15 Things Apple Should Change in Mac OS X

richi writes "Two of Computerworld's top operating systems editors, a Mac expert and a Windows expert, compare notes on what Apple should reconsider as it develops Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Mac OS X 10.4, or Tiger, is (in their opinion) a noticeably better operating system than XP or Vista. But it is not perfect. OS X has its own quirks and flaws, and they set out to nail down some of the 'proud nails' for the next release." From the article: "7. Inconsistent User Interface. Open iTunes, Safari and Mail. All three of these programs are Apple's own, and they're among the ones most likely to be used by Mac OS X users. So why do all three of them look different? Safari, like several other Apple-made apps such as the Finder and Address Book, uses a brushed-metal look. iTunes sports a flat gun-metal gray scheme and flat non-shiny scroll bars. Mail is somewhere in between: no brushed metal, lots of gun-metal gray, and the traditional shiny blue scroll bars. Apple is supposed to be the king of good UI, and in many areas, it is. But three widely used apps from the same company with a different look? Sometimes consistency isn't the hobgoblin of little minds."

Noooooooooo

[Frankie70]

But it(Tiger) is not perfect.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Re:Window Management

[Total_Wimp]

Oh thank god this has finally come up. As a PC user that sometimes uses a Mac, I've found this frustrating. But any time I've brought it up in casual conversation with Mac people, they've treated me like it's my fault for not understanding the superiority of the Mac UI. I was actually starting to justify in my mind that there must be something wonderful about only using the bottom, right corner and I just had to try harder to understand what it could be. Meditation wasn't helping. Seeing this on the list might save me years of therapy.

TW

I don't want all my apps to look the same...

[Fysiks Wurks]

From the article (and Summary): "7. Inconsistent User Interface. Open iTunes, Safari and Mail. All three of these programs are Apple's own, and they're among the ones most likely to be used by Mac OS X users. So why do all three of them look different?"

I don't want my apps to all looks the same . Just like I don't want all women to look the same; women all have the same basic framework and operating system. But I definatley want to be able to quickly distinguish between my wife and my mother-in-law! "Hey honey, I thought I'd join you in the shower.....DEAR GOD Nooooooo!"

I do want the menu bars, etc., to follow a standard so features are easy to find - like prefereneces, print, quit, etc.

Ah, the simple Mac...

[norminator]

No additional widgets required. Just open Terminal and do this

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

After that, press F12 and start dragging widget.. then (while still dragging) press F12 again and drop widget on the desktop.

Wow... I didn't think that doing simple desktop tasks on a Mac could be as complicated as getting NVidia drivers working in Linux!

(I'm kidding... kind of.)

Re:Window Management. Maximize?

[bkoehler]

#16 Simple windows management actions require two hands in Mac OS X (e.g. zoom full screen, Delete, etc.)

Re:What I think they should change...

[arloguthrie]

That's horrible what your Mac mini is doing. It must take you, like, 20 minutes to copy a 17MB file.

Re:What I think they should change...

[Abcd1234]

Yes but the whole point of a product is for it to work how you want it, not the other way around.

Yeah, no kidding! For example, I'm really experienced with using hammers, but today, I decided to go out and buy a screwdriver. And you know what? The damn thing can't even pound a nail! It expects me to use these "screw" things I've never seen before, and you have to put them in by *twisting*! I don't want to twist, I wanna pound!

Re:One more

[tdhurst]

OH hell yeah! Apple should DEFINITELY abandon their simplistic one-button scheme to satisfy the tens of people using X11.

Re:Not sure all of these are correct...exactly

[jargoone]

And if you're not running iCal, it shows the wrong fucking date. Convenient my ass.

Re:Window Management

[Total_Wimp]

Congratulations. You're one of 100% of Mac Apologists who claim there's no reason people need more mouse buttons after they just get finished saying, "I need more mouse buttons."

I've seen thread after thread here on Slashdot where someone says they wish the standard Mac laptop or mouse had more than one button. Time after time, I've seen someone like you give them a reason why they shouldn't get it. If someone says another button or two would be useful, and a bunch of other people also chime in and say it would be useful, then there's a chance it just might be useful. Telling them they're wrong for wanting it is decidedly not useful.

I have a challenge for you. Find someone, somewhere, who sometime in the 21st century has claimed that two mouse buttons are confusing. Here's the catch; They also have to demonstrate that they can use Mac OS X for general computing tasks such as surfing the web; typing, printing and saving a document; and sending a simple email.

If you can do that, I'll give you props. If you can find two, I'll admit that there might be some truth to the "one mouse button is better," assertion. If you can find three, I'll proclaim the matter closed in favor of the one button mouse.

The truth is, I don't think you'll find a single person on Earth that can do email but is actually confused by two mouse buttons.

TW