Innovations in OS non-existent?

[joptimus]

I've been wondering what the big fuss is about every year when macOS, iOS etc. are released.
Mostly, it seems they contain new emojis which honestly no one needs. Maybe that's just me, but I find it massively childish to focus on such nonsense for an operating system upgrade.

But on the other hand, an OS should just do that...operate. Innovation is rather for the software vendors. Unless of course new form factors and input methods enable totally new methods of how we do things.

A personal assistant like Siri which is not as dumb as it is currently, would be a good example. How about an AI enabled Siri that can do almost anything and that you can talk to like a normal person. I don't see that yet. Instead we get night mode and emojis...

Of course, macOS is free, so it's a bit unfair to complain, but I'm just missing real innovation from Apple (and Microsoft for that matter).

What's your take on this?

 

[Altis]

Tend to agree. macOS is pretty slow to get things like window snapping (which still sucks IMO).

iOS is a bit more frustrating to me from a UI/UX perspective. Endless input-blocking is the bane of my existence (since iOS 7), always ignoring inputs long after an "animation" (even if disabled) is playing. Remember when the Calculator.app wouldn't work properly due to it? They fixed that one app but it's still everywhere throughout. There are so many details that seem to not have been given any thought.

Some things are slowly improving, but others are getting worse.

 

[barbu]

I've been wondering what the big fuss is about every year when macOS, iOS etc. are released.
Mostly, it seems they contain new emojis which honestly no one needs. Maybe that's just me, but I find it massively childish to focus on such nonsense for an operating system upgrade.

But on the other hand, an OS should just do that...operate. Innovation is rather for the software vendors. Unless of course new form factors and input methods enable totally new methods of how we do things.

A personal assistant like Siri which is not as dumb as it is currently, would be a good example. How about an AI enabled Siri that can do almost anything and that you can talk to like a normal person. I don't see that yet. Instead we get night mode and emojis...

Of course, macOS is free, so it's a bit unfair to complain, but I'm just missing real innovation from Apple (and Microsoft for that matter).

What's your take on this?

I don't understand the mentality that demands operating systems "amuse" end users. Like, the point of an OS is to support hardware you connect and enable useful applications, not provide some kind of show.
So unless you want to delineate exactly what your disappoint with a particular API is, or what driver support you want to see added, I cannot imagine upon what you are basing your opinion. Do you think developers pay thousand to go to WWDC to spend a week learning about emojis? Have you watched the sessions? Are you aware of the new technologie included in iOS 13 or the new MacOS? SwiftUI for example?
Not trying to rag on ya, I just see this specious argument posted here daily, that somehow the OS is 'boring'. An OS is not created for entertainment purposes. It should be boring and stable, and enable exciting new applications.

 

[spyguy10709]

MacOS Catalina is the most significant step forward in the desktop system since... OSX 10.0 itself, perhaps. Project Catalyst (formerly Marzipan) is equivalent in significance to the introduction of the Carbon Frameworks - a transitional bridge which allowed "classic" mac apps to be easily ported to OSX. Catalyst brings all of the development currently focused on iOS and makes them available in MacOS with a few clicks in an interface builder. SwiftUI will take that one step further and will be equivalent to the introduction of Cocoa in significance - one code base that will look native on any of Apple's platforms.

We're on the verge of a re-emergence of the desktop as a marketable platform for mainstream developers, because of the work Apple is doing on their "dead platform" Macintosh, and I can't wait.

 

[thimplicity]

My hope is that they get rid of the weird separation of the dock, the menu bar and the app itself sooner rather than later.