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How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

jeremyaboyd.com

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Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#301

Post by vmladenov »

mcv wrote: post #271
throwaddzuzxd wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Finder is atrocious. It's the worst default macOS app and probably the worst program period I've ever used. It's been so dumbed down that it's basically unusable for anyone slightly experienced. - There's no way to create an empty file - There's no easy way to cut a file/folder (Cmd-x doesn't work) - There's no (?) way to keep everything consistently sorted and aligned - ~~Tags are useless and just take up space…

It's not that Windows Explorer is much better, though. I hate how it prefers to display everything as icons instead of details. How it hides files and directories, doesn't show extensions, etc. But there's one thing it gets right: it shows you where you are, and you can edit that to go anywhere. Finder can do that too, but it doesn't show you it can do that. You have to know. I recently got a Macbook from work, parti…

If you right click on your pwd in Finder (top middle) you can see and jump to any point up to root.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#302

Post by bayindirh »

Nextgrid wrote: post #297
bayindirh wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no way to create an empty file This is one of the features I never miss and don't use on any other DE (like KDE). I just open the app, create the file and save. Maybe it's just habit, but I personally doesn't find it as a needed feature. > There's no easy way to cut a file/folder (Cmd-x doesn't work) Just drag it where you want while pressing CMD? I know it's not cut but it prevents a lot of errors I think.…

"Clean up by" is still a manual thing you have to do regularly? My downloads folder looks like a mess because files constantly get added/deleted from it via the Dock.

No, that's "Clean Up", which just aligns & tidies stuff a little. "Clean Up By" is automatic.

I generally disable "Clean Up By" because I love to visually group my folders for some types of folders. e.g.: Assets there, source files here, readme and docs to that corner, etc.

However, sometimes an orderly folder is required and I enable Clean Up By date for example. That folder is always sorted by date.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#303

Post by shawnz »

samatman wrote: post #269
rchaud wrote: post #14

I bought a Mac in 2014 after a lifetime of using Windows. I never understood why people called it easier to use than Windows. Maybe this sentiment is a holdover from an earlier era when people would mindlessly run executables and zip files attached in emails and AIM messages. From a UI perspective, it's 90% identical to windows. From a UX perspective though, something fundamental like Finder is still not up to the jo…

> Why is it that when I click Finder, nothing actually opens? This would be an example of the 10% of the UI which isn't identical. One of the fundamental differences between macOS and Windows is the menu bar. There's only one at a time, and it belongs to the program which has the focus. A corollary of this is that you don't need a window to have a program. It's not just Finder, most macOS programs are perfectly happy…

Right, so it's not a problem with Finder but actually the window manager. Why would you ever want to have a "menubar-only" app? It would be better if the design didn't create the possibility of that happening at all.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#305

Post by wp381640 »

BurningFrog wrote: post #121
agustif wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Just use [spacebar] on any view to open up the image in spotlight? The problem with the mac is that much has been done on top of older patterns, etc.... If you're a hardcore user though, I'd take Mac over windows or linux any day.

I've used Macs since 1988, and had no idea this hidden feature existed! UI features don't just need to work well, they also need to be discoverable, or they might as well not exist. The old school Apple was good at that stuff. Recent decades, not so much. PS Thanks for teaching me this trick!

Even as a power user and someone who loves to not RTFM i've found with iPhones / iPads / Macs you gotta refresh and reads tips / the docs to make the most of it since so much UI is hidden now (unless you're a 9 year old!)

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#306

Post by robertoandred »

throwaddzuzxd wrote: post #205
rchaud wrote: post #14

I bought a Mac in 2014 after a lifetime of using Windows. I never understood why people called it easier to use than Windows. Maybe this sentiment is a holdover from an earlier era when people would mindlessly run executables and zip files attached in emails and AIM messages. From a UI perspective, it's 90% identical to windows. From a UX perspective though, something fundamental like Finder is still not up to the jo…

The Finder is atrocious. It's the worst default macOS app and probably the worst program period I've ever used. It's been so dumbed down that it's basically unusable for anyone slightly experienced. - There's no way to create an empty file - There's no easy way to cut a file/folder (Cmd-x doesn't work) - There's no (?) way to keep everything consistently sorted and aligned - ~~Tags are useless and just take up space…

What on earth is an "empty" file?

And yes you can cut. Cmd-C, Cmd-Opt-V.

And yes, you can sort and align. Just go to the View menu.

And yes, there's a way to go the parent folder. SEVERAL:

- Go -> Enclosing Folder

- Cmd-Up

- Right click on the window title and choose any enclosing folder from the tree

- Show the Path Bar and double click any enclosing folder from the tree

I don't think you've ever actually used a Mac.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#307

Post by rchaud »

Spooky23 wrote: post #281
TulliusCicero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, by default Finder seems to hide directory structure from you. This seems to be Apple thinking it'll confuse people if they can see 'up' directories, but I think just as often it confuses people like me who are trying and failing to go up. I use all three major desktop OSes regularly now, and overall Windows just feels like the most user-friendly and straightforward, though of course it too has issues (e.g. vari…

By default, windows hides file extensions and pushes Office to be OneDrive first. The problem with these features is that people have varying needs and don’t understand or respect what they are! Filing is a great example, everyone keeps files, but most people have no organization. That’s why once upon a time companies hired people to file things. It’s also why Apple tried to kill the file metaphor for iOS. MacOS has…

Yes, much as I dislike Finder, I must admit that it's search is fantastic, and nearly instantaneous.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#308

Post by jtdev »

You know what’s really unintuitive? Finding an official solution to a basic problem in Windows that requires a reg-edit… the number of times I encountered this while working daily with Windows was astounding. Never have I encountered an equivalent scenario on MacOS.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#309

Post by tanaros »

turkeywelder wrote: post #219
sjg007 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How performant is chromeos? I'm thinking of getting one as it is basically linux.

In our use it was perfectly fine, it'll run fine with 4gb of ram and a Celeron. I wouldn't want to do hardcore software dev on one because they're usually low end screens and CPUs, but as a "here's a safe machine you can't break" they're absolutely brilliant for family. Boot time is instant, OS updates are instant, battery life is great, if there was ever "linux for the desktop" it's ChromeOS. It's not all roses thou…

I have no experience with this, but you may be able to install Neverware CloudReady on the old Chromebook to extend its life.

Re: How Intuitive Are Macs Really?

#310

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

LocalPCGuy wrote: post #244
FabHK wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> trying and failing to go up Cmd-click on the folder in the Finder window title, and go up as far as you want?

This is the thing about Macs - people think they are intuitive because they have learned how to use them over X number of years. Including, I believe, those building the OS at Apple. But for a person who isn't familiar with them, they are absolutely not intuitive. And any time there is a complaint, the community is like "Oh, dummy, just do this thing that is not obvious at all, how could you not figure that out?"

>This is the thing about Macs - people think they are intuitive because they have learned how to use them over X number of years

You can say that again. I never had to interact with a Mac in my life (Macs weren't popular in Eastern Europe so I grew up with Windows and Linux) and later in life at one job interview, the tech lead gave me his Macbook and told me to code a sorting function in JS and stepped out for 10 minutes. Within that time, I accidentally performed some swipe gesture on the trackpad which hid my code editor away with me unable to find it as I had no visible taskbar and all I had visible was a Chrome window so I started googling how to get my code window back. When the tech lead came back I apologized and told him I couldn't finish the task since I hid the code editor by accident and had to google how to use the OS.

I'm biased here of course, but IMHO for someone new to the OS, MacOS UX discoverability is worse than Windows or major Linux DEs.

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