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Why does this Java application look and behave dramatically different after upgrading from Java JRE 1.7.40 to one slightly higher? NOTE: This is only the case for mac users, not windows users.

Old vs New

enter image description here

Side tabs

enter image description here

The developer said that the application is built with Swing and uses JTabbedPane.

Some obvious changes: Tabs along the top don't look like tabs anymore. They're a separate bar and each option is separated with a thin line.

Sub-tabs (which ran along the side of the screen) also don't look like tabs anymore. They are also a separate bar, but even worse, the text is running vertically instead of horizontally.

Those are the easiest items to describe. Has anyone else come across this?

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user3044020
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    Post picture to an external hosting site, post link. The MacOS has changed recently, moving towards a more "flat" look and feel, more in line with the iOS look and feel. Since the look and feel for Java is supplied by Apple, it's possible that those changes have come about from there. It's also possible that the look and feel for you app has changed – MadProgrammer Feb 25 '15 at 03:24
  • Thank you for the tip. I posted a link to the new "side tabs" and "old vs new". Please note that the "old" and the "new" screenshots were both taken the same day (with no other changes to system, just JRE update) – user3044020 Feb 25 '15 at 03:32
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    From that, it appears Old is using the Metal PLAF (plugable look and feel) while the New is using the native PLAF for OS X (it has `Aqua` in the name if memory serves).. – Andrew Thompson Feb 25 '15 at 03:35
  • Thanks, Andrew. I'll pass the on. I hope that's all it is. There's some issues clicking into either textareas or popups. Also adding new rows to lists of items is visually problematic. Maybe the "PLAF" will take care of that too. – user3044020 Feb 25 '15 at 03:41
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    It's more likely that the "other" issues are based on assumptions people have made about the implemented look and feel rather than using appropriate practices (for example, using `setPreferredSize` when they shouldn't be) – MadProgrammer Feb 25 '15 at 03:45
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    @AndrewThompson recalls correctly: you're seeing `com.apple.laf.AquaLookAndFeel` see also this [example](http://stackoverflow.com/a/11949899/230513), inspired by his work. – trashgod Feb 25 '15 at 10:24

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