Things you thought would be bad in OSX but aren't really.

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
This is a thread for all of us that criticized OSX before we got our hands on it and then realized that some of our criticizims weren't totally valid.

Here's my list:



1) The stop light isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I haven't accidently clicked on another button because they are too close, like I thought I would.



2) Apple Menu. It's still not what I want, I'd like more options, but I don't really miss the old style apple menu.



3) The Finder. Well, mostly the spawning of new windows (or lack thereof). I kinda like having it all open in one window and having the option to make a folder open in a new window.



Gee, that's all I can think of right now. Unfortunately, most of my critiques of OSX have proved valid for me. Maybe I'll just have to get used to it some more.

Anyone else?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    daverdaver Posts: 496member
    The new Apple menu isn't so bad.



    I had concerns back in 1999 when early rumours about a dramatically different Mac OS X Finder began to surface, but I suppose most of them were unfounded. The Finder still needs work, but I must say that column view does indeed rock!
  • Reply 2 of 18
    When I first started reading about OS X I absolutely hated the idea of the Dock. I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard of, and was afraid it was going to turn into some sort of bastardized taskbar. Now, while I don't love the Dock, I rather like it, especially with the customization I've done to it (on the right side, pinned at the end, and transparent).



    The stoplights have always pissed me off, not because they're too close together or to un-intuitive, but because of the stupid colors. I couldn't stand setting in in Graphite, because I really like the blue elsewhere. Fortunately Circular Blue Widgets solved my problem.



    Conclusion: I like OS X!
  • Reply 3 of 18
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    OS X, in general, is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Not necessarily because Apple has made it great, but because of Shareware authors that brought the most needed functionality back (WindowShade X, ClassicMenu, Application Menu, Themes, etc.), and because of me learning AppleScript.



    Apple made OS X wonderfully, and it is exactly what they wanted it to be. However, my desktop looks just like my OS 9 desktop now--just 10 times more powerful.



    Yesterday, I downloaded/read email, surfed the internet, and watched a DVD simultaneously -- on my 400MHz iMac DVSE -- without a freeze or crash. That's just cool. :cool:
  • Reply 4 of 18
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    I never really joined in on much of the OS X bashing, so I can't say there are things I thought would be terrible that aren't.



    That said, the things that *do* annoy me on a regular basis are the lack of labels for folders, and lack of spring-loaded folders. That, and the inability for the Finder to remember column widths and sort by type within a column....but those arent so major that it prevents me from using the Finder effectively.



    With help from TinkerTool, BatChmod, and Windowshade X, all the other annoyances are taken care of with relative ease.



    [ 11-29-2001: Message edited by: Moogs ? ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 18
    kelibkelib Posts: 740member
    Classic app streaming is far better than I expected it to be. Living abroad makes me 'dependant' on Web Radio broadcasting and it actually works in classic, Win Med Player and RealPlayer Media work allright and I certeinly didn't expect'em to
  • Reply 6 of 18
    [quote]Originally posted by kaboom:

    <strong>1) The stop light isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I haven't accidently clicked on another button because they are too close, like I thought I would.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The odd thing for me is, I always click the correct "stoplight" that I want, but I nearly always miss my target when I'm clicking stuff on the Dock! It gets really annoying (and funny), and I'm trying to launch OmniWeb, and I end up clicking about 4 icons around it before actually hitting OmniWeb. I don't know what I have such a big problem hitting targets on the dock. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
  • Reply 7 of 18
    1. The dock. I hated it when I saw pics, but after using it for a few weeks, I love it. I don't want to use an OS without the dock. Sure, it could use some refinement, but it's still great for launching and switching apps. Plus I have several folders in it filled with aliases, it's like having multiple Apple menus. The dock takes the best part of OS 9, the Apple menu, and it multiplies it, and expands on it. Great job, Apple..er, I mean, NeXT.



    2. Window widgets. I was prepared to hate 'em, now i love em. They aren't too close to each other for, and I like having them all together. They are highly refined, too. I love how they light up when I get near them, and how I can control windows in the background. It's also cool how unsaved docs have a dot in the close button. Very cool.



    3. Speed....sort of. I knew it was bad, but Apple has improved it. They need to speed up OS X further, but at least we know they're working on it.
  • Reply 8 of 18
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg:

    <strong>1. The dock. I hated it when I saw pics, but after using it for a few weeks, I love it. I don't want to use an OS without the dock. Sure, it could use some refinement, but it's still great for launching and switching apps. Plus I have several folders in it filled with aliases, it's like having multiple Apple menus. The dock takes the best part of OS 9, the Apple menu, and it multiplies it, and expands on it. Great job, Apple..er, I mean, NeXT.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I felt/feel the same exact way.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    I believe OS10.1 is a great improvement over OS10.0. But I don't think it is mature enough yet. There are still many rough edges.



    I think it will be a few more revisions -- 10.3, 10.4 -- before we start to see some real maturity in OS10, when it will have the great fit and finish of OS9.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    Aqua





    I can remember saying "I want it (OSX) just like OS9 with all that protected memory stuff!!!".
  • Reply 11 of 18
    I still hate that little window widget in the upper right hand corner... honestly, how often do you need to hide the address bar (or whatever it's called)? A Windowshade button would have been far, FAR more useful.



    As far as the other stuff... ya know, there are already a bunch of utilities that make Mac OS X behave very similarly to OS 9. I downloaded a couple, but I haven't used them. I know that the OS X way of doing things isn't necessarily better or worse in many respects, just different, and I need to get used to it before I dismiss it.



    I do wish, though, that the Classic environment was more like X. One second I have an Applications Menu, the next second I don't. One second I have an Apple Menu, the next I don't. It's annoying, and I can see that it's going to be very confusing to my Mac users when I finally switch them over.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    [quote]Originally posted by Mr.Potatohead:

    <strong>I do wish, though, that the Classic environment was more like X. One second I have an Applications Menu, the next second I don't. One second I have an Apple Menu, the next I don't. It's annoying, and I can see that it's going to be very confusing to my Mac users when I finally switch them over.</strong><hr></blockquote> not this again...



    Classic is supposed to be a jarring experience. Like it or not, this is Apple's not-so-subtle way of getting developers off their asses to Carbonize their software. If Classic worked and looked just like the rest of OSX, there would be very little incentive for these developers to update their code.
  • Reply 13 of 18
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    To be honest, lately, I've been really enjoying OSX. The multi-tasking and protected memory are really outstanding. The GUI and Finder still need refinement, but I like them a lot as well.



    I've been really, really enjoying OSX.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    Classic

    I didn't think it would work as well as it does. I am really impressed that it is so smooth and reliable. It seems that programs work better in Classic than when booted in OS 9. It still impresses me that I can have both an OS 9 and an OS X program open and can drag stuff from the window of one app to a window of the other app, across OSs.



    I rarely use the doc. I hit it less than once a day. I can use the contextual menus to put stuff in the trash, command-H hides most items, Application Switcher Menu gives me convenient access to currently running programs via a list with actual names attached to their icons.



    For frequently used programs and files I have a folder of aliases on the desktop. I made an image consisting of large pastel rectangles and set it as the background image for this folder. Then i positioned the aliases in different areas depening on their classification. They are easy to find, I can fit a lot more in a window than I could in the doc and they don't move around in unwanted ways.



    On my system I set the doc to smallest possible size, hide it and turn off magnification.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by NeoMac:

    <strong>To be honest, lately, I've been really enjoying OSX. The multi-tasking and protected memory are really outstanding. The GUI and Finder still need refinement, but I like them a lot as well.



    I've been really, really enjoying OSX. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    That's exactly how I feel.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    I can't think of much. I grabbed the Beta when it came out, so I was already prepared for a lot of the quirks of OS X when I finally made the switch full-time.



    I'll just list a few minor annoyances that have stuck with me since the Beta days:



    1) Occasionally, for no apparent reason, after clicking something the OS thinks my mouse is still down. When I go to click an item (say, in the Dock) the whole window I was in gets dragged around until I click again. Very annoying.



    2) I still don't like Command-N creating a new Finder window. Usually if I need a new window I just double-click the HD icon. My most used folders are already in the Dock...



    3) Would it have been such a bad thing to make enabling 'anonymous FTP' easier, and just make a warning dialog or something? Took me an entire day of searching, fiddling around with folders & NetInfo Manager and finally having to login as root for permission changes to do this, just so I could share some files with friends. Would've been easier to create half a dozen FTP accounts in the end. :/



    Now, things I love, and didn't expect:



    A) CD burning. I hated the burner app that came with OS 9, and expected the same with OS X... but it's so smooth! Admittedly, it takes longer to prepare a disc than it did with Toast, but I can make CDs in a snap.



    B) I opened up my new iBook, ran through the setup procedure and plugged in my Ethernet cable... and I had Internet access! Forget step three, there was no step two!



    C) I can access the campus Windows file servers from my Mac now!



    D) Text Edit is much nicer than SimpleText. RTF support is very helpful for me. I just wish it could still save in SimpleText format, but oh well.



    That's all for now.
  • Reply 17 of 18
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    I love OS X and use it exclusively now as is. @ things still bug me though.



    Command N!!! This should make a new folder. I would love for a utility to transpose those two commands.



    Coammand L.... to make an alias? Come on, gimme command M back.



    Tinker tool developer, are you listening?
  • Reply 18 of 18
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by Outsider:

    <strong>Command N!!! This should make a new folder. I would love for a utility to transpose those two commands.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Definately. I had overlooked that until today when I wanted to make a new folder and I got a new window instead.
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