One more sneaky move from Apple. A recent patent filed by Apple suggests that it may be preparing for a new 3D operating system. Currently being dubbed the “multidimensional application environment”, as seen from the picture below, the patent shows a 3D user interface of the desktop. The design is something never seen before in any other operating system. But don’t confuse this with the 3D icons of the current Mac OS X. For OS X’s case, it is just images/icons that made to appear 3D.

This version seems to have 3D objects which are based on physics and as TechRadar says, “shows off things like three-dimensional function icons that will fall if not placed correctly on the desktop – a bit like the physics model used in LittleBigPlanet.” One more feature that has been identified is that the windows will act differently based on where you are dragging it. Of course, you can also stack all your documents behind each other.

There are confirmations that this is not something you would see in Snow Leopard, and it is likely to be a different operating system.

Well, Apple…I guess it is time to surprise us all again !

[source: techradar.com]