There's been continuous updates for iWork in the past couple years, most recently full Lion support and coming soon updates for full iCloud support. They're giving these updates away for free, don't complain that they haven't put a new year tag on it and put it up for sale for another $60.
They are all basic updates which one would expect over time. I would gladly pay to upgrade to iWork 12 with a host of new features and I suspect a lot of other people would to.
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac. Actually in Lion any side, any corner, and "maximize" button in MacOS X finder window toggles from default to whatever the program running determines is maximum OR whatever you manually adjust it to. Full screen mode for a window I have never found useful.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner. Unless you are in full screen mode then you can whistle for window controls.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd Not at all - the menu bar is a system function not a program function - regardless of the fact that the program uses the menu bar for control and navigation. It would be really inconvenient to have to hunt around for the menu bar when you switch from program to program.
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't not an issue for me - I'm not caps lock challenged.
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window. Obviously your workflows are different than mine because I would find that really annoying - I put files where I want them.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts. Or conversely you just don't know enough of the Mac keyboard short cuts - there are plenty.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
It's fine that you are more familiar with Windows than MacOS - and that is painfully obvious from your commentary. I move back and forth from Windows XP/7 to MacOS Snow Leopard and Lion several times a day and completely fail to have the issues you have called out here - but that might just be the level of experience I have in working on multiple platforms for many years.
Maybe the should ask Google to provide some statistics on searches along the lines of "where did the frickin' Convert Table to Text option go in Word 2007 and why can't I use a keyboard shortcut to get there like I used to. or why isn't Print Preview on the menu bar anywhere anymore. Or why can't I add my own macro to the toolbar anymore - or why can't I change the icon of my macros that I added to the (whatever they call that quick access toolbar at the top) in excel? or - well I think you get the idea.
I think you wouldn't get as many hits as you suspect.
You're a power user and from the old guard. Looking at the kind of pictures below that are coming out of Microsoft it's clear to me that (just like Apple for a number of years now) the days of engineers coding UI's for power users is gone.
Having used Windows for many years, I might not be 100% objective, but I feel that Explorer is vastly superior to Finder for anyone who actually uses the file system. As a developer and enterprise worker, I routinely deal with hundreds of files. Finder makes saving and opening files much more difficult than it should be. An indication of Finder weakness is the number of Finder add ons that have found a market. You just don't see that among Windows users. Another indication is the typical Mac user's overloaded desktop.
That said, I'm not overly impressed with the ribbon.
I would have agreed with you in the past, but since the dawn of Leopard, I have found myself to be far more productive using the Finder than Windows Explorer. What I do is customize my toolbar in the Finder, and keep two Finder windows open, in column view. I can do anything I need, and I can do it faster than in Windows, and without 3rd party add-ons.
In fact, when I have to work with Windows, the 1st thing I do now is put Windows Explorer in list view, and open two instances of Windows Explorer so I can work more like I do on the Mac.
I remember when they used to LAUGH at us Mac users...1999 - 2000...I don't think they're laughing anymore, somehow.
Cheers,
Cameron
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Microsoft has started to leak details of its plans for the upcoming release of Windows 8, highlighting a very different design philosophy compared to Apple's existing Mac OS X Lion.
A new blog entry by Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's president of its Windows Division, indicates that one key element of Windows 8 will take the new release in a very different direction than Apple's outline for Mac OS X.
Sinofsky detailed his thinking behind changes planned for Windows Explorer, which is roughly analogous to Mac OS X's Finder.
A history of Windows file browsing
The Windows file system manager originally appeared as "MS DOS Executive," which exposed DOS commands in a graphical environment with little similarity to the icon-centric Mac desktop.
As Windows began to grow in popularity, Microsoft created an embellished graphical representation of the file system with File Manager. Then, as web browsing became popular, Microsoft brought a browser-like interface to the file system, renaming File Manager as Windows Explorer, complete with a URL-like address bar and prominent back button.
Microsoft has incrementally incorporated Mac-like interface elements in Windows Explorer, with icon-centric file browsing that links documents to their preferred application. Particularly since the release of Mac OS X, Microsoft has incorporated a similar user environment focus that presents the user's documents, pictures, music and videos rather than just a raw window into the root file system.
Windows 8 Ribbonized
However, Microsoft's biggest changes in Windows 8 will be an Office-like Ribbon that presents all the major functions in a tall, window-wide control bar. This marks a radical change in thinking compared to Apple's increasingly minimalistic interface in the Finder, which limits the default buttons to a grouping of view options, a new sorting feature in Mac OS X Lion, a Quick View button, an Action button, and a search field.
Microsoft's Windows 8 Explorer presents 19 visible buttons in five categories, and that's just the Home tab. The Ribbon also supplies four other tabs, which function similar to the Mac's main Menu Bar. Sinofsky explains, "The Home tab is the heart of our new, much more streamlined Explorer experience. The commands that make up 84% of what customers do in Explorer are now all available on this one tab."
Microsoft's Office Ribbon design is so different from the Mac environment that the company had to create a hybrid version of Office for Mac to adapt portions of the Ribbon concept into a window that Mac users could relate to. Apple's own design for iWork similarly takes a very different design path to present a limited number of default toolbar buttons. along with a strip of contextual controls (contrasted below).
Outside of the graphical interface, Microsoft's design goals for Windows 8 also mark a new era of computing centered around mobile devices such as tablets. Existing Windows 7 apps won't run on future ARM-based tablets, but a new secondary environment of web-based apps will, something Microsoft hopes will enable Windows to remain relevant even as the conventional PC market has plateaued and begun to shrink globally.
Apple sandboxes the file system
Apple's design direction for Mac OS X has opted to incorporate a variety of design elements originally created for iPad, including a simplified, window-less Full Screen mode for apps; limited and simplified control buttons in toolbars; an increasing use of touchpad gestures; and a new security model that encapsulates apps and their documents in a private sandbox.
Apple's iOS originally appeared on the iPhone without any "file browser," and even the latest version works hard to avoid any exposure of the underlying file system, despite supporting document-centric apps like iWork. Apps on iOS simply can not present a global view of the underlying filesystem, because all they can see is their own sandbox.
Apple's iCloud similarly reduces the exposure of file system, replacing MobileMe's iDisk with a new Documents and Data feature that secures an app's files and data from access by malware while making the user's files (and any changes) easier to manage across various devices.
Future versions of Mac OS X will likely continue along the same path, focusing upon self contained apps that create files, rather than a wide open file system (and the security issues related with having any piece of user-level software capable of accessing or wiping out any files in the local user folder).
Apple has demonstrated a mechanism for Mac OS X and iCloud that will allow apps to access other files, but only with the explicit permission of the user, adding a new level of per-app security that goes beyond the last decade's user-level security permissions.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
The whole "clipboard" section is unnecessary and adds to confusion. Although clipboard can be used to copy, delete, and move files and directories, using clipboard for file management is ambiguous and made redundant with "organization" section that immediately follows.
What's the difference between "open" and "edit"?
"Select" section is also after thought. If they care about usability, learn from how email clients handle selection and put checkbox next to each file and directory.
Ultimately, Explorer/Finder are supposed to do just one of two functions: (1) helping users organize and (2) helping users find stuff. Apple is moving towards the direction of nixing Finder altogether (on iOS, you don't worry about organizing files... it just works). But Microsoft is choosing to stay in the past.
The main problem I have with the ribbon in Windows is that you can't add your own icons/functions to it the way you could in earlier Windows interfaces. For example, in Word, I like to have the crossout and small caps formatting options up there for quick access. In Excel, I added extra default border options.
In Mac OS, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my own control over my file organization. I don't think I want the file system hidden.
But I do agree that many of the functions that Microsoft has added to the ribbon for this File Explorer are redundant and/or useless. Hopefully, that's cutomizable. (Or hopefully, by then I won't have to use Windows machines anymore.)
One thing I think Windows has always done better is the mini-finder/explorer (the one you see when you open or save a file from within an application). On the Mac, you can't take any other actions. But in Windows, you can, for example, delete files that you no longer need and then save/open the file. I think there was an add-on tool for Mac OS7 that did the same, possibly from Peter Norton.
Wow. In Lion you finally can! 15 year later after Windows. This just tells me how immature Mac OS is. Well, for me it is still unavailable: my IT department advised us against upgrading to Lion due to some issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
2) There is no Maximize button in Mac OS X, it's an Optimize button.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS. "Optimize" is a partial solution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Seems to be a common enough complain but I've never understood why someone would want to have their Menu Bar on a non-primary display. That's just backasswards.
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
That's a bald face lie.
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one. This just proves my point: Mac caps lock indicator is less explicite: it is icon based vs. the actual text message on Windows. Mac has no tool tip or anything: how a new OS X user suppose to know what that icon means? Bad for usability. Also Mac keeps resetting my user name to my first and last name: very annoying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
You can pin anything you'd like to the sidebar in Finder. You can pin things to the Dock.
Sure you can pin, but how many things can you pin until your sidebar is clattered? 10? Windows Libraries feature is much more powerful: you can pin unlimited number of files and you can create hierarchical nested structure to organize them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Do you not understand the concept of a keyboard shortcut. You see you enable/disable, change the keys, and add/remove items right from System Preferences.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS.
Except you can in Lion. Not that anyone has any reason to.
Quote:
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
Worthless analogy. Or maybe you're Schrödinger and can sit in both seats at once.
Quote:
?cluttered [siNc]?
Quote:
...unlimited number of files? ...hierarchical nested structure...
OH, yeah⸮ MUCH better⸮ This is the way to do things⸮
Quote:
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only?
"Hey, guys, I have a great idea. Let's completely ignore all advances in GUI technology since 1982 and just use our keyboards for everything."
Honestly, I wouldn't call this a drastic departure at all, as far as the concept for interface elements is concerned. To the contrary, it seems apparent, to me anyway, that the "Ribbon" is directly lifted from the "Format Bar" that Apple designed for iWork, although poorly implemented (as usual).
The 'departure' I see going on in Windows 8 is that Microsoft has taken the "Ribbon" (an interface appropriate for applications) and applied it to a filesystem browser, while also choosing to show every function, including the kitchen sink, by default (clutter).
Apple on the other hand provides tools relevant to file management and shows only the most basic set of tools by default. As most Mac users should know by now, the Finder's toolbar is customizable with all sorts of buttons. You can make the Finder toolbar almost (almost) as cluttered as Windows' if you want to. There is another difference though - the "Ribbon" buttons are huge, look like they're just randomly thrown on there, many being completely pointless, and they take up way too much precious vertical screen real estate.
What is truly different though, is the potential for Windows 8 to get the "Tiles" interface of Windows Mobile, while Apple makes MacOS Lion (and future releases) more like iOS. That's where I think we might start to see a real departure, with MS coming up with their own ideas for the 1st time in history.
Great. Not happy with the direction Lion is taking, and now MS is bringing that abomination known as the Ribbon Interface to the next version of Windows.
Can anyone recommend a flavor of Linux for me to move to???
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one. This just proves my point: Mac caps lock indicator is less explicite: it is icon based vs. the actual text message on Windows. Mac has no tool tip or anything: how a new OS X user suppose to know what that icon means? Bad for usability. Also Mac keeps resetting my user name to my first and last name: very annoying
Dear User,
I, your OS, bid you hello. You may not be aware of this and it could be entirely intentional on your part but I feel I must inform you of your current situation as you spend the next moment typing your password into the appropriate field. My apologies for treating you like a complete moron and wasting your time as if are likely to miss the visual indicator on screen in the password field in which you are typing or the visual indicator on the keyboard, if you happen to be a touch typist, but I felt I must write a pointless paragraph and give you a third visual clue that your caps locks is enabled.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
Control+F2.
Control+F3 goes to the Dock, Control+F8 goes to the Status Menus. Using Control+F7 you can turn on tab movement between all UI elements, rather than just those that would expect keyboard input (like text boxes). Under Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Keyboard & Text Input they're all listed. They've been there for quite some time.
Wow. In Lion you finally can! 15 year later after Windows. This just tells me how immature Mac OS is. Well, for me it is still unavailable: my IT department advised us against upgrading to Lion due to some issues.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS. "Optimize" is a partial solution.
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one. This just proves my point: Mac caps lock indicator is less explicite: it is icon based vs. the actual text message on Windows. Mac has no tool tip or anything: how a new OS X user suppose to know what that icon means? Bad for usability. Also Mac keeps resetting my user name to my first and last name: very annoying.
Sure you can pin, but how many things can you pin until your sidebar is clattered? 10? Windows Libraries feature is much more powerful: you can pin unlimited number of files and you can create hierarchical nested structure to organize them.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
windows is a mess. if you leave it for a good length of time then come back you can see that. its nice to not be constantly concerned that every link, attachment, etc is possible malware and going to bring you to a screeching halt. nice to not have to worry every single day if your machine has the latest patches for every program on board, nice that you can actually find everything easily, nice to not be waiting on some bizarre slowdown cuz an app decided to hog the cpu, nice to not be hassled or even completely shutdown cuz your 'license key' didn't activate, or that your install can't be 'activated' cuz you did a bare metal and not an 'upgrade' (of course you find out after you spent 8 hours installing, patching).
anyone still buying this product has no sense and any business not currently working to get it removed is managed by morons.
Great. Not happy with the direction Lion is taking, and now MS is bringing that abomination known as the Ribbon Interface to the next version of Windows.
Can anyone recommend a flavor of Linux for me to move to???
With changes at Apple likely in the near future i wouldn't abandon os x, ios. with steve gone i imagine some loosening of the reins to take place (particularly when stock goes down, sales slow). It really is a big change in paradigm for computer use that Lion is ushering in. for many it will be an amazing, helpful change.
But for some that need extreme control you can always go with Ubuntu or Fedora. I personally use Ubuntu as my day to day machine but am contemplating a return to os x....just waiting to see what happens with hardware in the next few months.
I, your OS, bid you hello. You may not be aware of this and it could be entirely intentional on your part but I feel I must inform you of your current situation as you spend the next moment typing your password into the appropriate field. My apologies for treating you like a complete moron and wasting your time as if are likely to miss the visual indicator on screen in the password field in which you are typing or the visual indicator on the keyboard, if you happen to be a touch typist, but I felt I must write a pointless paragraph and give you a third visual clue that your caps locks is enabled.
Sincerely,
Mac OS X
Why don't you submit that to Apple.
Brilliant writing. But any suggestion submitted to apple will take 15 years to implement. Mac OS does have the verbal message "incorrect name or password" - no icon here. I am sure you don't mind that they treat you "like a complete moron"?
Control+F3 goes to the Dock, Control+F8 goes to the Status Menus. Using Control+F7 you can turn on tab movement between all UI elements, rather than just those that would expect keyboard input (like text boxes). Under Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Keyboard & Text Input they're all listed. They've been there for quite some time.
It may sound blasphemous, but my favorite file manager is Windows old 3.1 interface. Everything is listed and easy to see. I'm not a big fan of finder at all. Due to iPhoto's insane file management system, I save most of my photos in my "Pictures" folder in finder. However, if I pull one up, hitting the arrow button won't automatically go to the next picture. No, instead I have to select all photos I "might" want to browse and open them in Preview.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the delete button. Seriously, I've selected a file and hit delete, move it to the trash! Don't sit there and beep at me like you don't know what the f*** I want.
It's nice that you can put a unique background on each desktop in MC, but I'd like the option to rename the various desktops to something more useful than Desktop, Desktop 2, Desktop 3, etc.
True, and I've requested it. (You can too, go to apple.com/feedback)
You could, of course, also merge the desired name onto a set of different background images and get close to the same thing... (Mail, News, Development, ...)
True, and I've requested it. (You can too, go to apple.com/feedback)
You could, of course, also merge the desired name onto a set of different background images and get close to the same thing... (Mail, News, Development, ...)
Also (and I just found this out, to great annoyance), each Desktop in the new Spaces is managed by different preferences, so when you change, say, the time interval by which each Desktop cycles its images, it changes for THAT Space alone. The rest cycle by their own rate.
Comments
There's been continuous updates for iWork in the past couple years, most recently full Lion support and coming soon updates for full iCloud support. They're giving these updates away for free, don't complain that they haven't put a new year tag on it and put it up for sale for another $60.
They are all basic updates which one would expect over time. I would gladly pay to upgrade to iWork 12 with a host of new features and I suspect a lot of other people would to.
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac. Actually in Lion any side, any corner, and "maximize" button in MacOS X finder window toggles from default to whatever the program running determines is maximum OR whatever you manually adjust it to. Full screen mode for a window I have never found useful.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner. Unless you are in full screen mode then you can whistle for window controls.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window. Obviously your workflows are different than mine because I would find that really annoying - I put files where I want them.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts. Or conversely you just don't know enough of the Mac keyboard short cuts - there are plenty.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
It's fine that you are more familiar with Windows than MacOS - and that is painfully obvious from your commentary. I move back and forth from Windows XP/7 to MacOS Snow Leopard and Lion several times a day and completely fail to have the issues you have called out here - but that might just be the level of experience I have in working on multiple platforms for many years.
Maybe the should ask Google to provide some statistics on searches along the lines of "where did the frickin' Convert Table to Text option go in Word 2007 and why can't I use a keyboard shortcut to get there like I used to. or why isn't Print Preview on the menu bar anywhere anymore. Or why can't I add my own macro to the toolbar anymore - or why can't I change the icon of my macros that I added to the (whatever they call that quick access toolbar at the top) in excel? or - well I think you get the idea.
I think you wouldn't get as many hits as you suspect.
You're a power user and from the old guard. Looking at the kind of pictures below that are coming out of Microsoft it's clear to me that (just like Apple for a number of years now) the days of engineers coding UI's for power users is gone.
Having used Windows for many years, I might not be 100% objective, but I feel that Explorer is vastly superior to Finder for anyone who actually uses the file system. As a developer and enterprise worker, I routinely deal with hundreds of files. Finder makes saving and opening files much more difficult than it should be. An indication of Finder weakness is the number of Finder add ons that have found a market. You just don't see that among Windows users. Another indication is the typical Mac user's overloaded desktop.
That said, I'm not overly impressed with the ribbon.
I would have agreed with you in the past, but since the dawn of Leopard, I have found myself to be far more productive using the Finder than Windows Explorer. What I do is customize my toolbar in the Finder, and keep two Finder windows open, in column view. I can do anything I need, and I can do it faster than in Windows, and without 3rd party add-ons.
In fact, when I have to work with Windows, the 1st thing I do now is put Windows Explorer in list view, and open two instances of Windows Explorer so I can work more like I do on the Mac.
Shades of this classic...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k
I remember when they used to LAUGH at us Mac users...1999 - 2000...I don't think they're laughing anymore, somehow.
Cheers,
Cameron
Microsoft has started to leak details of its plans for the upcoming release of Windows 8, highlighting a very different design philosophy compared to Apple's existing Mac OS X Lion.
A new blog entry by Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's president of its Windows Division, indicates that one key element of Windows 8 will take the new release in a very different direction than Apple's outline for Mac OS X.
Sinofsky detailed his thinking behind changes planned for Windows Explorer, which is roughly analogous to Mac OS X's Finder.
A history of Windows file browsing
The Windows file system manager originally appeared as "MS DOS Executive," which exposed DOS commands in a graphical environment with little similarity to the icon-centric Mac desktop.
As Windows began to grow in popularity, Microsoft created an embellished graphical representation of the file system with File Manager. Then, as web browsing became popular, Microsoft brought a browser-like interface to the file system, renaming File Manager as Windows Explorer, complete with a URL-like address bar and prominent back button.
Microsoft has incrementally incorporated Mac-like interface elements in Windows Explorer, with icon-centric file browsing that links documents to their preferred application. Particularly since the release of Mac OS X, Microsoft has incorporated a similar user environment focus that presents the user's documents, pictures, music and videos rather than just a raw window into the root file system.
Windows 8 Ribbonized
However, Microsoft's biggest changes in Windows 8 will be an Office-like Ribbon that presents all the major functions in a tall, window-wide control bar. This marks a radical change in thinking compared to Apple's increasingly minimalistic interface in the Finder, which limits the default buttons to a grouping of view options, a new sorting feature in Mac OS X Lion, a Quick View button, an Action button, and a search field.
Microsoft's Windows 8 Explorer presents 19 visible buttons in five categories, and that's just the Home tab. The Ribbon also supplies four other tabs, which function similar to the Mac's main Menu Bar. Sinofsky explains, "The Home tab is the heart of our new, much more streamlined Explorer experience. The commands that make up 84% of what customers do in Explorer are now all available on this one tab."
Microsoft's Office Ribbon design is so different from the Mac environment that the company had to create a hybrid version of Office for Mac to adapt portions of the Ribbon concept into a window that Mac users could relate to. Apple's own design for iWork similarly takes a very different design path to present a limited number of default toolbar buttons. along with a strip of contextual controls (contrasted below).
Outside of the graphical interface, Microsoft's design goals for Windows 8 also mark a new era of computing centered around mobile devices such as tablets. Existing Windows 7 apps won't run on future ARM-based tablets, but a new secondary environment of web-based apps will, something Microsoft hopes will enable Windows to remain relevant even as the conventional PC market has plateaued and begun to shrink globally.
Apple sandboxes the file system
Apple's design direction for Mac OS X has opted to incorporate a variety of design elements originally created for iPad, including a simplified, window-less Full Screen mode for apps; limited and simplified control buttons in toolbars; an increasing use of touchpad gestures; and a new security model that encapsulates apps and their documents in a private sandbox.
Apple's iOS originally appeared on the iPhone without any "file browser," and even the latest version works hard to avoid any exposure of the underlying file system, despite supporting document-centric apps like iWork. Apps on iOS simply can not present a global view of the underlying filesystem, because all they can see is their own sandbox.
Apple's iCloud similarly reduces the exposure of file system, replacing MobileMe's iDisk with a new Documents and Data feature that secures an app's files and data from access by malware while making the user's files (and any changes) easier to manage across various devices.
Future versions of Mac OS X will likely continue along the same path, focusing upon self contained apps that create files, rather than a wide open file system (and the security issues related with having any piece of user-level software capable of accessing or wiping out any files in the local user folder).
Apple has demonstrated a mechanism for Mac OS X and iCloud that will allow apps to access other files, but only with the explicit permission of the user, adding a new level of per-app security that goes beyond the last decade's user-level security permissions.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
- The whole "clipboard" section is unnecessary and adds to confusion. Although clipboard can be used to copy, delete, and move files and directories, using clipboard for file management is ambiguous and made redundant with "organization" section that immediately follows.
- What's the difference between "open" and "edit"?
- "Select" section is also after thought. If they care about usability, learn from how email clients handle selection and put checkbox next to each file and directory.
Ultimately, Explorer/Finder are supposed to do just one of two functions: (1) helping users organize and (2) helping users find stuff. Apple is moving towards the direction of nixing Finder altogether (on iOS, you don't worry about organizing files... it just works). But Microsoft is choosing to stay in the past.The main problem I have with the ribbon in Windows is that you can't add your own icons/functions to it the way you could in earlier Windows interfaces. For example, in Word, I like to have the crossout and small caps formatting options up there for quick access. In Excel, I added extra default border options.
In Mac OS, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my own control over my file organization. I don't think I want the file system hidden.
But I do agree that many of the functions that Microsoft has added to the ribbon for this File Explorer are redundant and/or useless. Hopefully, that's cutomizable. (Or hopefully, by then I won't have to use Windows machines anymore.)
One thing I think Windows has always done better is the mini-finder/explorer (the one you see when you open or save a file from within an application). On the Mac, you can't take any other actions. But in Windows, you can, for example, delete files that you no longer need and then save/open the file. I think there was an add-on tool for Mac OS7 that did the same, possibly from Peter Norton.
1) You can resize a window from any edge in Lion.
Wow. In Lion you finally can! 15 year later after Windows. This just tells me how immature Mac OS is. Well, for me it is still unavailable: my IT department advised us against upgrading to Lion due to some issues.
2) There is no Maximize button in Mac OS X, it's an Optimize button.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS. "Optimize" is a partial solution.
Seems to be a common enough complain but I've never understood why someone would want to have their Menu Bar on a non-primary display. That's just backasswards.
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
That's a bald face lie.
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one.
You can pin anything you'd like to the sidebar in Finder. You can pin things to the Dock.
Sure you can pin, but how many things can you pin until your sidebar is clattered? 10? Windows Libraries feature is much more powerful: you can pin unlimited number of files and you can create hierarchical nested structure to organize them.
Do you not understand the concept of a keyboard shortcut. You see you enable/disable, change the keys, and add/remove items right from System Preferences.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS.
Except you can in Lion. Not that anyone has any reason to.
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
Worthless analogy. Or maybe you're Schrödinger and can sit in both seats at once.
?cluttered [siNc]?
...unlimited number of files? ...hierarchical nested structure...
OH, yeah⸮ MUCH better⸮ This is the way to do things⸮
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only?
"Hey, guys, I have a great idea. Let's completely ignore all advances in GUI technology since 1982 and just use our keyboards for everything."
The 'departure' I see going on in Windows 8 is that Microsoft has taken the "Ribbon" (an interface appropriate for applications) and applied it to a filesystem browser, while also choosing to show every function, including the kitchen sink, by default (clutter).
Apple on the other hand provides tools relevant to file management and shows only the most basic set of tools by default. As most Mac users should know by now, the Finder's toolbar is customizable with all sorts of buttons. You can make the Finder toolbar almost (almost) as cluttered as Windows' if you want to. There is another difference though - the "Ribbon" buttons are huge, look like they're just randomly thrown on there, many being completely pointless, and they take up way too much precious vertical screen real estate.
What is truly different though, is the potential for Windows 8 to get the "Tiles" interface of Windows Mobile, while Apple makes MacOS Lion (and future releases) more like iOS. That's where I think we might start to see a real departure, with MS coming up with their own ideas for the 1st time in history.
Can anyone recommend a flavor of Linux for me to move to???
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
Control+F2.
Control+F3 goes to the Dock, Control+F8 goes to the Status Menus. Using Control+F7 you can turn on tab movement between all UI elements, rather than just those that would expect keyboard input (like text boxes). Under Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Keyboard & Text Input they're all listed. They've been there for quite some time.
Wow. In Lion you finally can! 15 year later after Windows. This just tells me how immature Mac OS is. Well, for me it is still unavailable: my IT department advised us against upgrading to Lion due to some issues.
That's right: you can't maximize window in Mac OS. "Optimize" is a partial solution.
Well, if you are in driver seat, would you want your steering weel to be on passenger side? "That's just backasswards."
Yes, I am embarrassed about this one.
Sure you can pin, but how many things can you pin until your sidebar is clattered? 10? Windows Libraries feature is much more powerful: you can pin unlimited number of files and you can create hierarchical nested structure to organize them.
Sure Mac has shortcuts, but Window is more keyboard friendly. For instance can you browse the Mac Apple menu using keyboard? On Windows you can browse the Start Menu. Or can you access any of the Photoshop filters using keyboard only? Teach me a trick, because on Windows you can. In fact, you have keyboard only access to a menu bar on any completely unknown to you windows program.
windows is a mess. if you leave it for a good length of time then come back you can see that. its nice to not be constantly concerned that every link, attachment, etc is possible malware and going to bring you to a screeching halt. nice to not have to worry every single day if your machine has the latest patches for every program on board, nice that you can actually find everything easily, nice to not be waiting on some bizarre slowdown cuz an app decided to hog the cpu, nice to not be hassled or even completely shutdown cuz your 'license key' didn't activate, or that your install can't be 'activated' cuz you did a bare metal and not an 'upgrade' (of course you find out after you spent 8 hours installing, patching).
anyone still buying this product has no sense and any business not currently working to get it removed is managed by morons.
Great. Not happy with the direction Lion is taking, and now MS is bringing that abomination known as the Ribbon Interface to the next version of Windows.
Can anyone recommend a flavor of Linux for me to move to???
With changes at Apple likely in the near future i wouldn't abandon os x, ios. with steve gone i imagine some loosening of the reins to take place (particularly when stock goes down, sales slow). It really is a big change in paradigm for computer use that Lion is ushering in. for many it will be an amazing, helpful change.
But for some that need extreme control you can always go with Ubuntu or Fedora. I personally use Ubuntu as my day to day machine but am contemplating a return to os x....just waiting to see what happens with hardware in the next few months.
"Hey, guys, I have a great idea. Let's completely ignore all advances in GUI technology since 1982 and just use our keyboards for everything."
I am disabled veteran - keyboard is easier for me.
Why don't you submit that to Apple.
Brilliant writing. But any suggestion submitted to apple will take 15 years to implement. Mac OS does have the verbal message "incorrect name or password" - no icon here. I am sure you don't mind that they treat you "like a complete moron"?
Control+F2.
Control+F3 goes to the Dock, Control+F8 goes to the Status Menus. Using Control+F7 you can turn on tab movement between all UI elements, rather than just those that would expect keyboard input (like text boxes). Under Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Keyboard & Text Input they're all listed. They've been there for quite some time.
Wow, these are cool shortcuts, thanks.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the delete button. Seriously, I've selected a file and hit delete, move it to the trash! Don't sit there and beep at me like you don't know what the f*** I want.
It's nice that you can put a unique background on each desktop in MC, but I'd like the option to rename the various desktops to something more useful than Desktop, Desktop 2, Desktop 3, etc.
True, and I've requested it. (You can too, go to apple.com/feedback)
You could, of course, also merge the desired name onto a set of different background images and get close to the same thing... (Mail, News, Development, ...)
True, and I've requested it. (You can too, go to apple.com/feedback)
You could, of course, also merge the desired name onto a set of different background images and get close to the same thing... (Mail, News, Development, ...)
Also (and I just found this out, to great annoyance), each Desktop in the new Spaces is managed by different preferences, so when you change, say, the time interval by which each Desktop cycles its images, it changes for THAT Space alone. The rest cycle by their own rate.