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Overview

Aurora OS features a modern desktop environment that blends macOS vibrancy with Windows Fluent depth. Every interaction is GPU-accelerated and runs at 60fps with careful attention to polish and detail.

Glass Morphism

Translucent surfaces with backdrop blur and subtle tints create depth

60fps Animations

All animations use GPU-friendly transforms with 380ms window open, 240ms close

Adaptive Themes

Light and dark themes with automatic system detection and smooth transitions

Responsive Design

Works seamlessly on desktop, tablet, and mobile browsers

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Design Language

The Aurora OS design system is built on clean, minimal, rounded geometry with meaningful motion.

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Visual Principles

  • Rounded Corners: 8px (small), 12px (medium), 18px (large) radii
  • Layered Depth: Frosted glass with soft shadows and elevation
  • Motion: Micro-interactions (80-160ms), macro transitions (240-420ms)
  • Accessibility: AA contrast ratios, focus indicators, reduced motion support
All animations respect prefers-reduced-motion for accessibility

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Theme System

Aurora Light features clean whites and subtle grays with vibrant accent colors:
  • Background: #f6f8fb
  • Surface: #ffffff
  • Text Primary: #0f1724
  • Accent: #0066ff
  • Glass Tint: rgba(255,255,255,0.7)

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Changing Themes

Switch themes using the Settings app or keyboard shortcut:
  1. Open Settings from the app dock
  2. Navigate to Appearance
  3. Select Light, Dark, or System (follows OS preference)
You can also use the Quick Settings panel in the top-right corner for instant theme switching.

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Window Management

Aurora OS includes a sophisticated window manager (AdvancedWM) with snapping, tiling, and pinning.

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Window Controls

Each window features macOS-style traffic lights on the left:
  • Red (Close): Closes the window with a 240ms fade-out animation
  • Yellow (Minimize): Minimizes window to dock (currently returns focus to desktop)
  • Green (Maximize): Toggles fullscreen mode

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Advanced Features

Snap Zones

Drag windows to screen edges for automatic snap:
  • Left/Right: 50% width split
  • Top: Maximize
  • Corners: 25% quadrant snap

Window Tiling

Press Super + T or run tile in Terminal to automatically arrange all open windows in a grid

Cascade Layout

Press Super + C or run cascade to arrange windows in an overlapping cascade

Exposé View

Press F3 or run expo to see all windows at once in mission control style

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Window Pinning

Keep important windows always on top: 
# Pin the active window (stays above others)
Right-click titlebar → Pin Window
Pinned windows display a pin icon in the titlebar and maintain focus priority

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Desktop Elements

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Wallpaper System

Aurora OS includes 11 beautiful wallpapers with parallax mouse-tracking:
Photo Wallpapers (WebP format):
  • Northern Lights
  • Mountain Lake
  • Starry Mountains
  • Foggy Forest
  • Ocean Sunset
  • Earth from Space
  • Mountain Peak
  • Calm Lake
Vector Wallpapers (SVG format):
  • Aurora Dark - Gradient mesh with animated particles
  • Geometric Dark - Abstract shapes
  • Night Sky - Starfield animation

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Parallax Effect

The wallpaper subtly follows your mouse movement, creating depth. Disable this in Settings → Appearance if you prefer static backgrounds.

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Dock & Taskbar

The dock displays running applications and favorites with hover effects and bounce animations.

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Dock Features

  • Auto-hide: Dock hides after 200ms, reveals on hover
  • Icon Scale: Icons scale to 1.06× on hover with smooth transitions
  • Running Indicators: Blue dots below active applications
  • Drag to Reorder: Customize icon order by dragging
The dock uses backdrop-filter: blur(8px) for that signature frosted glass look

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Top Bar

The top bar provides quick access to system controls and information.

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Left Section

  • Apple Menu (🍎): System menu with About, Settings, Sleep, Restart, Shut Down
  • Current App Name: Shows the focused application

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Center Section

  • Clock: Real-time clock with timezone support (respects Intl.DateTimeFormat)

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Right Section (Control Center)

WiFi

Network status and connection controls

Bluetooth

Bluetooth device management

Battery

Battery level and charging status (uses Battery Status API)

Volume

System volume controls with mute toggle

Do Not Disturb

Silence notifications temporarily

User Menu

Profile, Settings, Lock Screen, Log Out

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Notifications

Aurora OS features a stacking notification system with grouping and persistence.

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Notification Features

  • Grouping: Multiple notifications from the same app stack together
  • Priority Levels: Normal (5s display) and Critical (10s display)
  • History: View all notifications in the Notification Center
  • Persistence: Notification history survives page reloads (localStorage)
  • Do Not Disturb: Suppresses non-critical notifications

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Notification Panel

Click the bell icon (🔔) in the top-right to open the Notification Center:
  • View grouped notifications
  • Expand groups to see all messages
  • Clear individual items or clear all
  • Notification timestamps with localization
Critical notifications (system updates, errors) always show even in Do Not Disturb mode
Quick access to apps, files, and system commands.

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Using Spotlight

  1. Press Cmd/Super + Space to open
  2. Type your query
  3. Press Enter to open the top result
  4. Press Escape to close

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Search Capabilities

  • Application names and IDs
  • File and folder paths
  • Recent documents
  • System commands
  • Terminal commands (prefix with >)
# Search filesystem
> search config

# Open application
> open terminal

# Run system info
> sysinfo

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Performance

Aurora OS is engineered for smooth performance:
  • Boot Time: < 2 seconds to desktop (after BIOS/bootloader sequence)
  • Window Animations: 380ms open, 240ms close with easing
  • Button Response: 120ms interaction feedback
  • Memory Efficient: Optimized for low overhead
  • GPU Accelerated: All animations use CSS transforms and opacity

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Animation System

  • Sharp Easing: cubic-bezier(.2,.9,.3,1) for entering UI
  • Smooth Easing: cubic-bezier(.22,.12,.36,1) for exits and overlays
  • Overshoot: Window open includes a subtle scale bounce (0.998 → 1.006 → 1.0)

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Accessibility Features

Keyboard Navigation

Full keyboard control with visible focus indicators

High Contrast

Optional high contrast mode for better visibility

Reduced Motion

Respects prefers-reduced-motion to disable animations

Screen Reader Support

Semantic HTML with ARIA labels for assistive technology

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Customization

Personalize your desktop through the Settings app:
  1. Wallpaper: Choose from 11 built-in wallpapers
  2. Theme: Light, Dark, or System
  3. Accent Color: Primary and secondary accent colors
  4. Dock Position: Bottom, Left, or Right
  5. Animation Speed: Fast, Normal, or Slow
  6. Parallax: Enable/disable wallpaper mouse tracking
Settings are persisted in localStorage and survive browser restarts

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