Last week's column was basically a rant about things that bothered me about Ubuntu's GNOME/Linux combination. Besides the usual 'I do not experience the problems you have, so you must be an anti-GNOME troll!' and of the course the ever-present 'How on earth can you complain about Free software!', it did what is was supposed to do: bring problems under developer's direct attention (for instance, Evolution's UI maintainer emailed me, asking for more clarification). Now it's Apple's turn. Here is a list of problems I find the most annoying about Apple's Mac/MacOS.
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Member since:2005-06-29
There is really no need to remove the configuration files.
I disagree strongly. I don't want my filesystem to lose space due to stuf I actually told it to remove.
Also, it's really not hard to do the clean up manually.
It is too much work, and too timeconsuming. And time, I don't have.
Member since:2005-07-07
How hard is it to pull up a Finder window, hit cmd-F, type the program name and hit cmd-del a couple of times? It literally takes 5 seconds. I don't think there's a faster way.
What I find annoying is that Windows forces me to use an uninstaller, taking up too much of my time. Time I don't have.
Member since:2005-07-06
This is an opinion piece and you are intitled to your opinion, but I disagree strongly.
You, and other power users such as myself, are a corner case. The amount of space taken up by the configuration files is generally not a significant amount.
App Zapper and its like have a place, but its place is not the default. Keep it simple on the typical Mac user and leave the config files in place. If you give them an option it will just confuse them. I am not trying to say that the typical Mac user is an idiot but instead that the typical Mac user does not want to know about this kind of decision.
If the excessive config files caused performance issues (i.e. registry rot in Windows) I would be more inclined to agree with you on this.
As for the rest of your points.... OK. I personally use a heavily customized OS X with Shapeshifter, for consistency of look and feel, QuickSilver, Salling Clicker, a fairly significant number of custom scripts (Apple and SH), and no Dock. I am a power user so I adjusted my environment to fit my needs. My needs, however, are not those of a typical OS X user so to suggest that OS X should change the OS to fit my needs is silly.
Perforce:
1) The uninstall routine makes sense for a typical computer user providing the leaving of remnant configuration does not effect performance.
2) The lack of HD light does not bother most Mac users I know and there is a free utility that shows HD utility in the app bar for those it does.
3) The dock is a simple representation of available apps and makes sense, I do not understand your complaint here. Ironically I do not use the dock at all, but the idea is reasonable. Click on an icon, if it is already running it comes to the front, if it is not it is launched. The user should not have to care about whether an app is running in a "perfect" computer environment (which OS X is not). They should just request an app and be presented with it.
Member since:2005-07-07
Member since:2006-01-15
"Yes, I hate mac HD's. It' about time they shut down the Apple Hard Drive Manufacturing Facility™ and start using of the shelf, dammit. WTF are they thinking."
WTF are you talking about? My Mac came with a Fujitsu off the shelf drive. Every Mac I've seen has used standard off the shelf hard drives. There is no special "Apple Hard Drive Manufacturing Facility."
WTF are you thinking?
Member since:2005-07-09
I'm not sure whether or not that was sarcasm... but if it wasn't Apple surely doesn't make its own drives. They're the same drives found in PCs. Personally, I find my Fujitsu HD in my 12" Powerbook to be extremely quiet. I can rarely ever hear it. The Maxtor HD in my iMac G5 is also rarely able to be heard. That said, I find it pretty easy to know if my Mac is locked up or not. It stops responding and that Spinning Ball comes up. I would hate to see an HD indicator. It's just a waste of a light IMO. Most users don't have a need for an HD indicator and won't even know what its for.
Member since:2005-07-06
5. I find mac HDs to be loud enough to hear when busy.
:-).
There is really no need to remove the configuration files. They are just text files and not part of any database (unlike the window registry).
I think that's just desperation to be honest. AppZapper shows how it should be done, and there's no reason why Apple shouldn't have thought this through.
Why oh why do Apple and Mac fans have this ludicrous answer of dragging everything to the trash?
Tiger is the first version of OS X with a stable API.
Well done Sherlock. Of course it has a stable API - for itself. What's being referred to is a stable API between different versions.
Member since:2005-07-07
"AppZapper shows how it should be done, and there's no reason why Apple shouldn't have thought this through."
So, does AppZapper also take care of invisible .files in your home directory or anywhere else? And those obscured anti-piracy files that some apps install to make sure you don't use their time limited demo over and over again for example? My point is that no uninstaller gets every file. Why bother with extra applications for tasks that you can do faster through spotlight/finder?
"Why oh why do Apple and Mac fans have this ludicrous answer of dragging everything to the trash?"
Well, 'dragging to the trash' is really a metaphor. Every Mac user uses cmd-del to get stuf into the trash (at least I hope so, if you are actually dragging items into the trash please don't tell me).
Member since:2005-07-06
Why oh why do Apple and Mac fans have this ludicrous answer of dragging everything to the trash?
I would assume that Apple tried to create a system simple/understandable enough so as to make a dedicated uninstall application unnecessary. I'm not particularly a Mac fan, but I think that's an admirable goal, in contrast to the Windows approach of presenting users with a system that is too complex to be maintained without the various helper/cleanup applications.
Member since:2006-01-12
Well done Sherlock. Of course it has a stable API - for itself. What's being referred to is a stable API between different versions.
First of all, you don't have to be this sarcastic.
Also, you misunderstood me: By "stable", I mean the API won't change in all future versions of OS X (eg. Leopard)
I think that's just desperation to be honest. AppZapper shows how it should be done, and there's no reason why Apple shouldn't have thought this through.
Why oh why do Apple and Mac fans have this ludicrous answer of dragging everything to the trash?
First of all, you don't have to be this sarcastic.
On OS X, application packages (in reality, they are just folders) are self-contained (they don't litter your hard drive). When you install an application, you just copy the package to your harddrive. Thus, it makes perfect sense to simply delete the package (folder) when you don't need it.
The config and support files are created only when you use the application and they fall under the category of USER files. In fact, you may want to keep some of the those files (eg. your address book data is also stored under the Application Support folder).
Member since:2005-07-06
5. I find mac HDs to be loud enough to hear when busy.
Oh pulease, stop whining, if you're complaining about a little noise from a MOVING PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, then maybe you should get your machine, put it back into the box it came in, send it back with a note saying, "I'm a whining bastard who can't stand hearing something that is above a whisper, I want a refund".
I'm sorry, but a computer will make a whirl, a whine, and a chicka-chicka (sound of a hard disk, be it slightly in accurate); if you can't stand that, then get a PDA, oh, thats right, even *THAT* makes a gentle hum too; I guess you'll have to give up on computers completely, due to this intolerable noise.
Member since:
2006-01-12
1. Not sure how much of the sluggishness is due to bad engineering and how much is due to weak processor. OS X can still stand to be optimized. On the other hand, I value UI responsiveness a lot more and OS X delivers on that.
2. Agreed. They should standardize on Aqua or Platinum
3. Agreed. There is no reason why they should remove the customizability.
5. I find mac HDs to be loud enough to hear when busy.
6. I don't know where did they get the idea of the pill shaped buttons. It is the most ugly program I ever saw!
7. The dock is not an exact equivalent of the taskbar. Apple tried to de-emphasize the application launch process when designing the dock. The user just call up the program and OS X will launch the program if necessary.
8. There is really no need to remove the configuration files. They are just text files and not part of any database (unlike the window registry). Also, it's really not hard to do the clean up manually: just go to ~/Library/Application Support and ~/Library/Preferences.
9. Tiger is the first version of OS X with a stable API. Let's hope Apple keep their promises.