From: miles@gnu.org   
      
   Carlos Moreno  writes:   
   >> Many popular softwares do not use native look and feel. In other   
   >> words, when a user switchs a cross-platform application from   
   >> Windows to Linux, the user may ask why the titilebar is so small,   
   >> why the list item is so large   
   >   
   > But who said that the same user will be moving the application from   
   > one OS to another??   
   >   
   > I do think there is great advantage in maintaining (or at least   
   > having the option to programmatically enable) native look-n-feel; if   
   > you're developing a multi-platform application, that is because you   
   > expect many users of a variety of OSs to use it;   
      
   I agree with you, but I think that it also depends on the particular app   
   to some degree.   
      
   Many apps, probably the majority, use the GUI in a "straightforward"   
   way, and arguably should follow the native look-n-feel as much as   
   possible; that makes using the app simpler for most people (as the   
   bulk of the user-base on any OS will already be used to that OS).   
      
   There are a few apps, though, that have very distinctive interfaces,   
   and probably want greater control over the details, even when it means   
   ignoring the native look-n-feel (of course often these sorts of apps   
   actually want _both_, with things like text-entry boxes being   
   "native", but the higher parts of the interface being "custom") .   
      
   Ideally a GUI toolkit would support both styles of use, allowing the   
   app author to choose whichever suits him the best (but defaulting to   
   "native")...   
      
   [A mild example of the "custom" look is Google chrome, which has a   
   overall distinctive look that doesn't really match any of its client   
   OS conventions, but does use native widgets for the little bits and   
   pieces (scrollbars, etc).]   
      
   -Miles   
      
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