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What Happens When a Die-Hard Linux User Switches to the Mac?
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Comments (7)
*cough*
More wheeling, less freedom ... (and more spinning beach balls).
My experience with OSX
In my work I have to use a Macbook Pro.
I actually like the hardware. It is a nicely put-together piece of kit and for the most part it is reliable.
However, I just really hate OSX or should I say the GUI.
What don't I like about it? Here are some points that I would like to make:
1) I have an external monitor setup so I use the laptop's screen and a large LCD display at the side for a wide composite desktop. The OSX GUI likes to put the menu for everything at the top of the laptop display so that it is a long away from most running applications but an extremely long way from anything running on the external monitor. I know I could probably move the menu bar to the monitor, but then it's the same problem for anything running on the laptop screen.
This is in fact why I hate the way a lot of Linux DE's are going. The divorced menu bar is a real problem for me.
2) I echo the sentiments of the author about Finder. I actually don't mind it that much, but for the same reasons I hate Explorer in Windows Server 2008, it just seems unstructured and illogical. I'm used to a Gnome environment and I just really like the simplicity and layout of Nautilus. It's just uncluttered and focused on the job at hand.
3) OSX applications: I hate the way that all the applications I see in OSX seem cobbled together and lacking any kind of coherent and consistent structure or look and feel. When you see a KDE application or a Gnome application or for that matter a Windows application, you can tell where it comes from and you have a good intuitive sense of how it works. The applications that come with my Mac are just appalling. Buttons all over the place, no attempt at any kind of integration with the menu functionality, no apparent attention to natural visual workflow. It kind of reminds me of native Motif applications originally written for X. I'm sorry, but the Emperor really is wearing his birthday suit.
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I get that people have different views and different preferences but I just don't get the "Mac is really polished and built for people that do work." My boss raves about the platform. I just hate it.
I actually like the hardware. It is a nicely put-together piece of kit and for the most part it is reliable.
However, I just really hate OSX or should I say the GUI.
What don't I like about it? Here are some points that I would like to make:
1) I have an external monitor setup so I use the laptop's screen and a large LCD display at the side for a wide composite desktop. The OSX GUI likes to put the menu for everything at the top of the laptop display so that it is a long away from most running applications but an extremely long way from anything running on the external monitor. I know I could probably move the menu bar to the monitor, but then it's the same problem for anything running on the laptop screen.
This is in fact why I hate the way a lot of Linux DE's are going. The divorced menu bar is a real problem for me.
2) I echo the sentiments of the author about Finder. I actually don't mind it that much, but for the same reasons I hate Explorer in Windows Server 2008, it just seems unstructured and illogical. I'm used to a Gnome environment and I just really like the simplicity and layout of Nautilus. It's just uncluttered and focused on the job at hand.
3) OSX applications: I hate the way that all the applications I see in OSX seem cobbled together and lacking any kind of coherent and consistent structure or look and feel. When you see a KDE application or a Gnome application or for that matter a Windows application, you can tell where it comes from and you have a good intuitive sense of how it works. The applications that come with my Mac are just appalling. Buttons all over the place, no attempt at any kind of integration with the menu functionality, no apparent attention to natural visual workflow. It kind of reminds me of native Motif applications originally written for X. I'm sorry, but the Emperor really is wearing his birthday suit.
----
I get that people have different views and different preferences but I just don't get the "Mac is really polished and built for people that do work." My boss raves about the platform. I just hate it.
I love showing Mac users how to use the terminal.
skelband: Today I discovered something, in Office 2010 on Win7 (or so).
They followed BlackBox / Windowmakers idea*, of popping up a menu where the user right-clicks! So there's no need to move across the whole screen to go to the menu-bar, the menu bar pops up where the pointer is. Solidworks 2010: The same.
Sadly, not on the Desktop. Because on my home PC, which runs Windowmaker, I can middle-click to have an 'at the pointer-menu' to switch to another Window or app, and right click to have a 'start button-like' menu. In fact, that's why both WindowMaker and BlackBox don't feature a "taskbar" at all.
Of course, it isn't deemed 'user friendly', because a new user would have no idea where the taskbar / startmenu is, and if it's not by default displayed they freak out. But not having to travel back and forth to the menu bar saves kilometres of 'mousing', so therefore I think eventually it's far more user friendly.
Apple didn't copy this behaviour yet? Or maybe they invented it? After all, they bought NextStep, the predecessor of WMaker long time ago.
*probably existed earlier, but those I'm aware of
They followed BlackBox / Windowmakers idea*, of popping up a menu where the user right-clicks! So there's no need to move across the whole screen to go to the menu-bar, the menu bar pops up where the pointer is. Solidworks 2010: The same.
Sadly, not on the Desktop. Because on my home PC, which runs Windowmaker, I can middle-click to have an 'at the pointer-menu' to switch to another Window or app, and right click to have a 'start button-like' menu. In fact, that's why both WindowMaker and BlackBox don't feature a "taskbar" at all.
Of course, it isn't deemed 'user friendly', because a new user would have no idea where the taskbar / startmenu is, and if it's not by default displayed they freak out. But not having to travel back and forth to the menu bar saves kilometres of 'mousing', so therefore I think eventually it's far more user friendly.
Apple didn't copy this behaviour yet? Or maybe they invented it? After all, they bought NextStep, the predecessor of WMaker long time ago.
*probably existed earlier, but those I'm aware of
It's inevitable Mac will get more flaks in linux forum. I can use all three major OS with ease and I think you have to to be a technician.
There are good things about Mac and I wish other OS refine their aesthetic like Mac. I actually like the way apps look and designed on Mac, functionality is a different story. But it has a standard of look and third party apps are required to live up to it, Linux and Windows could use a little of that. I've opened Macbook before and they are very durable.
I probably have mentioned this before and don't know why I haven't heard horror story about this. In Finder, if you copy a folder of the same name over another, it doesn't merge the files but completely wipe out the latter folder. Yes you can command line or sync, but that doesn't solve the fact that Finder is a toy. If you want a good explorer for Mac you have to pay for one.
I wanted a small ultrapowerful laptop, good thing sense prevails and I got a Thinkpad instead of Macbook, albeit the sexy sleekiness that'll allow me to hangout at Starbucks and ability to not get sue to use MacOS even though I could get it working on regular pc.
There are good things about Mac and I wish other OS refine their aesthetic like Mac. I actually like the way apps look and designed on Mac, functionality is a different story. But it has a standard of look and third party apps are required to live up to it, Linux and Windows could use a little of that. I've opened Macbook before and they are very durable.
I probably have mentioned this before and don't know why I haven't heard horror story about this. In Finder, if you copy a folder of the same name over another, it doesn't merge the files but completely wipe out the latter folder. Yes you can command line or sync, but that doesn't solve the fact that Finder is a toy. If you want a good explorer for Mac you have to pay for one.
I wanted a small ultrapowerful laptop, good thing sense prevails and I got a Thinkpad instead of Macbook, albeit the sexy sleekiness that'll allow me to hangout at Starbucks and ability to not get sue to use MacOS even though I could get it working on regular pc.
Whenever the Apple versus Linux meme comes up...
Whenever the Apple versus Linux meme comes up -- or the incessant media barrage gets to me, and I actually consider shelling out hard cash for Apple hardware -- I remember these blog posts by Mark Pilgrim (who was once an Apple fan's Apple fan)
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/06/02/when-the-bough-b...
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/06/16/juggling-oranges
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/06/02/one-year-with-li...
and since then, apparently his whole family has followed his example.
I still recommend these posts, to anyone who want's to understand why free/open software and free/open standards matter (and maybe why Apple isn't really open in either sphere).
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/06/02/when-the-bough-b...
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/06/16/juggling-oranges
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/06/02/one-year-with-li...
and since then, apparently his whole family has followed his example.
I still recommend these posts, to anyone who want's to understand why free/open software and free/open standards matter (and maybe why Apple isn't really open in either sphere).
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Um what?