There's lots to like about Apple these days: a healthy financial footing, a terrific product line, a nice relationship with the press, etc. But Apple just wouldn't be Apple without the occasional dramatic boneheaded misstep to keep things interesting. The most recent example of this phenomenon was when Apple not only downgraded the entire Power Mac G4 line while keeping the price the same, but also cancelled all the pre-orders that customers had placed for the original, faster systems. Luckily that insanity was temporary, and over the course of a rough PR week, Apple eventually reinstated nearly all of the G4 pre-orders. And that's probably Apple's saving grace these days-- even when the higher-ups make a dumbass mistake, they actually appear to be listening to the customers and seem willing to put things right.

But not always, or at least, not yet. Perhaps you've noticed that while we at AtAT generally don't shy away from leaping into the fray to take a position on the occasional Cupertino blunder, we've remained primly on the sidelines while the Great Interface Debacle rages around us. We're talking about the 3D brushed-metal "consumer appliance" look that first appeared in the new QuickTime Player application, surfaced more recently as the look for Sherlock 2, and is rumored to be used extensively throughout Mac OS X. Here's why we've been uncharacteristically quiet on the matter: we're a little torn. We agree with the naysayers that Apple's new interface is an utter abomination from a human interface perspective. Yes, it violates dozens of Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines. Yes, it wastes screen space. Yes, it removes functionality, like the ability to Windowshade the windows. Yes, it's got elements like the "Favorites Drawer" that are counterintuitive and hideously inefficient. But darnit, it looks cool.

Don't get us wrong-- we're not siding with style against substance. (At least, not this time.) We really wish that Apple (and when we say "Apple" here, we mean "Steve Jobs") has come up with an interface that looked cool and wasn't a hollow mockery of the Mac Human Interface Guidelines. It's just that we understand what Apple was trying to do with QuickTime. It's a kick-ass cross-platform technology that Apple's trying to spread all over the planet. It needed a recognizable face, and the "brushed metal" look accomplished that. Now, we have no idea why Apple brought the same interface into Sherlock 2, which is only available in Mac OS 9, but it certainly lends credence to those troubling rumors about Mac OS X eventually having more brushed metal than a Bond villain's control center.

So will Apple listen to its customers about the "QuickTime look"? Faithful viewer Al Barten told us there's a Wired article about a patch called Winfix which surgically removes the brushed metal from Sherlock 2-- at least, enough of it to restore a real Mac title bar and borders. Apparently 10,000 people downloaded it in the first couple of days it was released. How many copies of Mac OS 9 has Apple sold, we wonder? We think it's safe to take the download numbers for Winfix as a resounding vote for a return to a Mac interface, in favor of whatever alien stereo doohickey inspired Steve's metallic monstrosity. And as for Mac OS X (and Sherlock 3 and QuickTime 5), maybe Apple can come up with something that's stylish and functional in the meantime.