A rant about leopard's UI.

[QUiKSR20]

I hate the fact that in OSX I cant cut and paste a folder. I have to copy then remove, also if I want a new document for say a text file or whatever I cant just right click and make the document.

I have to load text edit etc and then save. In windows I can just right click new text file and name it.

There are some things where I feel OSX is more productive and better but there are some things I can accomplish in Windows much faster.

Hence why I love using both OS's no favorite OSX is awesome but Windows has its place as well in my heart, Esp as an IT Professional.

 

[nsbio]

my rants

1) no cut in finder - "the finder just doesn't cut it".

2) no way to empty external drives, such as USB thumb drives, without emptying the global trash. This is plain dumb.

3) schizophrenic "green +" button. One CAN NOT predict the effect of pushing this button. Some time ago I suggested doing this as a game: take any window, outline where you would think the window will be after you push the + button (on a sheet protector overlaying the screen), push the button. I dare you to have a correct guess more than 10% of the time. Whoever came up with this "design" feature is an idiot.

Other than that, 10.5 UI is ok by design. There are a couple of bugs that still persist from the first release of Leopard, but they can be lived with.

 

[Cameront9]

1)

2) no way to empty external drives, such as USB thumb drives, without emptying the global trash. This is plain dumb.

Wait, what? What exactly do you mean? If you mean ejecting the drive, you just drag it to the trash and it ejects. If you mean wiping the drive, just format it in Disk Utility. No need to dump the trash.

 

[nsbio]

Wait, what? What exactly do you mean? If you mean ejecting the drive, you just drag it to the trash and it ejects. If you mean wiping the drive, just format it in Disk Utility. No need to dump the trash.

I mean, how to delete one large file from my USB stick such that the space on the USB drive is freed up but the rest of the Mac, including its trash, is not perturbed. I am using a third-party utility for that, which works very well, but this should have been an option in the OS itself all along. Windows has always been able to do that and in this case it is not a bad thing.

 

[adrian.oconnor]

1. The Traffic Lights/ On every other OS the X closes the program.

2. UI Consistency. In windows or linux 99% of apps use the same UI parts. I've only seen a few programs that insist on using a non-standard UI on linux or windows.

3. It would be nice if when finder was the active window a new window would open when the dock icon is clicked. It would be logical and efficient.

These things often bug new Mac users, including me when I switched last year, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily wrong:

1. I much prefer the Apple way now, it makes sense. I like keeping programs open even though I might not have any documents or tabs open. This is especially true if you automate any of your workflow.

2. Mac is beautifully consistent! I can't believe that you think Windows and Linux are more-so. As a programmer and GUI/interaction designer I pay particularly close attention to these things. I am truly awe-struck by Apple's attention to detail. iTunes is a little out of date, fair enough, but the iLife apps are just a variation on the Cocoa theme. Even the pro-apps are similar enough to the guidelines to be considered consistent variations. Linux is a mess of badly designed toolkits and themes, and Microsoft change their ideas about interface with every release of Windows, Office, IE and Media Player. Every release changes the interface, and are nearly always programmed using proprietary extensions that aren't available to third-party developers.

3. Right click the finder icon and you'll see the shortcut you need. I find this behaviour a little odd too, though I don't think about it often now that I'm used to it.

P.S. Sorry if I'm repeating what others have said - I didn't read all of the comments.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Wait, what? What exactly do you mean? If you mean ejecting the drive, you just drag it to the trash and it ejects. If you mean wiping the drive, just format it in Disk Utility. No need to dump the trash.

He means taht when you delete a file from a usb drive you have to empty the trash to actually get rid of the file and free up the space. This sucks when you dont want to empty all of the trash but you want the space on the usb drive back. I use BlueHarvest for that, it keeps .Trashes folders from being created so that files are actually removed from a usb drive when i delete them.

Im still adamant about the X. If in in photoshop and i want to close the document i will just close the document, not close the window, that seems ridiculous. Not to mention that some apps actually close with the X button, and you can never really tell what apps do that until you memorize it.

No 'cut' function in finder is a pain too. Steve Jobs thinks that every mac user is an idiot and would get confused by simple cut/paste commands.

nsbio, the Zoom button (in finder at least) is actually very predictable once you figure it out. Zooming will never change how many columns of icons you have, it only makes the windows taller. Good design? No.

koobcamuk, thinking different is ok, but not when its just for the sake of being different. There is a reason every OS minus apple's behaves a certain way and doing things differently just for the sake of being different is stupid.

 

[illegallydead]

He means taht when you delete a file from a usb drive you have to empty the trash to actually get rid of the file and free up the space. This sucks when you dont want to empty all of the trash but you want the space on the usb drive back. I use BlueHarvest for that, it keeps .Trashes folders from being created so that files are actually removed from a usb drive when i delete them.

Im still adamant about the X. If in in photoshop and i want to close the document i will just close the document, not close the window, that seems ridiculous. Not to mention that some apps actually close with the X button, and you can never really tell what apps do that until you memorize it.

No 'cut' function in finder is a pain too. Steve Jobs thinks that every mac user is an idiot and would get confused by simple cut/paste commands.

nsbio, the Zoom button (in finder at least) is actually very predictable once you figure it out. Zooming will never change how many columns of icons you have, it only makes the windows taller. Good design? No.

koobcamuk, thinking different is ok, but not when its just for the sake of being different. There is a reason every OS minus apple's behaves a certain way and doing things differently just for the sake of being different is stupid.

I will really only agree with the comment about the cut/paste.
Other than that, I use the keyboard for everything, and it makes things much quicker. I think that is one of the necessary steps of learning OSX. Also.... Every other OS out there? Man, there is Windows and Linux. That is mostly it. Granted, there are tons of others (Unix, Solaris, OS/2, and many many others) but as a anyone ranging from a normal neophyte to an advanced programer, I defy you to say that you have used anything other than one of the numerous Linux distro's or Windows. So comparing OS X to "every other" is silly, since you really only have about 2-3 options for "normal" other OS's.

When it comes down to it, tough, about all of this is personal preference. And much of it is based on comparing OS X to Windows or to some build of Linux.

 

[NT1440]

Do you guys really use cut/paste that much?

I am stuck on Vista and Ive honestly never used the cut function.

Apparantly I'm the odd man out tho

 

[Tomorrow]

I hate the fact that in OSX I cant cut and paste a folder.

I haven't tried, but does Shift-drag work? That usually forces a move rather than a copy.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

I use cut/paste alot actually. I havent spent much time in windows lately so ive gotten used to dealing with files the long way, but before i went to osx i used cut quite frequently. Regardless, its a simple feature taht should be available. Im not an idiot and i dont think most of you guys are, but Jobs thinks we will get confused with cutting files/folders even though most of us had been doing so on windows before we switched to a mac.
I should try PathFinder. That might make life easier.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

^ Macs has been around longer than Crapdows has been. And that feature isn't used that often. Unless you cut/paste folders for a living. No pun intended.

 

[mason.kramer]

This is just a lame FTFF post with a few "but it's not Windows" complaints thrown in there for bad measure.

Now look, I agree with you, the Finder sucks, but at least complain about it for the right reasons.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

^ Macs has been around longer than Crapdows has been. And that feature isn't used that often. Unless you cut/paste folders for a living. No pun intended.

Did i say windows has been around longer? No. Most people that are on macs now have used windows before then switched.
And i find that the feature is used quite often.

mason.kramer, what are the 'right' reasons to complain about Finder? Please, enlighten me. Also, if you had managed to read any of my posts, im not comparing osx to windows, im comparing it to all the linux distros out there. Lets compare finder to Nautilus, Thunar, Explorer, Konqueror, and Dolphin (just to name the popular ones) and tell me who is the odd one out. Then lets compare OSX window management with Gnome, XFCE, KDE, Fluxbox, and Windows (whatever they call their WM) and lets see who does things the complete opposite way. See where im going with this yet? OSX is supposed to be easy to use, and it is, but only if you have never gotten used to any other OS or distro previous to owning a mac.

 

[NT1440]

So OP, your complaint is that it doesnt do things like the other OS's out there.

Ever think its doing things differently that make it a different OS?

You can complain that you dont like them, but dont state that its wrong because its not like everyone else.

 

[snberk103]

Wow. i wasnt expecting so many sarcastic remarks...

Welcome to the forum!

I think some of you are missing my point about the dock icon thing. If the app is in front the dock icon could have new functionality because all it is doing at that point is letting you know the program is open, which you should already know seeing as its in front.

It might seem like a good idea on first look, but then you would always be deciding whether to go for the dock icon or not, depending on whether the app has the focus or not. If you tile your windows, or if there is small dialogue window thats not obvious then clicking the dock icon may give you unexpected results since the app you thought was in the front wasn't wasn't. eg If you have bunch of large documents open and the RAM used up, clicking on the CS4 icon (thinking its going to bring CS4 to the front) and then finding its actually loading another copy of CS4 because it was in fact the window with the focus is going to tie the system up for a bit.

To those who keep saying im comparing osx to windows you must realize that i am not. I am comparing it to every single other os on the market. Apple is the odd one out here, not windows.

I don't see your point. If it works best should Apple change it to conform? Haven't you heard the "If all your friends jumped off the Brooklyn bridge, would you?" admonishment?

Im not whining or complaining or being a bitchy windows fanboy, im just pointing out simple things that i find obtrusive. If you cant handle someone seeing a flaw in osx then just go back to your Jobs worshiping circle-jerk.

Now who is being sarcastic?

esXXI, sorry i didnt list every single app with tabs... jebus... Out of curiosity though, why dont you like the cs4 tabs? I love them because i often have over 5 documents open and i can switch around alot faster with tabs.

reclusivemonkey, i wasnt aware of MS office's interface as i use OpenOffice for everything. I'll have to find someone who has ms office and look at it (i've converted all my friends to OOo so this may be difficult).

There may be one way to make the Finder window work the way you want it to. Click on Finder, and then go to the Finder Preferences. Under the General tab turn on the Open Folder in New Window option. Now when you have the Finder open, click on a folder and you will get a new window. I know its not the same as clicking on the dock icon, but it is a way to open multiple Finder windows.

Good Luck.

Learning a new OS is like renting cars. Every once in while you get to drive a model that is perfect for you.... nearly. Just learn to live with it - you'll be happier and live longer. And, find the "feature request" section on the Apple site. Don't tell us, tell Apple. Then tell us that you have told Apple, perhaps you'll find that your request gets company.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Ever think its doing things differently that make it a different OS?

Ever think that 90% of other os's do things a certain way for a reason? Being different isnt always a good thing.

 

[Blue Velvet]

If you cant handle someone seeing a flaw in osx then just go back to your Jobs worshiping circle-jerk.

OK, this thread has passed its sell by date. Enjoy your Mac.