Tiger System Preferences

[MacBytes]

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Category: Mac OS X
Link: Tiger System Preferences (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20050814224148)

Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)
Approved by Mudbug

[nagromme]

I gotta get Tiger on my Mac!

And to nitpick... the shots comparing Panther vs. Tiger seem to ACTUALLY be showing Jaguar vs. Tiger-plus-third-party-plugin (which makes the Tiger prefs window bigger than it normally would be).

[EGT]

I gotta get Tiger on my Mac!

You really do, I don't think I could move back to Panther even if i was forced to. The little changes in Tiger just make it so much more enjoyable to use over Panther.

The big changes are ok too :p

[thequicksilver]

You really do, I don't think I could move back to Panther even if i was forced to. The little changes in Tiger just make it so much more enjoyable to use over Panther.

The big changes are ok too :p

Couldn't agree less. I used Jaguar and Panther at the weekend, and the difference between the two was huge. Coming back to Tiger, there really were so few marked differences that it may just as well have been Panther. The only real thing I noticeably missed was my RSS feeds not being in Safari 1.3. I didn't need to use search, so I didn't miss Spotlight, Dashboard is becoming more and more annoying by the day. The Finder's almost identical, Panther Mail is less hideous and has the status bar, and the System Preferences is just a solution looking for a problem. If a novice user needs to find where something is, they aren't going to even GET to System Preferences, they'll go via the system wide help menu. Either way, it's of no relevance to me.

Frankly, for my own personal use, I wish I'd saved the cash and not bothered with Tiger. Leopard had better be a much more significant upgrade than Tiger. I'm not saying Tiger is bad, it isn't, but from where I'm sitting, it's just not different enough to Panther to be a 'must-have' upgrade for all users, like Panther certainly was over Jaguar.

As for Tiger being an unstable steaming pile of an OS until 10.4.2, just don't get me started…

[Jay42]

Couldn't agree less. I used Jaguar and Panther at the weekend, and the difference between the two was huge. Coming back to Tiger, there really were so few marked differences that it may just as well have been Panther. Frankly, for my own personal use, I wish I'd saved the cash and not bothered with Tiger. Leopard had better be a much more significant upgrade than Tiger. I'm not saying Tiger is bad, it isn't, but from where I'm sitting, it's just not different enough to Panther to be a 'must-have' upgrade for all users, like Panther certainly was over Jaguar.

link (http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/over200.html)

[EGT]

link (http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/over200.html)

Looks good, eh?

There is more to sing songs and dance about than you think!

[ham_man]

Maybe I am not as Old School as you folks, but I prefer the Tiger System Preferences, and even Mail too... :eek:

They just look so much cleaner...

[stridey]

Maybe I am not as Old School as you folks, but I prefer the Tiger System Preferences, and even Mail too... :eek:

They just look so much cleaner...

The only problem I have with the Tiger System Preferences is not being able to store "favourite" prefpanes in the toolbar. That annoys me all the time.

(Never thought I'd see the day where anything OS X was "Old School." :eek: If that's Old School, what's System 6? :eek: )

[kalisphoenix]

:( I grew up with Panther, though... Tiger's taking a little getting used-to...

[iindigo]

Couldn't agree less. I used Jaguar and Panther at the weekend, and the difference between the two was huge. Coming back to Tiger, there really were so few marked differences that it may just as well have been Panther. The only real thing I noticeably missed was my RSS feeds not being in Safari 1.3. I didn't need to use search, so I didn't miss Spotlight, Dashboard is becoming more and more annoying by the day. The Finder's almost identical, Panther Mail is less hideous and has the status bar, and the System Preferences is just a solution looking for a problem. If a novice user needs to find where something is, they aren't going to even GET to System Preferences, they'll go via the system wide help menu. Either way, it's of no relevance to me.

Frankly, for my own personal use, I wish I'd saved the cash and not bothered with Tiger. Leopard had better be a much more significant upgrade than Tiger. I'm not saying Tiger is bad, it isn't, but from where I'm sitting, it's just not different enough to Panther to be a 'must-have' upgrade for all users, like Panther certainly was over Jaguar.

As for Tiger being an unstable steaming pile of an OS until 10.4.2, just don't get me started…

You fail to realize that Tiger's primary changes are under the hood. Parts of Tiger's frameworks and underlying system pieces are radically different and usually more efficient. Also, developers get so many goodies from Tiger it's not even funny: Core Image, Core Data, Core Video, Spotlight, QTKit, the list goes on and on.

Think of Tiger as Apple's clean-up and developer's release. Also expect a number of popular applications to require Tiger very soon - mine already do.

[EGT]

Maybe I am not as Old School as you folks, but I prefer the Tiger System Preferences, and even Mail too... :eek:

They just look so much cleaner...

What is all the hatred about Mail 2.0 anyway? I prefer the new Mail to the old version as well.

[iindigo]

What is all the hatred about Mail 2.0 anyway? I prefer the new Mail to the old version as well.

Ditto. I also don't see why everyone swears the new toolbar buttons are a curse...

[stridey]

Ditto. I also don't see why everyone swears the new toolbar buttons are a curse...

From Apple's HR Guidelines (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000957):

Each toolbar icon should be easily and quickly distinguishable from the other items in the toolbar. Toolbar icons emphasize their outline form, rather than subtler visual details.

Mail 2 makes ALL toolbar buttons the same size and shape, and more or less the same color. Bad, bad Apple.


Edit: More from HR Guidelines:

Note that although each Finder toolbar icon has a unique shape, the icons harmonize together in their perspective, use of color, size, and visual weight.

[ham_man]

From Apple's HR Guidelines (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000957):



Mail 2 makes ALL toolbar buttons the same size and shape, and more or less the same color. Bad, bad Apple.
And while we are on the subject, the buttons on the 3g iPod are the same size and shape, and more or less the same color, yet many hail it as one of the best product designs in some time. The key point is that they look different. ..

[nagromme]

You really do, I don't think I could move back to Panther even if i was forced to. The little changes in Tiger just make it so much more enjoyable to use over Panther.

The big changes are ok too :p

I already HAVE Tiger in a box... I just haven't made time to install it! :o

And I am fully sold on Tiger's value, having used it on my family's computers.

I also think giving Mail it's very own unique interface style is a bad thing, but not anything close to a deal-breaker. It just surprises me that Apple would do that. It's not so much that there's anything wrong with it (although Apple's guidelines on button SHAPES are very valid, as posted above). It's just that it's different from everything else, without a reason. Bad UI consistency, from a company that has known better in the past.

I'll certainly still take it for the functionality all the same!

And despite wanting Spotlight and Dashboard badly, all the "little things" in an OS X update generally add up to even more than the "big things" for me. I agree with that. Panther and Tiger both delivered a lot of value.

[thequicksilver]

You fail to realize that Tiger's primary changes are under the hood. Parts of Tiger's frameworks and underlying system pieces are radically different and usually more efficient. Also, developers get so many goodies from Tiger it's not even funny: Core Image, Core Data, Core Video, Spotlight, QTKit, the list goes on and on.

Think of Tiger as Apple's clean-up and developer's release. Also expect a number of popular applications to require Tiger very soon - mine already do.

Thanks for the thought, but you've 100% missed my point I'm afraid. I know that the 'under the hood changes' are big. I've heard it from enough people before you to know that it's seen some big changes. (Just read my other even slightly anti-Tiger posts on this board, that's the most often recurring reply, save the rabid posts which basically call me an idiot for even daring to say a bad word about Apple. :))

But for the end user, you've just yourself tacitly admitted that you agree with me. And a £89/$129 end user fee for 'Apple's clean-up and developer's release'? Doesn't that strike you as a perfectly good reason for my disappointment with it? I really don't see why end users who aren't search happy and had already rejected Konfabulator are raving about it so much. It really is a very minor improvement over Panther, and if I compared my daily use of the two I doubt I'd find any differences except Safari RSS feeds and the occasional use of Dashboard. And as I said before, I used Panther and Jaguar at the weekend, and the difference there was light years. Jaguar feels obsolete already, even though it's only just past three years old and is younger than another OS I use on a regular basis, Windows XP.

I hope the apps come soon to merit my upgrade, however, but I will think a LOT harder before buying Leopard if it appears that it's just going to be another developer's release. I'm not denying that Tiger is superior to Panther in quite a few ways, but I'm simply arguing that it is not £89/$129 superior. Compared to Jaguar, Panther was.

[nagromme]

There's no doubt that different people will get differing value from any software program, OS, or update.

So for some, like me, it's worth $95 (with Amazon rebate), and for others, it's not.

My plan with almost all software is EVERY OTHER upgrade. You get some benefits a year or two late, but when you add up all your apps, you save a lot of money! That's a valid choice for OS versions too.

Each person must decide for themselves. I'm glad I have the choice to upgrade to Tiger now, but I have no problem with anyone who might prefer to wait for Leopard and get "two upgrades for the price of one." I do that with Photoshop and Flash myself.

[Jay42]

You fail to realize that Tiger's primary changes are under the hood. Parts of Tiger's frameworks and underlying system pieces are radically different and usually more efficient. Also, developers get so many goodies from Tiger it's not even funny: Core Image, Core Data, Core Video, Spotlight, QTKit, the list goes on and on.

Think of Tiger as Apple's clean-up and developer's release. Also expect a number of popular applications to require Tiger very soon - mine already do.
My point exactly. You don't necessarily see the changes actively, but if you took them away....

[greatdevourer]

The only problem I have with the Tiger System Preferences is not being able to store "favourite" prefpanes in the toolbar. That annoys me all the time. I can agree with you here. I keep on having to go search for sound. Why can't I just put it in the top bar!

My plan with almost all software is EVERY OTHER upgrade. You get some benefits a year or two late, but when you add up all your apps, you save a lot of money! That's a valid choice for OS versions too. Very easy way to save money :D Also, to save even more money, get the 5-licence family pack with some friends (collegues, etc)