That is a much improved UX because you can scan both sides quickly. I couldn't with the current UX. I had to click on icons to see if the settings are there. An example is General, Desktop/Screensaver, and Display... which one lets you change background screen? Which one changes the colors? It's not possible unless you click on one of them and see what options are offered. With this updated UX, you can just scan through the left side and see options on the right side.
Use search in System Preferences to quickly narrow down which one lets you change the desktop picture. Apple made this really fast and ease a couple decades ago. No scanning necessary.
Yes, I tend to just use the search by default, it's quicker than hunting around. So a UI rejig probably won't affect me a whole lot. I like it though.
Personally I am happy to see this. I really hated the grid layout of the System Preferences because with each iteration of macOS the location of each Preference was in a different location on the grid and in a different section and category. Yes there was the search that worked and the alphabetical drop-down menu, but yeah, this was long overdue for a overhaul. Listing by alphabetical is okay, but you still have to scan across and down the rows.
This will also have the benefit of being more consistent and accessibly friendly.
And yes, I've been using the Macintosh for a long time. Back in the Classic Mac OS days, getting to the right Control Panel was easy through the Apple Menu and the Control Panel's Hierarchical Menu to get directly to that Mouse or Clock settings. This I think is a return to that simplicity.
All of the above is where I'm at as well. It bugs the crap out of me that Apple changes the location of items within the System Prefs panel in macOS. To me, it always seems as though it's because of a different software engineer saying "It's my turn!" It's happened so many times there there hasn't been any impetus to see a method in the madness.
But that's nothing. Even worse is when Apple hands of a function to a different item, effectively hiding it. Different settings for a mouse or trackpad can exist in three different locations. And they all won't be found with a search. In both macOS and iOS/iPadOS, Search will often fail to find a needed function, whereas turning to Safari will usually find the answer from iDownload or some other well versed site.
So this is yet another change I'll have to get used to, but maybe not suffer. I'll not have to impress friends and neighbors with my Mac-fu. It may not be Mac canon, but if it's consistent from OS to OS, I'll be very happy. It also makes sense to me to align the three OSs in UX for those of us who use the corresponding devices a lot.
I'm so sick of System Preferences being rearranged. It's absolutely infuriating to have things keep moving around. The move from 10.15 to 11 was stupid enough, and now it's going to be different again AND uglier.
This will perhaps be a controversial change, so I'm only expressing my opinion as a long-time pre-iPhone Apple / Mac user.
From a GUI perspective, this is either great, or terrible, depending on the path people have taken to acquiring an Apple laptop or desktop product. For those of us who have spent years with a traditional Mac / Windows icon grid layout, the new interface can seem simplistic, or even patronizing. Instead of showing all of your top level options on one screen, it sacrifices this for the sake of showing more detailed "second level" options of whatever top level option is already selected. On a touch device with limited screen space, this of course makes more sense. But on a 4k -- let alone 6k -- monitor, it could be argued that it's a misuse or even waste of available desktop space. This sort of change can be seen by some as a "dumbing down" of technology, since it makes things more obvious at the expense of potentially being slower.
On the other hand, pre-computers, a list is a much more natural analog way to record or browse through anything, so scrolling through a list may be easier on the eyes / brain to sort through the top-level items anyway. Besides this, Apple kept shuffling and re-shuffling the categories, which made those of us who are "visual people" have a harder time with each OS to locate the desired item. Like I say, it's hard to know what's a good or bad design move anymore, as technology continues to evolve.
It'll be interesting to see the response to this by others as well.
No kidding, it seems that the concept of "muscle memory" is lost on the UI people at Apple. The order of the System Preferences icons changes with EVERY release. Since I work in an Apple-centric environment in the IT Dept, I've given up trying to quickly locate a given setting, just search for it. I can have 4 different macOS versions come in for something daily.
I'm so sick of System Preferences being rearranged. It's absolutely infuriating to have things keep moving around. The move from 10.15 to 11 was stupid enough, and now it's going to be different again AND uglier.
As I mentioned above, I have a lot of legacy macs. While they are frozen in time, they serve their purpose. Add to that I have several family members for which I am the IT department. There are *many* people this is the case for, and we all live for when gramma calls because "I can't get my email" or "this thing don't have no internet" or "it wants my password but it don't work no more" and ends with "why do these Apple things never work? They just want me to buy more expensive new stuff, and what I have is just fine!" Sigh. So...now we are off to see what is wrong, and often fixing things by talking over the phone requires me to look at my own M1 mac...to see where to direct them to the settings...to see how to configure a new printer, new email, new privacy setting that got somehow reset. now the panels will be vastly different. Yuck.
Just try...try...to set up a new POP email server with a new provider by looking at the old panel that works...then go back to an old system and try to replicate it. I've spent hours. Then I give up...come back to it a few days later....having changed nothing...and it suddenly works. For now reason. The most frustrating software problem to solve is one that is hidden...in some esoteric control that is inaccessible.
AWFUL. There is a reason why i use desktop and not on the go devices. To have a Mac made to be like one those little iPhones and iPads is entirely stupid. Im always keeping on top of updates and now i regret it and Now i am looking how to reverse the so called 'upgrade' what a hassle. Thanks for nothing apple.
Comments
But that's nothing. Even worse is when Apple hands of a function to a different item, effectively hiding it. Different settings for a mouse or trackpad can exist in three different locations. And they all won't be found with a search. In both macOS and iOS/iPadOS, Search will often fail to find a needed function, whereas turning to Safari will usually find the answer from iDownload or some other well versed site.
So this is yet another change I'll have to get used to, but maybe not suffer. I'll not have to impress friends and neighbors with my Mac-fu. It may not be Mac canon, but if it's consistent from OS to OS, I'll be very happy. It also makes sense to me to align the three OSs in UX for those of us who use the corresponding devices a lot.
Just try...try...to set up a new POP email server with a new provider by looking at the old panel that works...then go back to an old system and try to replicate it. I've spent hours. Then I give up...come back to it a few days later....having changed nothing...and it suddenly works. For now reason. The most frustrating software problem to solve is one that is hidden...in some esoteric control that is inaccessible.
I hate this.
Im always keeping on top of updates and now i regret it and Now i am looking how to reverse the so called 'upgrade' what a hassle. Thanks for nothing apple.