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The truth is, metal windows don't need buffers at the edges any more than aqua windows. Most windows have 8-20 pixels of empty space at each edge. This is the way it's been ever since...well, ever. I only really got on board the Mac train with System 7, but the interface guidelines I'm talking about preceded even that (of course, back then the borders weere definitely closer to 8 than 20 pixels — Apple's OS X guidelines recommend obscene amounts of empty space!).
Take Safari: It's metal, and has no borders. iTunes does, but really, it probably would (and should) if were aqua, too. You'll usually only see the entire width of a window used if it's used by ONE object, like in Safari. In iTunes, you have the playlist list and the track list, so it would look kind of nasty without borders at the edges. Although it's true that that style isn't unprecedented; Apple uses it in XCode — and I've always considered it very ugly. I think the reason Apple uses that style for XCode is because it's a developer tool, and that's the only context where they'll put so little emphasis on aesthetics.
OS 8/9 actually needed this empty space much LESS than OS X, because it had actual window borders, not just shadows. So this isn't a throwback to Classic at all.
So the problems you're describing aren't with brushed metal, they're with the individual interfaces of a few programs like iChat (which DO need work).
That said, I hate metal. Always have, and with every new app that uses it, I hate it more. It made some kind of sense when it was reserved for multimedia apps like QuickTime Player, iTunes and iMovie. The whole look was (I guess) made to mimic hardware multimedia devices, so it made sense. But Safari? iChat? The Finder?!? They just took it too far.
And then of course there's the fact that all that fancy shading comes at a BIG performance price.
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