I wasn't thinking of the animations. I'm talking about the UI. Subtle gradients, small cute traffic lights and so on.
Now it's all full of foggy transparent windows and child like buttons.
Why do people think OSX is so great?
- Thread starter NathanE
- Start date
I wasn't thinking of the animations. I'm talking about the UI. Subtle gradients, small cute traffic lights and so on.
Now it's all full of foggy transparent windows and child like buttons.
These sum up my main complaints with OS X after a couple of years with it.
Window management is diabolical. The random behaviour of the close/maximise buttons is really not acceptable in a product which is supposed to 'just work'. Also, the dock really annoys me because it represents applications but not windows, unlike the Windows equivalent. Sometimes, if you have multiple windows open in the same app, clicking the dock icon brings them all to the front. This drives me insane. It's also pointlessly difficult to restore a window which you've minimised; why is there a separate gesture for this? The entire window management system just seems disjointed and polluted with relics from the past. They need to start again.
Finder is junk as well. Managing files and folders is so awkward compared to Windows Explorer. And why does enter equal rename? That runs contrary to every ingrained assumption which people have about how to use computers. Enter means proceed, go ahead, open. It does not mean rename. Fix it.
Also, my 2011 MBP is just so slow. It spends ages just grinding the hard disk, both when opening apps and especially when resuming from hibernate. After a few days of use I can't have more than 10 Chrome tabs open without it just lagging out completely. It's not as if this is a bad spec machine - nothing with 4GB of RAM should lag like this. Windows machines with 2GB are more responsive.
I'm in two minds about whether to buy another Mac. I love the hardware and am really keen on the rMBP, but can't stand the OS. An SSD will probably fix the lagging but won't fix the glaring design flaws.
Get Hyperdock and BetterSnapTool. They make window management viable on OSX. It should not be this way, but it is a solution.
Caporegime
Tried using Expose/Mission Control? That should sort your windows issue out.
Soldato
Bingo.
Also dump that POS called Lion if you're still using it. It should have been called OS X Vista it was that inefficient with RAM.
Deleted member 651465
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Deleted member 651465
You're trying to use OS X as you would Windows.
1) it's not a maximise button
2) that's a feature within exposė (to show all windows or groups of windows within an app). Try looking at the settings.
3) 4 finger swipe restores all hidden windows during exposė? This is demonstrated in the trackpad settings window
4) I've never found Finder particularly amazing, but that is much improved with Mavericks and smart tags
5) again, OS X uses enter as rename, that's how it's always been. Different OS.
6) Chrome is the worst browser for memory leaks on OS X.
7) A SSD would help massively with lag
Most peoples complaints seem to be just about differences to what they are used to
the ones id say are legitimate are
1, there are most definately some very poor window management choices in OSX
2, Finder is most definately junk in any incarnation so far, i cant use a mac without a third party file manager.
i think the problem most likely is the hype, since nowadays its not really any better or worse than windows/Linux, but first time mac users are built up to expect this perfection ootb experience, which it isnt, (and is subjective on many counts).
the ones id say are legitimate are
1, there are most definately some very poor window management choices in OSX
2, Finder is most definately junk in any incarnation so far, i cant use a mac without a third party file manager.
i think the problem most likely is the hype, since nowadays its not really any better or worse than windows/Linux, but first time mac users are built up to expect this perfection ootb experience, which it isnt, (and is subjective on many counts).
Soldato
Do Apple really hype OSX to the average buyer? I'm not so sure. The marketing is almost exclusively about the design of the hardware itself, followed up with some vagaries about how the software is supposed to be the antithesis of everyday "computer problems".
It's the geeks who argue their points about operating systems - and they really should be smart enough to see through the spiel especially when it's the same thing year-in year-out. So in that respect I don't think the marketing is to blame.
I don't really think the average user is that bothered about OSX which is reflected in the fragmentation of the platform.
It's the geeks who argue their points about operating systems - and they really should be smart enough to see through the spiel especially when it's the same thing year-in year-out. So in that respect I don't think the marketing is to blame.
I don't really think the average user is that bothered about OSX which is reflected in the fragmentation of the platform.
These points are both valid. My solution for 1 is Contexts, and for 2, XtraFinder.
Soldato
Well ive just installed windows 8.1 on my MacMini and have to say it runs much quicker than the OSX Mavericks OS.
It feels a lot snappier and opens windows faster (both installed on the same Samsung 840 Pro SSD) too.
Or is it just me ??
It feels a lot snappier and opens windows faster (both installed on the same Samsung 840 Pro SSD) too.
Or is it just me ??
Granted, but I can't see how a button which resizes a window to an apparently arbitrary size is more useful than one which expands it to cover the screen. I get sick of manually resizing an app just to maximise it.
My problem is that once a window is minimised there's no obvious indication that it's still open. In Windows 7/8 it's obvious from the taskbar how many windows are open for a particular app. Quite often in OS X I minimise a web browser window and find it again a week later. There's no visual indication that it's there, unless you perform a gesture which requires you already to know that it's there.
The word 'enter' means 'go into'. When I press enter I want to 'go into' a file or app. It's not just different, it's a pointless logical absurdity.
I don't doubt it, but even without an SSD I can't accept that my MBP lags more than the Windows laptop I had in 2006.
I must admit, I'm having no end of trouble with my new mac mini. Its so sluggish, beach balls galore and I've reinstalled mavericks 3 times now (2 of which were a fresh install by making a usb installer)
It just runs really sluggish sometimes , taking ages to show the dock, ages for settings to open, clicking an app and waiting sometimes 20 seconds to open etc.
I do have the base spec one with only 4gb ram so don't know if thats the issue but i do feel windows 8/8.1 definitely runs faster.
I was going to build a gaming computer for flight sim and use the mac mini for general computing but i might actually take it back and just go back to windows.
Matt
It just runs really sluggish sometimes , taking ages to show the dock, ages for settings to open, clicking an app and waiting sometimes 20 seconds to open etc.
I do have the base spec one with only 4gb ram so don't know if thats the issue but i do feel windows 8/8.1 definitely runs faster.
I was going to build a gaming computer for flight sim and use the mac mini for general computing but i might actually take it back and just go back to windows.
Matt
Soldato
Frankly, if you are getting that then I would say that there is something wrong hardware wise. One of my 2010 Mac Mini runs Mavericks and I don't have the issues you list.
Is that a reply to me? If so what ram do you have in your mac mini and is it a normal 5400rpm hd?
Soldato
Thats the same as me mate, but now im on windows it flys.. Im on base spec too but with a SSD
Soldato
Yes, ok I have 8GB of ram but it is the original 5400rpm disk in it
Soldato
5400rpm HDDs are bad news. An SSD will make much more difference to responsiveness than the amount of RAM.
Soldato
This.
Also regarding the Op.
I agree with most of what you said. However OSX is the lesser of two evils for me. Windows 8/1 made me switch because I seriously hated that OS.
Things like Timemachine work great in OSX, and I use screen sharing allot to control 4 other computers running OSX from whatever computer I happen to be using. Simple things like Calendar/Contacts works better. You can add dates from emails strait to the calendar etc. and it has year view which is seemingly hard to fine in other software but makes a big difference to me. Facetime is nice as well. Unlike skype, facetime opens automatically if someone rings you. If I forget to open Skype when I logon, it just means no one can ring me.
I don't use the red yellow and green app buttons because they are useless. instead I right click on the app icon on the bottom task bar to hide/close. You can also close/quit app with cmd Q. I use Hyperdock for window management etc. and makes OSX similar to windows 7 from a usability standpoint. I have had a problem with Hyperdock since mavericks though, as occasionally it stops working and needs to be started again.
All in all, apple could make the OS MUCH better with very little effort, that it is very frustrating that they haven't.
Associate
Been having a tough two days on my mac, latest updates have really hammered the stability, wish I'd not done them 
Echoing what others have said, I'm unimpressed with the mac's window handling/management, dock & file search. I love native support for python, being able to run loads of linux-based tools & the physical machine (that one is not OSX I realise) but I'm just so very, very tired of 'safari has quit unexpectedly' messages (yes, I reset it, no, I've got no extensions installed) and other programs doing likewise (though safari is by far the most common).
Unfortunately I'm required to use safari sometimes at work so just avoiding it isn't an option
Echoing what others have said, I'm unimpressed with the mac's window handling/management, dock & file search. I love native support for python, being able to run loads of linux-based tools & the physical machine (that one is not OSX I realise) but I'm just so very, very tired of 'safari has quit unexpectedly' messages (yes, I reset it, no, I've got no extensions installed) and other programs doing likewise (though safari is by far the most common).
Unfortunately I'm required to use safari sometimes at work so just avoiding it isn't an option