Finder Confusion

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I often see people trying to Mac OS X but get awfully confused as to what is what. Basically, it's all to do with the Finder and the menu bar. All other operating systems tend to have a menu bar inside windows, except for OS X, and they think that closing a window will quit a program.



The other main trouble they seem to have is navigating the file system through the Finder. It is confusing for new users, and only seems to make them hate Macs even more.



I reckon in Tiger, the Finder needs a new rewrite, although this probably won't happen. I have a mock up here. The tabs should be drag-and-drop enabled, and the preview column should be improved.



The current Panther sidebar is useful, but confusing. When one clicks on, say, Movies, the very left-most column is the contents of the Movies folder, so there is no way of navigating back to the root directory ? for newbies, this is hell; they have no idea where the Movies folder is. So, when folders are chosen in the sidebar, they should show the chosen folder, but also the route taken to get there, i.e. /Users/johnsmith/Movies/.



Also, I reckon the sidebar should be hidden until the user clicks on the little icon in the top left of my mock-up, which makes the sidebar slide out from the left edge. Then, when a user clicks a destination, the destination is displayed, (with the route taken to get there), with the destination folder's contents horizontally scrolled in such a way that the destination folder's contents are in the left-most visible column, i.e. the containing directories are off to the left. Then once the destination is displayed, the sidebar slides back into "hidden mode".



The tabs should also work as they do in Safari.



Notice there is no round search field. In Tiger I would assume Spotlight deems it redundant.



Any thoughts? m.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    I often see people trying to Mac OS X but get awfully confused as to what is what. Basically, it's all to do with the Finder and the menu bar. All other operating systems tend to have a menu bar inside windows, except for OS X, and they think that closing a window will quit a program.



    Those other OSs--their GUIs, actually--are poor copies of Windows, which is a poor copy of the Mac. However, I don't worry about new users. New users are by definition new only for a few days.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    The other main trouble they seem to have is navigating the file system through the Finder. It is confusing for new users, and only seems to make them hate Macs even more.



    Switchers can be expected to have trouble navigating the file system. I see very few of them who can navigate Windows via the Explorer. My Windows-using friends navigate the file system through the Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect File/Open dialog box. The Finder is orders of magnitude easier to use. Again, this is nothing to worry about. Those new Mac users will learn quickly.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    I reckon in Tiger, the Finder needs a new rewrite, although this probably won't happen. I have a mock up here. The tabs should be drag-and-drop enabled, and the preview column should be improved.



    Anything can be improved, but the Finder is fine as it is. Your little mock-up has some intriguing possibilities. Perhaps you should persuade someone to develop it as an alternate file browser or Finder Service.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    The current Panther sidebar is useful, but confusing. When one clicks on, say, Movies, the very left-most column is the contents of the Movies folder, so there is no way of navigating back to the root directory ? for newbies, this is hell; they have no idea where the Movies folder is. So, when folders are chosen in the sidebar, they should show the chosen folder, but also the route taken to get there, i.e. /Users/johnsmith/Movies/.



    To get back to the root directory, click on John Smith's Computer at the top of the Finder sidebar.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    Also, I reckon the sidebar should be hidden until the user clicks on the little icon in the top left of my mock-up, which makes the sidebar slide out from the left edge. Then, when a user clicks a destination, the destination is displayed, (with the route taken to get there), with the destination folder's contents horizontally scrolled in such a way that the destination folder's contents are in the left-most visible column, i.e. the containing directories are off to the left. Then once the destination is displayed, the sidebar slides back into "hidden mode".



    Why should I hide my Sidebar? I like my Sidebar.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    The tabs should also work as they do in Safari.



    Notice there is no round search field. In Tiger I would assume Spotlight deems it redundant.



    Any thoughts? m.




    Now, you've lost me. What are you talking about?



    Look, you seem to be fixated on the newbie experience. Actually, you aren't so much fixated on the newbie experience as you are fixated on the experience of the new Switcher. Being new does not last long. Some of the most vocal Mac supporters on this and other such forums are Switchers. Once they unlearned a lot of the bad stuff the needed for Windows, they won't go back. Someday soon, I expect you to join them. The thing that you need to understand about the Mac is that it does not try to pander to every whim. It gives you the power to do your job and then gets the heck out of your way. This is something that a lot of us understand at a very deep level. It explains our joy in working on the Mac. It explains our frustration with anti-Mac policies, comments, and actions. The flip side of the Mac way of doing things is that some people just don't get it.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    You have a window open in say Internet Explorer. You want to open a new window and close the current window.



    On the Mac:

    Close the current window, open a new window, easy!



    In Windows:

    Open new window, minimize, close old window, maximise new window, easy?



    If you applied the Mac way in windows, it would as you point out, CLOSE THE PROGRAM, smart? no! Done by everyone other than Apple? YES!



    Who should make the change???





    Sincerly



    Zab the Fab
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