Is Lion the first retrograde step in over a decade? I've been using Macs for twenty years - and remember being incredibly frustrated with them. And then those frustrations got less and less and less and less - until the last os I had - I can't honestly say I had any frustrations whatsoever. It all just worked - very smoothly and nicely. To have a machine that works that way sounds like a basic thing - but in the world of technology - I've never come across it before or since. In the meantime I had to have some Windows machines and oh my goodness the comparison was massive. I've bought some top of the range laptops and you wouldn't believe how non-compatible they were - with themselves and Windows!! But what the x happened with Lion? I upgraded because I'd got in the habit of upgrading - since the past few years - each one just got better and better.
Perhaps I should have been concerned when the emphasis shifted to making the mac more like the ipad/iphone. For me the ipod worked beautifully and I tried the first three iphones but was disappointed in basic functionality - no alarm that worked when it was off, no led to indicate emails and a battery that meant the thing died even if I'd turned it off. But I didn't let that put me off the mac - that was just what they'd decided should be the functionality of that device. It seems to me though that with the success of the iphone/ipad, Apple have shifted their emphasis so much that they've forgotten what makes a 'good' (in my opinion - a 'working' ) computer. So far, Lion has been slow - in everything - even - the biggest no-no - with Apple apps - Preview, Safari and even Text Edit! Not only that but the basics - Save As etc etc etc. My other feeling with it is that it has just gone 'wrong' - counterintuitive and putting the basics, (like drive space) out of reach. Maybe I'll have to downgrade to Snow Leopard and keep my beautiful Macbook Pro - the most stable and reliable machine I've ever owned - in a state of suspended animation. Hopefully it won't conk out on me - and as a museum piece it will show what can be done when a company cares about functionality.
If you've read this far - thanks - rant over. It's so odd to be ranting -because my first decade or so with Apple I felt like ranting all the time and then they became amazing - it's so disappointing to see this backward move.
Perhaps I should have been concerned when the emphasis shifted to making the mac more like the ipad/iphone. For me the ipod worked beautifully and I tried the first three iphones but was disappointed in basic functionality - no alarm that worked when it was off, no led to indicate emails and a battery that meant the thing died even if I'd turned it off. But I didn't let that put me off the mac - that was just what they'd decided should be the functionality of that device. It seems to me though that with the success of the iphone/ipad, Apple have shifted their emphasis so much that they've forgotten what makes a 'good' (in my opinion - a 'working' ) computer. So far, Lion has been slow - in everything - even - the biggest no-no - with Apple apps - Preview, Safari and even Text Edit! Not only that but the basics - Save As etc etc etc. My other feeling with it is that it has just gone 'wrong' - counterintuitive and putting the basics, (like drive space) out of reach. Maybe I'll have to downgrade to Snow Leopard and keep my beautiful Macbook Pro - the most stable and reliable machine I've ever owned - in a state of suspended animation. Hopefully it won't conk out on me - and as a museum piece it will show what can be done when a company cares about functionality.
If you've read this far - thanks - rant over. It's so odd to be ranting -because my first decade or so with Apple I felt like ranting all the time and then they became amazing - it's so disappointing to see this backward move.