Apple’s hardware today is amazing – it has never been better. But the software quality has taken such a nosedive in the last few years that I’m deeply concerned for its future. I’m typing this on a computer whose existence I didn’t even think would be possible yet, but it runs an OS riddled with embarrassing bugs and fundamental regressions. Just a few years ago, we would have relentlessly made fun of Windows users for these same bugs on their inferior OS, but we can’t talk anymore.
Apple has completely lost the functional high ground. “It just works” was never completely true, but I don’t think the list of qualifiers and asterisks has ever been longer. We now need to treat Apple’s OS and application releases with the same extreme skepticism and trepidation that conservative Windows IT departments employ.
It took them a little longer than the rest of us, but even Apple bloggers are starting to see the obvious.
I use Windows, Linux and OS X each day (as a cross-platform developer) and probably stress the OS’s as much as anyone else.
I haven’t seen any trends towards buggy software on either operating system, they’re all pretty rock solid these days.
My contention is that 1) Windows has become an incoherent mess at the UI level as well as at the API level, but stability has definitely improved. 2) Linux still rules the server, and still sucks on the desktop. 3) OS X is by far the best desktop OS and a Macbook Pro with Yosemite is simply unbeatable for most development tasks. For me, it just works, and the attention to detail makes the difference.
If you wonder why every other engineer at Google and Amazon is found with a MacBook on their lap at conferences, this is why.
Maybe it’s different on iOS, but I don’t use that anyway.
The only reason that MacBooks are so popular for developers is that developers NEED an OSX machine to compile for IOS by license.
Per definition you can only do cross-platform development on a MacBook as it is the only hardware that allows running all software
(P.S. of course you can use cloudcompilers or other workarounds but those are NOT convenient while mobile)
I just read the original article and the linked article and they are EXTREMELY light on details about the problem. “It doesn’t feel personal anymore” is about it. However, I personally feel that both Windows and OSX are having quality control issues more than before lately. Both are on a rapid release cycle and have to support multiple operating systems which they seem to keep up with just barely while patches are giving more problems than before
Edited 2015-01-05 10:51 UTC
This is the only reason I still own a Mac. I do like the OS, I always wanted it since OS X shipped because it’s *nix box with a consistent UI.
But just works? Yeah right. I lost track of how many times I reported a kernel panic caused by plugging in Apple’s own Thunderbolt ethernet adapter. It took a year to get resolved.
Probably Intel’s fault.
The last I heard about Thunderbolt on Linux, there’s no such thing as a “driver” or “specs.” Intel just wants everyone to use an absolutely gigantic blob of ACPI code.
It’s probably buggy through and through.
MacBooks also have good keyboards and excellent screens and battery life. They’re good laptops, and highly competitive in their price segments. You can get cheaper and more powerful, but not with the same battery life.
I mean, maybe the battery life of other non-Apple hardware is truly abysmal, but I am not at all impressed with the battery life of my MacBook Pro. I get 3-4 hours in normal usage. Meh.
I mean, sure, if I use a utility to force the MacBook to use the integrated GPU, kill all other applications and dim the screen to unusable levels I can eek out another 45 minutes to an hour. Meh.
I’ll agree with that. I get an average of 3 hours, just browsing web pages without video.
9 hours battery life, my ass!
Interesting. Then it’s probably worse than my HP Spectre 13 (which is a very nice little ultrabook).
That is certainly a reason, but it isn’t the only reason, and I would argue it isn’t even a all that high on the list of reasons…
1. It is an excellent platform for web development, particularly ruby, node, and python development. Everything works, tools like homebrew make it pretty simple to deal with, and editors like Sublime and TextMate work wonderfully on the platform. Its just all around cushy and comfortable.
2. Getting corporate IT departments to buy and support Linux laptops is an uphill battle. Getting them to buy and support Apple laptops is too, but the hill isn’t quite so steep
If you are a developer that is comfortable with Linux, OSX does a pretty decent impersonation while having the added bonus of being a possibility at some companies when the former is not.
3. The hardware is extremely familiar, i.e. it does not change all that much from one generation to the next. When you buy a MacBook you tend to already know what you are getting. That familiarity is quite attractive to developers, who (like me) remember going from a wonderful HP laptop one year to a different model the next that turned out to be an abomination that I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemy. Once I got comfortable with a MacBook that was it – I ain’t going back to playing Russian roulette every few years…
4. Running Windows when necessary is pretty easy – you have your choice of bootcamp, Parallels, VMWare, VirtualBox, whatever. Linux can do that too, but unlike Linux most “corporate” software (Photoshop, MS Office, etc.) is available natively for OSX, so you don’t need Windows as often as you do with Linux when it comes to interacting with the corporate world. And no, Open Office is not “good enough”.
5. Probably my most controversial reason, but it is just plain ass less troublesome. No driver issues to deal with, no worries about “will Linux work on it?”, no having to fight to get X to behave properly with you weird monitor setup. Power management is top notch and works out of the box. Etc., etc…
On a personal note… I have dealt with every version of Windows since 3.0, NT going back to 3.51. OS2 2.0, OS2 Warp, SunOS, Irix, Linux (probably 20 different distros). Hell, I used to administer a Netware network back in the day. I’ve done my time and paid my dues. Making hardware jump through hoops, finding all the drivers to make things work just right, tuning the shit out of everything, etc. – just doesn’t turn me on now. I’ve become lazy and I JUST DON’T CARE ANYMORE.
I just want shit to work and not get in my way. That is probably the main reason I run OSX now.
B.S to the third degree.
Because:
1) They run best desktop OS.
2) The toolchains are high quality and up to date, even for cross compiling with gcc and clang
3) The battery life is stellar
4) The retina display is worth every penny
5) They are silent as mute mice on heavy drugs
6) They have a decent back lit keyboard
They’re not perfect, but the competition is so far behind it’s not even funny.
1) That’s highly debatable. I’ve certainly had my share of glitches and problems when running Mac OS X. Personally I find that there are quite a few things that I miss from Windows 7 when using Mac OS X. The reverse is also true, but I’d have a hard time selecting one OS as the best, either for reliability or UI.
3) I don’t find that battery life is that impressive. I find that my MacBook Pro 15″ gives me around 4 hours or so of normal use. Not bad, but not much better than some other laptops I’ve used.
4) I’d agree that the Retina display is nice, but it’s no longer the only laptop on the market with a high resolution display. I do think that Mac OS X and its retina aware applications do a better job of scaling to high DPI than Windows does.
5) They’re only silent if you aren’t actually doing much with them, and that’s true of many other laptops. Like most laptops, my MacBook Pro quickly speeds up the fans if there’s any stress on the CPU. Even hitting a flash animation on a webpage, or quickly flicking through images in Lightroom, can make my MBP painfully loud.
6) I’m typing this on my MacBook Pro’s keyboard right now and just don’t see anything special about it. Quite a few laptops have backlit keyboards, and many have a nicer feel than the MacBook’s. If anything I find that the MacBook’s keyboard feels a little cheap, especially the little arrow keys and wobbly space bar. Quite a few laptops the same size as a 15†MBP manage to fit on full sized arrow keys, a delete key along with backspace, and even a numerical keypad too.
One thing that is a bit better on the MPB is its trackpad. I haven’t used one that’s quite as good on a non-Apple laptop, and the Mac OS X gestures are generally intuitive and work well. In contrast, Windows 8 gestures like activating the Charms Bar with a swipe from the right, can be more annoying than they are useful.
My fairly cheap 15.6″ Acer V3-571 has a full keyboard and separate numeric keypad. It gets over 5 hours battery life with and everything works properly with Linux.
On the other day I switched from Ubuntu 14.04 to Windows 8.1 Pro. I started to copy a backup of the files (several GB’s) I had in my home directory to Windows. After a while a dialog popped up saying “Source file path too long”. It didn’t tell me which file path that was and there was only one button, Cancel. I switched back to Ubuntu. If Linux sucks on the desktop, then Windows f**king sucks.
Edited 2015-01-05 11:22 UTC
Sounds to me like you’re trying to bash on Windows. Windows 8 does tell you exactly what file/folder has a too long path and it does allow you to skip the file/folder in question and gives an option for skipping all files/folders with the same issue, in addition to canceling the operation.
But it sounds as if Microsoft didn’t fix that ludicrous path length problem in 8.x? Honest question; the UI disaster has kept us from seriously considering 8.x thus far.
It has driven us crazy in XP and 7 with our complex models, trying to keep the file organization logical but not “too deep”, with magic drive letter mappings and such. We never had path length problems on Solaris, and still don’t on Linux. What’s the deal?
Seconded. It sounds like a copy/paste of a (valid) complaint about Windows 98 that got warped into 8.1. Somehow people have the impression that software that they don’t use is always bad. When you ask them for details they don’t have any or their problems have often been solved.
I even tested this and you indeed get a Skip button, a “Do this for all current items” checkbox and some information about the folder (not the filename though) that causes the problem. You even get a perfectly clear message: “The file name(s) would be too long for the destination folder. You can shorten the file name and try again, or try a location that has a shorter path”
Windows isn’t perfect by any stretch (updates are big, slow, too many and still require reboot(s)) but it has gotten a lot better. As have OSX and Linux. They have also moved more into the “general user” direction so consuming has been given priority over creation in many areas. But creation is still better than in the past
Well, I swear I didn’t get any options or info. Maybe it was a bug. Besides, there IS an error dialog with only the Cancel button:
https://bennettadelson.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/image_thumb2.png?…
I was trying to copy a folder structure of thousands of files and several gigabytes.
Edited 2015-01-05 12:32 UTC
I’ve gotten the same dialog myself, just a cancel button. I was doing the same thing, copying several gigs. It’s very frustrating. I ended up having to copy several folders at a time to narrow down the offending files. So no, you’re not crazy or lying to bash Windows 8.
He said he was using Windows 8.1 Pro where this is no longer a problem.
He includes a generic pic that is from way before Windows 8.1 existed.
He also said that he switched from Ubuntu to Windows 8.1, got this error and switched back…Sure, that is what people do.
He describes Windows as “f*cking sucks”
If your troll detector is not ringing by now you haven’t been on the internet long enough
P.S. It was actually not even a problem of the filesystem but of some dialog windows. If you try to do the same thing in Total Commander (one of the absolute best file managers in the world) you get this message: “The target name length (411) is more than 259 characters! c:\thesuperloooo…ongname.txt. Most programs will not be able to access a file/directory with such a long name!
Keep name, Keep all, Abort, Skip, Skip all
Those “… all”-commands were in Windows before they were in Total Commander and luckily got included
Now lets go back ontopic about real problems with OS-es instead of these fake trolling issues. Like for example the removal of NTFS-write-support on OSX and THAT ancient File-System, Semi-Forced upgrades to a new OS that doesn’t include the old compatibility-mode (Rosetta), Airdrop not working between their own products, and basically everything else that doesn’t work when you are not on the latest version of their hardware and software.
Or the “update-needs-updating-after-updating” system for Windows where the 2 GB of 100 patches take 1 hour to install while the whole OS only takes a few minutes, the horrible built-in trackpad-support, the forcing of the Modern environment with Store and Microsoft account, etc
But most of all, lets talk about problems with Wifi and PowerManagement on all OS-ses, security-issues and inconsistent Ui’s
What the hell? I’m running Windows 8.1 Pro where it seemingly is problem no matter what YOU claim. If I sound like a troll to you, you sound like a MS shill to me.
My installation is a Windows 8 upgraded to Windows 8.1, if that makes any difference.
Jesus…don’t make me record a video about this…
Here’s a screenshot:
http://imgur.com/1rYu3vQ
Edited 2015-01-05 21:57 UTC
what really pisses me of is that this bug isn’t even a filesystem-limitation
it’s a pure explorer-limitation
Which makes me think, can you copy over if you use command prompt? Sorry but it would make me laugh if only the commandline works.
Windows – power of the commandline LOL
Not explorer, but an API limitation. You’ll encounter it in the Windows command-line too. So you’re half right, as it is not in any way a filesystem limitation. It will, however, affect any file managers that use the API (which is most of them) if they don’t implement workarounds to deal with it.
but you can save files out of applications with longer filenames
it’s really strange…
That image of a generic dialog is in a ‘2012’ folder on a random WordPress site. Windows 8.1 was released as a public beta in June 2013 and the final code was released in August of 2013. How is that image germane to your original (and highly questionable) statement about copying files in Windows 8.1?
Here’s a screenshot of the problem to make you happy:
http://imgur.com/1rYu3vQ
I should have attached it to my first post in order to avoid insults from aggressive Microsoft people.
Edited 2015-01-06 14:40 UTC
How about actually copying the file though? Might be that’s what I need it to do. Will it do that? Because *NIX systems like Linux and OS X will. This source file path issue has been in Windows since NT, and has never been resolved. It’s easy to hit against it too, especially when you get network shares involved. It also won’t copy filenames with certain special characters in them which you may encounter if your file storage is not hosted on Windows. Among these are “?” and “:”, none of which give any other operating systems trouble. Permitting the files to be skipped does not get them copied.
Always use robocopy when copying a large amount of files. It will save the headache of having to start over, plus it’s multi-threaded as of win 7.
I think the Windows robocopy program works around the path length problem by using the Unicode APIs. (Path length is 32,768 with those.) Try that out next time.
Microsoft should just knuckle down and replace all of their uses of the old API. It’s been 20 years since Windows 95!
I bought a MacPro last year and it works great… with Windows Server 2012 on it
thanks to that bug in Apple version of Samba that I didn’t know before to buy it, and that almost cost me 10k. So glad thunderbolt drivers got released for Windows just in time.
Indeed Apple hardwares are often excellent, but software is not keeping up the pace.
I don’t use apple, but I know a few people who do. They love it and for them it just works… still.
Until these ordinary people see problems, it doesn’t amtter what a few tech nerds write about it.
The software works perfectly for the vast majority of its users… sadly
Edited 2015-01-05 12:05 UTC
I disagree with the statement on the hardware…it has become complete un-upgradable!! that to me is a huge issue, the RAM is soldered into the motherboard now on basically all the models and the hard drives are even proprietary, I mean the Mac Pro is a joke, it might as well be called the mac mini that costs you an arm and a leg. If it weren’t for the OS I’d tell apple to take a hike…I just wish my hackintosh could play DRM HD movies from iTunes and that iMessage would work.
Edited 2015-01-05 13:06 UTC
I don’t think the people who buy macs care… they want them like that all sealed in without anything destroying the lines on the case… they also don’t keep old computers around for putting things like linux on… they just buy new stuff… sure there are some people showing off their desks with 4 omputers but most apple users just have one.
I run Unix, OSX, and Windows on the same box with all the hardware I need built in, save the mini-jack video dongle to run external monitors. It’s quiet, strong, and ergonomically correct.
Non-Apple laptops still can’t make a trackpad I can stand. Give me the backlit chicklet keyboard and the apple trackpad over any other brand. At my desk I do use a logitech trackball too, another fine piece of kit.
yeah but you are here at os news running “Unix, OSX, and Windows on the same box”… you are not the normal user that apple is targeting… normal users don’t run anything other than mac os.
Edited 2015-01-05 15:05 UTC
most macbook owners i know are very aware of parallels or bootcamp, you have to living in a microsoft-dominated world for so long.
i’ve found “average mac users” are a lot smarter and nerdier than the image and marketing depicts. many are developers or producers or content managers. i’d argue that more of them know their machines and how to get their hands dirty than the “average” windows user, who was given the machine by IT or bought it at the retail store based on price and bundling.
part of it is having to care for yourself without an IT department, part of it is leftover from the days of apple-death-watch, part of it is confidence that you won’t need to wipe out your HD and reinstall for changing one thing.
i have seen the apple user you are talking about, and i think they exist on every platform. the “i don’t care how it works, i just need/want it” type. phone customers. i’ve seen idiots drop $500 on a crappy windows laptop and have no idea how to configure or troubleshoot it. i know people that physically break it as soon as the software glitches so they have a reason to buy another one.
then again, part of the success of apple is you don’t *need* to know what it’s doing or why to get your work done. you usually don’t need to clean, fix, reinstall, or buy a book to help you. you can just motor onto facebook and do your thing.
Yes I understand from a business model I’m not their target customer, but could they throw us a fricking bone and at least make a couple models that are internally expandable or license OS X for a limited number of expandable third party machines or off the shelf components.
LOL, I think you are still under the impression that Apple (and the rest of the tech industry) really give a shit about people like us. We are demanding and expensive to develop for. On the other hand, 98% of the mouth breathers out there will happily use whatever you put in front of them, as long as you make it idiot proof and the UI pretty. With those kinds of numbers, why work so hard to appease the minority who crave real functionality in their products?
I’ve spent a lot of money on Apple hardware over the years, eMacs, iMacs, MacBook Airs, Mac Pros, but those days are definitely over. Apple is now a consumer electronics company with a sideline in computers. I loathe the new(ish) Mac Pro and can’t stand their cheaper desktop offerings.
A few weeks ago my main desktop was a Hackintosh, then I decided I couldn’t trust Apple in the long run and decided to move to Linux. Linux apparently didn’t like my graphics card and now I’m running Windows 8.1 Pro – everything just works and it’s no hassle. In future OS X is only going in a virtual machine.
I don’t like Windows because it’s proprietary and not *nix, but it wins because it has massive hardware and software support and overall causes me less grey hairs.
I have to say that my experience with OS X has had just about the same level of frustration with as I’ve had with Windows. There’s just a whole host of bizarre stuff that just doesn’t work.
For a few months I had very spotty and unreliable Wi-Fi. I think Apple just ignores Wi-Fi issues, chalking them up to bad access points and interference, but there’s something seriously wrong with their Wi-Fi stack, as I didn’t have any problems with other computers or devices on the same network. Other folks have reported serious issues with Wi-Fi in OS X and no problems running Windows on the *same computer*. And then the Wi-Fi issues just resolved themselves, no change in Wi-Fi hardware in my house.
I had so many problems networking my Mac with a windows server, that I gave up and got a Time Capsule, figuring it would ‘just work’. Nope, it’s just as flaky. The Mac doesn’t connect to it automatically, and even when I manually connect, it sometimes fails. Rebooting the Mac doesn’t work. Oddly, rebooting the Time Capsule with an iPad can fix things, sometimes.
I’ve got a bluetooth keyboard and touchpad. They worked great in Mavericks – they are useless in Yosemite. They just disconnect randomly, requiring a 1-2 minute random reconnect dance. Who has time for that?
My impression is that Apple just doesn’t have the time or resources to properly debug their software and drivers.
Apple clearly could have the resources if it wanted to. The difference is Apple is a hardware company while Microsoft is a software company.
Windows has built it’s castle on compatibility. Everything works with windows, from random mouse from the 90s to the newest product off the shelf. Obviously they don’t manage all the drivers themselves, but it’s a truism that has maintained their ubiquity.
Apple on the other hand stop supporting their Own hardware after just a few years. Their focus is on you upgrading hardware to keep up. You plug latest apple with latest apple, works a treat…
No, I’ve got an issue with a brand new Time Capsule and a one year old MacBook. My wife has a brand new MacBook and has the same issue with Time Capsule. It should ‘work a treat’.
For me, that’s definitely the killer advantage of Windows. Even if you research hardware and software compatibility before buying a Mac, or switching to Linux, you don’t know what you might need to work with in the future.
About a week after I bought my MacBook Pro 15″ I was asked to give a talk and demonstrate some software. I had Windows running in virtualisation, but not an actual Windows partition through bootcamp. I didn’t have the opportunity to test it beforehand, and simply expected a projector to plug in and work.
Needless to say, it wasn’t that simple on the night. After spending 20 minutes trying to get the MacBook working properly with their Canon projector, I ended up having to borrow someone’s Dell Notebook and use that instead.
Actually getting it working with Mac OS X required connecting the projector using a Thunderbolt to DVI adapter, rather than HDMI, then creating a custom resolution profile for it with the utility SwitchResX.
I’ve encountered a few similar complications and annoyances since then, so it always makes me chuckle when I see people claim that Macs “just work”.
Apple hardware definitely has a shorter life span if you need to use Mac OS X and up to date software. I know a charity that bought Apple hardware with the generous state funding they used to receive. The funding dried up, and now they’re using Windows 7 on some of their ageing Macs. Unlike the newest version of Mac OS X that’ll run on their hardware, Windows 7 is still supported by all the software they use.
Funny, my girlfriend’s 13″ MBP “just works” with any projector and external screen I’ve tried it on using HDMI. Just plug it in and it gives a second desktop at the native resolution of whatever you plugged in. I don’t know how to make a custom resolution profile and I’ve never heard of SwitchResX. Sounds like your problem is related to using VirtualBox or whatever you used. I have similar problems getting Windows to recognise some USB devices under VirtualBox in Linux, yet they work fine if I boot into Windows natively. I just can’t see how that’s the fault of the host machine or OS, when the virtualised OS probably can’t see the projector/interface/whatever in the first place…
Are all the projector’s you’ve used 16:9 widescreen?
Connected to a 4:3 ratio projector (a Canon SX6000) with a native resolution of 1400×1050, the highest 4:3 resolution that Mac OS X would provide was 800×600 (that’s what it defaulted to). Even when using SwitchResX to create a custom resolution the highest I could get over HDMI without a garbled display was 1024×768. The alternative was using 1280×720, which obviously wasn’t any better for images cropped to 4:3.
I was using Mac OS X, not Windows running in virtualisation. The problem was that I wasn’t able to boot into Windows and take advantage of its superior compatibility. Every Windows laptop plugged into the Canon projector worked without a hitch using HDMI, including Windows running through Bootcamp; it’s only Mac OS X that has the problem.
I’m certainly not the only person to experience this kind of issue. It was other Mac users who suggested that I switched to a DVI cable (according to several people there are issues with HDMI in Mac OS X when not using a standard resolution) and try SwitchResX. That’s the solution they found for their own problems with external projectors and displays.
The existence of a utility like SwitchResX should indicate that this problem isn’t unique. In fact, there are long running threads on some AV forums dedicated to helping people use it to get their displays working properly under Mac OS X. The problem is that if the default settings don’t do the job, you need to input things like the pixel clock, sync width, vertical/horizontal scan rate, etc. Not exactly what I’d call, “just working”…
Obviously usage will vary. I’d put a pound on the fact your projector wasn’t supported by OSX/Apple?
Windows, it obviously was.
This is exactly the point I was making (or at least trying to).
The hardware is still amazing, and OSX in general is still the best desktop OS. Apple problem these days is caused by their success.
Making everything JUST WORK (all the iDevices, iCloud, iTunes, iWork stuff) has never really been rock solid, lots of the integrated service stuff can lead you down a wormhole. With Apple basically shipping a new OSX, new iOS, and new Apps every year if you lag behind or try to push something non-apple into your workflow you are asking for it. Genius bar fixes everything for free though.
Since their hardware doesn’t die I wish they’d slow down the software upgrade march. If you get on a job or task that makes you keep a version for a couple of years all of a sudden other things aren’t as compatible as they should be. The only time I really get mad at Apple is when my problem can only be solved by upgrading to a new software version.
This said, they still do it better than any other company I can think of. I have a 5 year old laptop that is running a mix of software from the last 4 years with very little incompatibility anywhere. It generally syncs with my 4 year old phone and the cloud, and I still have never lost any data because of an Apple failure. For the past 20 years I’ve pulled out a macbook and been able to get my work done happily with no fuss. They just run forever and don’t fall to shit like most plastic competition.
My success has come by buying the middle-model new, then maxing them out with RAM and a bigger/faster drive after 3 years. Then I can still sell the used one for about 35% the cost of a new middle-model. This has made me a happy apple user for decades now.
Not for those of us that care about graphics hardware.
Edited 2015-01-05 19:07 UTC
i’ll take your word for it, my production needs involve audio only (which runs from an external interface using firewire, usb, or thunder port) and everything else i do is handled by basic computing specs. i run dual monitors but haven’t needed anything more beefy than built-in GPU capabilities for 15 years. back when i did avid video editing in the 90’s macs still took all kinds of video cards but i’m happy to not need those things anymore. i also never game on my mac, i have a PS for that.
my brother in law does professional video editing for ESPN and they are mixed platform from what i’ve seen, but i don’t know much about what they are running in house software-wise.
This is why I am leaping all the hurdles required to try out a variety of Linux distributions on my aging 210 MacBook Pro. It’s not easy; Apple’s hardware has quirks compared to the standard that you don’t see until you leave its fold. It’s still worth it. The hardware is well made and, for example, Unity on Ubuntu Linux 14.04 is definitely feeling less laggy than Mavericks or Yosemite.
I miss OSX’s keystroke consistency, though. Linux has been designed by people from backgrounds in Windows here, CDE there, Mac sometimes, and I hate it when someone’s hard-coded their own keyboard shortcut. The year of the desktop is every year some of us just need to get work done without a lot of interruptions to find out what happened with a given app.
I just wish freedesktop.org had taken keyboard shortcuts seriously and there was a standard for them that Gnome, KDE, Unity, Cinnamon, MATE, RazorQT were all abiding by. Opening and closing windows and tabs, opening a preferences pane, and window management can be done without leaving the keyboard in OSX, and consistently across all the apps.
On Linux, this is only sometimes the case. KDE is the most configurable, and Compiz with CCSM can make Unity work pretty well. This is such a simple thing compared to the compositing work that’s getting all the attention; why isn’t there a standard?
Edited 2015-01-05 15:25 UTC
I use OSX on a daily basis prefer it over Windows but I do not like every application Apple provides. iPhoto sucks with larger libraries and messes up your ordering. Use iTunes only if I have to and VLC for the rest. Pages: they took mailmerge out of it in an “update”
Not that I like Word either, on Windows they completely mess up the interface everytime a new version arrives.
And the Finder is still crap in copying files to shares and everyday stuff.
99% of my problems are with Mail client and/or window management. usually a restart of the finder or a reboot clears everything up, and i can go weeks between reboots on my laptop, even jumping around on several wifi networks.
i also recently had a bad ribbon cable going to my internal HD which gave me sad mac at boot up (actually the question mark).
but apple genius bar fixed it in 1 hour for $50 and time machine had all my data safe so it was an inconvenience, not a disaster.
From the blogger’s mouth:
Of course, there will always be the usual suspects chiming in about how that’s not true, even though it is.
Despite the asserted “nosedive”, the blog post does not give a single example of this decline in functionality. It does have a link to someone who supposedly switched from OS X to Linux. That link gives a 404.
I don’t use many non-Apple systems regular (other than Windows 7) but it seems to me that broadly Apple still make the best integrated devices in the best integrated ecosystem. But I do think that Apple’s ambitious program of major projects over recent years has been taxing on their corporate systems. Both iOS and OS X have had major rewrites which have linked them together pretty deeply, a whole new cloud infrastructure has been erected and continues to evolve rapidly, a series of apps (some at the very high end and very complex) have been rewritten from the ground up, a new e-payment system has been built and deployed, Apple now designs it’s hardware down to the silicon level and now we have an entirely new platform in the shape of Watch OS (described by Ives as the hardest thing they had ever done). Hardly surprising that there have been a few rough edges, surprising that perhaps there have been so few.
I hope that a lot of the major deep architectural changes have now been made and we can now enter a period of gentler consolidation. I think if the OS X release schedule slips to longer than a year that’s no problem, it’s probably more of a problem for iOS as the device hardware is on an annual upgrade cycle.
One of the problems that Apple faces given it’s commitment to an integrated product range and ecosystem is that different development schedules have to work to a single integrated schedule. Perhaps there is no way round that. I think Apple has a lot still quite big ambitions (ARM on the desktop maybe one) so I suspect the pace will continue to be frenetic.
My wife switched to a Macbook after her last HP died, and I switched after my last VAIO died (both a couple years ago).
I almost always use Linux, but she’s been using OS X since she switched, and to be honest, I haven’t been impressed with the “just works” mantra, because it’s rarely true from our experiences.
Everything “just works” except when it doesn’t… From iCloud related stuff, external monitor causing a crash, to not booting with a usb hub plugged in, to get stuck while performing an OS update without having an Apple account first (you get stuck in an unfixable loop on the device where you can’t create an account, or do the update; had to break out an old iPhone to finish setting up an account).
Apple’s own hardware with Apple’s own software has enough problems, god help you if you want to use non-apple branded hardware. Also, don’t use the computer “too hard” or it’ll overheat and shut down.
Don’t even get me started on how the install procedure for software works… DMG files sometimes are “drag and drop” to install, other times you install from the Apple Store, other times you open the DMG and click an install from there, other times you extract the package and run the installer from within. It’s about as bad as Windows, except usually not as much malware and dark patterns in the installers (toolbars, etc). If you want development tools or newer libraries, be prepared to setup yet another package management system and use its own mechanisms for installing things (macports feels a lot like cygwin).
However, when looking for laptops, all the shiny plastic garbage the competitors are releasing keeps enough of us Linux users (including kernel devs) on Mac hardware, so Linux support is usually pretty good… Except for the weird Apple Gmux device on my Retina Macbook, it is the only hardware component that ever gives me frustration in Linux.
Why won’t anyone make an upgradable ram/hdd laptop with a good keyboard, solid construction, good trackpad, hi resolution screen, that weighs less than 20lbs and looks good without weird proprietary hardware?
Intangible — that about matches my experience. iCloud, installs, stores, apple accounts…. those things get in the way and can make life glitchy. there’s a lot of moving parts needed to be happy in apple land, and if 1 of them is missing or EOL simplicity can get a little elusive.
but the hardware still hums along and they sell very few pieces of crap with the apple name on it, which is appreciated and leads to their brand loyalty.
Probably because it is incredibly difficult to make a thin lightweight laptop that is upgradable.
The design has to use a unibody metal shell which right off makes getting into it hard to do. A box shell with screws has to be bigger and heavier to maintain the same rigidity.
But if you’re serious about being under 20 pounds there’s a lot of options. I think Eurocom and Sager both make “workstation” laptops that have upgradable parts, lots of RAM slots and two or three hard drive bays. They come in under 20 pounds.
However, I doubt you really meant 20 pounds, but actually want something closer to 5 pounds.
Yeah, 5lbs is more accurate 😉
However, the big three requirements for me, that only Macbooks seem to meet (at least since VAIOs are being neutered) is:
1. Good keyboard with backlight
2. Very good touchpad
3. Screen resolution greater than 1080p (the 100dpi stagnation since the 00s has been horrible)
Can’t help with the DPI but check out the HP Omen. I was playing with one in Microcenter and I loved its touchpad and keyboard.
It is, however, right in the same price range as the Macbook Pro.
…when the iPhone became their cornerstone. The Mac OS stopped being a priority.