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Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

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Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, because taking up the whole screen is what many people expect said button to do.

because they've come from Windows where that is the behaviour. Much like using ctrl or cmd as a modifier - when you become accustomed to one, the other takes some getting used to.

I know a lot of people who are more familiar with Mac than Windows and still don't know what that button does and simply ignores it. Along with the other small oval button that's there in pre-Lion.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#382
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$14 USD for something which is standard in most Linux desktop environments? (And is probably standard in Windows, but I can't remember.) This is exactly what people complain about. Yes, this stuff can be done, but you need to set a bunch of options via the command line (no problem, but annoying if you have lots of stuff you want tweaked); then set a bunch of program options; then install a bunch of apps (some of whic…

> This is exactly what people complain about. Well, this is what Linux users complain about. Windows users tend to complain about the lack of games or long-term support. The problem is, Apple is able to do what it does specifically by not providing these things. If they were off in the weeds trying to make everyone happy, they wouldn't be able to create the streamlined experiences that have made them so successful.

I'm not sure how to respond.

This thread is full of people saying that Macs can be frustrating because they don't do certain things.

It's also full of people saying that those things are possible, and showing how.

And there are also people saying that not being able to do those things is why the Mac experience is so clean and simple.

It would be really refreshing if people just accepted that all OSs suck, and that some (not all!) of the stuff mentioned in this thread is sucky. (It'd also be great if people would stop ranting quite so hard about OS suckage, unless they're right. Yelling about some missing feature, only to be told that it's in the obvious preference pane, is just daft.)

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#383
post #260
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to agree, but working out how to move a cursor around text, with various combinations of either character by character, or word by word, or to the beginning or end of the line, and either selecting or not selecting text, was pretty frustrating. 3) My keyboard has [fn][ctrl][alt][cmd][space][cmd][alt], there's no [option].

I always thought that the text shortcuts are intuitive and easy to remember. Shortcuts you are used to are always going to be easier to remember than new ones – that is always going to distort your view. I wouldn’t put to much weight on that. You navigate text using the arrow keys on their own (characters and lines) or with one of two modifiers: Alt (words and paragraphs) and Command (lines and text fields). If you u…

You do a nice job of explaining it, and I am grateful to you. Now that you lay it out it does seem a lot more consistent than I thought.

My only minor gripe (and this is cross OS, with many softwares and keyboards) is that it's harder for touch typists to use. Compare any shortcuts that require you to take your hands from the home keys with, eg, the shortcuts provided by Wordstar.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#384

I started using OSX every day last year, after 12 years of Linux mixed with 5% Windows. Verdict: it's nice, but I'm not blown away and I miss Linux for some things.

What do you miss from Linux that is not available on OSX? MacPorts fills in the gaps for missing GNU tools.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#385
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you pick your PC carefully with the purpose of breaking Linux, it mostly works out of the box. That said, installing Linux on a Mac seems offensive, like replacing the dashboard of a Maybach with the one of a race car. Macs are a beautifully designed combination of hardware and software that may work for you. Or not. I like Lion better than Snow Leopard, but neither works for me for work. Casual browsing and p…

That's not true. Power management (sleep/hibernate) is very flaky in Linux, and when it fails it crashes the machine. You need to pick your PC carefully for compatibility with Linux. Linux is great for workstation/server-class hardware and use cases.

This is so true. I have a work-issued laptop running Linux on mainstream hardware. Sleeping or hibernating my laptop fails to sleep about 10% of the time. Waking my laptop has a 90% chance of failing to detect my external monitor, yet the window manager happily continues to display my login screen and application windows off screen where the external monitor should be.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#386
post #127
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Save as" is usually used when you want to save it as a different file somewhere else, and most people have cmd-shift-s ingrained in their mind. This no longer exists and there's no excuse. Autosaving doesn't even do the same job.

I don’t think you understand. This is about paradigm shifts. Here is how it used to work: You open this old document because you want to create a new one and use the old one as a template. You either Save as right away or (much more likely) you edit for a bit and do a Save as at some later point. If you do this with auto save you are fucked. (Well, not really. There is now Versions, so starting with Lion this is fina…

Thanks for the clear explanation of the rationale.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#387
post #160

I haven't upgraded to Lion, and likely never will, because they removed the single best feature of OS X, "all-windows" Expose with no stacking into app bundles. Default Expose was terrible in Snow Leopard too (strict grid layout vs. the old natural spatial layout) but at least then there was a hack to get the old version back: http://superuser.com/questions/118424/old-leopard-expose-on-...

I completely agree. I can't believe that Lion does not have an "all-windows" Expose. It's annoying trying to find a hidden window by minimizing everything.

If someone knows how to toggle between an applications windows, please let me know.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#388
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen the new Windows? Microsoft is steamrolling down the "new world" path faster than Apple.

Same with Ubuntu unfortunately. Seems like one of the smaller Linux variants will have to save us. At the moment, I'm quite taken with Fedora/Gnome 3. Although Ubuntu+Gnome 3 and the upcoming Linux Mint with Gnome 3 are solid options... Yes. I like Gnome 3. Gnome 3.

Just installed Linux Mint - I love it! A real improvement over the bloated Ubuntu 11.10 release and Unity. It's fast to startup and shutdown, responsive and has a lovely UI.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#389
post #278

I came from a windows background, tinkered with Linux for a few years on and off, and when I started my current job I was given a Macbook Pro. After a few months of using it I as so frustrated, and found myself spending more and more time in my Ubuntu virtual machine, that when they were ordering new MBPs for the design team I offered to give mine up to a designer and buy a ThinkPad, thus saving the company over $1,0…

If you asked a friend or searched Google instead of writing your problems here perhaps you would have found the solutions. You took time to learn how to use Linux and the shell, why not take some time to learn how to use OS X as well before complaining that it doesn't do what you want? It does do most of the things you mentioned, and when it doesn't it's by design. Resizing from any side: Legitimate complaint. Fixed…

Thanks for the tip on Divvy! That's really nice.

Re: Tim O'Reilly: I am really starting to hate Mac OS X.

#390
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The full-screen mode is terrible. It leaves everything but your main monitor completely empty, making it essentially unusable for anyone with multiple monitors. Homebrew is awesome but it should be way easier to compile from source without installing Xcode.

> Homebrew is awesome but it should be way easier to compile from source without installing Xcode. If it was a real issue someone would have packaged up GCC or LLVM. There is absolutely nothing that prevents anyone from doing this. The truth is that nobody actually minds installing Xcode to get a compiler. Or at least the few who do don't actually care enough to do something about it .

> If it was a real issue someone would have packaged up GCC or LLVM

https://github.com/kennethreitz/osx-gcc-installer

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