Well, AmigaOS/Workbench has never been pretty right out of the box. Most of us have excused this either with the responsiveness of the OS, or the ability to apply custom hacks and patches. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn't think that way, so an ugly GUI turns 'other' potential users away.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to get Mason working on the GUI department for OS4. He is a great talent and could really make the GUI give a much needed boost.
