Many BeOS enthusiasts were eagerly awaiting the results from the contest Haiku held in order to determine its icon set. People unfamiliar with BeOS won’t understand what the fuss is all about; well, BeOS’s isometric icon set was one of the defining elements of the look of BeOS. I am happy to report that the icon set for Haiku is almost exactly identical to the svg version of the original BeOS icon set (used in Zeta, among others). On a slightly related note, there’s news about Vista’s icons as well.
Stippi is nice. However it could be even better if it had a little touch of the honey icon set in it. The “hard drive” icon from honey, and a bit of honeys finish on the rest of the icons would make Stippi feel more “fresh”.
it is nice, but I was hoping for zumi’s icon set. Or alternatively Kabuto’s icon set. But perhaps zumi’s icon set is too close to the original thing.
Yep, the original BeOS icons were really nice. They were fresh, clean and simple. Also, they were very consistant with each other, which is important. Compare to Windows XP where some icons are from one perspective, and others are from another perspective. Messy.
I’m glad that ‘BeOS style’ icons were chosen for Haiku, but IMO, I disagree with Thom when he says that “the icon set for Haiku is almost exactly identical to the svg version of the original BeOS icon set”. They are definately not! Look closer! They are similar, but not exact! They are more cartoony, and ‘freestyle’ compared to the originals. Compare Stippi, the winner, to the Zumi icons, which are actually more similar to the original BeOS icons.
Well done to Stippi anyway. You put in the effort. But one thing to note is that I think in the future, when people want to create icons for their own applications that match the system icons, it will be more difficult to emulate the slightly ‘cartoony’ look of Stippi than to emulate (orignal BeOS style, straight isometric) look of Zumi.
Edited 2006-11-02 00:25
I’m not completely a fan of the Haiku set – they’re a little plain for my taste – but I have a feeling that while the Vista icons have a bit more flash now, in six months time the Haiku ones would be second nature, whereas I still wouldn’t have figured out which bunch of flowers was which in Vista.
The Vista icons have the same day glo orange as Irix icons…circa 1995.
Is it normal that this window decoration is cut?
http://bug-no.petterhj.net/iconcontest/visualizer/?set=stippi&size=…
Is it normal that this window decoration is cut?
It renders pretty well in Firefox on Windows here – keep in mind it’s just a bunch of transparent PNGs overlaid on each other using regular HTML – so it may not render perfectly in all browsers.
Unless you were talking about something else.
That must be my browser. Here the yellow window decoration is only 30% wide of what it should occupy.
It’s wide enough to hold the window title. It’s not supposed to be as wide as the window.
Do you mean the window decoration is only this wide?!
It is approx. 35-36% of the window width, and in this case it is supposed to be no wider.
Of course, if the title is longer, the window decoration will be wider.
Try running one of haiku-images in the VMWare Player. You can see more about that at this location: http://haiku-os.org/downloads
You are obviously not familiar with the infamous BeOS “yellow tabs”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeOS
Thanks, I just had a look at it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Beos.png
An didn’t like the “tabs”. They look too weird and unfamiliar to me.
An didn’t like the “tabs”. They look too weird and unfamiliar to me.
I could say the same about OSX, or nearly any Linux desktop…
In the case of BeOS, they’re actually useful – you can shift-drag the tab across the top of the window allowing you to stack windows and see the title bar for each of them side-by-side for easy-click-switching between them.
update: screenshot here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johndrinkwater/152400976/
Edited 2006-11-02 02:33
I could say the same about OSX, or nearly any Linux desktop…
No, on OS X and on Linux (Gnome, KDE), the window decoration is the same width as the window.
you can shift-drag the tab across the top of the window allowing you to stack windows
It’s convenient but not esthetic at all.
you missed my point… but whatever.
In any case, being introduced to BeOS in the 90’s – I don’t find it all that “unfamiliar” even though I don’t use it as my primary OS.
If anything I’m surprised other OSes still insist on wasting that extra space at the top of every window for no specific reason…
When speaking of aesthetics – you’re simply referring to your own opinion.
It is unique and distinct – and was, if anything, a very interesting marketing idea. It’s one of those things you can look at and unmistakably attribute to BeOS (now I’m sure someone will mention another even-older OS that used them – but BeOS still made them famous)
> It’s convenient but not esthetic at all.
That’s the problem, people care about eye-candy instead of productivity and ergonomy. Power to them. I prefer the later though.
Judging from the icons themselves, they’re intended to be used for (from left to right, top first):
-a calculator program (with lots of buttons)
-either a presentation program (it’s one of those tear-off poster blocks) or a calendar (if it’s meant to look like a tear-off calendar)
-something to categorise either your DVDs or books
-email program!
-something to categorise your CDs (media player?)
-movie viewer
-image viewer (since it’s a frame..I guess)
Checking the larger versions…oh well almost right. Two wrong and two half wrong.
I love this choice. Simple, clean, and a natural evolution from the original BeOS icons.
For everyone preferring “this” or “that”, remember that this was the contest winner, and it is just the default. You’re free to change it according to your preference.
The problem with using a custom icon theme is that it will only affect system icons. Applications that try to be consistent with the system icons will not be consistent with your theme.
Nope, it’s a recommendation not default
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew… wtf
whats with all the flowers?
and why do we want icons that are so massive?
whats with all the flowers?
flowers?
and why do we want icons that are so massive?
You’re looking at the 64×64 icons – the default will actually be 32×32 (like BeOS and most other OSes) – keep in mind that the icons will support SVG, so ANY size will scale and look perfect (no jaggies).
The icon contest requirement was that 64×64 be available to see how they scale up – and how much detail will be available for anyone wishing to scale up (like those running insanely high resolutions)
Edit: Oh, I didn’t realize there was a Vista-related link at the bottom of the article – wow – that’s misplaced.
Edited 2006-11-02 02:26
yeah, weird place
Can I use Haiku icons on Vista???
It looks like osnews.com may have jumped on the gun…
http://haiku-os.org/node/278
Stippi is the winner of the Best Rated Icon Set Award, but <quote>chances are that the final icon set to be used as the default in Haiku will also see an influence from the other submitted icon sets as well</quote>.
This was the plan from the beginning and I believe Thom was aware of it:
http://haiku-os.org/node/120
Ponkan is still me favourite.
I think Stippi is fine. It the “same”, while being a little “different” as well.
at least MS finally got a coherent icon set (palette, flower&plexiglass…), even if it looks ugly. Or will some 3.1 icons remain in Vista like they did in XP ?
With the “zOMg! those fancy midget title bars look ugly”. I can’t count how many flamewars those windows decorators have started, mostly because non BeOS users kindly go to a BeOS/Zeta/Haiku forum or, like in this case, article just to say “This sucks! Those windows decorators are stupid!”. Just to get a warm response from BeOS fans, obviously.
Most people have never actually tried BeOS, but that doesn’t matter! Let’s talk crap just because is fun! “That’s ugly”, well, thats pretty subjective, and your Window Blinds theme with a small goldfish swimming around your titlebar not only looks ugly (IMO), but it’s also completely useless. And we can say the same for some X window managers out there.
So, people, we always end up at the same point: Don’t like it? Don’t use it, that’s all.
Now, back on topic, and as bogomipz pointed out, here’s some clarification:
Although the final icon set for Haiku will be the result of a collaborative effort through the rating of the submitted artwork and an open discussion in the Haiku mailing list, the contest will have a “Best Rated Entry”, which will be awarded a special recognition certificate from the Haiku project.
So, even having Stippi as “Best Rated iconset”, that doesn’t mean taht it’s going to be the official iconset for R1 (the first Haiku release).
PS: and please, those are leaves, not flowers!
I think Joe User was just taken aback by the yellow tabs, not having seen them before. I thought back to the late 90’s when I first saw them and used them and was also somewhat taken aback. But, they soon became an integral part of the Be experience to me.
Seriously, what’s with all the flowers?? Those applications have very little to do with gardening. If someone wants flowers on their desktop, that’s what the background image is for.
Would it not be a good idea to take the next version of Haiku closer to the BTRON specification?
This is the only real competitor to windows today.
Edited 2006-11-02 15:41