This morning I’m reading the Ars Technica review of Mac OS X Leopard. The author found a mighty big usability issue. Turns out the Leopard team went and changed the special folder icons in OS X from a high-contrast, readable look to a low-contrast embossed hard-to-read look.
The difference is quite striking. Look how different (and worse) the new folder icons are (below):
(Click picture to see full-sized)
Now here’s the Tiger version of those special folder icons.
(Click picture to see full-sized)
Definitely more usable. As the review author says, they’re just quicker to recognize, especially when small. The review goes into a host of other usability issues and is definitely worth a read. Link is below.
