OS X Impressions

[Pepzhez]

I've been reading what everyone has to say about their OS X experiences for a year now. Now that I've finally gotten FCP 3.0 and After Effects 5.5 (and Photoshop 7.0 is coming soon - as you can see, my main work is video production), I FINALLY took the plunge and purchased OS X 10.1.3.

I have two Macs - a 933 Mhz G4 and a 500 Mhz G3 iMac DV-SE, both outfitted with 1 GB RAM.

I felt a little trepidation going to OS X, as I've heard so many negative things about it - speed issues and aesthetic issues, for the most part. I've been using OS X for a little more than a week now and I have to say ...

WOW!

Granted, I have a lot of RAM on both machines (I hear that is key), and I'm happy to say I have zero problems with speed, even in the G3 iMac. My careful comparisons of video render times, etc. using After Effects 5.5 and FCP 3.0 show that they are virtually identical in speed under OS 9.2 (not Classic) and OS X. Actually, some things tend to go a wee bit faster in OS X, although not dramatically so. The biggest surprise is that Cleaner 5.1.1 works even faster in OS X than it does on OS 9.2.

This level of performance is the LAST thing I expected from OS X, after reading endless negative diatribes from people.

Now for aesthetics ... again, WOW! Aqua IS gorgeous; I'm definitely in that rare minority, but I think the much-hated Dock is absolutely brilliant! I didn't appreciate the simple beauty of this idea until I started to use it. After only one evening of use, I had zero desire to ever go back to neither a cluttered desktop (perhaps I am neurotically obsessed with clean surfaces, ala Jobs) nor the old Application switcher. BTW, leaving hiding and magnification on doesn't cause the iMac G3 to lag at all. (But I did decrease the size of the icons to suit my taste and turned off dock bouncing - don't care much for that particular effect.)

Also, I don't mind at all the absence of spring loaded folders (I always found it a bit disconcerting to have all those open folders all over the desktop) and I LOVE the anti-aliased text. Plus OS X has no problems recognizing my firewire HD and CD burner, something OS 9.2 can still occasionally be flaky about.

So the verdict is: absolutely elegant and works better than OS 9 for me. Perhaps I was right to wait for version 10.1.3; maybe I would've had problems with earlier versions. I don't know.

Yes, OS X still has room for improvement and further development (it's annoying that OS X cannot play VCDs), but, as it stands right now, it's simply stunning in its performance.

OK, so why go on and on about this, you may wonder? I guess because I have had such positive experiences with this new OS, and all I ever read (at least 97% of the time) are negative and problem-ridden complaints (which may be valid, true) which certainly made me leery of buying OS X. Of course, I guess it's the tendency to post about an OS only when it's giving you problems, so the hapless individual looking to find info on OS X begins to get turned off after reading so many negative things about it. But I'm happy to say that I was blown away by this OS and it works wonderfully for me (even on a 500 mhz G3, yep). So here's an unbiased, fully positive assessment of OS X from someone who was expecting the worst. I just hope that anyone who has been hesitant about using it (like I was) reads this and gets another view.

And just think - this is only 10.1.3. It can only get better and better ...

Oh yeah, after showing OS X and what it can do to six different people (five Windows users and one OS 9 loyalist), all 6 were won over. Two of the Windows users just bought new G4 iMacs (can't wait to set up the machines for them), the other 3 Windows users desperately want a Mac now, and the OS 9 loyalist just called me this evening to tell me she just returned from CompUSA with - you guessed it - OS X.

Apple is on a winner here.

 

[krossfyter]

welcome to the board pepzhez.

not meaning to go off the topic but, how do you pronounce your name there...is it like pep says? or something else and what does it mean if anything?

 

[mac15]

I gotta get OS X

 

[abe]

I agree, except speed. Scrolling and resizing windows is too slow.

 

[OSeXy!]

I absolutely agree with what you say, and share your enthusiasm. My speed reservations are not to do with how quickly the OS allows applications to run renders, disk writes, network reads, etc. -- most of the really important things, which as you say are as fast or faster than OS 9. In fact these things can be MUCH faster when you have many applications running at once. No, my qualms are to do with really old-fashioned Finder-level issues which should be the first thing that any OS sorts out: things like scrolling through menus, re-sizing and opening windows with lots of files in them and launching applications. In my experience these things have a pronounced lag, which I particularly notice when going back to OS 9.

As you say, the new OS is great and should only get better. Congratulations on converting so many of the heathens! Keep at it!

 

[Falleron]

It took me some time to get used to OSX. However, I would not use OS9 now unless I could help it. Yes there is room for improvement - window resizing + dial up connections. Apart from that I have no complaints!! Could be that I have a Dual 1Ghz Powermac with 1gig of ram though??

 

[krossfyter]

i never use os 9.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

Yep. OS9 sucks, and I get to earn Unix on OSX! Woo-hoo!

 

[irmongoose]

You know what? OS X is so good, and so attractive to everybody (Windows users, OS 9 users, Linux/Unix users), its absolutely amazing.



Hey! I managed to make my Linux friend buy a new iMac... he just loves the Terminal!!!




irmongoose

 

[brojohnson]

I'm digging OS X, I wish Sun Micrysystem would take some pointers from Apple and improve Solaris.
I'm amazed at what the default install does. I'm not quick to look for other software to get most of my home need done.

 

[chmorley]

OS X

I'm not sure if I've posted positive things about OS X before, but I love it. I haven't booted into OS 9 in a very long time, and almost never use classic. OS X is so much more stable. I can't even imagine complaining about the speed difference.

As near as I can tell, most of the programs I am especially bothered by for their slowness (e.g., Word) are Carbon apps. Granted, there are some fast carbon apps out there (e.g., Mozilla), but it is clear that these transitional apps run slower than Cocoa versions of the same would.

I know change is scary for some people, but I have come to believe that OS X is the best thing to happen to the Mac in a long time. Between it's stability and being UNIX-based, it is a great user experience and has attracted a large number of developers. While the first is nothing new, the second may have saved our asses.

Chris

 

[evildead]

I love OS X

The first 2 months after I got My G4 (OS10.0.4) pre installed. I only booted into OS X to look at it. But after 2 months or so and a handfull of apps later... I started taking a real look at it. The X.1 came out. I have only booted into OS9 a few times since then. Only to work with Dreamweaver.

I am all about OS X UNIX and I am never going back!

 

[eyelikeart]

OS 9 doesn't completely suck....we still are on it for production purposes at work....u gotta remember ATM is still in 9 as well as a bunch of other apps that u can't get with X just yet...

X is great though....I feel it still could use a nice little speed bump (esp. in java)....but the thing honestly runs pretty damned smooth...

I only use 9 personally when I need to use ATM & such....

 

[krossfyter]

cant you use atm on classic?

 

[spikey]

I would love to have OSX.
But OS9 is good for what i do, i only do small jobs on my PCs now so i dont need a new PC and new OS just yet. When i do im gonna get OSX.

Anyone think any major speed improvements left in OSX? If so then what update would it be in 10.2? Or have they got all the snappiness they can out of it?

 

[mischief]

ATM is userped by Aqua.

ATM is made redundant by Aqua/Quartz using similar coding to handle all it's fonts and docs.

 

[Pepzhez]

Good to hear all this positive feedback! But that's what I like about Macrumors - the intelligence and enthusiasm here - quite unlike the cynicism of a lot of other Mac sites.

Cocoa apps do zip in OS X. I am not a programmer - far from it! - but I think I can tell the difference between a well written carbon app and a poor implementation thereof. Hopefully we'll soon see EVERYTHING written in cocoa.

I do think the VCD issue in OS X is weird. This is an OS and NOT a Quick Time problem. Recognizing Mode 2 CDs seems a very *basic* issue and I can't for the life of me figure out why Apple didn't make sure this was incorporated into the OS. I wonde rif this is some sort of UNIX issue. Meanwhile, if you want to play VCDs, you'll need to boot into OS 9 or Classic. I hope this issue is resolved in the next OS X update!

I also will continue to use OS 9 for audio work (and the occasional Quark use). At present there are no major audio apps for OS X - no Cubase, no Logic Audio. They'll be here soon enough (and hopefully Cocoa, not carbon).

BTW, the name is pronounced Pep-SHez and, er, it doesn't mean anything. Came to me in a dream once. Haha.

Thanks guys!

 

[Pepzhez]

I also wanted to mention that I was at the university Linux lab today, talking to some of the Linux heads. It wasn't until today that the enormity and foresight Apple has shown with OS X REALLY hit me - and just how far-reaching the implications of it all are.

What with M$ in irreversible downward spiral (good riddance), AOL flirting with Red Hat, Linux continuing its march towards domination of the server market, it all hit me full force: Apple was precisely correct in choosing *NIX as THE future. Think about it. Cross compatibility and easy integration with UNIX systems and Linux is the future. And who is left out in the cold in this scenario? Microsoft, of course. Jobs and co. were astute enough to see into the future (which is here NOW), knowing full well that it wasn't simply a matter of Apple alone taking on Microsoft (which is an impossibly mismatched battle), but rather the joining of forces (*NIX-based systems) taking on M$. And it is WORKING. (M$ fast becoming a failing crappy hardware company. X-Box anyone?)

Jobs is no idiot and it's easy to see why Apple did not choose BeOS over UNIX.

The death knell for M$ is tolling ....

(I guess everything I'm saying here is obvious stuff you guys probably realized a long time ago, so please forgive the redundancy. As I said, it just hit me today.)

 

[Choppaface]

i've been using os X for the a week now (my longest time since) and although I have printing issues I've actually become accustomed to it. a couple things that piss me off though:
•command SHIFT f to make a folder...hate that damn new window thingy
•after creating a new folder if you want to open it with command down arrow you have to click on it first, very annoying
•had to pay for windowshade
•users' rights issues...like not being able to delete files in certain folders without chmod'ing them first

 

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by spikey
I would love to have OSX.
But OS9 is good for what i do, i only do small jobs on my PCs now so i dont need a new PC and new OS just yet. When i do im gonna get OSX.

Anyone think any major speed improvements left in OSX? If so then what update would it be in 10.2? Or have they got all the snappiness they can out of it?

there is a lot of work left to do as far as "snappiness" goes. windows with large numbers of items will still take a long time yto load (if they ever load at all). here is a short list of bugs in osx:

Bug Fixes:

Window Bugs:

windows should not open behind the dock, just as windows do not open behind the menubar.

all windows should remember their size and icon arrangement. this seems simple. perhaps a "save window position" like in omniweb could be used to save a certain window position and size.

the green button should function properly. currently when the "keep arranged by.." option is chosen the right side of the window crops the window too close forcing the icons along the edge to move to th next row. when the "snap to grid" option is chosen there is too much room at the top of a window. when none of these is checked then things crop properly to the right and bottom but it does not crop the left or top of a window.

when navigating windows with the "always open folders in a new window" preference turned off the new window should open in its saved state, not in the state of the window that was previously open. in other words it should function much like opening a folding while holding down the option key, but retain the history in the back button.

from cleo- when the "scroll to here" option is checked all applications should exhibit this behavior — cocoa AND carbon applications.

windows with a large number of files/apps should open in a reasonable amount of time.

scrolling in windows needs to be accelerated

scrolling in pdf documents needs to accelerated

all windows should by default be set to global (this is what global means). one can then change all of one's windows by adjusting the global options. if one wants things different in a particular window then one uses the "this window only" option.

classic windows should be just as aware of the dock and menubar as aqua windows.

Other:

When emptying the trash using contexual menus and having the warn before emptying option checked a warning should be displayed.

fix iDisk slow down in OSX.

From OldMac - Stickies Notes should be multiple monitor aware. They should not jump back to the main monitor on restart.


as you can see most of these bugs have to do with the UI not true speed of the system. like others have said osx is actually A LOT faster than os9 in application wide tasks. its the UI that needs work. there are a lot of bugs that should have been worked out in the beta stages and a lot of room left for "snappiness." the fact that brand new systems seem out of date because they cant resize windows or scroll through pdfs at a decent speed is a little ridiculous.

all that being said, OSX truly is amazing. the only time i boot into os9 anymore is to work in dreamweaver or to burn cds (OSX wont find my firewire port). Apple is looking way ahead with osx and its just going to take some time to get the operating system to work for the people and hardware of today. when its finnally out of its beta stages i think osx will truly be something to marvel at.

 

[Choppaface]

yes scrolling! thats the other thing I hate. I'm big on command-drag scrolling, and I makes me mad that only IE supports it in OS X right now