In some ways X11 with it's focus follows mouse, don't raise on focus, select:middle click paste features provide a far more refined desktop experience then mac or windows ever could. No wait, stop laughing, sure X11 was a garbage fire when it came to consistent professional design, but because it was such a wild west of an environment there was place for real ui innovation. I know, I get grumpy fast without middle click paste. And I hate having to raise a window in order to click and type on it(A common access pattern for me is to read docs on the top window while I am operating the bottom window).
replyCut-buffer (the middle click) I just can't live without. People that never experienced that still get awestruck with the ease and effortlessness.
replyAnd virtual desktops/workspaces also had that awe-effect back then. Although with multimonitor setups this faded a bit.
Yes Aqua was quite striking. Also much more consistent than the rag bag of different styling you see on Windows or Mac today.
replyEven before those, AfterStep, Enlightenment and many others were really nice.
reply