One of the biggest issues with using (or developing) cross-platform software is you basically have to make concessions in the software to get it to function for the lowest common denominator. One of the first, and most noticeable, things to suffer these concessions is the look-and-feel of the application.

But there’s good news, and the future looks promising.  Application developers lately have been focusing more and more on better integration with the target platform.

With the upcoming version of NetBeans 6.7 (it used to be referred to as NetBeans 7 until the group renamed it to NetBeans 6.7), the development group decided to focus on greater platform integration; and I have to say I’m rather impressed with the results so far.  I downloaded the latest beta release, which at the time of this writing was 6.7 M2.

Upon first launch, I noticed the window and all the elements in the interface had a much better look to them, one more consistent with the general OS X look-and-feel (specifically 10.5 Leopard).

Then I started using the application more, and it just has a better feel to it, and I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel like the different panels and features are more readily available and accessible to me.  It also feels a lot less sluggish than NetBeans 6.5 does.

Just based on looks alone, take a look at NetBeans 6.7 on my Mac:

And now compare that to NetBeans 6.5:

Much better, huh?

I’m very impressed with where NetBeans 6.7 is headed, both visually and functionally.  One has never complained about programs operating much quicker, have they?