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Submitting this article from last year on the hopes that someone from Apple reads HN. I would say macOS shouldn't be this hard. I have to write multiple prope

Submitting this article from last year on the hopes that someone from Apple reads HN. I would say macOS shouldn't be this hard. I have to write multiple properties to make facetime work on my MBP? Have to use a third-party app to replicate the "window on every virtual screen" feature embedded in every x/windows window manager (except TWM)? I have to edit properties through the command line to get wired ethernet to work with a third party dongle? Reboot my machine three or four times before the MBP recognizes an external monitor? And I'm not paying $99 for a dev account so I can find the docs that tell me how to turn on logging. And it would be cool if ANY of the #a11y features from several years ago still worked with modern apps. And the latest OS update broke compatibility with THE CHARGING BRICK? I have to buy a new charger so I can use the latest OS? What? (fortunately I figured out where in the properties tree to point the defaults tool to fix this.) But now I'm just ranting. As best I can tell, the only reason to use an MBP is so you can write iOS programs. But my customer really thinks the Apple ecosystem is cool, even though we target Linux in the cloud. Oh. Also. Why/how does macOS break BOTH parallels and VirtualBox between revs? Fortunately the latest VirtualBox works with the latest macOS. I will be very happy to leave this engagement in the past. Seems like I'm spending 20% of my time keeping a terminal window working on the mac. And I'm coming from a position of really loving NeXTStep and Classic Macs. In the classic era, we had consistent design guidance. Now it's a mish-mash of random recommendations which may or may not carry on to the next OS rev. And NeXTStep had it's problems, but at least it booted consistently. I know there are a lot of apple fans out here, so go ahead and down-vote me. Sorry for bruising your ego. But the objective of this post is to try to reach someone at Apple who has the ability to make things better for non-fans.

nickelcitymario 3y ago
> And I'm coming from a position of really loving NeXTStep and Classic Macs. In the classic era, we had consistent design guidance. Now it's a mish-mash of random recommendations which may or may not carry on to the next OS rev. And NeXTStep had it's problems, but at least it booted consistently. If your argument is that Linux or Windows are any better on this front, I beg to differ. Don't get me wrong. I love Linux. But it's hardly a bastion of design consistency or user-friendliness. As for Windows? I mean... come on. When's the last time anyone tried to steal design ideas from Microsoft? Everything good about Windows was stolen from somewhere else, and, in my not-so-humble opinion, implemented poorly.
- retrocryptid 3y ago
  Gnome is a pain and lxde has it's faults. But both launch consistently. Both log usable messages somewhere into /var/log. Both have consistent behavior across releases. I make extensive use of the "Always on Visible Workspace" feature. It has been part of Gnome for... at least 10 years. And cde and lxde for 20 years. On the Mac it appears to now be completely gone. The previous rev of the OS it was there. The rev before that it would only work on Apple monitors. A couple revs before that it worked and before that there was a rev where it would only work on the laptop screen (not external monitors.) I believe I place a higher premium on consistency across releases than you do. I also believe the user should be telling the computer what to do rather than apple telling me they want to change the way I work. But we're all different in that regard.
  - nickelcitymario 3y ago
    > I also believe the user should be telling the computer what to do rather than apple telling me they want to change the way I work. But we're all different in that regard. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to believe. My only contention is that Apple has never hidden their preference for doing exactly this. They're a highly opinionated company. Their platforms have always professed "this is the best way, and if you don't like it, we're not for you." Sounds like they're not for you.
- retrocryptid 3y ago
  And every mac user I know likes to dis windows for having to edit the registry. But in order to get external networking dongles, monitors and facetime to work, I have to make extensive use of the `defaults` program from the command line. This is not a defense of windows, though it's been several years since I've had to perform registry surgery to enable basic behaviors. It is a plea that apple make their software work so I don't have to keep monkeying with its registry^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hpreferences tree.
- linguae 3y ago
  “When’s the last time anyone tried to steal design ideas from Microsoft?” I remember a time when Linux desktops were heavily influenced by Windows 95. In fact, the Windows 95 interface still holds up to this day. While certain design elements and styling choices were influenced by NeXTSTEP, other ideas such as the taskbar and the Start menu were original. My favorite era of Microsoft software from a UI/UX standpoint is the period between Windows 95 and Windows 2000, alongside other Microsoft products such as Office 97/2000 and Visual Basic 6. I particularly liked the flat toolbars and the Tahoma font introduced in Office 97 and spreading to the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem; a Windows 2000 installation with Office 97/2000 and Visual Basic 6 looked quite consistent.

nickelcitymario 3y ago

> And I'm coming from a position of really loving NeXTStep and Classic Macs. In the classic era, we had consistent design guidance. Now it's a mish-mash of random recommendations which may or may not carry on to the next OS rev. And NeXTStep had it's problems, but at least it booted consistently. If your argument is that Linux or Windows are any better on this front, I beg to differ. Don't get me wrong. I love Linux. But it's hardly a bastion of design consistency or user-friendliness. As for Windows? I mean... come on. When's the last time anyone tried to steal design ideas from Microsoft? Everything good about Windows was stolen from somewhere else, and, in my not-so-humble opinion, implemented poorly.

retrocryptid 3y ago
Gnome is a pain and lxde has it's faults. But both launch consistently. Both log usable messages somewhere into /var/log. Both have consistent behavior across releases. I make extensive use of the "Always on Visible Workspace" feature. It has been part of Gnome for... at least 10 years. And cde and lxde for 20 years. On the Mac it appears to now be completely gone. The previous rev of the OS it was there. The rev before that it would only work on Apple monitors. A couple revs before that it worked and before that there was a rev where it would only work on the laptop screen (not external monitors.) I believe I place a higher premium on consistency across releases than you do. I also believe the user should be telling the computer what to do rather than apple telling me they want to change the way I work. But we're all different in that regard.
- nickelcitymario 3y ago
  > I also believe the user should be telling the computer what to do rather than apple telling me they want to change the way I work. But we're all different in that regard. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to believe. My only contention is that Apple has never hidden their preference for doing exactly this. They're a highly opinionated company. Their platforms have always professed "this is the best way, and if you don't like it, we're not for you." Sounds like they're not for you.
retrocryptid 3y ago
And every mac user I know likes to dis windows for having to edit the registry. But in order to get external networking dongles, monitors and facetime to work, I have to make extensive use of the `defaults` program from the command line. This is not a defense of windows, though it's been several years since I've had to perform registry surgery to enable basic behaviors. It is a plea that apple make their software work so I don't have to keep monkeying with its registry^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hpreferences tree.
linguae 3y ago
“When’s the last time anyone tried to steal design ideas from Microsoft?” I remember a time when Linux desktops were heavily influenced by Windows 95. In fact, the Windows 95 interface still holds up to this day. While certain design elements and styling choices were influenced by NeXTSTEP, other ideas such as the taskbar and the Start menu were original. My favorite era of Microsoft software from a UI/UX standpoint is the period between Windows 95 and Windows 2000, alongside other Microsoft products such as Office 97/2000 and Visual Basic 6. I particularly liked the flat toolbars and the Tahoma font introduced in Office 97 and spreading to the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem; a Windows 2000 installation with Office 97/2000 and Visual Basic 6 looked quite consistent.