3 ms·

Haha I realize that re live tiles. I do think the tiles lost their allure over time, but at the least the functional UI within menus and such that MS has been e

Haha I realize that re live tiles. I do think the tiles lost their allure over time, but at the least the functional UI within menus and such that MS has been evolving at it's best looks great or superior to others of the day then/now (metro, fluent). Likewise re cleaning up the start crap, I'm not wedded to the tiles haha! As a reluctant recent MacOS user though, I really love the functionality of the start menu's easy-to-access list of my software suites/programs. I just strongly feel the Dock + Launchpad is a poor substitute for the Taskbar + Start Menu. Much easier to shove my programs in hiding, or to access.... Windows/instances for that matter in Windows (because all instances remain visible within a scrolling glance of an alias/icon, on Windows - it's something truly bizarre to me in that MacOS users don't mention this flaw - the dock is so easily cluttered and the setting to minimize instances into an icon do not offer an easy glance as with Windows).Anyways, I'd still really like them to unify the UI - it's just a deadweight loss for everyone right now IMO. Even the legacy IT managers... At some point asking them to tolerate UI adjustment isn't insane. RE: Apple: I do agree Apple have gone too far at times... I mean, I think dropping 32-bit support was for the better right now, not too many regrets as I write this on my M1 MBA, though having to dual boot for a class was a PITA last year with Catalina's lack of 32-bit support (and I am opposed to the use of V*rtualbox). IDK, I guess my only real quibble with Apple other than embracing iOS7 design is the direction they're hellbent on leading the charge for with iOS' software model. OTOH, where I part with some here is that I just don't think MS is really out to stop people from installing Linux via TPM - I think this is just usual poor PR and poor strategizing. Looks like they're determined to further muddy the waters lol: https://tinyurl.com/srk9zm7e https://tinyurl.com/srk9zm7e

GekkePrutser 5y ago
I use Mac a lot too (I do use pretty much all platforms every day). But I don't use Launchpad for the same reason. I don't find it fits well on my big 24" screen. I don't want huge icons spread out over the whole thing, same issue I had with Windows 8. Instead, what I do is I add the Applications folder to the dock and set it to pop-up grid mode. That way it provides a nice start menu. Incidentially this was pretty much how 'things worked' in earlier versions of macOS. In the oldest versions you'd just get a finder window with your apps, and when Stacks came in Leopard (IIRC) this became the de facto 'start menu'. They later introduced launchpad as a unifying thing with the iPad but I just don't think full screen interfaces work well on large screens. Also using spotlight is a handy way of launching apps. I use both together a lot. And yes I totally agree that the minimised windows are hard to spot on macOS, and so is the dot to see which program is running or not. Apple has been tuning down this dot a lot over the years because they don't want users to care about it. It used to be a perfectly serviceable triangle in Tiger and went downhill from there. And yeah I don't think the point is them preventing Linux either. Even if you have a TPM you still retain full control and can still add your own secureboot keys if you want to.
- leucineleprec0n 5y ago
  Holy hell, how did I not realize that re: app folder. I think maybe the qualm I had was that the placement is centered to the right, and I can't replace Finder app's position with it? I know I tried alias folders and hated it for some reason. Thank you for that, it's an improvement :). And yea launchpad is just my nightmare, I actually don't mind blowing things up with some padding, I use the scaled 1280X800 on my MacBook at the moment - and even then launchpad just disturbs me because of the effort required to navigate, and lack of real customization. On the other hand, MS consistently seems to develop the most attractive (at least, in principle with the bordering and sidebar menu for navigation with highlighted selection - all very cognitively "native" if you will) ways of striking a balance between aesthetics and function. Frankly I think it looks better than MacOS due to the contrast, but the typography feels off IMO. See here: https://46c4ts1tskv22sdav81j9c69-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/44/2021/06/Settings-PowerBattery.png https://46c4ts1tskv22sdav81j9c69-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-... Now in fairness re consistently: I do think the old settings app of W10 was bad, I often forget how horrible navigation is - one feels much more "trapped" if you will than in their W11 version. W11 version should scale well, too. I am still curious how their ARM64 efforts will shake out. What're your thoughts there? MS have to hedge between architectures so the chicken and egg issue is certainly salient unlike with Apple for whom the success was all but guaranteed.

GekkePrutser 5y ago

I use Mac a lot too (I do use pretty much all platforms every day). But I don't use Launchpad for the same reason. I don't find it fits well on my big 24" screen. I don't want huge icons spread out over the whole thing, same issue I had with Windows 8. Instead, what I do is I add the Applications folder to the dock and set it to pop-up grid mode. That way it provides a nice start menu. Incidentially this was pretty much how 'things worked' in earlier versions of macOS. In the oldest versions you'd just get a finder window with your apps, and when Stacks came in Leopard (IIRC) this became the de facto 'start menu'. They later introduced launchpad as a unifying thing with the iPad but I just don't think full screen interfaces work well on large screens. Also using spotlight is a handy way of launching apps. I use both together a lot. And yes I totally agree that the minimised windows are hard to spot on macOS, and so is the dot to see which program is running or not. Apple has been tuning down this dot a lot over the years because they don't want users to care about it. It used to be a perfectly serviceable triangle in Tiger and went downhill from there. And yeah I don't think the point is them preventing Linux either. Even if you have a TPM you still retain full control and can still add your own secureboot keys if you want to.

leucineleprec0n 5y ago
Holy hell, how did I not realize that re: app folder. I think maybe the qualm I had was that the placement is centered to the right, and I can't replace Finder app's position with it? I know I tried alias folders and hated it for some reason. Thank you for that, it's an improvement :). And yea launchpad is just my nightmare, I actually don't mind blowing things up with some padding, I use the scaled 1280X800 on my MacBook at the moment - and even then launchpad just disturbs me because of the effort required to navigate, and lack of real customization. On the other hand, MS consistently seems to develop the most attractive (at least, in principle with the bordering and sidebar menu for navigation with highlighted selection - all very cognitively "native" if you will) ways of striking a balance between aesthetics and function. Frankly I think it looks better than MacOS due to the contrast, but the typography feels off IMO. See here: https://46c4ts1tskv22sdav81j9c69-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/44/2021/06/Settings-PowerBattery.png https://46c4ts1tskv22sdav81j9c69-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-... Now in fairness re consistently: I do think the old settings app of W10 was bad, I often forget how horrible navigation is - one feels much more "trapped" if you will than in their W11 version. W11 version should scale well, too. I am still curious how their ARM64 efforts will shake out. What're your thoughts there? MS have to hedge between architectures so the chicken and egg issue is certainly salient unlike with Apple for whom the success was all but guaranteed.