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Impressions from a first-time Mac user

• sylens 5y ago
  Window management is still my number one complaint with macOS. Windows has only gotten better with it since Windows 7 introduced Aero Snap, and on Linux I can do whatever my heart desires, including using a proper tiling environment.
  • deergomoo 5y ago
    Ironically, if you’re looking to snap two windows side-by-side (which I expect accounts for the majority of cases), iPadOS with a keyboard is actually more capable for that specific use case than macOS. I expect the same shortcut will make its way into the next Mac release, I just hope they don’t gimp it by tying it to full-screen mode.
    • danaris 5y ago
      Er...macOS has had the ability to put two windows side-by-side in full-screen mode for a few years now. Press and hold on the green "zoom" button and you'll get side-by-side options. It does not, and likely will never, have options for gluing two windows together and treating them as one in non-fullscreen mode. That seems like a fairly niche desire to me.
      • deergomoo 5y ago
        I don’t think there’s a keyboard shortcut for it though is there?
        • danaris 5y ago
          Oh—no, I don't believe there is. Sorry, I missed that you were specifically referring to a keyboard shortcut for that (since I very rarely use an iPad with an external keyboard).
      • sylens 5y ago
        Yeah and the author was talking about how inflexible their side-by-side approach was - moves them to a new desktop and puts them into full screen
• SPBS 5y ago
  What a coincidence, everything that the author is complaining about I have an third party application to make up for - Window management (Magnet) - Command-tab (Contexts) I guess this means corporate-enforced macOS (no downloading of unapproved apps) would be a nightmare for users.
• ChicagoBoy11 5y ago
  Despite the warning, I didn't find it nearly as "ranty" as the author cautioned, and instead seemed like a fairly comprehensive and fair take on his experience. Having gone through the same thing myself several years ago, the UI aspect of it is something that I'd be curious to see how it develops for the author. I think it is not uncommon for Windows folk to find the windowing experience on macs rather painful, at least at first. However, after a while, it sort of "made sense" to me, if that makes any sense at all. There are some clear UX philosophies that are very different, and the initial transition can only be pretty jarring, but I'm curious what the author would say about it after a month or two. Also, fwiw, I think most power Mac users also marshal the use of some other programs to help along with some of that (or at least to tailor it more closely to what they want the experience to be). Rectangle is one of the first installs on any Mac I put my hands on... makes window management so much more pleasant!
  • rwc 5y ago
    Not that it's right or wrong, but the behavior dates back to the very first implementations of Mac OS and Windows. Mac OS has always been an application switching interface, and Windows has been a window switching interface. Takes getting used to the paradigm shift.
    • loganmarchione 5y ago
      OP here. I like this perspective, I never thought about it this way!
      • verelo 5y ago
        As someone that came from a windows world for the first 10ish years of my career, i found this pretty frustrating too. I honestly still do. Sometimes it feels like I just cannot get to the window I want.
        • darkteflon 5y ago
          You don’t have to live with it if you don’t like it; open source to the rescue: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
• jonnycomputer 5y ago
  All OS's should come standard with sophisticated windows management. I use BetterSnapTool on my Mac, have done so for close to 10 years now. I honestly don't know what I'd do without it--and I'm not doing too much fancy. But keyboard shortcutting to maximize, minimize, or tile (left right/corners/thirds) elimintes 90% of the fiddly annoying this about dealing with the too many windows I have open. But even this basic level of control that the app affords doesn't seem to be important enough for any of the major OSes to make standard.
  • reaperducer 5y ago
    All OS's should come standard with sophisticated windows management. Then people on HN would complain that the OS makers are driving the small utility software shops out of business with walled gardens and regulatory capture, or whatever the buzzword of the week is.
  • colinmhayes 5y ago
    I'm pretty sure macOS was designed to have every window in fullscreen 100% of the time and the user would three finger swipe to switch windows. Seems like having a shitty experience when trying to do anything besides fullscreen is kind of the point, "do things the way we want you to or suffer."
    • deleted 5y ago
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    • Tagbert 5y ago
      I almost never use that kind of full-screen mode in Mac OS. I do too much work between apps and rarely restrict myself to just one. Drag-n-drop has been a major interaction model in Mac OS for many decades
      • colinmhayes 5y ago
        I do most of my work in many apps too. It's pretty easy to remember to three finger swipe left twice to get to my browser from tmux etc. and is faster than other methods i've found. Plus I need all the screen space I can get, 16 inches is barely big enough.
• deleted 5y ago
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• teilo 5y ago
  Someone needs to tell him about option-click on the maximize button. Most of these "rants" really just amount to: "this different OS doesn't work exactly the same way as the OS I am used to." That's why 3rd party utilities exist to give you the functionality you wish to have. That formula cuts both ways.
  • thiagocmoraes 5y ago
    I've been using macs for 9 years and never knew about option+click. Granted I've been using apps for window management since forever as the native tools suck or are almost hidden.
    • kitsunesoba 5y ago
      Just FYI, holding down modifiers to reveal additional functions is a common theme in macOS. In the Finder for example, try holding down option and shift while looking through menus for a few examples. Holding down option while clicking the close or minimize buttons in apps will also close or minimize all windows for that app.
      • guywhocodes 5y ago
        2 years into being forced to use them for work and this is the first time I even hear anyone mention this. Thanks!, I'll be checking it out first thing in the morning
  • jayd16 5y ago
    This is Apple UX in a nutshell. Hidden power tools are not intuitive.
    • Tagbert 5y ago
      In part it is about progressive complexity. The simple things are exposed, more complex options require extra effort to access. Certainly there are times when it would be nice to make it easier to discover the more advanced features but there will always be a tension between keeping defaults simple for new users and exposing advanced features for the more serious users. Often they do it correctly but sometimes there are misses.
• simonbarker87 5y ago
  Pretty reasonable write up to be honest. I think the window management thing is reasonable when you come from a background where that’s a given. There are some great third party window managers available, I use one of them and very happy with it. It’s called Magnet for those who are interested.
• paxys 5y ago
  File management is another one I'd like to add to the list of macOS screwups. How can viewing lists of files and moving them over from one place to another be so complicated?
  • bombcar 5y ago
    MacOS apparently caches directory views somewhere, and I can routinely get the "Downloads" folder to not actually show what is in the Downloads folder; often having to resort to "open" on the terminal to access the file. I wish I knew how to force it to refresh the actual contents instead of reading it from the cache.
    • Tagbert 5y ago
      Do you have that folder set to sort by something useful like “date added”? Then it should work. If you have it set to not sorted then maybe the file is lower on the list and off screen. ~\Downloads is always the first tab in Finder for me and I almost always keep it to show the most recently added files at the top.
      • bombcar 5y ago
        I always do date added, and it sometimes doesn't show new files in the file picker view most commonly - and then I have to go somewhere else and back and it seems to refresh. The other weirdness is sometimes a file gets updated (think "touch") and it won't change it's order in the list. Most of the time it works fine. It's like inotify or whatever sometimes doesn't fire.
        • Tagbert 5y ago
          Ah, I almost never use the file picker. I tend to keep certain folders open in tabs in Finder and drag from them to the apps or to the file open dialogs. I tend to do a lot of work in a handful of folders and never liked the process of of “File Open….now navigate to that folder you were just using”.
  • 5y ago
• ghostpepper 5y ago
  The window management grips are fair, although I don't find Cmd + ` to be particularly burdensome - it's right above tab on the keyboard, and my KDE Plasma desktop behaves the exact same way.
  • mattnewton 5y ago
    I don't know any Mac users who don't primarily use expose (or is it mission control now? The thing where it tiles all your windows open and you click the right one). Agree that windows should snap even when not fullscreened but I think expose solves this one better if you hand is already on the trackpad / mouse
    • rconti 5y ago
      I don't use it, in fact I thought it was mostly abandoned. I hate window snapping behavior. I use rectangle, but cannot for the life of me figure out why it makes sense to snap a window to fullscreen on my 40" ultrawide the instant I get a window somewhere near any side of my monitor. Who works like this? You have to just leave a window floating in space if you don't want it fullscreened?
      • mattnewton 5y ago
        I use Moom personally to tile windows. I feel like no one tests the huge external monitor setup at apple compared to just using the laptop screen, despite it's near ubiquity among developers. Maybe the vast majority of mac's aren't used that way? But Mac pros are.
    • ghostpepper 5y ago
      I do leave my hand on the trackpad on Mac a lot more than I do with Linux - partly because the trackpad on Mac is better than any other trackpad - but also because I think a trackpad is inherently slower and sometimes when I use a mouse/keyboard on Mac I notice the system isn't quite as responsive as it feels when I use gestures
• Sharlin 5y ago
  > Apple decided to grace the 2021 Macbook Pro with ports that any PC laptop user has had for years (HDMI?! SD card reader?! gasp!). To be fair, MBPs also had those for years, until Apple in its wisdom decided to ditch them in 2016, along with making other questionable interface decisions that they've been gradually reverting since then. I still use a 2015 MBP partially for that reason. Now it's probably become a time to upgrade to a M1 model.
  • sircastor 5y ago
    I’m certain this was a change in design philosophy. And I think the exit of Jony Ive resulted in substantially more rational design decisions (form follows function), but any time that happens there’s a year or two of product pipeline that has to cycle.
• aeturnum 5y ago
  I think Moom is one of the best reccs for OSX in general: https://manytricks.com/moom/ https://manytricks.com/moom/ Will let you snap windows the way you expect.
• traceroute66 5y ago
  The author makes a big deal of lack of snapping. Frankly I've never seen the utility of it on OSs that do have it, infact I've always felt it more of a hinderance than a help (gets in the way, tries to snap when you don't want it to). The author makes a big deal that you have to do Command+Tab to switch applications, and then Command+` to cycle between windows in that application. Well, frankly I think thats the better way, I'll give you an example: Let's say (as you do) you have a dozen browser windows open (maybe in more than one browser) ... do you REALLY want to sit there hitting Command+Tab dozens of times ? No. Its quicker to switch to the desired app and then cycle within the app. That way you don't cycle through the browser when you don't need to. Finally there are some, frankly bizarre, comments in the blog post, such as: > However, that keyboard doesn’t have the Option (⌥) or Command (⌘) keys like on my Macbook. Well, yeah, its not Apple's problem if you choose to use a PC keyboard with your Mac. Most people would either use the built-in Mac keyboard or buy an external one (third-party Mac keyboards are available from the usual suspects if you don't fancy an Apple one). I gave up reading the blog post around that point ("The Undecided" header to be precise).
  • lou1306 5y ago
    > The author makes a big deal of lack of snapping. Frankly I've never seen the utility of it on OS's that do have it, infact I've always felt it more of a hinderance than a help (gets in the way, tries to snap when you don't want it to). It may be useful for users of large external monitors, allowing to make better use of the screen real estate. Then again, Macos lacks per-application menu bars, which means you cannot do a lot of tasks without focusing the app first, so IMHO lack of snapping/advanced windows management is not as big as a deal as it would be under Windows.
    • loganmarchione 5y ago
      > It may be useful for users of large external monitors, allowing to make better use of the screen real estate OP here. This is exactly why I want snapping (I'm using a 27" 1440p monitor)
      • 5y ago
• uuyi 5y ago
  This is a story as old as time. When you’re used to something else the change hurts. I have found it far better to not bring your mental baggage with you and meet the new platform as its level rather than try and make it the same as the old one. I have gone MOS > RiscOS > WinNT -> Solaris -> Linux -> Win7 -> macOS and it hurt every time.
  • thanatos519 5y ago
    Indeed, and the change that hurts me when I try to use a Mac is the fact that there are things that I can't change. I prefer focus-follows-mouse and no-raise on-focus, and those are apparently structurally impossible in macOS. "I can't change it to work the way I like it" is a totally legitimate complaint and Linux has a strong advantage in this regard.
    • darkteflon 5y ago
      Focus-follows-mouse is great. That’s the biggest thing I miss from Linux.
    • d3nj4l 5y ago
      FFM is completely possible on macOS (unless you mean something completely different). I use yabai for it: https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
      • saagarjha 5y ago
        Yabai requires tiling windows, doesn’t it? This is far easier than general focus-follows-mouse support.
        • d3nj4l 5y ago
          You can tell yabai to leave your windows alone with yabai -m config layout float And enable FFM with yabai -m config focus_follows_mouse autofocus And voila, you have FFM without tiling!
    • 5y ago
• lbrito 5y ago
  >you use what they give you, how they give it to you, using their workflows, barely customizing anything. Apple products are supposed to be revered the world over as the pinnacle of design, used by artists, engineers, professionals, and creators. Why do I feel like there are training wheels on a machine I use for productivity? Gosh, this is exactly how I felt in a similar situation. Really hit the nail on the head. I've used Linux for a long time, and for a while I was kindly forced to use a Mac (got a Linux laptop last week). It was a painful experience that took a heavy toll on my productivity. My impression is that Mac has so many idiossincrasies that fans just assume are "intuitive" while they're really not - they've just been used to it for a long time. Personally I hated, hated the usability. Can't stress it enough, it absolutely sucked. Never again! Also the benefits compared to non-Macs are diminishing over time. You can get great hardware and battery life with system76 for instance.
  • imwillofficial 5y ago
    “You can get great hardware and battery life with system76 for instance.” The build quality of these two platforms is nowhere, and I mean nowhere close. Apples (heh) and oranges. I’m rooting for system76, but they have a long way to go.
    • lbrito 5y ago
      Absolutely agree. Build quality is meh, not even good. But the battery is seriously good. Like 10+ hours good.
      • lolpython 5y ago
        Which model is that? My 2 year old System76 Galago Pro gets 1 hour of battery life.
        • lbrito 5y ago
          This guy here: https://system76.com/laptops/lemur https://system76.com/laptops/lemur >Up to 14 hours of battery life per charge I routinely get over 10 hours.
• m0shen 5y ago
  Since the author appears pretty savvy, I recommend trying out https://www.hammerspoon.org/ https://www.hammerspoon.org/ and writing a little bit of lua to customize his mac experience. Can even install it as a Homebrew cask
• etchalon 5y ago
  "In summary, macOS does not behave like Windows or Linux."
  • thanatos519 5y ago
    "In summary, macOS does not behave like Windows or Linux out of the box, and it's difficult or impossible to change many of those behaviours."
    • danaris 5y ago
      ...And can you easily change Windows or Linux to behave like macOS, in these fundamental ways?
      • sofixa 5y ago
        On Linux yes, absolutely.
        • etchalon 5y ago
          "Linux" and "easily" don't really belong in the same sentence here.
      • max599 5y ago
        sometimes you can. A good exemple is Windows 8.1. Depending on who you ask, it's either the best OS Microsoft has ever made or one of the worse. If you know how to install a different Start Menu, you can get >95% of the benefits of W10/W11 with no downside other than game compatibility. If you are stuck with the menu provided by Microsoft, it's almost literally unusable. It's so bad that and hated by literally everyone that IMHO it deserved a "fire managers/leaders who approved it" type of response.
        • danaris 5y ago
          I didn't ask if you could make Windows act like Slightly Different Windows. I asked if you could make it act like macOS. Single menu bar at the top, Alt-Tab changing applications, with another shortcut for cycling through windows of the active application, etc. Since the criticism that it was hard to make macOS act like Windows.
• jihadjihad 5y ago
  I totally get the window switching thing, especially if one of the windows is minimized. In that case, hovering over the window using Cmd + Tab will not open the window. You have to press Option while simultaneously letting go of the Cmd key. The only other major thing is how terrible Finder is out of the box. There are ways to make it less terrible, but it's still far less than ideal in usability.
  • Tagbert 5y ago
    What problems do you have with Finder? I feel the same about Windows File Explorer when I use Windows. If nothing else, I keep looking for a way to add a tab for a different path. Admittedly, I tend not to use that many keyboard short-cuts. Beyond the basics, I find the effort to learn more of them not worth the effort unless it is an app that I use frequently. File management is not one of those cases.
  • urbandw311er 5y ago
    Yes! I provided the same comment above with a step-by-step as the sequence of key presses is a little hard to figure out the first time. I’ve now finally committed this to muscle memory but I doubt many people are aware of it — it was really good to hear of somebody else using it!
• imwillofficial 5y ago
  As a decades long Mac user, all these points are fair and worth reading. Apple, hope you’re paying attention.
• hprotagonist 5y ago
  i used to be totally fine with the macOS desktop manager experience. then i went in hard on i3. now, macOS feels ungainly.
• spicyusername 5y ago
  > Package management This always floors me when I have to use a non-Linux computer. The difference between package management on Linux and other OSes is shocking. Dnf, Yum, Pacman are all so convenient and straightforward. I can't understand why Windows and MacOS don't have anything official that fills this gap.
  • josho 5y ago
    They do. On Windows it's msi, and Mac it's pkg. But, for whatever reason folks have preferred to build their own package solution instead of learning the OS native approach. I'm guessing because building your own makes for an easier end user CLI experience.
    • jeroenhd 5y ago
      Microsoft made the mistake of adding non-deterministic behaviour to MSI files, because without that the package format is pretty much everything I'd want out of a software packaging system. I think companies wanted to stuff branding and ads into their installers, so MSI files fell out of use. Modern Windows seems to prefer msix and other weird UWP-based formats, but I don't think you can just install those. What Windows is missing though, is a clean way to manage these MSI files. A reinstall or an uninstall shouldn't take twenty windows and four different "next" buttons to process. When Microsoft created the Microsoft Store, they neglected to also add a command line option for installation (you can manually install a package, but you'll need to do updates yourself from what I can tell). Just add a Powershell command like "MSStore-Install" and the entire ecosystem would be so much nicer to use! I suppose this is what they're trying to do with WinGet, after forking AppGet and leaving the original project to die. For some reason they like to reinvent the wheel every time someone thinks of a new way to install binaries onto a computer.
      • majkinetor 5y ago
        You can use Chocolatey until WinGet gets some traction. You have everything there and no more clicking around. I haven't started MSI by hand in last 5 years.
• jack_pp 5y ago
  I tried the m1 mini when it came out because I was hyped by all the m1 HN talk. This was my first time using macOS and besides the window management what I loathed was having to re-learn all the shortcuts I've been using for 20+ years, how no one mentions this is baffling to me. I tried to make it work more like "normal" windows / linux but I didn't find any good options and I always felt like I was running with my shoelaces untied. I'll stick with my linux i3 env for the foreseeable future
  • Veen 5y ago
    It just takes time to get used to. I used Linux for a long time before switching to a Mac about seven years ago. I nearly returned my new MacBook to the store because I felt hamstrung by the UI. But in a few weeks, once I'd become accustomed to the application-centric windowing model, the keyboard shortcuts, and especially the touchpad gestures, it all clicked and I wouldn't go back now.
    • jack_pp 5y ago
      My linux workflow is almost entirely keyboard-driven, there's no need for a touchpad than maybe doing things in the browser.
  • dmitriid 5y ago
    Shortcuts are maddening when you just switch. But then you realise how much of the keyboard is underutilised in Windows. Linux uses the Meta key, but IIRC it was very app-specific, and not as comprehensively used. A lot of MacOS is keyboard driven [1][2], but it takes up to two weeks to get comfortable (it took me at least that long when I switched to MacOS in 2008). [1] But the new breed of "designers" at Apple no longer care about that. All new first-party apps that Apple vomits out are an abomination, UX-wise. And keyboard access there suffers as well. [2] There are a bunch of shortcuts that will work the same way across most apps (such as Cmd+<comma> for settings, or text navigation shortcuts), and that is a blessing. You can also assign custom shortcuts to any menu item in any app if you need directly from settings. Or you can re-assign behaviour of Ctrl/Caps Lock/Alt from settings as well. There are small things like this all across the system, but it does take getting used to.
• nerdjon 5y ago
  I always find this interesting, my primary computing device that I do actual work on is Mac (technically I guess my primary is my iPhone or iPad if I go by time but I am not counting that). But I have a Windows computer for gaming and a few Linux machines lingering around. I constantly find myself frustrated by Windows because I am just used to how Mac operates. I have been using it as my primary compute device since Lion. However one of the things that I find interesting from the Window management point that I don't see mentioned, touchpad gestures. I cannot use Mac without gestures, even when I am using my laptop as a desktop I use the Magic Trackpad. The few times I have tried to use a mouse... it just feels wrong. I would highly recommend taking a look at this and looking at the window management from this prospective. Because of these gestures I never think I need to snap things because switching windows is a quick swipe and and a click. Then all the other gestures, hot corners, etc. That being said, I find the same issue with my partner. He has never used a Mac (has an iPhone though) but sometimes he needs to do something quick so grabs my laptop. It is fascinating watching him struggle with the trackpad and other basics that to me I don't even think about anymore.
  • colinmhayes 5y ago
    Yea, I think what OP is missing is that macOS was designed to be used with a trackpad. I think three fingers up is what they want when they alt tab. The green button makes the window full screen because using three fingers sideways and the occasional three fingers up is the best way to manage windows on small laptop screens. Even on my external monitor I have every window fullscreen. This was admittedly hard to get used to moving from windows/linux, but it really is a much better way to do windows/virtual desktops. OP should ditch the mouse.
    • nerdjon 5y ago
      I don't think it was necessarily designed this way to begin with, they didn't really add these gestures until well into OSX I don't think. But at the very least they have leaned very heavily into it. Considering they sell 2 devices to add gestures when you are not using a laptop. I find myself very rarely using cmd-tab because it just doesn't fit my use. I can either more quickly do that my moving my mouse to the bottom and accessing the Dock or 3 fingers up and everything pulls out. Throw in hitting "space" to quickly zoom into a window if I just need a quick piece of information but not open the app completely. I am largely the same with 3 monitors. At least 2 tend to be full screen apps with my center one being my mix of things, but it depends on what is happening. Each monitor has a desktop of scratch things (like notes) that I don't want full screen but just sits somewhere. The native tab support in the OS for things like VSCode helps a lot with this.
• h3cate 5y ago
  spectacle will solve your snapping problems. gives windows / Linux snapping.
  • Perolan2 5y ago
    100% agreed. I forget sometimes that spectacle isn't part of MacOS proper. The snapping and management are amazing and really add to the UX. https://www.spectacleapp.com/ https://www.spectacleapp.com/
  • itslennysfault 5y ago
    Except it's end of life so you should probably switch to Rectangle (which the author mentions in the article explicitly)
• gen220 5y ago
  Re: cmd+tab issues, consider trying cmd+space+(first letter or two of the app), followed by cmd+`. Especially for touch typists, I think it's faster than cmd+tab: doesn't require you to use your mental "app icon classifier", and it's impossible to over/under-shoot the target. Scales O(N), where N is the number of windows open in the app you're switching to, whereas cmd+tab + cmd+` is O(N) + O(M), where M is the number of apps you have running.
  • ysleepy 5y ago
    Just use Hot Corners and "Application Windows"+"Mission Control", its superior.
    • gen220 5y ago
      It's a cool feature, but it does require touching the trackpad/mouse!
      • K7PJP 5y ago
        You can activate Mission Control with Control-Down Arrow. After that, you can use the arrow keys to navigate, but then the pointer is significantly faster and you don't have to "think."
• kemayo 5y ago
  I actually like the command+tab behavior, and miss it when I use Windows. I'll explain: if you have a lot of windows open, I think it's nice to silo them. When I have ten Firefox windows and six Sublime windows and three iTerm windows, and a few other random applications, it's generally easier to go first to the app I want and then find the window inside it, rather than always having to shuffle through 19 different windows at the top-level. This is probably a matter of personal preference and habit, and you can make a good case for either behavior. I just don't think macOS' behavior is obviously worse... only different.
  • vnorilo 5y ago
    If you pin apps to Windows task bar, you can cycle through the windows of the third one with Winkey-3 and so on. Currently daily drive a mac for work, but the above is my preferred way to switch windows on Windows.
  • mkl 5y ago
    It's nice to silo windows when you have lots open, but I think grouping all browser windows together is not a sensible way to do it. Some browser windows go with my IDE, some with spreadsheets, some terminals, etc. Grouping all browser windows (including web apps, email, etc.) because they happen to use the browser is like grouping all windows whose title starts with "A" or something.
    • bdougherty 5y ago
      Once you have your browser focused, you can use App Exposé (ctrl+down) to show all the windows from it.
      • kemayo 5y ago
        You can also get to that directly from the cmd-tab switcher -- if you press up or down while the switcher is open it jumps straight to exposé for the focused app.
        • 5y ago
• dfxm12 5y ago
  As someone who switches around between primarily Windows and secondarily OSX, and GDM3, I find OSX to have the most intuitive window manager. I don't like apps being maximized, and I feel like I can always intuitively find the window I'm looking for in OSX, just under the active window. I find myself arranging windows in Windows like OSX might arrange them. Maybe Apple is just using a different metaphor. I understand this is very subjective though. Apple products are supposed to be revered the world over as the pinnacle of design, used by artists, engineers, professionals, and creators. Is this still really the case? Most of what I hear nowadays is Apple's reputation is that their products are luxury status symbols rather than a tool for creative types, outside of maybe the camera on the iPhone. 10 years ago, you might have seen the coffee shop filled with macbooks, but that's not the case today. What artist is going to afford a $1900 monitor that can only be height adjusted with a $400 upgrade?
  • shaan7 5y ago
    Funnily enough, for the ~5 years I used macOS, the Window Manager was the most frustrating aspect for me. I could not maximize apps (there was only a weird fullscreen/focus mode), I would accidentally end up dragging a window very often etc. All this gave ended up creating this feeling in my brain that the windows are just "floating" on the screen instead of being tightly bound to an arrangement.
    • rhinoceraptor 5y ago
      You're not really 'supposed' to maximize or even tile apps on the Mac. In most cases it's a waste of screen space. The Mac has always been focused around the desktop metaphor. Historically applications were composed of multiple windows, and focusing a window in an application brought all of the other windows for that application to the front. You would manually arrange each of the windows/palettes of your application for multitasking, much like you would with physical pieces of paper.
      • drc500free 5y ago
        At this point, my work is around tasks, not applications. I hardly ever need more than one window in the same application simultaneously. What I need is my browser open next to a document, or a spreadsheet open next to powerpoint.
• xisthesqrtof9 5y ago
  3 of the 4 items that the author mentioned can be solved with using NixOS inside a VM on your mac :) Inspired by Mitchell Hashimoto's VMWare setup[0]. I setup my own computer in such a way, I now have the best of both worlds. Developing on a linux machine, where I can control everything if I wanted (down to the OS) and the ease of Notes/iMessages whenever I need it. Window management is a pita because of internal APIs and the fact that Apple doesn't cater to people that actually care about these tools. Check out Yabai[1] which btw requires you to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) if you want to use its full potential. Instead you can run NixOS and choose your favourite window/tiling manager (i3). Package manager: I still run Nix but I am not that happy with it. Either I need to spend some more time or look for an alternative. One of the problems is the ability to easily pin older versions. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubDMLoWz76U&t=359s&ab_channel=MitchellHashimoto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubDMLoWz76U&t=359s&ab_channe... [1] - https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
  • kevingadd 5y ago
    If corporate IT isn't okay with you installing third party window management tools, I can't imagine they'd be thrilled to discover you're running some oddball OS inside a VM on your corporate machine in order to hide unvetted third-party software. Likewise, I doubt the OP or people like them would get away with disabling System Integrity Protection or loading untrusted kernel modules.
• macrael 5y ago
  I have never spent much time on Windows machines but I _love_ cmd-` on the Mac. I mean, I have a whole rant about how its ordering behavior changed on Lion for the worse but I love having windows grouped by application and picking the app I care about before picking the window I care about. I have never understood why so many people use a single chrome window for all of their tabs but I think it comes from not being experienced with cmd-`. For me, I group tabs in my browser by subject, most commonly, by google search query, and then I can close them all at once when I'm done with them. I've actually started braking more websites out into their own fluid.app so that I can cmd-tab to them specifically. Jira, Github, Gmail (well, when I used gmail) all get their own app so I don't have to go hunting for that single tab in my browser, making my browser window management that much easier. If you're interested in that, I pair fluid.app with choosy so that links open in the correct fluid browser.
  • urbandw311er 5y ago
    Big fan here of “appifying” favourite Web apps too. I recently discovered a programme called Web Catalog that is best in class for this.
    • macrael 5y ago
      Ooh, I'll check that out. I've also experimented with Flotato
  • K7PJP 5y ago
    Yeah, Fluid is great for that. I also use it for any streaming station I frequent, so I never have to worry about accidentally closing a browser tab.
  • flenserboy 5y ago
    The list of things Lion didn't make worse is pretty short.
• tetsusaiga 5y ago
  > give anything to replace macOS with Linux (or even Windows) I agree that this was a fair, measured post, but I find it bizarre that a Linux enthusiast would ever want to replace their Mac OS with Windows when the biggest complaint is... window management? I feel like they left something out here.
  • Tagbert 5y ago
    I do understand that recent Windows has some pretty good basic window size+position control. That is not something that really comes default in Mac OS but there are several widely used third-party tools that do that using different interaction models (Moom, Better Snap Tool, Magnet). I suspect that building that into the OS would hurt the third-party market at this point.
• 960design 5y ago
  I am a fan boy and did not find any of it offensive. Great write up, actually. Windows simply does a better job at window management. I use full screen and three finger swipe between 5 separate desktops for work to overcome this weakness. The flash drive did make me giggle... oh you poor windows laden idiot. Flash drives... like from 1999? Most of your issues are just growing pains. I did it when I migrated about 10 years ago from my LeapFrog: no carry handle, screen too bright, no built in songs, ect.
• zamalek 5y ago
  > Homebrew is a lifesaver on macOS and is the only thing not making me pull my hair out. All credit due, Homebrew is amazing given that it doesn't have the same opportunities for deep integration that Linux package managers do. It certainly made MacOS bearable for me. But, it's only good in a walled vacuum. There's almost nothing else on the platform to compare it to. I have been using nix-darwin, but packages routinely break on darwin (not that I blame them for it). Windows might have never had a package manager, but there are decades of workflows build up around not having one. Downloading an .exe/.msi and installing is sub-optimal, dangerous, and barbaric, but it does work. Linux has pacman, RPM, deb, nix, ostree, flatpak, and more, which (from personal experience) are all amazing. The Mac package workflow has been built up around a second-class citizen: Homebrew. And the fact that Homebrew is a second-class citizen shows. If you've used almost any other package manager as a daily driver you get an idea just how wanting the whole MacOS ecosystem is. There are a few ones worse than your options with Apple (cough Snap cough), but not many. I wonder how many Apple power users understand just how bad they have it with Apple.
• ysleepy 5y ago
  My recommendations for Mac Users: * Put the Dock left or right, vertical space is precious (trust me, do it for a week and then decide) * Setup Hot-Corners (Settings -> Mission Control -> Hot Corners) - Upper-Right Corner as Mission Control (Must be upper right so spaces are immediately shown) - Lower-Left Corner as Application Windows - just fling your mouse curser into the corner (use std. gestures on the trackpad) This makes window management a lot better. * Maximise Windows by double clicking the Window title bar. * Disable auto-{correction, capitalize, etc}, smart-quotes under Keyboard settings (if you want) * Learn about the screenshot shortcuts CMD+shift+{3,4}, 3: full screen, 4: select area or switch to window select with hitting space bar once. * Learn about CMD+space for launching apps * Set Key-Repeat to fast and shorten the delay * Disable spotlight for everything except what you want to use it for. * Enable File-Vault * Disable "Wake for Network Access" under Energy * Enable the ssh server under Sharing "Remote Login" (If you want) * Disable the visual/audible bell in the Terminal profile. * Install MacPorts/Homebew And one thing to internalize is that Apple is a little authoritarian about some UX aspects. For example the snapping and window thing... Apple has a thing with continuos freedom opposed to the discretisation one is used to. I've come around to that view as well actually, free your mind, nature is not a stepped slider. Cool Utilities: MenuMeters with a CPU usage graph. this allows you to see if something is killing your battery. MonitorControl (on github) to set brightness of external monitors. LittleSnitch ($$) for fellow paranoid control freaks IINA (github) best video player UTM for VMs (free on github) paid options are good too MacPass for KeePass databases Hope it helps.
  • correct_horse 5y ago
    > Disable spotlight for everything except what you want to use it for My friend's mac would "take off" (fan spun up crazy fast) after every boot/login and I disabled full-text search of documents to fix it. There was probably a weird, maybe not-to-spec pdf/docx on the filesystem that spotlight couldn't parse and got stuck. Kinda dumb that it would waste a 100% usage on one CPU core for a couple minutes every boot though.
    • smoldesu 5y ago
      It's really abysmal. I had a similar situation: every time I'd pull a monorepo, my machine would be flooded with "mdworker" processes. The CPU would spin up and the machine would operate at 85c for a few hours before finally cooling down. The culprit was Spotlight, and the solution was to disable search indexing.
• kps 5y ago
  > However, that keyboard doesn’t have the Option (⌥) or Command (⌘) keys like on my Macbook. It does; they're just labelled ‘Alt’ and ‘Windows’.
• fit2rule 5y ago
• itslennysfault 5y ago
  Honestly, for something with a disclaimer about it being a rant, this read pretty positive to me. Pretty sure this guy will be in love with Apple by the end of the year and will start weeing the shortcomings in windows/linux. (at least that was my journey anyways) For the cmd+tab thing I think it's a matter of taste and/or something that the author will get used to. I think I found it odd at first too, but now I get mad at Windows for not doing it that way. I love being able to switch between windows of the same program only.
• deleted 5y ago
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• ppeetteerr 5y ago
  The only negative is around window management and you can install helpers for this.
• moonchrome 5y ago
  I've had a long background of Windows and Linux usage but I've used MacOS a significant time as well - I'm daily driving a 2018 MacBook Pro 15 and use a Windows Desktop for WFH because it's much more powerful an silent. And I'm also developing on .NET core right now which is a Microsoft tech. With that said I would say MacOS grows on you. On my 34 inch screen using snapping is just not practical - I just move windows around and have plenty of visual space and can quickly move my head to move attention to a different window, find other windows through overlaps - I prefer this to tabbing - and this is when working on my Windows desktop. Returning to Windows after not regularly using it for last 3 years it's sad to see that the UI has regressed with Windows 11. For example windows had system calendar app that would connect to the system calendar in the bottom right and show event previews for the day and you could click on the day and get day summaries, sort of like Itsycal but built in. They removed this in Windows 11. I think MacOS is strictly better for most of my use cases : - The new right click UI is clunky and obviously touch optimized, most of the OS is going this way and it's shit for desktop usability - Dark mode support is hit-and-miss, much better in MacOS - PowerToys Run doesn't work reliably at all compared to Mac CMD + Space which works without a hiccup - chocolatey is garbage compared to homebrew Where Windows beats MacOS for me : - Docker performance is much much better - WSL/linux integration is fairly nice (using OpenSuSe rolling release to get relevant software, Ubuntu LTS they provide is ancient)
  • IncRnd 5y ago
    I constantly use window snapping on my desktop Mac with two widescreen monitors. But, I use keystrokes to do so, using Rectangle, not the mouse.
    • moonchrome 5y ago
      For me even the vertical space fully extended is too much visual area since I need to move my eyes/head to scan top to bottom. but I do have a 5k panel relatively close at low scaling so maybe your setup is different
      • IncRnd 5y ago
• rconti 5y ago
  IMO, command-tab and command-tilde are vastly superior to the Windows method. It's less relevant these days due to applications running their own tabs inside of the app. I fought this for years but eventually gave up because you really have to use tabs these days. Many applications have wasted space for a tab bar even if you refuse to use tabs. But I liked being able to switch through windows in a given application vs switching applications entirely. I still feel that tabs-everywhere is making up for a broken window manager. Why should we offload this to each application?
• major505 5y ago
  I`m in a similar situation working as a android developer the company sended me a macpro 2021 with the infamous touch bar. Diferent from the author I had some previous experience with macbooks, since I did had a Macbook white many years ago, and have some vintage apple computers like a clamshell laptop and a G4 (I just think they are neat). While I`m in no way as productive with it as I`m with my thinkpad runing Fedora there`s some mitigation I was able to do. The main wone with the window manager. While I do think Apple full screen works well when working exclusive with the mac screen, when connected to multiple screens is a pain in the ass. In this case Magnet solved my problems since it looks a lot with the Windows / Gnome way of dividing the screen with multiple applications.
• als0 5y ago
  > While macOS isn’t POSIX-certified, it is Single Unix Specification UNIX 03 registered and compliant. This sounds wrong. Isn’t POSIX a mandatory subset of the Single Unix Specification? Hence it is inherently certified.
  • loganmarchione 5y ago
    OP here. I was mainly going off of this (2nd paragraph). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)
    • als0 5y ago
      From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_UNIX_Specification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_UNIX_Specification "system developers generally aim for compliance with POSIX standards, which form the core of the Single UNIX Specification"
• legitster 5y ago
  THANK YOU! I was recently forced to switch to a Mac for work. After 6+ months I am still relatively unimpressed. I feel like such a big baby, and I know it's because I am familiar with something else, but I cannot express enough how much I hate Mac's window management. I constantly have to split up my work between multiple Chrome windows and I am now resigned to losing track of everything all the time. (Hardware wise - I might actually disagree. The device feels nice, but I've found it to be fairly fragile and delicate. Whereas you can drop a Thinkpad down a flight of stairs into a pool of ice cream, a 6-inch fall onto a hard surface might total the screen on the MacBook. But special shoutout to the speakers which still impress me.)
• cudgy 5y ago
  > The entire design of macOS feels like the Gnome desktop: you use what they give you, how they give it to you, using their workflows, barely customizing anything. The user just started to use the OS: of course they have little knowledge of customization plus they are using a computer subject to corporate policies. Not a fair criticism. However, the critique of the window snapping mechanics is correct. Very frustrating to have the window go full screen when removing one half of the previously split screen.
• thaway2839 5y ago
  I think at this point Apple does not see macOS (from the user perspective) like a traditional GUI OS. It used to be that OSes provided window management, file management, some basic file handling, and APIs and framework to build and connect apps. Apple, instead, sees the OS as an app launcher that provides a framework to build isolated apps. IOW, it's reduced macOS to the Dock.
• sofixa 5y ago
  I'm in the same boat, recently starting a job which provides an MBP. I've last used macOS in school, a few years ago. It's mostly meh. I don't care for the OS conventions ( like the cmd stuff) and I'm not going to force myself out of years of muscle memory for one of my machines, but i can mostly tune that ( with third party tools, but still). Cmd remapped to ctrl, cmd+tab remapped to ctrl+tab. The only issues is Ctrl+C doesn't work in iTerm, I've yet to fix that. However the UX is like something for children - what's with drag and drop for installing a program?? The included tools range from meh to garbage - Pages mangling .docx and saving them in its proprietary format is inexcusable. And for some reason i can't get the MBP to sleep when it's charging and an external screen is connected - clicking sleep through the menu makes it sleep for a second and then it wakes up. Oh, and it's extremely annoying that the scroll button on a mouse and trackpad have to share the same scrolling direction. Honestly i find that macOS is OK. Slightly better than Windows, but with annoying differences and stubborn "this is how things are, the old way no longer works, you're holding it wrong" attitude. Linux is best in terms of flexibility but has some other downsides.
• urbandw311er 5y ago
  My favourite tool to modify most aspects of the OS is BetterTouchTool. I have it set to move the window under the mouse cursor when I hold down Fn — and if I also hold down shift then it resizes the window under the mouse cursor until I release Shift It must have saved me, in aggregate, hundreds of hours as I no longer have to care about finding the top or edge of a window to move/resize. Try it! An absolute game changer for productivity.
• linsomniac 5y ago
  I also recently got a MBP and it's the first time I've used a Mac since the '80s, mostly using Linux for work and a Chromebook for home. I agree with what this article has to say. Great hardware. For my primary reason for spending the money on it, it runs rings around anything else out there (video editing). The OS I find mostly ok, but a few things feel pretty rough: Updates. My terminal blocks updates from happening when I'm not using it. Updates take an amazingly long time where you can't use the system. I'm talking like the majority of an hour. It makes Windows updates look speedy, and I hate how long Windows updates take. Linux and ChromeOS do this right: You can use the system while it is doing updates, then it's just a reboot into the updates The app finder (3 finger pinch), I sure wish it was a little smarter. In Firefox if I go to the URL bar and type "n" it knows I probably want "news.ycombinator.com". Every time I 3 finger pinch and type "b" it's like a babe in the woods, never having met me before. Now, every time I type "blue", MacOS thinks I want "bluetooth" until I add the "j" and it can figure out that, like every time I've done this, I want the BlueJeans app because it's meeting time... I still haven't gotten used to clicking the yellow window button and the app "hides", the only thing on my screen is firefox or whatever, but when I start typing it's still going to that hidden app. That said, it's still a great box. Mostly I use it as a web browser and a SSH terminal to my work machine. But, it has absolutely solved an infrequent pain point for me: Editing videos of my kids. Last fall I edited a concert video, the hour long concert took me ~40 hours to do because my wife's laptop, reasonably powerful but not the highest end GPU, required so much time generating optimized media and churning, and even then everything I did was slow as molasses. The Mac has handled all video editing tasks without breaking a sweat. I feel like an idiot for spending the money for an infrequent task, but it is a 100% solved problem now.
• rubyist5eva 5y ago
  > On the other hand, macOS has a weird snapping implementation where you need to click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose to “tile” left or right. But, once you pick another window to fill the other half, both of those windows (together as one) move to their own virtual desktop. I want them split on my current desktop, not on a separate desktop. Hold the option key and it snaps on the same desktop. Or install Rectangle.app (free) which gives you mouse dragging and keyboard shortcut snapping like Windows/Linux.
• sandwichinvest 5y ago
  Devoted fan of A tries B, is displeased.
• jmull 5y ago
  I think it’s more what you’re used to. I use Windows and macos daily and I sorta prefer the mac’s window management, but they both work fine once you know what you’re doing. In some cases macos just has different keystrokes that the author doesn’t know yet, and in others you just manage windows a little differently (or use an app if you don’t want to adjust).
• csomar 5y ago
  The OP probably didn't spend much time with macOS. Here is a more serious rant with macOS: 1. The Spotlight program will randomly consume 100% of your CPU while you are doing actual work. 2. The iCloud integration will decide to disappear your desktop/document folders when you most need them, and nobody understand how that thing works. 3. macOS safety features not allowing you to install some software. Worse, it doesn't give you a hint that it is the responsible party. 4. macOS parental control blocks randomly your localhost, failing some requests. Spend 6-10 hours investigating to find out the real culprit. Good luck deactivating that. And these are just on the top of my head and I hadn't used macOS in the last two years. I can't imagine what a cluster-fff it must be right now with all the crap they have been adding.
• joeman1000 5y ago
  Nice article. Coincidentally we have the same computers, even the same specs. I’ve been on macOS for 11 years now, so I’m biased. On window snapping: why on earth would you want to obscure your desktop with two huge panes? I usually have ‘small’ applications on my desktop ‘workspace’ (terminal, reminders, messages, finder). I always see ex-windows users cluttering their desktop workspace and not utilising more workspaces. It’s more efficient (in my opinion) to have multiple workspaces and avoid the tedious game of minimising and maximising dozens of windows on the desktop. I get that it’s what you’re used to, since this behaviour is enforced on windows, but do give the macOS way a shot. Whenever I’m on windows I feel hampered by the lack of virtual workspaces. I think some of the idiosyncrasies are worth bearing with in macOS. It’s worth it even for the consistency of the design across the OS. It seems trite, but I like that everything speaks the same design language. It feels coherent. I’m never jarred as I am on windows 10, when I open the advance control panel and find that it’s from 1999.
  • Jarwain 5y ago
    As of more recent versions of w10, it supports virtual workspaces
  • ascar 5y ago
    > Whenever I’m on windows I feel hampered by the lack of virtual workspaces Windows 10 actually has workspaces built-in. But I don't think workspaces are a replacement for window-snapping and a "superior alternative". It's two different things. Sometimes you just want to see two things side-by-side and workspaces isn't providing that. BetterSnapTool was one of the first things I installed when I had to use a mac and I've been both using Ubuntu and Windows a lot before and always utilized workspaces on Ubuntu.
  • mkl 5y ago
    > Whenever I’m on windows I feel hampered by the lack of virtual workspaces. Windows has virtual desktops. Press Win+Tab. I find having many windows on the same desktop is much more useful than lots of desktops in practice, and it's what I do in Windows and Linux. I use virtual desktops to separate tasks, each of which usually involves many windows, some maximised or snapped to a side. Obscuring the desktop itself is basically what it's for IMHO. I never ever see my desktop background, as there's no point - it has no purpose or use to me.
• Sporktacular 5y ago
  There seem to be utilities to address/work around a lot of this stuff. Wonder how much his experience would have improved if he had admin rights.
• forbiddenvoid 5y ago
  I am overwhelmed with how many of the comments in these discussions are of the form: 'this thing is super hard to do on a Mac' responded to by, 'actually it's super easy; all you have to do is cast this magic spell.'
  • kitsunesoba 5y ago
    The same sort of exchange is pretty common when discussing Linux and Windows as well, especially the former.
  • loganmarchione 5y ago
    OP here. This is why I wrote the article.
  • lelandfe 5y ago
    In this case, the OS issues are just window snapping and window switching. No spells to be cast here! Frankly, if native window snapping is your largest OS concern, that's probably a great sign.
• sircastor 5y ago
  I’m always amused when people bring up package managers as a complaint about macOS. I like them, and use them of course, apt on linux machines, homebrew on Macs. It’s great, super useful for what I do. However I feel like pointing out that no one who uses a computer for mundane tasks like surfing, writing email, watching videos, posting pictures, etc. cares remotely what a package manager is, or how well it works. Package managers feel like they live exclusively in the realm of developers and Linux aficionados. And I see people complain about it as though they just bought a house to discover it doesn’t have toilets.
• CSMastermind 5y ago
  There's a lot of people in comments defending macOS saying that the difference in switching between operating systems will lead to a bad experience no matter what and people just need to power through and learn the new system. I'll say that I've used Windows and macOS both personally and professionally for two decades now (longer for Windows). I'd consider myself a power user in both OSes, I know the keyboard shortcuts, I know the OS settings somewhat in depth, and I've used a lot of the common tools to extend each OS. My experience is that Windows has far better UX for pretty most end users. I have 4 monitors connected to my Windows computer. I just plugged them in and it worked. I've burned hours fighting with external monitors on macOS. Is it even possible to have 4 external monitors? Actually you can extend this to all sorts of peripherals. Windows explorer feels way more productive than finder. It still bothers me that I can't cut and paste folders by default. I revert to the command line way more on macOS than I do on Windows. That's a skill that your average user isn't going to have. I found my old Oregon Trail 3 CD two months ago and decided to play it. I had to navigate a few context menus but this 1997 game booted right up on Windows, how many hoops do you think I'd have to jump through to run a Mac OS 8 application on my MacBook Pro? And there's a bunch of other examples I could give. There's a lot of reasons people like Apple products and if the interface works for you, great! But I don't think it's fair to dismiss critiques as ignorance of lack of ability.
  • victor106 5y ago
    Microsoft has zero respect for my privacy. They regularly show ads when I am searching for files and doing routine file management stuff I don’t care how good Windows is. If they can’t keep ads off a product that I purchased they don’t deserve to get my dollars.
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• geephroh 5y ago
  That's just like, your opinion, man. But, seriously, I've become so accustomed to the many shortcomings of macOS UX that using anything else would be like living in a house without loose doorknobs and sloping floors. Embrace the suck.
  • loganmarchione 5y ago
    > Embrace the suck OP here. Can I get that printed on a t-shirt?
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• agentdrek 5y ago
  I miss IRIX.
• terrorOf 5y ago
• throwmeariver1 5y ago
  ITT: Let me tell you why you should take my anecdotal evidence and subjective preferences serious while I also dismiss your anecdotal evidence and subjective preferences.
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• Karupan 5y ago
  My wife just switched from being a life-long Windows user to a Mac last week. The two biggest frustrations according to her are: Cmd+O to open a file and window management. And as a long time Mac user myself, I completely agree.
  • yaomtc 5y ago
    Cmd+Down also works, which is better if you're using the arrow keys to navigate files.
• js2 5y ago
  > On the other hand, macOS has a weird snapping implementation where you need to click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose to “tile” left or right. But, once you pick another window to fill the other half, both of those windows (together as one) move to their own virtual desktop. I want them split on my current desktop, not on a separate desktop. > Also, unlike Windows or Linux, you can’t “maximize” a window using the green “zoom” button, it will only make the current window fullscreen (and again, on its own desktop). Confusingly, you need to again click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose “Zoom”. Apple calls the green button “zoom” in their documentation, but its default function is fullscreen, not zoom. Apple keeps changing the green button, but with Monterey, if you hold down Option then hover over the green its menu options become: - Zoom - Move Window to Left Side of Screen - Move Window to Right Side of Screen Which I think effect the behavior the author wants. In general, the Option key is the gateway to additional behaviors in the macOS GUI. I can't find a way to make this the default behavior of the green button, but what you can do is add keyboard shortcuts for them. System Preferences... > Keyboard > Shortcuts > + Application: All Applications Menu Title: Move Window to Left Side of Screen Keyboard Shortcut: something unique such as control-command-left-arrow. Repeat for "Move Window to Right Side of Screen" and "Zoom". The title bar can also be double-clicked to zoom (default is to minimize, but there's a preference under System Preferences... > Dock & Menu Bar to set it to zoom).
• oneplane 5y ago
  Lots of "I don't like how it tastes/feels, therefore it must be bad" packaged in a rant, as usual. Essentially only useful information if you are a clone of the author, in all other cases your milage will vary... drastically. There isn't much of a point in attacking or defending taste in such a way, but neither is trying to objectively score something because it's not the objective score that matters, it's how it feels to the user, and users aren't all identical.
  • snorrah 5y ago
    What a useless comment. The post is from someone new to Macs. You have completely failed to grasp the context and got immediately defensive.
    • postingposts 5y ago
      • saurik 5y ago
        > > The post is from someone new to Macs. > No it’s from someone new to the MacOS GUI. That’s it. I don't understand how these are meaningfully different. Is your objection that you expected the user to have previously been well-versed with macOS via a Hackintosh? > This person is new to computers in general and maybe is a longtime windows-user but that’s all they are. You have, in fact, iterated the opposite cases from being a first-time Mac user: either they are a first time computer user, or they are a long-time computer user, just with a different OS (likely Windows).
        • postingposts 5y ago
          Because every one of their complaints is about the GUI and has nothing to do with the Mac Operating System itself. Obviously they haven’t gotten far enough to have any complaints they can actually expound upon other than “I’m not able to arrange windows myself” and “also, I could use an app to do that but won’t!” Most windows users install 7zip or Winrar. Each point is carefully crafted whiny nonsense. It’s not unclear. Also, you can use a computer every day, most high school students do, and learn 2 apps: Word processor app Web browser app And that is the full and total extent of their capabilities. It’s VERY easy to fall into the trap of “wow this OS is bad, because it doesn’t work like the other one!” When that is again, total fucking bullshit. If you skin MacOS to look like windows or vice versa 99% or users will think the GUI is the OS, and so all their complaints are about the current GUI setup. It is the Automobile equivalent of “I don’t like that I had to adjust my mirrors”. Who gives a shit?
• jaunkst 5y ago
  So the UX is worse than Linux, and Windows? I don't believe that for one second.
• mushyhammer 5y ago
  I was expecting a rant about the Finder, found one on window management (which has infinite solutions). Other than the spacebar and column view, the Finder is a toy compared to File Explorer.exe and I’ll never forgive Apple for it. 20 years of staleness.
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• datavirtue 5y ago
  I know die hard old devs that are Mac fanboys and the first thing they do is turn off "natural" scrolling. I know because I had to ask them if I was holding it wrong. Couldn't believe it.
• noway421 5y ago
  You don't need an app for window splitting. If you hold Option ⌥ key and hover over the green circle, there will be "Move Window to Left side of the screen" and "Move Window to Right side of the screen" options presented instead of "Tile Window to Left of Screen" and "Tile Window to Right of Screen" options. Those don't create a new virtual desktop.
  • vmception 5y ago
    yeah its weird they didn't look them up. they got 90% of the way there by already being a power user on Windows and then just gave up? I think the strength of MacOS is that non-power users would get 90% of the way there too. But definitely just ask around and look up how to do things you are accustomed to! They even found the AltTab package somehow, even though I couldn't figure out what was missing... MacOS' minimized windows not being the thing that comes up, if they are minimized, but on Windows it will switch to those windows if they are simply behind or if minimized? Even the package they found doesn't exactly say whats going on. I almost never minimize windows on MacOS.... probably for that reason.
    • noway421 5y ago
      I minimise them quite frequently these days for something I want to tuck away. A good way to surface them is the "App Exposé" feature (Preferences -> Trackpad -> More Gestures). Shows all the hidden windows for the current app. It's different to Windows though. If they're looking for something more similar to Windows, maybe Command+H (hide the active app) is a better alternative.
      • domepro 5y ago
        It's an alternative, but in windows minimizing works on a window, not the entire app. The philosophies of [apps] vs [windows] are just too different, I don't think anyone that wants windows can be happy out-of-the-box, with the apps vs windows thing plus with the minimizing being basically "putting the app to sleep" on macOS vs "putting the app away" on windows.
  • 5y ago
• kaetemi 5y ago
  Huh. People actually use window snapping? Interesting. Never seen anyone use it myself.
  • mmis1000 5y ago
    Depends on screen size I supposed. And it is really useful when you want to open multi document/web page at same time.
  • dsego 5y ago
    Side by side view, eg. terminal + code editor. Or when I want two finder windows in sort of a total commander fashion, so I can copy/move hundreds of files around and visually inspect the results so I don't accidentally lose anything.
    • kaetemi 5y ago
      I always just size the windows as needed. Snapping for me is just this annoying non-feature that attempts to be more clever than me and interferes with my flow.
      • dsego 5y ago
        I don't use native snapping, just Rectangle, mostly through shortcuts (ctr+alt+left/right, and then ctrl+alt+backspace to reset window), because it's quicker than manually resizing for me.
• guelo 5y ago
  Yep, as a user of both the window manager is the main area where mac loses. Also keyboard shortcuts are more comprehensive and available on Windows. But that's about it, MacOS is superior on most other things.
• avidphantasm 5y ago
  I’ve been using DOS, Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and now macOS over the past 30 years. macOS is still the least shitty OS out there from a user point of view, in my opinion. Window snapping on Windows and various Linux environments makes my blood boil, so I have never missed that in macOS. Also, it’s hard for me to accept that Windows has better UX than anything. There are at least two different UI frameworks at play in Windows, the new Windows 8-derived stuff, and the classic Windows 2000/XP Win32 UI, with abrupt transitions between the two. I don’t know how this ships. Microsoft certainly has the resources to fix this, but chooses not to. They just don’t care. So I suppose Steve Jobs was right, they have no taste. In a strictly utilitarian sense, none of this matters, but if the user-facing side is this bad, what are they allowing to slide under the covers. In addition to the vastly different UI idioms in Windows, there is a lack of organization and level of convolution that makes relatively simple things hard (finding how much RAM a system has), and somewhat more technical tasks maddening (e.g., changing the MTU on a network interface). I’ve used Windows 3.1, 95/98, NT 3.51, NT4, 2000, XP, 7, and 10 over the years, and it just keeps getting worse. Maybe I will try ReactOS one of these days.
• makecheck 5y ago
  He makes a good point that work computers especially benefit from sane defaults so anything the OS doesn’t do well out of the box (even if fixable 3rd party) is no-go for many users.
• pschastain 5y ago
  Funny. Coming from macOS to Linux Mint, I find I can make many of the same or similar arguments but against Linux. The UI is inconsistent, esp. wrt the menu bar. Keyboard shortcuts are inconsistent across different apps. macOS remembers window positions, GNOME doesn't. macOS can use different backgrounds for different monitors, GNOME can't. The GNOME Panel is a poor substitute for the macOS Dock (which itself is severely limited) i.e. doesn't offer any visual cue that an app is launching. I could go on. OSes are a tool. Use what works best for you.
  • esolyt 5y ago
    Not sure if these are similar arguments. These are relatively minor cosmetic issues. Window management and package management on the other hand are essential parts of the operating system.
  • 2143 5y ago
    I thought Mint came with Cinnamon. (Wow that was a funny sentence :D) > macOS can use different backgrounds for different monitors, GNOME can't That'd be the least of my problems. Also, on xfce you can set different backgrounds for different monitors.
    • DoingIsLearning 5y ago
      That's the thing GP is missing in his Linux criticism. Whatever you don't like you can just change. You can change to a different DE, change WM/themes/icons/dotfiles whatever you want, you can change. You are not constrained by a perscribed UX philosophy. To me personally that is very liberating.
      • deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      • pschastain 5y ago
        I tried KDE and had different but equally frustrating issues. People say you can "just fix it yourself" with Linux but that's not always feasible or worth a person's time.
• ctime 5y ago
  Re: Snapping I recall visiting a Apple store around 2006 and playing with a store model iMac. I asked why I couldn’t easily maximize windows and manage them. The Apple genius just replied “why would you ever want to do it that way!” Well, idk? because it is intuitive and works? Sometimes I wish the Apple-heads would get their head out of their asses. I still bought a Mac Mini and by all accounts I am deeply invested in Apple products. These days, whenever working on a new Mac system, my first install is usually to install Amethest (https://ianyh.com/amethyst/ https://ianyh.com/amethyst/)
• rrdharan 5y ago
  I’m amused that the author is allowed to install Logi Options (a massive electron bundling steaming pile of … from a company with a dodgy track record) and not Rectangle or AltTab. Also no mention made of the Cmd-~ vs Cmd-Tab distinction.
• gigel82 5y ago
  We're doing cross-plat work and I have a macBook that I sometimes need to use to compile and debug stuff. Even after a couple of years, I dread having to work on the mac. Could be me being used to Windows since the DOS / Win3.1 days, but I feel right at home on Windows - know most nooks and crannies; macOS feels like a kid's toy by comparison (an ATM or kiosk terminal) - it literally feels like being asked to do work with my right hand tied behind my back. I actually enjoy working on Linux desktops more than on macOS. For the past year I have a home setup with a Windows laptop and a macBook side-by-side hooked up to 2 external monitors and Barrier software KVM; the idea was to use Windows for work and mac for personal. But I never venture outside the browser on the mac - a chromebook would work just as well. I actually wanted to install an USB network adapter because the machine felt so laggy and I blamed wifi; a thing that on Windows for the past 20 years has literally been plug&play needed futzing around with driver packages, an hour of searching for workarounds and at least 2 reboots. I honestly don't know why so many developers prefer working on mac.
  • barbs 5y ago
    I grew up using Windows, but have been using macOS and linux primarily for the last 10 years or so. I have a similar "handicapped" feeling when I go back to Windows. I guess it's just what I'm used to?
• dddddaviddddd 5y ago
  I've been using macOS since version 8.5, and lots of things have stayed the same since then and are familiar today. However, there's a lot that's unintuitive for a new user that's maybe there just because of inertia.
• mch82 5y ago
  This review is misses for me due to these two quotes: > I’m using this Macbook almost exclusively with the lid closed, with a USB-C adapter to connect my keyboard/mouse/monitor. > However, that keyboard doesn’t have the Option (⌥) or Command (⌘) keys like on my Macbook. The reviewer isn’t using the built in webcam, Touch ID, trackpad, or the Mac keyboard layout! Why even have a Mac with that setup? Opening the lid solves the webcam issues. Using the trackpad gestures solves the desktop switching issues. Using the Mac keyboard solves the keyboard command issues. And, yeah, get a USB-C dock for those ports (or the latest laptop that added them back).
  • ARandomerDude 5y ago
    I typically use my MBP on a dock with the lid closed too, because: 1. I like Linux and Mac is essentially Linix/BSD that "just works." After years of putting up with annoying bugs in Ubuntu and Manjaro, Mac has been a breath of fresh air. 2. I sometimes need Mac only tooling like XCode. 3. I don't like the glare on the MBP monitor. I have a Mac keyboard, so the command key isn't an issue.
    • mmis1000 5y ago
      Using windows keyboard on mac is totally fine I think. How is it a big deal if just two key switched. And the 2016 buildin keyboard is just bad. Lack of feedback and having low travel distance. You are going to destroy your own finger if you actually decide to use it as your daily driver. I think it is probably even worse than a $30 keyboard you can pick from random shop in case of ergonomics. How come apple designed a thing like this. (Fortunately they regretted it now)
  • bliteben 5y ago
    I don't see why you can't like a mouse if you like MACs. Also if you like a mouse that you have to turn upside down and can't use while charging you are just a glutton for punishment. USB-C mice are not really a thing, so you have to use a Bluetooth mouse instead of using a mouse you may have had for the last 10 years and replaced the omron switches in several times. All this for what arrogance?
• rewgs 5y ago
  All the classic complaints that show this person hasn’t really given it a chance. Window snapping and maximize are the only two things I agree with here, but they are easily fixed by many third party apps. To those that say that’s “cheating” or something like that: the amount of third-party software required to give me a usable Windows system far outweighs what I install on a Mac. Yes macOS’s window snapping/maximization are non-existent/weird, but BetterSnapTool is one of the few “first installs” I feel I MUST make on a Mac. Contrast that with OneCommander, Everything Search, 7-Zip, etc that I absolutely require on a Windows machine. And even then the experience is…crusty. And of course you can’t even talk about Linux here — the whole thing is third party software, that’s the point. Cmd+tab is simple: it is for apps. Cmd+~ is for windows within apps. This is, I think, a very fair way to approach a system wherein “having all windows closed” != “the app is closed;” a design decision that I think is far, far more useful than Windows/most Linux DEs (it also arises out of the fundamental difference of “being in app (Finder) when you’re not in any other apps” — again, a better overall UX decision, I think. The comments from supposed “power users” claiming that you can’t cut/paste within Finder clearly aren’t power users. Etc. As usual, these rants and arguments come down to little more than familiarity. I have met very, very few people with a truly objective and measured take on desktop OS UX and are power users.
• notshuttingdown 5y ago
  Something OP didn't mention, but miffs me about macOS is the way it handles full screen apps. macOS takes the entire app full screen in a separate desktop and doesn't allow other windows to overlap. Cmd + Tab during full screen triggers a 1 sec animation as it switches workspaces... so if someone texts you on your iPhone during a video, you can't just peek at the Messages app with the video in the background :'(
• FpUser 5y ago
  >"Why even have a Mac with that setup?" It was given by employer. People get used to particular keyboard, mouse, big monitor, etc. etc. I had to write and debug some docker scripts on Mac. Since I was in no mood to buy one just for that I asked my client to supply me one. They gave me Mac laptop and I used it in exactly the same configuration with the lid closed.
• 2143 5y ago
  The only real deal breaker for me is the package management system on Mac.
• ImaCake 5y ago
  Did not know about alttab.app for macOS. That really was the last gripe I had about macOS. alttab + rectangle gets you back to Windows/Linux style window management anyway.
• geoffmanning 5y ago
  As a lifetime windows user that just recently joined a macBook company, i have to say i am indifferent overall, but there have been many alternating moments of delightful surprises and annoyances of unmet expectations in my journey to learn the MacOS UX. I'm a month in now and i have to say that attitude is everything when it comes to learning something new, and, especially when you know something "kind of like this", you have to be very careful not to let your unmet expectations of something similar sour the experience. When i started with Windows as a kid i didn't have a "choice" in the matter, it's just what we had, and i had to learn all those tricks and tips along the way to improve my user experience. If i used that to temper the curve of getting a good user experience from my Mac i'd have to say that Mac got it closer to the target by a magnitude. So, when you don't get the experience you need, instead of defaulting to "this is dumb", ask yourself why they did it this way, and why you expect it that way, and then if you still want it that way after considering a new perspective, chances are there's an app for that. Stay curious, my friends.
  • godelski 5y ago
    I think the thing that was hardest for me to learn is navigating the folder systems. Luckily I can use a terminal.
    • turbocon 5y ago
      This, I'm not sure why people don't talk about as much but Finder is awful and I've not been able to find a replacement.
      • godelski 5y ago
        Yeah I've been surprised no one cares about this. It is great going forward from your cwd but hard to move back and where is home?
        • bobbylarrybobby 5y ago
          Back is left. (In column mode, at least). Home is cmd-shift-H, or using the general purpose path navigator with cmd-G it's just tilde
• freyr 5y ago
  To be fair, my first time returning to a Linux desktop after 10+ years of MacOS was marked by feelings of contempt and disgust. Not to say MacOS is objectively better or that it gets everything right. But any time you’re thrust into an unfamiliar workflow, it’s frustrating. You want things to work the way you’re used to. Eventually you learn to appreciate what works, and work around what doesn’t.
  • vladvasiliu 5y ago
    I think it also matters why and how you do it. Around 2019, I had a new PC at work and wanted to try out Linux, after more than 10 years of macOS. I had wanted to try a TWM for a while, and the Mac implementations felt... weird. I used to use Linux with KDE as a daily driver up until around 2008, when I got my first MBP, so I was somewhat familiar with the possible quirkiness of it. After the initial shock of "how do I do anything?!", I started loving it more and more, to the point that whenever I went back to the Mac, I got annoyed by all the animations, window borders taking up half the screen, etc. I went hunting to disable animations. It helped somewhat, but not completely. I still love the Mac, especially the hardware, and how smooth an 8 yo laptop still is. But I guess that, to your point, I wasn't thrust into this unfamiliar environment, I went and looked for it, and was able to do it progressively. I also recognize I was lucky in that my computer was fully supported out of the box, and haven't had to fiddle with obscure settings or anything.
• systematical 5y ago
  I've had to use Mac at my last two jobs, before that was Linux for 8 years. I use Linux at home. I just do enough to get by and get my job done in Mac. I know its a bad mentality and I should work to improve my Mac experience, but I just don't enjoy working in that O.S. Even if I spent the time honing in the UI and terminal. Home Brew is just terrible compared to Apt. That's really the game for me. Maybe my next gig will let me use Linux, but Mac seems to be becoming the only show in town for nix-based development teams and its just sad.
• SkyMarshal 5y ago
  >Apple M1 Pro (8 performance cores and 2 efficiency cores) Fwiw I'm not sure anyone really thinks of the M1 in terms of performance vs efficiency cores, but rather in terms CPU and GPU cores (and maybe Neural cores if they're doing AI). For example, "8 CPU Cores and 16 GPU Cores", or "10 CPU Cores and 24 GPU Cores", or the like. But not even Apple's own store really makes an upfront differential between performance and efficiency cores.
• poink 5y ago
  This is fair. Most of the bad mentioned can be worked around trivially, and even turned into a strength with third party apps (a lot of the window management stuff, especially, has more/better third party options than Windows), but Macs are total garbage as corpo machines. Pegging yourself to anything less than the latest version of anything (as businesses managing a fleet of machines are wont to do) is Russian roulette. It’ll work for a while then break with zero warning. You’ll put in a paid issue with Apple support and they’ll just throw their hands up and tell you they can’t help you unless you’re on the latest version.
• etempleton 5y ago
  As a longtime user of Macs this is dead on. Mac OS UX feels cumbersome today in a way it never used to feel. A lot of that is by comparison to Windows 10/11 and Linux, rather than actual regression, but it doesn’t change the fact that it feels bad. I remember first using OSX and it feeling like a revelation compared to Windows. Honestly it wouldn’t take much to fix this. If they implement drag windows snapping; rethink full screen mode; and improve the intelligence of dock autohiding, I think it would do a lot, but as is I feel like I am fighting the software to do basic window navigation. At the same time, I think Apple is currently doing some of their best most sensible hardware design and their quality control has only gotten better. Despite my misgivings about Mac OS I still choose a Mac for work because I need a laptop and I want a quality machine, but I really hope Apple take a long hard look at MacOS and devotes some resources to pushing desktop operating systems forward again.
  • fomine3 5y ago
    Win7 taskbar and Win10 taskview was huge improvement. Both basics are based on macOS Dock and Expose but improved. Meanwhile Apple stopped improvement.
• iamcreasy 5y ago
  I have similar issues like the author but the comments in this thread have solved some of those problem. I also moved from Windows to MacOS. What was the purpose behind introducing ctrl, opt and cmd button? What do they stand for?
  • nativeit 5y ago
    What do you mean when you say "introducing" them? Apple's implementation of modifier keys on the keyboard were essentially released concurrently to that of IBM's (whose 1980's form factor is still the accepted standard for PC's with only a few changes), and it was ahead of Windows by several years. Side note: I was using a 1984 IBM Model M keyboard as my daily driver (clackity clack!) when I moved from Windows to Mac about 18-months ago with the original release of the M1 Mac Mini. I had re-mapped F1 on that keyboard to function as the Windows key, but sadly found the lack of a dedicated super key on Mac to be too cumbersome, so the ol' trusty Model M is resting peacefully in my closet now. It's still in pretty good shape, although I've been meaning to take advantage of its time off to take it apart and give it a good cleaning...
  • dsego 5y ago
    What's the purpose behind having ctrl, alt and win buttons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• digisign 5y ago
  No one mentioned the home/end keys so I will. ;-) I am a big user of these, use them a hundred times a day to go to front/back of line. Mac doesn't do that, goes to front/back of doc, which I do very rarely. But if I do, just click with the mouse or hold down PgUp/Dn. More common operations should get the default hotkeys imho. I managed to change this, but DBeaver finds a way to screw it up occasionally.
  • user3939382 5y ago
    Karabiner can map home end to cmd left cmd right. Install it and go to advanced, custom script site and you’ll find it.
  • tedmiston 5y ago
    Cmd-Left and Cmd-Right go to start and end of line. Similarly for Up and Down for start and end of document. I've always found that pretty intuitive. I haven't personally used a Mac keyboard with Home or End keys in a very very long time. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
  • jonhess 5y ago
    This initially bothered me too. The macOS equivalents are command+left-arrow and command+right-arrow. I find them even easier to invoke than home/end.
  • artificialLimbs 5y ago
    Moving around in lines is a complete mystery to me on my new MBP, having used Windows and Linux exclusively for ~20yrs. Throw in some various terminal programs and tmux and vim and oh god the horror.
    • bdougherty 5y ago
      ⌘+left/right goes to the beginning and end of a line, ⌥+left/right moves by word.
      • 5y ago
• simonsg 5y ago
  Just means u r not adoptable
• woah 5y ago
  The only actual criticism was that it doesn't do window tiling the same as Linux
• ambyra 5y ago
  I always found windows (not the os) to be pretty annoying. Having a full screen app, or two full screen apps side by side is way more usable than a window on top of another that keeps getting lost, or you have to move it around all the time to see what’s underneath.
  • spideymans 5y ago
    On large (>24-inch) monitors I prefer windows, but on smaller monitors I typically prefer full screen apps, for the reasons you mention.
    • ambyra 5y ago
      I think the title bars are pretty outdated too. They take up a lot of monitor real estate. The hide expand maximize buttons along can be hidden in the right click menu. Going all the way to the top of a window for those items is a waste of time. If you have to read a titlebar to see what app/file you’re working with, it’s a bad app.
• shahbaby 5y ago
  Windows comes with more than you need. MacOS comes doesn't come with enough.
  • dsego 5y ago
    Oh, let me know when I can select text in a photo and copy/paste it (exists by default in macos) or when I can open a PDF and sign it via my touchpad (by default in macos). Or being able to do pretty advanced video editing in iMovie or record a song in GarageBand (not installed by default, but free and one click away). Or that I can force touch a word and a dictionary dialog pops up explaining what it means without me having to select the word and search for it in google. On the other hand I can't shit+click select multiple files in icon view or reverse the scroll direction of my mouse without a 3rd party app. In general, though, macos offers more out of the box for the enthusiast than windows.
• bastardoperator 5y ago
  Not sure I'm buying the "I need to get everything I install blessed by IT security" and "Homebrew is a lifesaver on macOS" story...
• markdown 5y ago
  > On the other hand, macOS has a weird snapping implementation where you need to click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose to “tile” left or right TIL, and I've been using MacOS and OS X for almost 15 years.
• shp0ngle 5y ago
  The funny thing is - many years ago, MacOS was ahead of Windows in window management for a long time. Sure, that maximize button doing a weird thing was still there - my "favourite" app was iTunes, which randomly switched it to a different mode - but otherwise, Expose was something amazing that other systems later copied, as well as the Dock system. However, it kind of stalled recently, and the "tile window to the left" is laughably bad; as if coming from iPadOS.
• MrMan 5y ago
  I go between ubuntu, Mac, and increasingly rarely windows which for many years was my daily. I am not fully at home in any of them but they are all good enough now that it doesn't matter. most of my time is ubuntu machines through jump desktop
• abledon 5y ago
  there is a hidden feature buried deep inside mac accesibility options whic let you do a double finger 'dobule click' with only one touch. IT IS THE KILLER APP for macOS. If I hadn't discovered it years ago I'd be so distraught
• cutler 5y ago
  Homebrew isn't the only game in town. I've been using MacPorts without issue since I bought my first Mac in late 2003.
• godelski 5y ago
  I also really dislike that you can literally push a window off screen. It is weird to me that you can push a window 99.99% off screen. That said, I prefer Mac over windows. It is close enough to linux and has crazy good battery life. Now that I'm not using C++ anymore and mostly python the differences aren't too big.
• gotrythis 5y ago
  I came from Windows about four years ago. The two top bad points in the article can be fixed with addons: - Moom (https://manytricks.com/moom/ https://manytricks.com/moom/) to snap windows, - Contexts (https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/) to switch between apps. Yes, it would be better if this functionality was included, but it's an easy fix. The thing that was a dealbreaker for me with Windows is that it would reboot to upgrade without my permission and I would lose work. Mac doesn't do that. It may reboot to upgrade when I"m not looking, but you would never know as it puts you exactly back where you were before the reboot. That one thing will keep me loyal to Mac.
• mastazi 5y ago
  I think this is a pretty fair article. I'll add one more: in MacOS there is no unified way to get to the beginning or end of a line. In Linux and Windows this is done with the Home and End keys. In Mac, there are some shortcuts but they are not universal, what works in terminal may not work in a browser textarea and so on. Some programs interpret the same shortcut as "go to the very end of the text (as in a PgDown key) but that same shortcut, in another program, might go to the end of the line (like the End key). Please let me know if I'm missing something! Every time I make a web search about this topic, I end up in various pages like this one[1] with shortcuts that don't work for me for the reasons explained above. EDIT: I found out that there are some Mac keyboards with the Home and End keys. So it seems that this is not an OS issue but, I guess, a MacBook issue (I've only ever used MacBooks and always without external keyboard). [1] https://djst.org/topic/what-is-the-end-key-on-a-mac/ https://djst.org/topic/what-is-the-end-key-on-a-mac/
  • IgorPartola 5y ago
    I use a keyboard with dedicated Home and End keys and the behavior is exactly how you describe. This is definitely a software problem and one that should be fixed.
  • pkulak 5y ago
    Isn’t it just option plus right arrow?
  • jamesvandyne 5y ago
    Cmd-a and Cmd-e work in most/all native controls, no? Really ergonomic once you've remapped caps to cmd as well.
    • code_biologist 5y ago
      ^^^ you mean ctrl-a and ctrl-e? But yes, +100 to the caps lock → ctrl remapping. Trivial to do in the keyboard "modifier keys" setting, and makes emacs text movement extra fast.
      • 5y ago
• landa 5y ago
  "Also, unlike Windows or Linux, you can’t “maximize” a window using the green “zoom” button, it will only make the current window fullscreen (and again, on its own desktop)." Just hold option when you click on the "zoom" button. Your other complaint, about Alt-Tab, is just a preference. I actually prefer this behavior over Windows.
• bourgeoismedia 5y ago
  Some corporate IT security policies just don't make sense. Why is he allowed to install random software from homebrew but not signed apps from a developer who has a contractual relationship with Apple? Even the economics are broken - hackers are going to refine and commercialize security exploits against widely used apps like Slack because of its large and ubiquitous deployment. They are not likely to spend resources targeting power user Mac apps that change the appearance of the alt-tab menu.
• beders 5y ago
  command+backtick is the key he was looking for :)
• mr_o47 5y ago
  I would agree on macOS window management it can be pretty painful especially if you are coming from Linux i3 background
• petesergeant 5y ago
  > Homebrew ... is the only thing not making me pull my hair out oh you just wait, sweet summer child
• _ZeD_ 5y ago
  I just (couple of weeks ago) received my First Mac, a 2019 MacBook Pro to work with... and I really don't get the "HW good" meme... The MacBook Pro HW is mediocre, at best. The body is heavy. Boy, have anyone used and LG gram? But even my other work laptop (a Lenovo) wheight less and feel more balanced. My model has only the usbc ports.. I don't even have an HDMI one. My model has the infamous touchbar, and it sucks. A lot. But even the keys... They seems empty, I don't have feedback from them... And for the ginormous touchpad... I ended using a mouse because that "thing" it's awful to use. I don't give a dime to the gestures... The problem is the lack of feedback! Not a click, a way to understand if you "did" something or not. It was so absurd that I though it was damaged. I really don't get the "Mac HW is stellar" meme
  • chrisoverzero 5y ago
    > It was so absurd that I though[t] it was damaged. If you’re not getting haptic feedback, it is damaged.
    • _ZeD_ 5y ago
      it's not broken... the problem is that, for my fingertip, the haptic feedback is not enough. I want "physical" feedback.
      • Toutouxc 5y ago
        The haptic feedback on my M1 Air is indistinguishable from the physical click of my 2013 Pro's springboard-design trackpad. Are you maybe comparing it to some low-quality trackpad that has a lot of flex?
        • _ZeD_ 5y ago
          I'm comparing against almost all the other trackpads I've ever encountered in my life. The latests ones are the LG gram one and the lenovo E570, but I've used any kind of laptops in my career (HP, sony vaio, etc...) I can use and I feel "some kind of a" click on this macbook trackpad, but it's just awful to use.
• nativeit 5y ago
  I am an I.T. consultant and use Windows machines daily for work. I used DOS as a kid in the 1980's, and Windows from v3.1 through to 10/11 today. About five years ago I chose to turn all my home PC's into Linux machines while I worked through a Linux Sysadmin bootcamp curricula that used to be popular on Reddit, and became fluent with Debian and CentOS before moving back to Windows almost entirely because I never found a decent alternative to Photoshop (GIMP has always been painful to use for me, but I think that's just my own muscle memory having used Corel and Adobe products since the mid-1990's). I rather enjoyed my time with Linux, and the skills I learned along the way have never stopped contributing to my life in positive ways both personally and professionally. 18-months ago it was time to upgrade my primary desktop, and I decided to completely change my personal computing platform once again after reading about the performance of the M1 chipset. With my curiosity piqued, I looked and found that new M1 Mac Minis were comparatively very affordable (under $1k), so figured I'd take the plunge. Maybe it's because I'm something of a masochist and rather enjoy the experience of exploring new systems and UI paradigms, but even using a Windows-style keyboard and mouse, I thought MacOS was an enjoyable and intuitive (if somewhat rigid) experience. What surprised me most, and I'm kind of perplexed that it hasn't been mentioned elsewhere in this comment section, was how powerful the built-in tools for customization and automation were. Applescript and Automator are kind of like having a natively integrated AutoIT scripting engine. I don't miss WSL since I have ZSH (or BASH) readily available out of the box, and Macports and Homebrew do a reasonably good job of package management (they have their strengths and weaknesses when compared to APT, but I have not had to spend nearly as much time chasing down missing packages as I did when I was running Debian and CentOS). The other pleasant surprise was the unparalleled quality of most of the software available, particularly with Apple's mobile OS when compared to Android. Anyone who uses a mobile device to write/record/produce/perform music is seriously missing out if they aren't using an iPad, and Logic Pro on MacOS is easily one of the best DAW's I've ever used at a fraction of the price of others (I will grant that DAW's are even more highly influenced by personal factors than even OSes are, so I won't go so far as to assert it's "better" than any others). Yes, Apple's software development ecosystem is more closed and restrictive, for everything in their AppStore especially, but that comes with increased security, privacy, and stability. The other upside, and the reason iOS/iPad OS apps are frequently so much nicer, is that developers can generally spend less time/effort worrying about all of the wildly variable hardware platforms and custom launchers their apps must support--with any possible slip up resulting in a potentially ruinous slew of negative reviews. For all the dozens of people complaining about window switching--if you're on a Macbook, the three-finger swipe to move between desktops/full-screen apps is frankly a joy when working between two applications. For everything else, I use a 21:9 widescreen monitor that makes side-by-side windows a natural experience. It did take a lot of getting used to some of the differences, but honestly, I embrace the somewhat creative mental burst I get by leaving my comfort zone, and if you come at these different approaches with an open mind, a little patience, and a willingness to adapt when needed or to find workarounds otherwise--MacOS has a lot of great features for anyone who works with creative workloads or software development, and the integration with desktop and mobile devices is unbelievably good compared to anything else. But I honestly have never really understood the tribalism that exists with tech brands and Mac/PC or Android/iPhone squabbles. I have found ways of enjoying all of them for what they are good at, and screaming at them for what they aren't.
• thombles 5y ago
  The Alt-Tab image is amusing but I will point out that Windows is doing its own innovations here - by default it now cycles through the 5 most recently used Edge tabs alongside your actual windows. On the bright side it can be turned off.
• nurgasemetey 5y ago
  I had also same complaints as author in https://www.nurgasemetey.com/what-i-lack-in-osx-after-linux/ https://www.nurgasemetey.com/what-i-lack-in-osx-after-linux/
• dsego 5y ago
  Waiting for the reverse culture shock in a few years.
• johmue 5y ago
  yeah, hardly a rant. Hardly any serious problems. Homebrew IS the package manager for apple, get a window-snapping tool and/or learn to use alt-click on the green "maximise window button". Keep enjoying. Done.
• barbs 5y ago
  I've been using macOS professionally for years, but I still find the application/window management system really strange and clumsy. Quite often, closing the last window of an application doesn't entirely quit the application itself. This is particularly annoying when using chrome or firefox, since I'd expect the last tabs I had open to be there when I next open the application, but if I haven't entirely quit the application it just launches a blank new window. I've gotten used to right clicking the icon in the dock and quitting it that way, but it's cumbersome and inconsistent with how it works on other OSes. You also can't quit Finder entirely this way either for some reason. I'm sure there's some technical explanation that makes sense, but it feels wrong.
• pojzon 5y ago
  Ive been working on windows OSes for few years before my employer finally let me use macbook. It was the best switch I could make. I had fully working linux distribution together with superb UX of MacOS. Recently switched jobs and again back to Windows. Now I see how many things that simply work out of the box on MacOS you have to hack-in on Windows to be even able to work as a software developer. WSL2 is also such a pain to work with. Quality of Microsoft apps on Windows is also worse than Microsoft apps on MacOS. For example -> MS Teams on Windows constantly hangs up or freezes. Never had such issues on MacOS. Beside OS nothing changed in my home office.
• Xevi 5y ago
  Rant I switched to a Mac Mini M1 in December and it has been a complete pain in the ass. First of all, to even be able to use it I had to switch out my monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers because Apple didn't like them. And then I had to buy an extra dock to get more ports. On top of that I've also had to install a bunch of third party software to get basic functionality like window snapping (Moom), and a functioning scroll wheel and the ability to turn off mouse acceleration (SteerMouse). And don't get me started on the absolute bonkers ways you toggle between applications, or the fact that you need to click TWICE on a window when switching between windows, if you want to type something in it. My desk is absolutely cluttered with application windows, because minimizing them apparently makes Mac treat them as if you never want to see them again, which messes with my voice control software. Oh, and why is there no delete button? And why do I need to be so precise when clicking on desktop icons, instead of just having a bounding box around them? Who thought that was a good idea? And while we're on desktop icons, why on earth aren't they sorted and fixed to a grid by default? Does anyone like unorganized items in folders?? Another thing that annoys me is pop-up windows with no freaking option to close them other than clicking "done" or whatever. What if I don't want to apply any of the changes I've made? Why can't I just cancel?? I could go on and on about UI inconsistencies and various bugs I've encountered. Needless to say I'm switching back to Windows (which isn't without its own problems) next time I'm buying a computer. This mac has made my RSI go haywire. I've tried to do everything the "Apple way", but it's just always so clunky and slow compared to Windows.
  • zild3d 5y ago
    What monitor, mouse, and keyboard did not work with mac? Most of the complaints makes it sound like you aren't actually trying to do everything the "Apple way", rather wishing macOS way worked like what you're used to and comfortable with from Windows.
    • Xevi 5y ago
      > What monitor, mouse, and keyboard did not work with mac? The monitor was an MSI Optix MAG321CQR (32", 1440p, 144hz). The text on it was blurry and pixellated as hell. It turns out that Apple has removed previously existing scaling functionality that would have made it work. So I had to upgrade to a 4k monitor to get around it. I would assume it's because they don't want to compete with cheaper monitors. The text was very sharp on Windows. I tried every single trick you could imagine to get it working. The speakers were from Logitech. I don't remember the name of them since I gave them away when I bought new ones. The mouse is a vertical ergonomic mouse from a lesser known brand, same with the keyboard. > Most of the complaints makes it sound like you aren't actually trying to do everything the "Apple way", rather wishing macOS way worked like what you're used to and comfortable with from Windows. Which complaint? How should I do it then? Please tell me because I'm dying to know. There is no way to turn off mouse acceleration or to get my scroll wheel working without a third party app. I can't snap or organize my windows without a third party app. Minimizing windows fucks me over when using voice control software (which I need due to RSI). Switching between windows from the same app is a pain in the ass, because it requires more clicks, which literally equals more pain for me. Folder content is not organized by default, do you suggest I just let it be messy, the way Apple wants it to be? Trying to click on desktop icons that are super small is a pain in the ass, because you have to click exactly on the icons for it to register. And so on.
• mavili 5y ago
  By software you only mean window management and switching really, then. When you witness a lot less of app crashes on macOS you will appreciate the software better. Window management used to be a pain for me too on a mac until I found Spectacle. With a few keyboard shortcuts that you set yourself, you won't miss snapping windows by mouse drags. Everything happens with your fingers on the keyboard. Alt+Tab with multi-window apps is still a pain for me I admit. So I'm with you there. Overall the stability of a mac (both software and hardware), usability and the productivity you get with the trackpad gestures will make you not want to go back to anything after you've used them for a few weeks.
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
• coutego 5y ago
  Having bought my first Mac some months ago, I fully share the conclusions. Being able to install Linux in this hardware (assuming everything worked as well, including sleep/wakeup) would be ideal. I have one very big item to put on the 'Bad' list not mentioned in the article: key shortcuts, especially those for text manipulation. I'm reading and writing emails and documents all day long. I need CTRL-LEFT (ok, SUPER-LEFT) to do the right thing and move one word at a time. Having to switch to ALT-LEFT for that is killing my productivity in MacOS /and/ in Linux and Windows (because my muscle memory is gone). It's extremely frustrating.
• teekert 5y ago
  I recently got my first iPhone, and I just couldn't get past how annoying some things were. But now, after about 1 year I don't feel like that at all anymore, perhaps I'll feel them now when I go back... This is what I wrote down at the time: * Tried installing Signal 4 times, it failed on the apple account generation and no further clues that it didn't or did install signal (it didn't). * You can't just put icons on the bottom of screen, where your thumb is... need to fill the top with other icons first to get important stuff on the bottom. (The start screen fills from the top, so to say, very annoying). * Love the privacy notice that say they won't share anything that is not needed for functioning, feels good. * App store does not start with search.. so I feel a bit lost at first. * Confirm app installs with side button twice, bit weird. Especially when you have the phone in your left hand. * Absolutely maddening that it keeps correcting my .nl email adres to .nul (android leaves non text field alone as far as I'm aware). * Nextcloud picture not available to Signal? I Synced some folder of nice pics for profile pics. Where are they? * No intro at all into UI... After a week or so, I got a sort of set if intro cards which were quite helpful. * Almost all of my selfhosted apps are represented, very nice (NextCloud, Home Assistant, WireGuard) * Top suggestion in app store is never what you are looking for or searched for. Pretty strange. Can we change that? Ah I learned later that the first one is an ad, you can see it because there dark blue around it (???).. * Many controls are at the top when I can't reach them. In Android I feel that that is much more avoided. * Video pauses when taking a quick look at notification tray, I don't like that. * Notification tray is on the left side, the settings on the right. But not on the lock screen, then it's a swipe up... (I got used to this after some time) * Can't drag to folder onto lower bar/icon area (maybe fixed in iOS 15) * Pull down in middle of screen brings up Siri, not notifications, I'd swap that, now notifications really require a stretch of your hand, or that awkward small swipe down at the bottom. I turned Siri of when she started interrupting my meetings. * I set Firefox as the standard browser yet both telegram and Signal (so far) always open Safari. * Photos contains every image, not just photos, it's more like a gallery. * Why is it not grouping notifications? Notifications were quite confusing at first, but I got used to it. Especially the difference in notifications and bars (stroken in dutch). * Auto correct does not uncorrect on backspace. Language switching does seem to go very well. It ofter autocorrects my last work AFTER I press send. Absolutely maddening. * Swipe to type only seems available for English (fixed in iOS 15) * Notification dots sometimes stuck on Nextcloud or other apps, I turned them off on some apps. * Swiping in photos app is un-intuitive... but once used to it it works well and is consistent, ie it also work in chat apps like signal, close picture, swipe down. Details, swipe up. * Printing worked without an app, but unable to change size or anything. Everything is printed at 25%? Samsung/HP print apps are absolute crap. * Red dots are not synced with open notifications, when I dismiss a notification I want the red dot gone. hotspot keeps shutting down after some time, annoying. * I had 652 mb is data on iCloud no idea what it was, I didn't think about it and now stuffis in the cloud. * In the android notification tray curation can happen, on iOS it feels like a mess (not anymore after a year) * Alarm is confusing, not the same sound for the health alarm as the other and weird to change an alarm. Also weird to turn the alarm off * Replying to an email and adding a couple of consecutive pictures is a very difficult. * Widgets feel connected, updating the calendar and closing it makes it swoop back into the widget and the widget has the changes I made. On android I was used to it being normal that widget would still need some time to update, later on, to represent my changes. * One gets a report screen use report about next week, tap it, it takes you to the current week :s
• borland 5y ago
  This is full of stuff that isn't actually a problem, he just hasn't learnt how to use macOS yet. > Snapping Yes, macOS does suck in this regard. I can only hope they address it in the future. > unlike Windows or Linux, you can’t “maximize” a window using the green “zoom” button Hold down option when you click the green button. Annoying that Apple made this undiscoverable, but nevertheless it works and is built-in > Command+Tab macOS does this differently than windows or linux. I prefer the macOS way. Shrug? This is not a problem in macOS though. Your cheese got moved, deal with it :-) > However, that keyboard doesn’t have the Option (⌥) or Command (⌘) keys like on my Macbook. This makes using keyboard shortcuts difficult due to the keys being switched, but I don’t blame Apple for this. I tried changing the modifier keys in System Preferences–>Keyboard, but that broke other keyboard shortcuts. I'm not sure what he did here, but I've been using system preferences to swap the Windows and Alt keys so they match Option and Cmd, for over a decade and it works flawlessly. I can only assume he's misunderstanding something? > However, plugging in a mouse with a scroll wheel means the scroll wheel is “backward”. Thankfully, I was able to download Logitech’s Options software to reverse this. There's a checkbox in system prefs for that, you don't need any crazy logitech junk!
  • Liquid_Fire 5y ago
    > There's a checkbox in system prefs for that, you don't need any crazy logitech junk! But that option also reverses the touchpad scroll direction. You can't have the touchpad scroll inverted like on a touch screen and the mouse wheel scrolling normally (without third-party software), which seems crazy to me.
• tethik 5y ago
  I had to use a Mac for my last job and it was awful. Coming from a customized tiling window-manager setup on Linux that I've slowly tinkered with over the years, everything UX-wise was such a slog for me. I'm not recommending linux for everyone. Far from it. But if you want the best experience and don't mind tinkering, I think it's the best you can get currently.
• vbezhenar 5y ago
  For me many macos things are weird. One of the latest ones: to create new window for safari you have to press Cmnd+N. But if safari is maximized, you have to press Cmnd+Alt+N. Why? No idea. And the fact that I have to manually adjust safari window width to make it full screen without hiding other interface elements is even more weird. Some apps support alt+maximize, some do not. Safari is latter. Definitely no technical reason.
  • herrkanin 5y ago
    You can double click on the top bar to maximize it. Far from discoverable, though.
• _8j50 5y ago
  A very fair assessment by OP. Mac window management isn't great but I personallu got around to getting used to it.
• bodge5000 5y ago
  Not being a mac user myself, the ubinquity of homebrew made me think it was native for many years, to the point that I'd been tempted several times to make the switch (not because having a package manager is that fantastic, but it signals a lot about the intended use of the OS). I always thought MacOS was more stable than Linux, but more open to devs than Windows, but now I'm not so sure about that second point. I doubt I'd get a mac anyway because there aren't many games I could play on it, but I have been previously tempted over the past year or so.
  • Semaphor 5y ago
    I don’t use it (and never used a mac for more than a few horrible seconds), but Windows does now have a package manager built in: WinGet [0] [0]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/win...
    • bodge5000 5y ago
      Also choco, though thats third-party
• can16358p 5y ago
  I get if someone wants to move to Linux from macOS, but Windows? Every time I need to work with Windows, I think switching from Windows to Mac was one of the greatest decisions of my life. And I'm saying this as a person who still have used Windows more than Mac in his life, time-wise. That whole OS is a mess. I think the author will get used to macOS by time. I complained about similar stuff initially, but then got used to everything pretty quickly and those are just very minor issues that definitely do not outweigh the benefits.
• domepro 5y ago
  I would just like to add that this thread is an absolute gold mine of information. I haven't been full time on a mac since the corona-induced WFH where I just picked stuff up on my desktop, but recently I've picked up an M1 Air to work on and separate "home" from "work" and a lot of the suggestions here provide incredible insight into slight annoyances that I find within Mac OS. Not that I care that much since like 99% of my time is spent in tmux and I try to avoid the touchpad/mouse like the plague as much as possible, but it's nice to read the insight people provide here.
• ayroblu 5y ago
  The author's conslusion isn't well supported by the evidence they provide. They assert they would never buy a personal Mac, but their primary criticisms are solved by downloading a few apps. It's surprising that they can use Homebrew but not Rectangle etc given their work policy, but these restrictions don't apply for personal computers anyways?
• bjoli 5y ago
  I have started noticing regression after regression in almost all devices I use, mostly due to all the "reinvention" going on. In Monterey they made it easier to use multiple audio outputs. The new UI removes scrolling over the speaker icon to change volume. After updating to Monterey some of my keyboards don't have a command key. They worked until I updated. Now I get weird issues. But only on the non-US-ansi layouts (I'm Swedish). Similar things: Firefox on android started opening things from the most visited list in new tabs. I press the address bar and press one of my 8 most visited sites (which account for 95% of my sites) and they open in a new tab. This changed from one version to another, and now I regularly have 40 tabs, some I want to keep. Google decided that the volume up button on 3.5mm headphones should start the assistant. So suddenly none of my headphones work as they should. I notice things like this all the time. Especially the last one kills me. Who, who?!!, thought this was a good idea. Every update on os X and my smartphone brings something that makes me feel like I am fed a turd. I don't use Windows, but I suspect it is the same thing there.
  • newaccount74 5y ago
    The worst thing on macOS is how they are removing all affordances that made the Mac so nice to use. They removed: - scrollbars - toolbar labels - color - separator between title bar and content - resize indicator - document icons A lot of things are still there if you know where to look, but I feel like learning macOS is a lot harder than it used to be. Watching my kid struggle to drag a window is infuriating. There's no logic why it's possible to drag the window by the top 50 pixels only, unless you know the history that this used to be the title bar which looked different than the rest of the window on earlier versions of macOS...
• tnsengimana 5y ago
  I think the author is being overly pessimistic about Mac software. I did not find anything utterly "eye-rolling" from his article, besides a few nitpicks that are reasonable from someone accustomed to linux/window.
• Hnrobert42 5y ago
  I wonder if any of the UI sugar the author misses is not there because of patents. Like, does MS have a patent on window snapping who won’t license to Apple, but let’s small companies slide? I think the GPL is why Apple ships with such outdated BASH and switched to ZSH for the default shell.
• hn_99 5y ago
  I moved from windows to Mac when I switched jobs a few months ago. The biggest thing I miss is the ability to have a separate Taskbar entry for each window of a program. I have many windows of the same IDE open at once and I'd like to be able to switch between them quickly. Is something like this possible in Mac, maybe through a FOSS app?
  • domepro 5y ago
    command + ` (native) is the bind to swap through same-app-windows
• hexteria 5y ago
  Discovering Rectangle and AltTab were the keys to overcoming my productivity issues with macOS. So much better now
• amits1995 5y ago
  as an Ubuntu user, I also got a new Mac in my new place. I survived a day before switching back to XPS+Ubuntu. I have a list of things that were horrible but I'd like to add one in particular which is that dock auto-hide is a complete mess, so not intuitive and when you want it to show it doesn't show and vice versa.
• merdaverse 5y ago
  Completely agree withe window management part. I find it easy to work on Win/Ubuntu with multiple desktops and Alt+Tab, but the overly complicated flow of Command+Tab makes this impossible on Mac. So I just end up with most of the stuff on one desktop and using spotlight with the trackpad to switch. But props to Apple for having the smoothest spotlight implementation of the three.
• rogual 5y ago
  MacOS's quirks don't really bother me much, except one: 1. Open a terminal on screen 1. 2. Open a terminal and a browser on screen 2. 3. Be using the terminal on screen 1. 4. Cmd-Tab to the browser. 5. Cmd-Tab to "go back" MacOS will switch to the terminal... on screen 2. Drives me nuts.
• danielyaa5 5y ago
  I think it’s unfair to compare OS X to both Linux and windows. You’re basically double teaming. Also comes off as bias to have only cons for the software.
• mikl 5y ago
  We’ve seen quite a few of these “I tried a Mac” articles on here, and this is the usual for these posts: The UI conventions of macOS are quite different from Windows (and thus also from the mainstream Linux desktop environments, which mostly ape Windows). The author thinks the macOS way is weird/annoying/wrong, without realising that this is just an emotional judgment caused by his own (in)experience rather than a problem with macOS. The differences do chafe until your mental model adapts itself. The inverse is also true. When I happen to use Windows, I hate how I can’t drag a window anywhere near the edges without the snapping behaviour kicking in. I hate having to use Ctrl-C for copying, since that means something quite different in Unix, etc.
• lfrigodesouza 5y ago
  I've had the same experience. Always used Windows for work machines and Linux for my personal laptop, and now it's the first time that I'm working on a company that only use macbooks, and, oh boy, what a pain! The hardware is truly amazing, no arguing with that, but the OS overall experience have not been very good for me. I knew that there would be needed some time to adapt, but there are some things that are simply counter-intuitive. I'm even having trouble putting this to sleep. I've lost count of how many times I had chosen the "Sleep" option on the menu only to the macbook not go into sleep, and drain my battery overnight...
• spurgu 5y ago
  > There is no other way to say this: window management is painful on macOS. Out-of-the-box yes. > If you open two of the same window (e.g., two Chrome windows), they appear as one in the dock. However, when you press Command (⌘)+Tab, this will only show one entry for Chrome, even though you have two windows of Chrome open. For app switching I've set the "Move focus to next window" keyboard shortcut to Option+Tab (don't remember what the default is). This works like Cmd+Tab, except it cycles between windows of the active application (i.e. Chrome windows in the above example). It's really quick and smooth since you just move your thumb between Cmd and Option. There is a slight difference between using Cmd+Tab though - you don't get a preview of the window you're about to switch to, so it's sometimes a bit clumsy if you have many windows open. To solve this I have three-finger swipe down set to display all windows of the focused app (called App Exposé). Don't remember whether this is default behavior. But with this you actually see all windows, which makes it even better than Cmd+Tab in this regard (which only shows icons). The above two in combination work very well for me and window management is a breeze. For window snapping I use BetterTouchTool[0] (paid app), but agree that if you need to get corporate IT's blessing to install apps then it's a hassle. Another app I couldn't live without: Alfred[1]. Just its clipboard history management and snippets make it awesome, but it can do so much more, like Workflows which I use a lot for various things). And iTerm2[2] is great. So in conclusion I agree with OP - if I was forced to use a vanilla installation then I'd prefer most Linux DE's, but being able to install a couple of apps I simply love MacOS and would have a really tough time transitioning back to Linux (been a MacOS user now for almost 7 years, before that 10 years of Linux). [0] https://folivora.ai/ https://folivora.ai/ [1] https://www.alfredapp.com/ https://www.alfredapp.com/ [2] https://iterm2.com/ https://iterm2.com/
• pombrand 5y ago
  Apple believes they always have the best way, and rarely gives you options to do things in other ways..sometimes they're right, but not always. I switched from Windows last month, after installing rectangle, bettertouchtools and speeding up all animations possible, I'm left with the following gripes. 1. No magnetic windows the way windows does unless in the clunky fullscreen mode. 2. No way to turn off animations for maximising windows. 3. No way to let mouseover select window an action is taken in (i keep closing the wrong chrome window using mouse gestures) 4. Finder still sucks (so does no cutting and pasting files) 5. All apps cost money, e.g. ScreenX for windows is free and better than all paid macos options for screenshots. 6. Chrome window resizing seems artificially slow. Overall windows still feels more productive, but also sucks more in many other ways, such as preinstalling candy crush or its opaque update system.
  • ask_b123 5y ago
    4. You can press the option key when pasting to move the files or you can drag the files (you can enable drag with drag lock to make things easier: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-mouse-trackpad-preferences-unac899/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-mouse-trackp...) 5. Why do you need a standalone app to make screenshots? cmd + shift + 5 (or 4) work fine imo.
    • pombrand 5y ago
      4. Im aware but it still cumbersome, would be nice to do it without the using the keyboard. 5. Because I need more functionality.
      • ask_b123 5y ago
        4. Dragging and dropping doesn't require the use of the option key. So there are two ways: - Keyboard: cmd+c -> cmd+opt+v - Non Keyboard: Drag -> Drop I know that's not the same as right click -> select cut -> right click -> paste, but it doesn't seem strictly worse. Oh! While dragging a file if you keep the cursor over a directory or over the Back/Forward Finder arrows it will move the focus while move to that dir. 5. I really don't know much about screenshots, their possible functionality or what you are looking for, but this app -> https://shottr.cc/ https://shottr.cc/ might serve your needs?
• wwalexander 5y ago
  > macOS has a weird snapping implementation where you need to click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose to “tile” left or right. But, once you pick another window to fill the other half, both of those windows (together as one) move to their own virtual desktop. I want them split on my current desktop, not on a separate desktop. This functionality is actually built into macOS by default, though it’s not very discoverable. The Tile Window to Left/Right of Screen options (which can also be found in the Window menu in the menu bar) change to Move Window to Left/Right of Screen when you are holding ⌥, which will move and resize the windows as desired without entering full screen. (For windows whose minimum width exceeds half the screen width, the left edge will be aligned properly while the right edge will overflow into the other half of the screen or off the edge of the screen respectively). > Also, unlike Windows or Linux, you can’t “maximize” a window using the green “zoom” button, it will only make the current window fullscreen (and again, on its own desktop). Confusingly, you need to again click and hold the green “zoom” button, then choose “Zoom”. Apple calls the green button “zoom” in their documentation, but its default function is fullscreen, not zoom.…For all the Apple fanboys screaming “There’s an app for that!”, I hear you, but remember, this is a work machine and I need to get everything I install blessed by IT security. While it is unfortunate that Apple doesn’t provide any shortcuts for these features, you can set them up yourself without any extra software via  > System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts. I have the following “missing” shortcuts set up, kind of like the tiling shortcuts on Windows but with more modifier keys. Move Window to Left of Screen: ⌃⌥⌘← Move Window to Right of Screen: ⌃⌥⌘→ Zoom: ⌃⌥⌘↑ Tile Window to Left of Screen: ⌃⌘← Tile Window to Right of Screen: ⌃⌘→ Enter Full Screen: ⌃⌘↑