My frustration was not that OS X didn't behave like Windows, it was that it didn't perform a basic functionality that SHOULD be on both Windows and OS X. Unless Apple totally revolutionizes their next OS and abandon the tree/folder file management structure, dealing with folder/file paths are a crucial aspect of the usage of the OS.
You do realize that part of the point of OS X and the whole Mac "way"
is to hide the kind of folder tree file management structure as much as possible from the end user, right? You can see it in many, many aspects of Apple's programs and many, many parts of OS X. It's silly to completely do away with the structure, as the Unix core of the OS relies on this structure, but that doesn't mean the user has to deal with it when there are friendlier ways.
You can go through your entire OS X experience without
ever seeing any kind of folder tree or having to type, copy, or paste in
any file path names. That's the intention. When it comes right down to it, you're doing it wrong (in OS X), because you're used to Windows, where that kind of thing is necessary.
Yes, people still have to store their files in folders and things like that, but OS X tries to make sure people
have to deal with folder structure as little as possible. Why do you think the icons look like folders? Because the user is supposed to treat them as folders. You open one, look inside it. If you want to, say, email a file in a folder, do you copy and paste the file location into the attachments or anything like that? Of course not! Think of it like this: if you were holding a real, physical file, and wanted to snail mail it to someone, would you tell the envelope the x,y,z coordinates of where your file is in relationship to your study? No! You grab the file from the folder and drop it in the envelope. Similarly, why would you want to tell your email the file path of your file when you can just drag and drop it right in? I realize, maybe
you would prefer it the former way, but that's not the OS X way of doing things.
Look at iTunes and iPhoto. They're both apps that are especially designed to hide every facet of traditional file/folder structure from the user. You drop your songs into iTunes and it makes sure they're organized for you. You drop your photos into iPhoto, and it organizes them for you, too, and even tracks the changes you make to them as you go. If you use them right, you never, ever have to look for your songs in folders, or search through a file tree for that perfect picture. The applications have libraries already well-organized for you. Talk to the application like you would a librarian. Don't bother worrying where every individual book is or trying to keep track of the Dewey decimal system yourself; just like don't bother trying to organize 16GB or music or 10GB of photos on your own. Let the librarian/application handle that. Just tell it what you want, and it'll get it for you.
So Apple was already at that particular revolution. Get with it. File paths are so 90's. You don't need them anymore. Let go. You'll be a happier person. Let go, young padawan, and use the Force that is OS X.
I haven't had to deal with file paths or trees since leaving XP, and I'm a much happier computer user for it. You can do it, too. I believe in you.