Aqua (Mac OS X)
Aqua is a trade name for the GUI appearance of Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system.
The two primary features of Aqua are the gel-like buttons (colored red, yellow, and green) that control the windows, and the Dock which facilitates navigation between applications.
There are two main styles of windows that Aqua includes: standard pinstriped (grey gradient in Mac OS X 10.3) and brushed metal. (See thumbnail illustration.)
Aqua is powered by the Portable Document Format, which manages the underlying graphics management.
See also: Quartz, Quartz Extreme, Exposé