If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. I know some people will always look for something new, but just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better. Every major version of Windows looks completely different, while OS X receives UI tweaks in smaller increments.
I do think it would be good to simplify the look of some apps, like Find Friends and Game Center on iPhone, and Calendar and Contacts on iPad.
I believe the recent redesign of the Podcasts app[1] shows what we should expect from iOS 7: less textures, less color, dark gradients – but nothing that could be described as ‘flat design’.
XP and Vista look completely different. Not only was Aero introduced in Vista, the taskbar and Start menu were redesigned.
Vista and 7 look very different. The UI was cleaned up a lot, the taskbar was redesigned again, Live Thumbnails and multitouch support were added.
Let's compare that to OS X: most people won't be able to tell Mountain Lion (released 8 months a go) from Leopard (released in 2007), just by looking at the desktop.
Wow, I didn't realize how little the basic interface has changed. I mean, I know there's been no radical changes, but I still didn't expect it to take me nearly as long as it did to tell the difference between a 1-year-old and 6-year-old OS.
Amazing how much they've improved "under-the-hood" while keeping the basic interface the same.
PS. If you can't tell the difference between the two, look at the dock - the only way I could figure it out is spotting the new/changed app icons (Launchpad, iTunes, etc).
It'd be a lot easier if there was any real UI on the screen at all in your examples. Of course "just looking at the desktop" is not going to provide much hint.
Not sure what relevance multitouch has to the appearance of the UI.
Vista and XP looked pretty close. The real difference was the Gadgets: http://i.imgur.com/kYt9Xqm.jpg which can be turned off (and if that's a big difference, well, "Mission Control" and "Launchpad" mean a big difference for OS X).
In all honesty, my guess is the "flat" design for iOS is going to be no different than the evolution of OS X.
Compare 10.2 to 10.8. Gone are the pinstripes, much of the jewel-like gleams and candy coating, as well as many gradients and brushed metal. Mountain Lion is far more "flat" than when I started out with Jaguar.
I would argue it already has reached appliance level familiarity. Do you know anyone between the ages of 7 to 60 that doesn't know how to use an iPhone (or iPod, or iPad) with ease? Probably not many.
But the UI feels stale after a while. I would argue that a significant UI refresh that peaks the interest of your users and excites them to upgrade is better than appliance level familiarity. If the familiarity is the measure of success then why do car companies constantly redesign their interiors, or why do appliances change their colors or button layouts from year to year?
Are they wise to do that? I recently replaced a broken microwave with as similar a model as I could find, from the same company. But I would have paid more to avoid continuously stubbing my fingers on their design regressions.
That is a good point. New is not always better but consumer products need to be "new and improved!" in order to give the customer a sense they are buying something better than the model from five years ago.
But at the same time I can't help but feel that progress can only be made with change and at this point Apple can't keep relying on minimal hardware advances to keep their marketshare.
> consumer products need to be "new and improved!" in order to give the customer a sense they are buying something better than the model from five years ago
Where is the proof of that? I feel that it's an "internet truth" where early adopters have the loudest voice. Yet Apple is full of cash earned on machines that look almost like their predecessors (iPad 1-4, iPhone 1-3GS & 4-5, similar for the Mac).
The refactors often rely on the fact that for every one of you (and me) there are 2x or more of new users who want something looking fresh and appealing, even if we see it as a regression (just don't go too far like MS did with Metro)
