OS X Lion's Resume Feature: A Cautionary Tale

[cohibadad]

also keep in mind that quitting the application does not prevent the autosume upon relaunch of the application. So say you have 10 videos open with QT and you want to close them all. If you quit the application next time you launch all of those 10 videos will reopen. You need to close each individual window or video to prevent it from reopening with the application.

 

[cohibadad]

Apart from that, people still using the old Magic Mouse most likely have a clogged Scroll Wheel, with the new Window Re-Size from all Sides feature, those Users need to push the right side of the screen right to the edge of the Scroll Wheel.

Yes the lack of scroll bars can be a real annoyance. Say you have a mail list of like 1000 or 2000 items and you basically want to get to the middle of the list or bottom of the list but because the scroll bar isn't visible unless you scroll and on a huge list the scroll bar is tiny you can't just grab the bar and pull it to where you want to go easily. It should probably default to showing the scroll bar on mouse movement.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Yes the lack of scroll bars can be a real annoyance. Say you have a mail list of like 1000 or 2000 items and you basically want to get to the middle of the list or bottom of the list but because the scroll bar isn't visible unless you scroll and on a huge list the scroll bar is tiny you can't just grab the bar and pull it to where you want to go easily. It should probably default to showing the scroll bar on mouse movement.

Or it should appear if you move over the area it should be. Not sure if that already happens. Going on the backwards features Apple seem to be implementing I doubt it does.

This is the first time I'm not actually fussed about a major update as it seems like its just plain going to piss me off with its idiosyncrasies.

"Backwards on my Mac"

 

[1001DVS]

Auto Resume - May be not such a good idea

In the 90's I use to run IBM's OS/2 which did have Auto Resume. The problem with auto resume (at that time) if there was a program running that could take down the system to where you had to hard restart the machine, that program started back up right where the problem causing the crash occurred.

I remember the first thing that I did when installing or re-installing OS/2 was to turn off that feature, back then it was an entry in the config.sys.

Perhaps this should be turned off by default.

Derek

 

[appleguy123]

So, would a browser in a "Private Browsing" mode still resume to its previous state during a relaunch?

No, it starts over with a blank slate.

 

[petvas]

Ok, here is what I wrote on my blog:

One of the most advertised features of Apple’s upcoming desktop Operating System is certainly resume. What is Resume though and how does it work?
The principle is very easy actually. Applications save their state when closed and resume in the exact same position when reopened. This has been a very much needed feature in iOS where multitasking doesn’t work as on a desktop OS. Apps on iOS pause when the user switches to another app, and resume their state when the user switches back. This is a way to save battery and works pretty well on iOS, while it cannot be seen as real multitasking, which unfortunately would kill battery very fast..
Users coming from iOS expect that apps should always get resumed. This is ok when using a phone or a tablet, because of the limitations of these devices. Let us not forget that these devices are primarily used only by one person (especially phones).
Apple decided to bring Resume to its desktop operating system. Does it make sense having Resume on OS X? Let us examine the implications for a moment. First I want to say that Resume can be globally turned off but in its default state it is enabled. There is no supported way to disable resume only for a specific application.
When a user quits an app, the app’s state is being saved under ~/Library/Application Saved State. This is the default behavior. When the app opens again it resumes. Even selected text from the previous session is being saved and when the app resumes the text gets selected again. Imagine situations where you open a document, do some work and then close the app. A bit later you are at a customer and want to open the same app and open a different document. The app will unfortunately resume and the customer might see the contents of the other document he shouldn’t be seeing. The security implications are very big! Resume can also be the reason to embarrass someone. Imagine watching a private video. You close QuickTime. A couple of hours later you want to open another video and double click on the file. QuickTime opens and starts two videos! The private one also starts…Imagine having other people in front of your Mac. They can easily find out what you have been doing before…
Resume should be the optional behavior of apps…If you close all app windows first and then the app, then when starting the app again there won’t be any surprises. Another way to do that is by using Cmd + Option + Q to close an app. This combination discards all open windows…
The problem is that with Resume on, the entire workflow of how we interact with our Macs changes. I have nothing against change, but in this case I don’t see the benefits. Now, every time we want to close an app we must think if we want to resume later or not. Of course this will be an option to power users who will find out the key combination, but for most people this won’t be an option at all, since they won’t know it…
People will start closing windows instead of apps. This makes the whole OS feel more like Windows and totally changes the way we interact with it. I am not sure I like it anymore and I think I will disable it. Resume is great when restarting your computer and want to be back to what you were doing before very fast, but apart from that I don’t see the benefit on computers that can multitask and have many apps open at the same time. Apple should listen to people and disable Resume by default. The option to enable it should be there.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

For me its more of a nuisance than anything else. I do Apple > Q a lot, and now I need to do Apple > W AND Apple > Q whenever I want to Quit an Applications + all Windows.

Sure it helps with Recovering Preview and TextEdit Documents, but apart from that when Launching QuickTime its just a nuisance.

They should setup some sort of System Preferences Panel for this, have it configured on a Per-Application Basis.....

Yeah, there should definitely be different behavior for "media creation" and "media consumption" applications.

Pages, Microsoft Excel, Garage Band, etc, it makes sense. QT Player, Preview, VLC, not so much. The *APP* should have a "recently opened", and for movie type players a "continue where left off", but the OS shouldn't enforce "open whatever was open last time".

 

[kingtj]

My concern with "resume" is ....

What happens when an app crashes because of one of the documents or data files it's trying to open? If it beach-balls on startup each time, you probably can't press one of the hotkeys to "close all windows". You have to do an "End Task" on it to close it. So in that situation, will you get caught in an endless loop of it crashing again every time it's re-launched, or is Lion smart enough not to attempt to resume an app that's been closed via "End Task"?

 

[Insolence]

About the bold quoted text:

I don't know (never tried it) but couldn't you:

1. use the old Mac with FireWire to do the Target Disk Mode thingy, connect it to a newer Mac (use a Mac in your store if you haven't one, for goddess' sake ),
2. re-start that newer Mac with ALT pressed down,
3. choose to start your old Mac's content at the newer system's startup menu,
4. boot that newer Mac and let all the apps load,
5. close all the apps you don't need,
6. shut it down again,
7. shut down your old Taget Disk Mode Mac and remove the FireWire cable,
8. boot your old Mac again,

and have your old Mac to have no problems anymore with apps you closed the correct way.

Or am I wrong about it?

Sure I could. But I'd rather just sit around for 15 mins while my 2006 iMac decides it won't crash and finally loads all the Apps I had open before.

QuickTime won't open up two files at once, since most users just click the X button when they close a video. And when they re-start their Mac, it won't re-open since they've manually closed all video files with the X button.

I've had QuickTime restore 5 windows after re-opening the App once. Resume has no limit.

 

[petvas]

What happens when an app crashes because of one of the documents or data files it's trying to open? If it beach-balls on startup each time, you probably can't press one of the hotkeys to "close all windows". You have to do an "End Task" on it to close it. So in that situation, will you get caught in an endless loop of it crashing again every time it's re-launched, or is Lion smart enough not to attempt to resume an app that's been closed via "End Task"?

You can delete the state of an application. Go to library and then Saved Application State. There you will find your app and you can delete the files.

 

[morespce54]

obviously, swap "birth video" with "porn", and you see the possible large scale implications.

arn

No doubt!
"Birth video", yeah sure...

 

[petvas]

No doubt!
"Birth video", yeah sure...

That happened to me once

 

[sn]

Why? Maybe people should stop being so uptight, sheesh.

On another note, who on earth videotapes a BIRTH? And WATCHES it again later?

i think quite a lot of people do...

 

[notjustjay]

Never mind the things YOU were actually doing with the apps. Think of the potential for practical jokes!

 

[petvas]

Never mind the things YOU were actually doing with the apps. Think of the potential for practical jokes!

Resume poses a big security issue and should be off by default. The only reason Apple offered an on off switch was because of the security implications. I think that Resume is a useless feature on computers. Tablets and phones cannot be compared to a computer. Resume makes sense on tablets but not on computers. On a computer I can have multiple apps running on the same time. I can have multiple windows and switching between apps doesn't lose the status of each app. There is no way Apple can convince me that Resume makes any sense at all. Unfortunately many of the big Lion features make me feel like that. The small things in Lion are much much more valuable than the big features...

 

[Phil A.]

Resume poses a big security issue and should be off by default. The only reason Apple offered an on off switch was because of the security implications. I think that Resume is a useless feature on computers. Tablets and phones cannot be compared to a computer. Resume makes sense on tablets but not on computers. On a computer I can have multiple apps running on the same time. I can have multiple windows and switching between apps doesn't lose the status of each app. There is no way Apple can convince me that Resume makes any sense at all. Unfortunately many of the big Lion features make me feel like that. The small things in Lion are much much more valuable than the big features...

I completely agree.
Personally, I find resume incredibly annoying under any circumstance: If I quit an app then I don't want it to start up again in the same place the next time I start it.
If I'm editing a document and then quit pages, chances are I've finished with editing that document, so why would I want Pages to automatically re-load it if I open a completely different document?

It simply makes no sense to me at all and it's definitely a feature that will be staying turned off on my Mac

 

[jettredmont]

I just fail to see the use of "Letter to mom.doc" opening when I doubble click "Spring Festival.doc", especially if the letter to mom was finalized and sent 2 weeks ago.

How is this hard to understand?

When you are done with "Letter to mom.doc" Close the F*ing Window

I mean, come on ... Are you people functional in society?

When I'm done with a real letter on my desk, I put the letter away. I don't leave it sitting on my desk and then bitch and moan that it's still there when I sit down to write another letter! I don't assume that me stepping away from my desk means that the magic housekeeper will instantly swoop in and return it to a "pristine" state (and would indeed worry about what such a magical housekeeper would do with in-progress letters and the like).

IMHO, with "quitting" an application becoming less relevant, maybe Cmd-Q should get remapped away and Cmd-Opt-W should get move to a less-hidden option (most people have no idea how to close all windows in an app without quitting the app).

 

[jettredmont]

If you ever become a parent then you'll understand it.

Parent, several times over. Still don't understand it. There are a lot of moments I videotape and enjoy looking back on. A birth is not one of them (and not just because it is "icky" or whatever; because it is a private moment that just absolutely can not be adequately captured on videotape).

 

[jettredmont]

also keep in mind that quitting the application does not prevent the autosume upon relaunch of the application. So say you have 10 videos open with QT and you want to close them all. If you quit the application next time you launch all of those 10 videos will reopen. You need to close each individual window or video to prevent it from reopening with the application.

Command. Alt. W.

That is all.

 

[petvas]

How is this hard to understand?

When you are done with "Letter to mom.doc" Close the F*ing Window

I mean, come on ... Are you people functional in society?

When I'm done with a real letter on my desk, I put the letter away. I don't leave it sitting on my desk and then bitch and moan that it's still there when I sit down to write another letter! I don't assume that me stepping away from my desk means that the magic housekeeper will instantly swoop in and return it to a "pristine" state (and would indeed worry about what such a magical housekeeper would do with in-progress letters and the like).

IMHO, with "quitting" an application becoming less relevant, maybe Cmd-Q should get remapped away and Cmd-Opt-W should get move to a less-hidden option (most people have no idea how to close all windows in an app without quitting the app).

I cannot agree with you on this one. People are used to close applications and then return back and find a pristine state. Computers run many apps at once. If someone choose to close an app, then it most probably means that the user doesn't really want to see the document when the apps starts again. Making the users think before closing an app is a change in the way we interact with our Macs. It is a big change and makes the Mac work more like MS Windows.

 

[jettredmont]

Resume poses a big security issue and should be off by default. The only reason Apple offered an on off switch was because of the security implications.

What is the security risk of Resume? I see nothing here to indicate a security risk. Apple added the option to assuage the cries of luddites who refuse any/all change.

 

[jettredmont]

What happens when an app crashes because of one of the documents or data files it's trying to open? If it beach-balls on startup each time, you probably can't press one of the hotkeys to "close all windows". You have to do an "End Task" on it to close it. So in that situation, will you get caught in an endless loop of it crashing again every time it's re-launched, or is Lion smart enough not to attempt to resume an app that's been closed via "End Task"?

One would hope they would monitor such loops with the same kind of logic that currently prompts you to clear prefs and restart after it crashes during startup.

I can imagine a third-party app which allows you to start "clean" or to archive off a particular saved state for an app, though.

 

[petvas]

What is the security risk of Resume? I see nothing here to indicate a security risk. Apple added the option to assuage the cries of luddites who refuse any/all change.

There are actually many security issues, depending on the situation. Imagine being at a customer premises. You want to open a file, word comes up and shows a document that belongs to another customer, because that is what you have been working on before. The document can be read from everyone present. There have been many bug reports on that and Apple acknowledged the issue! Another issue is that if someone gains access to the cache files, he can easily find what you have been working on.
Apple wants from us to always remember how we should proceed with a document and decide before closing an app. that totally changes the way we work. I am not saying that I haven't tested it on my Lion machine, I have! I ended up having to always think how I should close an app. Frustrating. Yes, I could get used to it, but I still do not see the benefit in doing that.

 

[jettredmont]

I cannot agree with you on this one. People are used to close applications and then return back and find a pristine state. Computers run many apps at once. If someone choose to close an app, then it most probably means that the user doesn't really want to see the document when the apps starts again. Making the users think before closing an app is a change in the way we interact with our Macs. It is a big change and makes the Mac work more like MS Windows.

"are used to" does not mean that a workflow is optimal or even remotely "right". People were used to semi-transparent menu items and pinstripes too, and I really can't see that as having been "right"

"If someone choose to close an app, then it most probably means that the user doesn't really want to see the document when the apps starts again." No, it does not, at least not for everyone. When I shut down an app it means I am done with it for the time being and don't want it sucking up resources while I'm doing something else. I mean, there is already a completely functioning way to say "I'm done with this document", which is to close the window.

9 times of 10 (roughly), when I bring an app back up, the very first thing I do is visit the "Recently Opened" list and re-open what I had open in it before, and scroll to the place I was at, etc. It's a major pain to get things back to smooth working order again.

The apps that I love the most (IntelliJ, for instance, or Firefox) do this for me. I'd love the whole OS to support it.

Yes, there is a workflow change, and if you want to treat all workflow changes as potential security holes I suppose you could kind of make that case. But, IMHO it's a much better workflow that we are transitioning to, so I'd rather take the "change" pain now and live with the better workflow than be stuck like Microsoft in a workflow from the 1980's forever because the day it would take to train my fingers to close windows instead of apps was just too much to bear.

 

[petvas]

"are used to" does not mean that a workflow is optimal or even remotely "right". People were used to semi-transparent menu items and pinstripes too, and I really can't see that as having been "right"

"If someone choose to close an app, then it most probably means that the user doesn't really want to see the document when the apps starts again." No, it does not, at least not for everyone. When I shut down an app it means I am done with it for the time being and don't want it sucking up resources while I'm doing something else. I mean, there is already a completely functioning way to say "I'm done with this document", which is to close the window.

9 times of 10 (roughly), when I bring an app back up, the very first thing I do is visit the "Recently Opened" list and re-open what I had open in it before, and scroll to the place I was at, etc. It's a major pain to get things back to smooth working order again.

The apps that I love the most (IntelliJ, for instance, or Firefox) do this for me. I'd love the whole OS to support it.

Yes, there is a workflow change, and if you want to treat all workflow changes as potential security holes I suppose you could kind of make that case. But, IMHO it's a much better workflow that we are transitioning to, so I'd rather take the "change" pain now and live with the better workflow than be stuck like Microsoft in a workflow from the 1980's forever because the day it would take to train my fingers to close windows instead of apps was just too much to bear.

For content creation apps I can see your point. Can you please tell me why the Mac Preferences, QuickTime, Preview, and zillion other apps that consume content have Resume? I do not want QuickTime to always reopen my videos. I forget all the time t first close all open windows and then the app.