OS X 10.9 Thoughts?

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by rabidz7

A PowerPC G6 cpu could take care of anything tough to process.

Too bad nothing of the sort was created/adopted by Apple. POWER6 and POWER7 do exist, though. POWER8 is in development. Those lines are what made PowerPC possible.

[RedCroissant]

Originally Posted by Michael Goff

We'll likely get Siri and Apple Maps.

Hopefully we get a lot of performance increases, though.

Let the iOS-ification continue! :P

I'm hoping for more usability with the dock. If I could make a folder and place it anywhere on the dock, that would be awesome. I also like the footprint of iOS apps and wouldn't mind seeing the footprint for MAC OS X apps shrink as well. This way, Macs could continue to get thinner, lighter, and have increased battery life. For example, I would like to see the iMac get even thinner and I think they could easily do this if they incorporated software and hardware characteristics from iOS.

I'm not hoping for an iOS-ification like you, but I think OS X could benefit greatly from certain aspects of iOS.

[Michael Goff]

Originally Posted by RedCroissant

I'm hoping for more usability with the dock. If I could make a folder and place it anywhere on the dock, that would be awesome. I also like the footprint of iOS apps and wouldn't mind seeing the footprint for MAC OS X apps shrink as well. This way, Macs could continue to get thinner, lighter, and have increased battery life. For example, I would like to see the iMac get even thinner and I think they could easily do this if they incorporated software and hardware characteristics from iOS.

I'm not hoping for an iOS-ification like you, but I think OS X could benefit greatly from certain aspects of iOS.

You misunderstand me.

I'm not hoping it will happen, I just think it will happen.

[RedCroissant]

Originally Posted by Michael Goff

You misunderstand me.

I'm not hoping it will happen, I just think it will happen.

Well fine then! Even though more iOS features are on the way, I seriously doubt that Apple will eventually go to one universal OS like a few people I know believe.

[Michael Goff]

Originally Posted by RedCroissant

Well fine then! Even though more iOS features are on the way, I seriously doubt that Apple will eventually go to one universal OS like a few people I know believe.

-Siri
-Maps
-Eventually, no visible file system

I agree that it won't become iOS, that'd be silly. I just see those three major things as... happening. Maybe iMessages on iOS will get something from OS X along the way, who knows?

[MTD's Mac]

Originally Posted by Michael Goff

-Siri
-Maps
-Eventually, no visible file system

I agree that it won't become iOS, that'd be silly. I just see those three major things as... happening. Maybe iMessages on iOS will get something from OS X along the way, who knows?

Doing away with the file system would be an interesting evolution, and a move away from "Pro" users.

Also, what about "System Preferences" (OS X) and "Settings" (iOS). Here are two similar OS elements (they even use versions of the same icon) that have very different interfaces. Could they be unified in 10.9, or later?

[Michael Goff]

Originally Posted by MTD's Mac

Doing away with the file system would be an interesting evolution, and a move away from "Pro" users.

Also, what about "System Preferences" (OS X) and "Settings" (iOS). Here are two similar OS elements (they even use versions of the same icon) that have very different interfaces. Could they be unified in 10.9, or later?

Contrary to what a lot of people are trying to say, Apple has pretty much given up on Pro users.

The most they're probably going to give you is "Pro" hardware.

[turtlez]

Originally Posted by Michael Goff

Contrary to what a lot of people are trying to say, Apple has pretty much given up on Pro users.

The most they're probably going to give you is "Pro" hardware.

Lucky Adobe and Avid support macs

[DeniedScout]

I'm hoping for touchscreen MacBooks. It wouldn't really be a base feature of 10.9, I'd just like to see it in upcoming hardware with the release of it.

[iJawn108]

I hope it brings the mac back into the light of day. I am not a windows 8 fan... sadly even the opensource world that drew me away from the mac has been lacluster.

[Osullivan1]

Originally Posted by DeniedScout

I'm hoping for touchscreen MacBooks. It wouldn't really be a base feature of 10.9, I'd just like to see it in upcoming hardware with the release of it.

SJ said they'd tested touchscreen MacBooks for years when they announced the magic trackpad, but they weren't practical because touch screens need to be horizontal, not vertical, and your arm would just get tired after a minute or two of using it. Thats why they released the trackpad (as a touchscreen equivalent).

Making Mac "touch friendly" would also require a complete UI overhaul of not just the OS, but every mac app (turning it basically into an advanced iPad w/ keyboard). So while it's a nice concept, it doesn't work practically.

However, if you wanted a tablet running OS X you could always buy the ModBook

[kmj2318]

Originally Posted by MTD's Mac

Also, what about "System Preferences" (OS X) and "Settings" (iOS). Here are two similar OS elements (they even use versions of the same icon) that have very different interfaces. Could they be unified in 10.9, or later?

I think for things like Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Contacts, etc., unifying the names to be the same across the devices makes a lot of sense because they're almost identical across systems. Settings on iOS and System Preferences on OS X do very different things, and act in very different ways. I'm interested to see if they make changes to either to make them more similar, and only then would it make sense for them to have the same name.

[alec6542]

At first Siri seems like it would not be of much use on OS X because of how slow it is. I could see Siri being of use for the blind/disabled as an accessibility tool, but for healthy people, it seems ridiculous to speak "Search the web for .... or "launch Mail", especially since we have to wait for it to connect to Apple's servers to process the info. For the former, it's probably 10x faster to "cmd tab to safari, cmd L, type" for the former, or "cmd tab" to mail for the latter.
What I think would be awesome is if Apple were to buy-out Alfred, and integrate Alfred and Spotlight with Siri, so that we can TYPE our commands to Siri in a similar way you can type commands to Alfred with its many extensions. Hopefully, the majority of the commands such as "note that" or "remind me" would be processed LOCALLY so we don't have to deal with Siri connecting to Apple. There would be a "Siri" hotkey, and when you hit it a spotlight-like window pops up and you can type your command. (Of course, If you really want to "Speak" to it so you can show off siri to your friends, you can hit the function key twice after the hotkey and use the native dictation that's we already have).

[alec6542]

Originally Posted by cambookpro

Siri would be really useful for, say, reading out emails while your working etc. One feature I'd really like to see.

Are you talking about having "Siri" read you selected text? Because if so, that feature has been around for a few years now. In OS X 10.6-7, I believe its under "Speech" in system preferences. In 10.8, its under "dictation". The default hotkey for speech is Option-Escape, but you can change to whatever. Personally I use BetterTouchTool to assign a trackpad gesture to "option-escape" so that all I have to do is highlight the text I want spoken, then double tap the trackpad with 4 fingers and the system reads whatever you highlighted. The voice that is closest to iOS Siri is Samantha, which can easily be added to the list of available voices.

[cambookpro]

Originally Posted by alec6542

Are you talking about having "Siri" read you selected text? Because if so, that feature has been around for a few years now. In OS X 10.6-7, I believe its under "Speech" in system preferences. In 10.8, its under "dictation". The default hotkey for speech is Option-Escape, but you can change to whatever. Personally I use BetterTouchTool to assign a trackpad gesture to "option-escape" so that all I have to do is highlight the text I want spoken, then double tap the trackpad with 4 fingers and the system reads whatever you highlighted. The voice that is closest to iOS Siri is Samantha, which can easily be added to the list of available voices.

I was thinking more along the lines of 'Siri, read me my new emails' and it would do it for you without opening Mail.

[dma550]

Originally Posted by cambookpro

I was thinking more along the lines of 'Siri, read me my new emails' and it would do it for you without opening Mail.

I would be more inclined to use Siri desktop vs. on my iphone, I am most often sitting at my desk and multitasking - this would be like yet another input method.

I cant help but think cubicle bound folks must hate the new use of voice for an input device. Listening to the dweeb in the other office "send a text to jessica 0- hi honey thinkin' about you" all day long would drive me nuts.

[teejaysplace]

I know that Lynx is the most obvious moniker, as it's the one of the few big cats left; however, it seems very unlikely that Apple would chose this, owing to it's visual similarity to Linux. Two operating systems with similar names makes absolutely no sense from a marketing standpoint, particularly when Apple could name it pretty much anything else and avoid the problem entirely. (I suspect this is the reason that Apple has eschewed it as a convention thus far.)

Regardless of what it's called, I hope that Apple gets its act together. Neither iOS nor OS X still hold the edge they once had against their competitors. I just bought a Windows 8 Phone and, while it's certainly not perfect, I must say that much of experience is better than anything I've had on an iDevice. Like OS X recently, iOS has added relatively meager UI enhancements since it's release. Apple spent so much time obsessing over the margins that it it took forever to get basic functions like copy and paste. And, in my estimation, the last truly outstanding update to OS X was Tiger. Since then, Apple's done little more than slim down the file system, add some pointless eye candy, and convolute the platform by adding features designed for a mobile environment. (Eg. Launchpad, which at worst is utterly useless and, at best, no better than simply putting a folder in your dock.)

OS X used to be, far and away, the best desktop experience, period. It's really sad that Apple's fallen so in love with it's own image, that they've substituted branding for innovation.

[rudychidiac]

-iBooks
-Siri
-Trash opens as a dock grid
-Weather and stock widgets in notification centre
-Email push to notification centre
etc...

[F1 Fan]

I think that the move towards a universal OS (maybe Apple OS / AOS) is inevitable. I also think it's a good idea. *ducks to avoid the flames*

I'd love to have the ability to use everything on my iPhone or my Macbook (not that I've got one yet). Not just documents but apps too. I know there is more and more stuff which will work like this such as bookmarks in Safari but it's still far from the ultimate goal as I see it. Obviously it wouldn't work to just make the UI smaller for the iPhone - it would be completely unusable.

Now that Microsoft have created a univeral OS, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes Apple to do it. I'm sure they'll make a better job of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYet-qf1jo

[sniffs]

I'd like to see

1. Push notifications in OSX
2. All the hundreds of dollars worth of iPhone apps(I'm no longer an iPhone user) able to be ran on OSX.. similar to how the iPad did with the 2X button.
3. Dictionary updates with slang, internet verbage and people's names.

[Osullivan1]

I think we'll see an update to Dashboard, with a Widget section in the App Store.

Also, I think Siri will work like this, not from the Notification Center like others have suggested, as it seems logical to have the Mac guy as Siri:

[el-John-o]

Originally Posted by tanker5

I was just reading some rumors about OS X 10.9, which some folks believe will be named "Lynx". I was wondering what new features people are hoping to see in this new OS.

I would like to see:

- Siri integration
- The ability to run 2 or more full screen apps on separate monitors side by side at the same time
- The ability to enlarge the font on the Menu Bar

Any other ideas? Any new rumors? Please comment below.

I would DEFINITELY love better multiple monitor support. Apple was the first to HAVE multiple desktops on multiple monitors, not being able to run two full screen apps is not so great!

I'd also love to be able to run a fullscreen app on one monitor and the main desktop on the main. For example, when I plug my MBP into my Cinema Display I'd like to have Calendar or Mail open in a full screen app on the laptop display, with the desktop on the main display.

[TallGuyGT]

I'd pay $20 for bug fixes, performance improvements, and the complete elimination of skeuomorphic apps. Yes, I hate the look of calendar and contacts that much.

Also would like for iCloud to have a DropBox / SkyDrive / Google Drive equivalent, though I know that's unlikely given the app focused method of data mgmt.

Somewhat off topic, updates to iLife and iWork would be nice. These apps used to be showcases for new OS features.

[dove]

Here are my predictions:

- A maps app that allows you to look up an address or plan a bike trip on your Mac and send it to your iDevice
- A new filesystem, one that only works on SSDs.
- A new interface to send files from one app to another—bypassing the Finder (later to be copied by iOS)
- Continuous voice recognition, as apposed to the current start-speak-stop-interpret model.
- Siri (ideally with a 3rd party API)
- More iCloud - store your settings, iTunes ratings and playlists, launchpad setup in the cloud
- Would be nice for developers: a new 'blessed' programming language
- Less likely: a better account/password manager that is iCloud enabled
- Even less realistic: improvements to user switching. When someone else starts using your computer while you're still logged in, it should be possible to easily lock them out from your keychain, browsing history, files, Messages, and whatnot ('Siri, hide my porn!').

Some people suggested that the Finder could disappear. This would be unnecessarily alienating, I think, and would have no obvious benefit. It's not going to happen.

Something Apple could do, however, is allow users to remove the Finder from the dock (and make removing Launchpad impossible). Mind you, I don't actually believe they'll do this.

One interesting thing to look out for would be for Apple to release a version of XCode that allows you to store everything in iCloud. That would be cool—although I'm not entirely convinced this will ever happen.

I'm also hoping they will (simultaneously) announce new versions of iLife and iWorks. Here's what's on my wishlist:

- Syncing of changes in iPhoto album structure, image metadata, etc. via Photo Stream
- Ability to store your iPhoto library in the cloud (for-pay)
- Better support for math in Pages and KeyNote (similar to iBooks Author)

[MattInOz]

I'd like to see something new in the copy paste workflow.
I mean it's been a round 30 years with little to no improvement for the connected world. Add to that the openDoc potential that never happened. I'd like to an expanded copy, maybe called a "snip".

To me the new system would:-
-Link to the source.
-Be no-destructive.
-Use iCloud to sync all devices (so iOS7 as well).

So for example, I see an interesting article on the web and one quote in particular. I could highlight that line and snip-it. Safari would bundle it up with enough info know where it's from. Couple of days I'm writing an email and remember the quote. A quick spotlight search I grab it drag it in to the email. It appears not just the text but a weblink subscript underneath. I realize I want a bit more context. Double click and selection handles appear and let me drag out to get more text from the original source. Done, send.

Not just thinking text either. I want the full openDoc system. Any media type the app that's responsible could generate snippets for other apps to insert in their own documents. Like images that could even pass a number of apps an image editor before being used in Pages.