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15 Things Apple Should Change in Mac OS X
Posted by Zonk on Friday December 15, @09:21AM
from the twitching-the-tiger dept.
OS X Operating Systems Windows
richi writes "Two of Computerworld's top operating systems editors, a Mac expert and a Windows expert, compare notes on what Apple should reconsider as it develops Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Mac OS X 10.4, or Tiger, is (in their opinion) a noticeably better operating system than XP or Vista. But it is not perfect. OS X has its own quirks and flaws, and they set out to nail down some of the 'proud nails' for the next release."
From the article: "7. Inconsistent User Interface. Open iTunes, Safari and Mail. All three of these programs are Apple's own, and they're among the ones most likely to be used by Mac OS X users. So why do all three of them look different? Safari, like several other Apple-made apps such as the Finder and Address Book, uses a brushed-metal look. iTunes sports a flat gun-metal gray scheme and flat non-shiny scroll bars. Mail is somewhere in between: no brushed metal, lots of gun-metal gray, and the traditional shiny blue scroll bars. Apple is supposed to be the king of good UI, and in many areas, it is. But three widely used apps from the same company with a different look? Sometimes consistency isn't the hobgoblin of little minds."
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9006104
15 Things Apple Should Change in Mac OS X
Two of our top operating systems editors, a Mac expert and a Windows expert, compare notes on what Apple should reconsider as it develops Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
December 14, 2006 (Computerworld) -- In many ways, it's easy to slam Windows XP and Vista: Just start counting security flaws or user experience nightmares. When you're the Goliath of the operating system world, everyone wants to hurl stones. But what about the proverbial David, or in this case Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X? Looking for flaws in Apple's OS seems like picking on the little guy -- until you remember that Apple is doing very well these days and has made much of its vaunted UI and seemingly secure OS underpinnings.
Even though it's been out for more than 18 months now, Mac OS X 10.4, or Tiger, is a noticeably better operating system than XP or Vista. But it's not perfect. OS X has its own quirks and flaws, little irritants made all the more irritating by the fact that they come out of Cupertino, which should know better. There are some things about the way it works that aren't as flexible, usable or convenient as Windows.
Since we highlighted 20 Things You Won't Like About Windows Vista, it's only fair to take a look at the little things in Tiger that users find equally annoying. With perhaps one or two exceptions, our list isn't about making Apple's OS work like Windows. It's about making the Mac all it can be.
There are probably a lot of features and functions that Apple could -- and probably will -- add to OS X. But we're not pointing out missing features; we're focusing on 15 of the little things already in OS X that need refinement or rethinking based on our everyday use of Macs.
15. No Date Display. For all their convenience features, one of the most obvious data points that neither the Mac nor Windows quite does properly is your basic readout of today's date. You probably already know today is Thursday or Friday. What you're more likely to be unsure of is whether today is December 7 or December 8. When you think about it, is there really any more obvious piece of information that people tend to forget than today's date? Isn't this an obvious thing a computer should display? We think so.
Apple displays the date, grayed out, on the menu that opens when you click the clock face on the right side of the main menu. Windows delivers today's date in a pop-up when you hover your mouse pointer over the clock in the taskbar. Until Vista, Windows didn't even have its own calendar. People use their Windows XP clock-settings configuration dialog to check calendar dates. (As a result, they often wind up changing their system dates accidentally -- which these days can trigger a nasty WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) anti-piracy warning.)
Apple has a couple of choices. It could, and we think should, add a basic six-digit date area to the main menu-bar clock. It might read Dec-07, or for outside the U.S., 07-Dec. Considering all the other programs that append icons in that area, Apple should feel no compunction about using this space. Lose the day of the week if you have to, or make it optional. Another possibility is to make the iCal icon in the Dock dynamically display today's date at all times. It does so automatically whenever iCal is running. Why not just make it dynamically display today's date at all times?
14. Widgets Can't Be Placed on the Desktop. The Dashboard is very nice, but its all-or-nothing approach is frustrating. We want to be able to drag and drop individual widgets to the desktop. Granted, we don't want many widgets on the desktop. We might like more if they weren't so large. The Dashboard looks great, but while we nip in to use the calculator now and then, it doesn't get as much use as it might. There are also some readout-type functions (how hot is my Core 2 Duo?) we might like to have that just wouldn't be all that useful when you have to actively pursue them to see them. Windows Vista's Sidebar is slightly better than the Dashboard because it can optionally display at all times, or you can put individual Sidebar Gadgets on the desktop.
13. Inconsistent Use of Context Menus. Apple should fully enable context menus in Finder and other Apple software. We're not saying the Mac should rely solely on context menus in even tiny facets of the user interface -- that's a mistake Windows and third-party developers make on that platform. But context menus are useful process shortcuts for more experienced users. No one is forcing anyone to use them, so there's really no reason for longtime Mac users to be upset about this change to OS X. To each her own favorite way of working.
12. Documents and App Instances on the Dock. The Dock does an excellent job of launching and tracking launched applications. Its only weakness is tracking launched document windows and program instances. While it is possible to right-click a running program on the Dock to see and select among open windows associated with that program, that's the only way you can check this -- and some applications don't support it. We'll say it again: Context menus should never be the only UI for accessing something. The Dock is elegant in all other regards, and even a little ingenious. But in this one way, it falls down.
11. Managing Window Size. Window management is tough enough without giving the user only one corner that he can drag to change the window's size. Microsoft Windows lets you drag any window edge on all four sides, in addition to dragging two sides at once from any of the four corners. There are times when dragging a single window side could eliminate two adjustments on the Mac: a window resize followed by a window move. When you've used both operating systems, it becomes clear that Mac window resizing is less convenient. On the other hand, the Windows way of doing things requires precision mouse control, which can also be tiresome.
Here's a thought that's simple and solves about 80% of the problem. What if Apple made both lower corners of Mac windows draggable? What if all four corners were? Either of those minor improvements would be quite welcome.
10. Accessing Applications. The Dock offers a great way to show running applications and the programs you launch most often. But what about those applications you use only once in a while? The way it is now, you can either jam the Dock so full with program icons it's ridiculous or keep the Dock clean and then open a Finder window and drill down into the Applications folder to launch lesser-used apps. The previous generation Mac OS let you configure program launching on the Apple menu. While there are third-party solutions that give you back a semblance of that functionality, Apple needs to recognize this user need. (Reader Michael Cullison contributed to this pet peeve.)
What if, for example, the Dock could expand to show a second row (or column) of application icons? Some of us put the Application folder icon in the right side (or bottom) area of the Dock, which makes it easier to open the Application folder. And if you right-click the Application folder in that position, you'll see the contents of that folder in a pop-up menu. Perfecting that user experience and placing the Application folder on the Dock by default might be a good start.
9. Backspace and Delete Keys. The world holds millions and millions of computers that have Backspace (delete left) and Delete (delete right) keys. Most editors and writers who've been exposed to Windows notebook keyboards that have both of those keys can tell you that moving to a Mac notebook that has only a Backspace key (called "Delete" on the Mac) can be frustrating. Yes, yes, we know that Fn-Delete performs a delete-right operation. But that's not a good solution for touch typists.
The rest of the world long since accepted that IBM makes the best keyboards. Why can't Apple accept the standard in its notebooks? No one is complaining about the Apple key, for instance!
In case other ex-Windows users are frustrated by Mac notebook keyboards and especially the lack of a delete-right key, we highly recommend a freeware Preference Pane called DoubleCommand, written by Michael Baltaks.
Using this program we were able to transform the \ key to Delete forward. Holding down the Function key and pressing the key delivers the backslash symbol, so you haven't lost that ability. DoubleCommand also lets you make Shift-Delete perform a forward delete. There are many other adjustments you might like too.
Editor's Note: Yes, we're aware that item 9 is about Apple hardware, not Mac OS X. Indulge us.
8. Printer Setup. The process of configuring printers in OS X is confusing. It's almost as if Steve Jobs never actually tried this himself, because the way the printer-configuration screens work is quite un-Mac-like. Apple, you can do better than this.
7. Inconsistent User Interface. Open iTunes, Safari and Mail. All three of these programs are Apple's own, and they're among the ones most likely to be used by Mac OS X users. So why do all three of them look different? Safari, like several other Apple-made apps such as the Finder and Address Book, uses a brushed-metal look. iTunes sports a flat gun-metal gray scheme and flat non-shiny scroll bars. Mail is somewhere in between: no brushed metal, lots of gun-metal gray, and the traditional shiny blue scroll bars. Apple is supposed to be the king of good UI, and in many areas, it is. But three widely used apps from the same company with a different look? Sometimes consistency isn't the hobgoblin of little minds.
6. Laptop Screen Dimming. Yes, you can change the way your screen brightness behaves in the Energy Saver, setting it to dim before the computer goes to sleep. Or you can set it to use a lower brightness when on battery power. (It's one way to help get more juice from your laptop battery.) Unfortunately, setting that preference doesn't always "stick," meaning your screen will dim in about three or four minutes, regardless of how you set it or whether you're on battery power or AC. So far as we can tell, that automatic-screen dimming behavior is not user configurable. Apple has smartly made the dimming function turn off on its own while you're, say, watching a DVD on your Mac. But it's an annoyance that users should be able to defeat.
5. Managing Finder's Columns View, Problem No. 1. The Finder's "Columns" view, which offers a hierarchical display of successive folders, has many nice touches. For one thing, it's instantly understandable. It also scrolls to the right automatically as you click into each succeeding level. But there are three annoying aspects. The first is that sometimes the column areas open up too narrow to read their folder and file contents. Apple puts grab points only at the bottom of each column. The entire column separator should be grabbable. At the very least, there should be grab points at the top and bottom.
4. Managing Finder's Columns View, Problem No. 2. The second problem is that the columns should automatically attempt to open to a size that fully (or more fully) displays the names of the folders and files they contain. If you depress the Option key while you drag one of the grab points left or right, the Finder will expand all of the columns in unison, which is some help, but not ideal.
3. Managing Finder's Columns View, Problem No. 3. A third problem can occur when the Column view Finder window opens as part of an application dialog. In this setting, as you tunnel down a deep folder hierarchy, you may find that the left side of the Finder window has been pushed off the screen. That's because the starting point is anchored by the location of the application dialog box. Sometimes you may find that the button you need to press (like Save, Open, New Folder, whatever) is actually somewhere off-screen once you've navigated to the proper location in the folder hierarchy. While this doesn't happen often, it's ugly when it does.
2. Finder's Hobbled Cut Command. As far as we can tell, there's no way to Cut a file in Finder. The common usage in Windows is to use Edit > Cut and Edit > Paste to move a file from one location to another. The Finder does make it relatively easy to perform drag-and-drop moves, but there are times when that can be awkward, especially on smaller-screen Macs. In that case, being able to cut a file in one window, navigate to another window, and paste the file there is a handy alternative. While Finder offers the Cut command on its Edit menu, it doesn't work on files. And if you use keyboard commands instead (Command X and Command V, for example), it leaves the original file in place -- or in other words, it becomes a Copy, not a Cut, operation.
1. Dynamic Finder Refresh. One of the best features about the Mac is that most changes you make take effect immediately and dynamically update all open windows. In many places in the OS, you don't have to click "Save" or "OK" or reboot the computer for changes to take effect. The one place we've found that not to uniformly be the case is in the Finder, where changes you make (such as file renames) don't always dynamically update already open Windows. If at all possible, Apple should make the Finder dynamically update 100% of the time. But if the Mac's maker can't do that, it should bite the bullet and -- anathema though it may be -- add a Refresh option to the Finder.
Do you have your own list of Mac pet peeves, or do you want to take issue with ours? Share your thoughts on Computerworld's Sound Off forum: Mac OS X pet peeves.
Reader Peeves
Some readers have already sounded off about their Macintosh pet peeves, and here are some of things they picked at:
1. Over-protective Shutdown Error Trapping? When I shut down, I want to shut down. If I actively go through the process of choosing Shut Down or Restart, whether it be by selecting the option from the Apple menu or depressing a key combination, I want the system to shut down or reboot, not ask me if I'm sure. --Thom Reid
Editor's Note: Technically, the Mac will shut down or reboot without user input, but it waits two minutes to give users time to cancel in case they chose that action by mistake. Perhaps Apple could let users reduce the interval until shutdown -- 10 seconds seems a more useful wait time than two minutes for power users.
2. Renaming Isn't Easy. The process of renaming files is highly mouse-centric on the Mac. There's no F2 option (as there is on Windows) that lets you select the file and press F2 to expose the filename-editing mode. The mouse process requires very precisely timed mouse clicks. Anyone who has ever been forced to rename a long list of files under both Windows and Mac operating systems will likely agree that the Windows way is easier. --Michael Cullison
3. Secondary Mouse Button. My number one pet peeve is that Macintosh notebook computers only have one mouse button. Yes, I know that the Mighty Mouse has two invisible buttons and that the most recent releases of OS X Tiger have enabled an optional two-finger tap on the trackpad as a secondary click. But for those of us used to a real second button on our mobile computers, this can be really annoying. --Joe McClellan
This article is an excerpt from Scot's Newsletter, published by permission. Scot Finnie is Computerworld's online editorial director, and Ken Mingis is Computerworld's online news and Mac editor.
