I couldn't really stand the tiger-era MacOS either; but early iOS and *MacOS Snow Leopard* we're the pinnacle of UI/UX for me.
I still remember the high pixel density of the devices being shown off so well with the crisp rendition of paper and leather. The way it felt like it was popping off the screen.
Back then I had really good eyesight (I was 20-22~) and those UI elements sold me on the quality of the hardware.
That, and it was much smoother in it's animations than android/windows/compiz.
All of them were the right choice for their time though. Especially early iPhone and its skeuomorphic design taught (practically) the whole world how to use a touch interface with buttons, lists etc. and it looked great for the time. Similar for old Macs too. Then flat design, IMO, cleaned up the general UI after teaching it.
I couldn't really stand the tiger-era MacOS either; but early iOS and *MacOS Snow Leopard* we're the pinnacle of UI/UX for me.
I still remember the high pixel density of the devices being shown off so well with the crisp rendition of paper and leather. The way it felt like it was popping off the screen.
Back then I had really good eyesight (I was 20-22~) and those UI elements sold me on the quality of the hardware.
That, and it was much smoother in it's animations than android/windows/compiz.