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I really don't get why they have allowed this crippled GUI for so long. I understand that they want to make it simple for low level users, but that seems like a

I really don't get why they have allowed this crippled GUI for so long. I understand that they want to make it simple for low level users, but that seems like a bad excuse in this case as low level users aren't even going to use Disk Utility, just like they aren't going to use Automater. It shows a blindness to their market, i think. Anybody who is on my "free IT" list for the last few years has been receiving a Mac when it's time to upgrade. The tech support is night and day, and problems are easy to fix thanks to built in, easy to use screen sharing, a robust OS, and well rounded modern hardware. At the same time I'm not a unix guru, I don't know Bash that well and when I'm forced to use it I spend a lot of time reading. I hate that they keep hiding more and more commands behind Bash precisely because it makes it significantly more difficult to do what I'll call "prosumer IT". One of the things that really sold me on Macs was when Disk Utility managed to repair a USB that was completely bricked on my windows machine. As of MacOS Sierra, I now have use bash to fix corrupted drives as they aren't displayed in the GUI. Such a pain and such a step backwards.

derefr 9y ago
There are times that installing macOS requires a trip through Disk Utility, is why. Disk Utility.app is basically made for the single use case of "modify the system to make macOS installable." The thing to understand, is that everyone inside Apple uses diskutil(8), not Disk Utility.app. diskutil(8) is the "canonical" way to do almost everything related to Disk management on macOS, the same way diskmgmt.msc is on Windows. Everything else is a secondary "convenience" view to just allow certain workflows (like installing macOS without overwriting things, or unlocking a FileVault volume with a master password to install macOS on it) to be accomplished more easily—like the Properties view of a disk drive in Windows. If there are other "convenience views" of disk management that you think would be helpful, why not make them into an app and sell it? One my favourite macOS programs, DaisyDisk, is basically just such a convenience view. People are willing to buy these—especially as a gift for their "prosumer" friends. Apple can't predict every use-case that a prosumer might want an accelerator for, but the free market probably can.
- kccqzy 9y ago
  diskutil(8) is not that great either. Like reading passwords from the terminal without bothering to turn off echo.
teddyh 9y ago
> I really don't get why they have allowed this crippled GUI for so long. You explain it perfectly yourself: > Anybody who is on my "free IT" list for the last few years has been receiving a Mac when it's time to upgrade. As long as you still prefer Macs over anything else, Apple has no incentive whatsoever to be any better. They merely have to be just good enough for you not to switch and keep using macOS/iOS/etc.
jsz0 9y ago
The old version of Disk Utility must have been pretty nasty to justify a full rewrite. I remember it getting quite unreliable at some point around 10.7 when with reading/writing disk images. Partly because the UI relied on non-obvious drag & drop / modifier key mashing to do certain things and it didn't have much error handling to clearly explain what went wrong. It wasn't even that good at explaining what operation you were about to perform. The new version (supplemented by using diskutil for advanced stuff) is an improvement in my opinion.
Angostura 9y ago
> low level users aren't even going to use Disk Utility, Strong disagree. One of the first troubleshooting steps for 'My Mac is slow/unstable/pinwheeling etc is - Run Disk Utility and check/repair your disk.

derefr 9y ago

There are times that installing macOS requires a trip through Disk Utility, is why. Disk Utility.app is basically made for the single use case of "modify the system to make macOS installable." The thing to understand, is that everyone inside Apple uses diskutil(8), not Disk Utility.app. diskutil(8) is the "canonical" way to do almost everything related to Disk management on macOS, the same way diskmgmt.msc is on Windows. Everything else is a secondary "convenience" view to just allow certain workflows (like installing macOS without overwriting things, or unlocking a FileVault volume with a master password to install macOS on it) to be accomplished more easily—like the Properties view of a disk drive in Windows. If there are other "convenience views" of disk management that you think would be helpful, why not make them into an app and sell it? One my favourite macOS programs, DaisyDisk, is basically just such a convenience view. People are willing to buy these—especially as a gift for their "prosumer" friends. Apple can't predict every use-case that a prosumer might want an accelerator for, but the free market probably can.

kccqzy 9y ago
diskutil(8) is not that great either. Like reading passwords from the terminal without bothering to turn off echo.

teddyh 9y ago

> I really don't get why they have allowed this crippled GUI for so long. You explain it perfectly yourself: > Anybody who is on my "free IT" list for the last few years has been receiving a Mac when it's time to upgrade. As long as you still prefer Macs over anything else, Apple has no incentive whatsoever to be any better. They merely have to be just good enough for you not to switch and keep using macOS/iOS/etc.

jsz0 9y ago

The old version of Disk Utility must have been pretty nasty to justify a full rewrite. I remember it getting quite unreliable at some point around 10.7 when with reading/writing disk images. Partly because the UI relied on non-obvious drag & drop / modifier key mashing to do certain things and it didn't have much error handling to clearly explain what went wrong. It wasn't even that good at explaining what operation you were about to perform. The new version (supplemented by using diskutil for advanced stuff) is an improvement in my opinion.

Angostura 9y ago

> low level users aren't even going to use Disk Utility, Strong disagree. One of the first troubleshooting steps for 'My Mac is slow/unstable/pinwheeling etc is - Run Disk Utility and check/repair your disk.