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So, I won't claim that installing software that is not in the Mac App Store is a totally intuitive process. Still...I kinda think it's neat. On Windows you dow

by Yaina 5y ago

So, I won't claim that installing software that is not in the Mac App Store is a totally intuitive process. Still...I kinda think it's neat. On Windows you download an installer, it does some magic (usually asking for administrator rights. scary) and then somehow the program is...somewhere. It's linked on the desktop, you can search for it, but it's unclear what happened. On macOS Programs are essentially treated as files. You download them in their (admittedly weird) containers, drag them into your Applications folder (which is just convention, you could put them anywhere) and then they are there. Want to remove a Program again? Move it to the trash! I love it, I think it's a very neat concept once you've understood it. Sadly Apple doesn't seem too keen anymore on people understanding it. The invention of the Mac App Store and the "Launchpad", followed by the removal of the Application folder from the Dock tried to abstract this neat feature away from people and naturally they don't understand it anymore. But this is Apple, actively trying to make their system less intuitive for monetary gain and control over the device, and not an inherent flaw of macOS.

alkonaut 5y ago
> On Windows you download an installer, it does some magic (usually asking for administrator rights. scary) and then somehow the program is...somewhere. It's linked on the desktop, you can search for it, but it's unclear what happened. The downside of the legacy windows install process is that it's "scary", prone to accidentally installing malware etc. However, the process is straightforward. The intuitive thing (going to whatever you downloaded and opening the file i.e. the default action of enter or double click) and then answering only yes/ok will let you install the program. Exactly where it ends up is of course not obvious - but for most software you'll find it the "normal" way - you hit the start button and type something. What baffles me about the MacOS one is that it's opaque. I expect the default action for a downloaded piece of software is to make me able to use it, as quickly as possible. I get how the whole drag dance works (barely) but other than for security-through-obscurity reasons I have no idea why it can't be the default action (e.g. if I double click a downloaded file, it would ask me if I meant to install the program)! > drag them into your Applications folder (which is just convention, you could put them anywhere) I think it's close to being great, and it certainly has more potential than the windows legacy system (which for obvious reasons can't be improved upon much!). But if I'm forced to google a few times before installing a downloaded container something is not intuitive. Meanwhile my kid can install any app, and some malware, on my windows machine. Just by guessing.

by Yaina 5y ago

alkonaut 5y ago

> On Windows you download an installer, it does some magic (usually asking for administrator rights. scary) and then somehow the program is...somewhere. It's linked on the desktop, you can search for it, but it's unclear what happened. The downside of the legacy windows install process is that it's "scary", prone to accidentally installing malware etc. However, the process is straightforward. The intuitive thing (going to whatever you downloaded and opening the file i.e. the default action of enter or double click) and then answering only yes/ok will let you install the program. Exactly where it ends up is of course not obvious - but for most software you'll find it the "normal" way - you hit the start button and type something. What baffles me about the MacOS one is that it's opaque. I expect the default action for a downloaded piece of software is to make me able to use it, as quickly as possible. I get how the whole drag dance works (barely) but other than for security-through-obscurity reasons I have no idea why it can't be the default action (e.g. if I double click a downloaded file, it would ask me if I meant to install the program)! > drag them into your Applications folder (which is just convention, you could put them anywhere) I think it's close to being great, and it certainly has more potential than the windows legacy system (which for obvious reasons can't be improved upon much!). But if I'm forced to google a few times before installing a downloaded container something is not intuitive. Meanwhile my kid can install any app, and some malware, on my windows machine. Just by guessing.