Its VERY crashy, however. And there are a lot of features that are not implemented yet anyway.
The BEST app in safari will be the new iChat. And QT 7 will rock. spotlight is not going to fundamentally change the way you do things for the most part.
Your recognition memory is much stronger than your recall memory. This is why i believe spotlight, and anything like it, will take second place to a traditional hierarchical finder. Always and forever. That isn't to say it will be useful, and smart folders will kick @ss like nobody's business.
Your recognition memory is much stronger than your recall memory. This is why i believe spotlight, and anything like it, will take second place to a traditional hierarchical finder. Always and forever. That isn't to say it will be useful, and smart folders will kick @ss like nobody's business.
Always and forever?
I can understand using a hierarchical model if you don't use your computer much and only have a few files. But most people nowadays have hundreds of contacts, thousands of pictures, tens of thousands of e-mails and millions (heh) of mp3s/aacs...the hierarchical model doesn't work well at all with those folks.
If hierarchy was the end all, we wouldn't have iTunes', Mail's, Address Book's search capabilities. Try and find one specific e-mail out of a shitload of e-mails or a specific song out of a crapload of songs via a hierarchy system and most will give up.
The hierarchical model means you have to spend time organizing and maintaining the organization.
The hierarchy system should never disappear though. It's one step to spatiality and useful at times. But 'always and forever'? No, mister, it's going to change...and soon.
For people that will actually take the plunge and use Spotlight...it's probably going to be 75-90% Spotlight and 10-25% Finder. The Finder will be great for grouping things into Smart-Folders and occasional browsing of the HD.
But if you want to find an e-mail, a PDF, a song, a word document, a picture, a game ROM, a contact...most will use Spotlight or specialized apps such as iTunes, Address Book or iPhoto.
If you have to open a file, some for of 'recall' is involved. You have to recall that you've been working on something in the past and need to work on it today. So even if recognition was stronger and unless you're just aimlessly browsing your HD, you have to recall having worked on something or having it saved to even begin to find it.
Can remember who said it, but when we started getting toys made of plastics we started learning that we don´t understand things.Before, when it was made of wood and metal it could be repaired. But when that plastic wheel break away from the car you have to buy something new. Small steps like that alinates us a little bit from the world every day.
Why am I saying this? Each year there is added new layers of abstraction in our interaction with computers., The hierarchical file system is an abstraction in itself. When spotlight take the front stage we don´t´even have the feeling that files are there for us to grab. Then they becomes guarded by a servant that is helpful but has to be asked the right way to find those files for us. So spotlight is a new way of saying we are incompetent to really act in the world, we need helpers.
But I can write programs in machine code so even if all world should break down and the mad max´es of the world came out of their cages me and my 286 would still be able to compute. So untill then SPOTLIGHT RULEZ.
I don't use the search bar in iTunes much, and there is no search bar in iPhoto. So using those programs as an example of searching superiority doesn't convince me. I still think Spotlights main feature will be the smart folder.
If you want to look for an mp3, iTunes will always be much better than finder/spotlight. If you want to look for a photo, iPhoto will be (god hoping they add a quick search bar). If you want to look for an email, open mail.
If you want to look for anything related to one person or one thing, spotlight will be great at bringing together all these files and showing them to you in any manner you want.
I use the Search function in iTunes all the time. And in the Finder every day. SpotLight is the one feature for me that makes it worth $120 IMHO. iChat is bah. I don't have a camera and rarely chat as it is. Sure, the animation of the videos and the reflection are all cool and damn cool as all hell if it froze and was colder... but I just don't use Cams.
For me, SpotLight will be a godsend. Especially Smart Folders. Since they show up as actual folders, only purple, they can be added to docks and DT and the desktop with aliases and such. It's kick ass. I am very excited about it.
Safari 2.0 I hear is really fast. This is what I don't understand. Safari NOW blows ass. It's slow after a few hours or minutes and hell, the more going on in the pages you load, the slower it gets until it brings the system down. So why are they WAITING to release it? At LEAST update the damn browser and don't make us suffer another damn year with a slow Safari. I've tried FireFox and it's close, but stuff I do all the time in Safari isn't the same in FF, so I can't use it all the time.
Dashboard will be partially useful to me for only two things. Calculator and Stickies.
I use the Calc a lot and with Dashboard available right away, it'll be convenient. And I don't use Stickies now unless I really have to because I hate having the icon in the dock. So it's nice to have them hidden until I need them.. but the question is, isn't the point of a stickie to be available and visible at all times to remind you of stuff? Well, I coule just use iCal and a ToDo list or alarms to help me there as well. Still, Stickies will be a great place to dump text I need to remember. I miss "Notepad". The multi-page Stickies-like app. That could look cool in OS X.
Can Spotlight scan networked SMB shares? If it can, then it has a chance to make some waves in the industry.
Also, I think ultimately "Spotlight" and a "HFS" will merge into a self organizing system with smart folders as a key. You might not remember where you put that file, but you can find the same file under a great number of categories because it's been indexed and resides in many categories. iTunes does this now with Artist, Album, and the rest of the metadata. I think it will get automated in the Finder because most people don't have the patience to learn how to create a smart folder.
Now that I see the Finder adding smart folders in the sidebar, everything starts to get a lot clearer.
Apple is really being consistent with its interface.
iTunes has a sidebar for all your normal and smart playlists. iPhoto is the same way. Now the Finder in Panther added a sidebar for all your folders. And now in Tiger they expand on this by allowing you to put smart folders in the sidebar.
Rather than just combine a bunch of tasks into one application such as the Finder. Apple is developing every application to best suited for its particular task.
And the cool thing is all Smart Folders are created as actual folders you can move aroung and link to. They're located probably somewhere in your Library or Documents. I dunno. I'll look later.
And the cool thing is all Smart Folders are created as actual folders you can move aroung and link to. They're located probably somewhere in your Library or Documents. I dunno. I'll look later.
A new folder is created in your home directory called 'Saved Searches' and they are saved in there.
" Safari NOW blows ass. It's slow after a few hours or minutes and hell, the more going on in the pages you load, the slower it gets until it brings the system down."
I've never had Safari bring my system down, but "Safari Rot" is extremely annoying. I hope they can do a release between now and Tiger.
Apple is eventually supposed to release Safari v1.3 pretty soon. And from what I have read from other forums is that it will offer a nice speed boost. Especially in handling JavaScript because there have been many optimizations to the JavaScript core.
Dashboard will be partially useful to me for only two things. Calculator and Stickies.
Dashboard isn't just about the Calculator, the Stickies, and the 4 or 5 other widgets in the Tiger preview; I bet Apple just threw those things in there as samples. (Is there any reason to believe that the regular Calculator and Stickies apps are absent from Tiger?) Those Dashboard widgets (or samples, if you will) give developers an idea of what this "macro-app" is capable of providing: with a little JavaScript, any developer can whip something up for Dashboard. In fact, I believe there are already websites available that have Dashboard apps securable for download.
Comments
Mike
Right now it's a developer preview, and that's all. Certainly not ready for every day use.
Its VERY crashy, however. And there are a lot of features that are not implemented yet anyway.
The BEST app in safari will be the new iChat. And QT 7 will rock. spotlight is not going to fundamentally change the way you do things for the most part.
Originally posted by Imergingenious
spotlight is not going to fundamentally change the way you do things for the most part.
*THAT* I utterly disagree with. You gotta have *vision*, man!
Originally posted by Imergingenious
Your recognition memory is much stronger than your recall memory. This is why i believe spotlight, and anything like it, will take second place to a traditional hierarchical finder. Always and forever. That isn't to say it will be useful, and smart folders will kick @ss like nobody's business.
Always and forever?
I can understand using a hierarchical model if you don't use your computer much and only have a few files. But most people nowadays have hundreds of contacts, thousands of pictures, tens of thousands of e-mails and millions (heh) of mp3s/aacs...the hierarchical model doesn't work well at all with those folks.
If hierarchy was the end all, we wouldn't have iTunes', Mail's, Address Book's search capabilities. Try and find one specific e-mail out of a shitload of e-mails or a specific song out of a crapload of songs via a hierarchy system and most will give up.
The hierarchical model means you have to spend time organizing and maintaining the organization.
The hierarchy system should never disappear though. It's one step to spatiality and useful at times. But 'always and forever'? No, mister, it's going to change...and soon.
For people that will actually take the plunge and use Spotlight...it's probably going to be 75-90% Spotlight and 10-25% Finder. The Finder will be great for grouping things into Smart-Folders and occasional browsing of the HD.
But if you want to find an e-mail, a PDF, a song, a word document, a picture, a game ROM, a contact...most will use Spotlight or specialized apps such as iTunes, Address Book or iPhoto.
If you have to open a file, some for of 'recall' is involved. You have to recall that you've been working on something in the past and need to work on it today. So even if recognition was stronger and unless you're just aimlessly browsing your HD, you have to recall having worked on something or having it saved to even begin to find it.
Why am I saying this? Each year there is added new layers of abstraction in our interaction with computers., The hierarchical file system is an abstraction in itself. When spotlight take the front stage we don´t´even have the feeling that files are there for us to grab. Then they becomes guarded by a servant that is helpful but has to be asked the right way to find those files for us. So spotlight is a new way of saying we are incompetent to really act in the world, we need helpers.
But I can write programs in machine code so even if all world should break down and the mad max´es of the world came out of their cages me and my 286 would still be able to compute. So untill then SPOTLIGHT RULEZ.
(yes I am sane, Wonko the Sane)
If you want to look for an mp3, iTunes will always be much better than finder/spotlight. If you want to look for a photo, iPhoto will be (god hoping they add a quick search bar). If you want to look for an email, open mail.
If you want to look for anything related to one person or one thing, spotlight will be great at bringing together all these files and showing them to you in any manner you want.
For me, SpotLight will be a godsend. Especially Smart Folders. Since they show up as actual folders, only purple, they can be added to docks and DT and the desktop with aliases and such. It's kick ass. I am very excited about it.
Safari 2.0 I hear is really fast. This is what I don't understand. Safari NOW blows ass. It's slow after a few hours or minutes and hell, the more going on in the pages you load, the slower it gets until it brings the system down. So why are they WAITING to release it? At LEAST update the damn browser and don't make us suffer another damn year with a slow Safari. I've tried FireFox and it's close, but stuff I do all the time in Safari isn't the same in FF, so I can't use it all the time.
Dashboard will be partially useful to me for only two things. Calculator and Stickies.
I use the Calc a lot and with Dashboard available right away, it'll be convenient. And I don't use Stickies now unless I really have to because I hate having the icon in the dock. So it's nice to have them hidden until I need them.. but the question is, isn't the point of a stickie to be available and visible at all times to remind you of stuff? Well, I coule just use iCal and a ToDo list or alarms to help me there as well. Still, Stickies will be a great place to dump text I need to remember. I miss "Notepad". The multi-page Stickies-like app. That could look cool in OS X.
Also, I think ultimately "Spotlight" and a "HFS" will merge into a self organizing system with smart folders as a key. You might not remember where you put that file, but you can find the same file under a great number of categories because it's been indexed and resides in many categories. iTunes does this now with Artist, Album, and the rest of the metadata. I think it will get automated in the Finder because most people don't have the patience to learn how to create a smart folder.
Apple is really being consistent with its interface.
iTunes has a sidebar for all your normal and smart playlists. iPhoto is the same way. Now the Finder in Panther added a sidebar for all your folders. And now in Tiger they expand on this by allowing you to put smart folders in the sidebar.
Rather than just combine a bunch of tasks into one application such as the Finder. Apple is developing every application to best suited for its particular task.
iTunes for managing your music
iPhoto for managing pictures
Address Book for contacts
...and the Finder for your folders and files.
Personally, I think this is the best approach.
Mike
Originally posted by bunge
Can Spotlight scan networked SMB shares? If it can, then it has a chance to make some waves in the industry.
It can.
Originally posted by Jasoco
And the cool thing is all Smart Folders are created as actual folders you can move aroung and link to. They're located probably somewhere in your Library or Documents. I dunno. I'll look later.
A new folder is created in your home directory called 'Saved Searches' and they are saved in there.
I've never had Safari bring my system down, but "Safari Rot" is extremely annoying. I hope they can do a release between now and Tiger.
Mike
Originally posted by Jasoco
Dashboard will be partially useful to me for only two things. Calculator and Stickies.
Dashboard isn't just about the Calculator, the Stickies, and the 4 or 5 other widgets in the Tiger preview; I bet Apple just threw those things in there as samples. (Is there any reason to believe that the regular Calculator and Stickies apps are absent from Tiger?) Those Dashboard widgets (or samples, if you will) give developers an idea of what this "macro-app" is capable of providing: with a little JavaScript, any developer can whip something up for Dashboard. In fact, I believe there are already websites available that have Dashboard apps securable for download.