Highly vocal activists within the Mac community continue to protest the Great Interface Coup of 1999. For the apolitical Mac users among you, the masses are decrying the way that Uncle Steve's new "Brushed Metal" interface seized control of QuickTime with little to no warning, and then went on to take over Sherlock 2 as well. From those formidable seats of power, "Brushed Metal" has had no trouble conquering new Apple software such as iMovie, forcing out the traditional and much-beloved Mac OS interface.

Interface purists spanning the Mac-using globe have protested the overthrow, citing numerous ways in which the new look, while flashy, violates several of Apple's own sacrosanct Human Interface Guidelines. Perhaps you've noticed that in QuickTime Player windows, there's no title bar to speak of, the close box is tougher to see, and the resize and Windowshade buttons are missing completely. The windows also waste a ton of screen space, the playback controls are less intuitive than before, and the pull-out Favorites drawer is a big honkin' mess. Perhaps worst of all, the new interface is inconsistent with the old, making some Mac windows work differently than others. "Brushed Metal" represents the subversion of functionality for the sake of style, and Mac users (who pride themselves on using a computer with style and function) aren't too pleased.

But when politics is concerned, actions speak far louder than words. According to an Independent News article, "tens of thousands of people" have downloaded the "Brushed Metal"-killer patches written by Raul Gutierrez. (We love the description of QuickTime Player Window Fixer 1.0: "This patch makes the QuickTime Player window look 'normal.'") Not a fan of "Brushed Metal"? Cast your vote against oppression by downloading and installing Raul's patches. It's unlikely that Steve and company could ignore such high download numbers, and given Apple's newfound willingness to listen to customer feedback in recent years, it's not impossible that Steve will accept certain changes to "Brushed Metal" in order to restore the functionality that didn't survive the coup. All we ask is for a kinder, gentler "Brushed Metal" that works the way Mac windows should. The People have spoken!