:Copland Platinum theme.png|thumb|Platinum in Copland]]The default look and feel of the Appearance Manager in the Mac OS 8 - 9 Era is '''Apple Platinum''', which was intended to be the primary [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] for Copland. Platinum retains many of the shapes and positions of elements from [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7]] and earlier, like window control [[widget (computing)|widget]]s and buttons and Charcoal is the associated default system font. However, various shades of grey are used extensively throughout the interface, as opposed to previous interfaces which are mostly black and white. Contrary to popular belief, Apple Platinum is technically not an Appearance Theme and does not contain any theme elements. The Platinum interface is embedded into the Mac OS System File so no Appearance Theme is necessary. There is an Apple Platinum file in the [[System Folder (Mac OS)|System Folder]] which acts as a [[Method stub|stub]], but no functional theme elements can be embedded into it. Customizable palettes ('clut' resources) are used for progress bars, scroll thumbs, slider tabs and menu selections in Apple Platinum and this unique option is not available to real themes. The Appearance Manager uses the type code 'pltn' to identify if a file should act like a palette modification [[Method stub|stub]] to Apple Platinum and the type code 'thme' to identify if a file should act like an Appearance Theme.
[[Image:Gizmo theme macos.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Gizmo appearance theme in Mac OS 9]]
Apple widely demonstrated two Appearance Themes which override Apple Platinum, '''Hi-Tech''' and '''Gizmo'''. Hi-Tech is based on a shades-of-black color scheme that made the interface look like a piece of stereo equipment. Gizmo is a "kids" interface, using lots of bright colors and "wiggly" interface elements. Both changed every single element of the overall GUI leaving no trace of Apple Platinum. A third theme was later introduced, '''Drawing Board''', developed at Apple Japan. This theme uses elements that make the interface look like it has been drawn in pencil on a [[Engineering drawing|drafting]]-board, including small "pencil marks" around the windows, a barely-visible grid on the desktop, and "squarish" elements with low-contrast.
Platinum was also used on several versions of [[OpenStep]] while it was in the process of being turned into [[Mac OS X]]. In particular, both [[Rhapsody (operating system)|Rhapsody]] and, the final version of it, which was called [[Mac OS X Server 1.0]], and also Mac OS X Developer Previews up to DR2 used a Platinum-based UI. An updated and more powerful version of the Appearance Manager was used for Carbon applications in Mac OS X even after Apple made the transition to [[Aqua (GUI)|Aqua]]. The Extras.rsrc file is an updated version of an Appearance Theme that is compatible with the newer Appearance Manager. As of Mac OS X version 10.3, 'layo' data is no longer used even for Carbon applications, so the existence of the Appearance Manager can no longer be confirmed.
==Similar products==
Shareware products existed that provided some or all of the functionality offered by Appearance Manager before the Control Panel became part of the Mac operating system. These included Church Windows and Décor, both Control Panels that set the desktop pattern to a picture; and [[WindowShade]], a Control Panel that caused application windows to "roll up" when the title bar was double-clicked. Kaleidoscope was an application that applied system-wide [[Skin (computing)|schemes]] in a similar way to the Appearance Manager. Aaron was an [[Extension (Mac OS)|Extension]] that applied a similar Platinum look to that used in Mac OS 8, though in this case it was mimicking the ill-fated [[Copland (operating system)|Copland]] operating system upon which Mac OS 8's styling was based, rather than Mac OS 8 itself.
Although rendered largely [[obsolete]] once Mac OS 8 was released, these add-ons could be used on Macs running earlier versions of the operating system to provide at least some of the Mac OS 8 'look and feel'. Kaleidoscope was not rendered obsolete when Appearance Themes were made possible in Mac OS 8.5. "K-Schemes" were much easier to create than genuine Appearance Themes for various reasons. Scheme tools were widely available while Theme tools were extremely rare and difficult to use. The format of Schemes is less complicated than that of Themes. Because of these factors, development of Themes was extremely limited - in most cases Themes were just slightly hacked versions of the three Themes made by Apple. Kaleidoscope was only rendered [[obsolete]] with the transition to Mac OS X.
==Examples of Appearance Themes==
<center>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Apple themes
! Third-party themes
|-
| <center>[[Image:Hi-Tech theme.gif]]</center>
| <center>[[Image:DSX theme.gif]]</center>
|-
| <center>[[Image:Gizmo theme.gif]]</center>
| <center>[[Image:Doohickey theme.gif]]</center>
|-
| <center>[[Image:Drawing Board theme.gif]]</center>
| <center>[[Image:Paper theme.gif]]</center>
|}</center>
==External links==
* [http://www.macintouch.com/m85_themes.html Mac OS 8.5 Special Report: Themes and Appearances]
[[Category:Mac OS APIs]]