ComputerWorld OSX pet peeves and my rebuttal

[MajereXYU]

Hello fellow MR'ers!

I was just reading This
article and while I agreed with some of the ideas brought forth, I found some inaccuracies and I wrote feedback in the hope they make amends.

Here is my rebuttal for those interested.


Regarding the inconsistent UI, according to Apple (http://developer.apple.com/document...elines/XHIGWindows/chapter_17_section_3.html), the Brushed Metal windows are used if the application :

- "Is a single-window application that provides a source list to navigate information—for example, iTunes or the Finder",

- "Strives to re-create a familiar physical device—Calculator or DVD Player, for example"

- "Provides an interface for a digital peripheral, such as a camera, or an interface for managing data shared with digital peripherals—iPhoto or iSync, for example".

Also, regarding the missing cut command, Apple does this to prevent the accidental loss of files, E.g. : you cut a file and forget to paste it and then copy or cut something else to the clipboard. Or you shutdown/lose power/system crashes (not likely), then the file is lost.
Apple's way of preventing this is only common sense.

By the way, small screen or not, actually moving a file is really easy on OS X. You just need to drag the file to Desktop (via F11 Exposé) and then drag it back to the proper place (with the help of Exposé when applicable).
Instead of trying to do things the Windows way, people should just embrace the many functionalities of OS X and stop trying to do things the complicated way.

Regarding the reader complaint about difficult to rename files, that person complains that OS X does not have a key to rename files and instead he is forced to use the mouse... Again, stop thinking like a Windows user and the world will suddenly be a lot simpler... OS X has a key to rename files, it's the ENTER key. So select a file (either with the keyboard or, god forbid, the mouse; even though the reader seemed to have a difficult time grasping the concept of such an arcane tool) and press ENTER. You can now rename it. Simple as that.

By the way, simply putting two fingers on a trackpad to get a right-click is a lot simpler and more comfortable than reaching out to a second button. I never use buttons on trackpads, preferring the "tap" click, so the two-finger tap makes a lot more sense for me and I wish it was implemented on Windows laptops too, making right-clicking much faster and comfortable.

That was my little rant of the day, I wanted to point out those inaccuracies so the world was better informed. Since your website tends to favor Windows, I didn't want to give a chance to Apple-bashers to gloat too much.

 

[ero87]

props for defending our beloved Mac OS X

but i'm not sure even you believe your argument about the lack of "cutting" feature. you say Windows' method is complicated, while "dragging to the desktop + expose + navigate +expose + drag back" is less copmlicated??!!? i mean, c'mon.

What if Mac OS X had this system in place: You can cut files. If you cut something and then copy something else before you pasted the first file, then the first file could be automatically restored to its original location. is that so hard? No file loss.

 

[MajereXYU]

Not a bad idea either.

But really, cutting a file in XP, navigating to the appropriate folder and pasting takes me about the same time as the OS X method.

Exposé really makes things quick (for me at least).

I sometimes miss the cut function but I understand why it's done and I can vouch for that, having lost files in XP this way myself (and I'm no n00b... been using computers, starting with Windows for more than 15years).

 

[Compile 'em all]

Concerning that cut/paste thing. Any proper OS will implement a cut/paste as a copy/paste/delete operation. That is the file is copied 1st then the original is deleted. So if the system fails when you are moving the file, the original file will stay intact because the delete was never executed, just the failed copy.

 

[ero87]

Concerning that cut/paste thing. Any proper OS will implement a cut/paste as a copy/paste/delete operation. That is the file is copied 1st then the original is deleted. So if the system fails when you are moving the file, the original file will stay intact because the delete was never executed, just the failed copy.

good point! why can't OSX do this right?

 

[Viremia]

I sometimes miss the cut function but I understand why it's done and I can vouch for that, having lost files in XP this way myself (and I'm no n00b... been using computers, starting with Windows for more than 15years).

While you might not be a n00b on whatever version of XP you were using, you certainly have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to the version of XP that everyone else is using. In XP, if you cut a file (Ctrl+X) and then decide to cut or copy another file, the first file is left untouched and remains where it was.

What idiotic OS would do it any other way? There's no marking of the file for deletion. The location of the file in the FAT (or equivalence) is simply marked for updating to where the file is being pasted. No action is taken. However, if you cancel the move (by selecting another file for moving) the entry in the FAT for the original file is left as it was and the location for the next file is selected (but not altered...yet). In short, nothing is done until the actual paste function is implemented.

Now, if Apple would implement the cut and paste for files like it is done in every other OS, I'd be happy. There's no chance of accidentally deleting a file and it is far easier often times than the drag-and-drop feature in OS X.

 

[mkrishnan]

Now, if Apple would implement the cut and paste for files like it is done in every other OS, I'd be happy. There's no chance of accidentally deleting a file and it is far easier often times than the drag-and-drop feature in OS X.

Now, tone down the vitriol, although you are correct about the way Windows works...but... are there any other operating systems besides Windows that have this kind of feature? I don't remember seeing it in any Linux/Unix variants, although I don't use them that frequently these days.