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As a long time Mac user, I never use the zoom button. It rarely does anything useful. And Finder really needs a Go Up button, as you say. So those are two valid
by millstone 13y ago
As a long time Mac user, I never use the zoom button. It rarely does anything useful. And Finder really needs a Go Up button, as you say. So those are two valid points you raise.
I'll try to explain what I like about the Mac and what bothers me when I use Linux. Since you mentioned window management, I'll focus on that, comparing it to Ubuntu 12.
1. Window resizing in OS X is way nicer. It's actually possible to resize a window with a scrollbar from the lower right (on Ubuntu, the click target is literally one pixel wide). Resizing from the left edge doesn't result in weird tearing and graphics artifacts like it does in Ubuntu and Windows. The command key allows you to drag, resize, and do other interactions with windows without bringing them to the front. OS X also supports centered and fixed-aspect ratio resizing (shift and option keys); if this is possible on Ubuntu I couldn't find it.
2. The way hiding / minimization works in Ubuntu is very confusing to me. There doesn't seem to be a way to show all the minimized windows for an app, except for the weird and jarring Exposé knockoff that you get when you click on one of the icons in the Launcher.
3. Workspaces in OS X are much nicer. To move a window to another workspace in OS X, I just press it against the relevant side of the screen, or swipe up to enter Mission Control and drag it there. On Ubuntu, you can't drag windows to another workspace; you can instead use the context menu or press control-alt-arrow, which causes the window to disappear with no indication of where it went.
4. It's hard to distinguish the foreground window from other windows in Ubuntu. The only thing that seems to change is the titlebar. Even the text selection color is the same for foreground and background windows.
5. Focus stealing issues in Ubuntu are rampant. Click on a slow launching app like LibreWriter; when it finishes launching it will jump in front of the window you are currently using, and steal the keyboard focus. This happens occasionally on OS X and it bugs the hell out of me. I don't think I could stand an OS where that is the default behavior.
There's certainly some places where I find Ubuntu to be nicer, and some places that OS X falls down. My overall impression, though, is that OS X is more polished, and that Ubuntu has more clumsy knock-offs of OS X features.
- bendmorris 13y agoOne problem here is that you can't really compare OSX to Ubuntu because Ubuntu is not a desktop environment. It has a default desktop environment, but it isn't itself one, and you can swap in another effortlessly and there are typically a wealth of customization options. I'm using XFCE, and I can drag windows to other workspaces just like you, don't have the focus stealing issue, etc.
- millstone 13y agoI've also tried Xubuntu (= Ubuntu + xfce) and I preferred it to Ubuntu, although Xubuntu's window resizing is even more busted. Your post prompted me to give it another try. I found that you can drag windows between workspaces in the "mini workspace viewer" in the upper right, which is definitely an improvement over Ubuntu. However, you can't move them by simply pressing the windows against the side of the screen. The focus stealing issues are the same as in Ubuntu. Start launching an app and switch to another window; the app will jump in front when it's done launching. Argh!
- vjoel 13y agoIn XFCE, you can move windows by pressing them against the side of the screen. Go to Settings, WindowManager, Advanced. Click "Wrap workspaces when dragging..." and choose your desired edge resistance. However, I prefer to re-map CapsLock to <Hyper>, and define <SHIFT>-<HYPER>-Up to move window to workspace up, and so on. Can't help with the stealing, sorry.
- millstone 13y agoHmm...I found the setting and it sure looks promising. I can switch between workspaces by moving the mouse cursor, as long as I am not dragging a window. If I am dragging a window then it refuses to switch. Anyways thanks for the tip.
- pbhjpbhj 13y ago>Start launching an app and switch to another window; the app will jump in front when it's done launching. Argh! // In common it seems with most features of the UI KDE has a setting for that! It's in the settings with the "focus policy" slider (click at one end, hover at the other) labelled as "focus stealing prevention". IIRC it was in KDE3 too.
- kevincrane 13y agoRegarding #1 on your list, no other OS I've used requires precise window resizing. For a vast majority of programs I use, I want them to be fullscreen or half the window. Ubuntu allows you to easily drag to a side to full/half-screen things. #3. When I do ctrl-alt-left/right/up/down, it moves the workspace with me, so you retain focus on the window the whole time, plus it shows a brief display and arrow showing the window moving. It might still be weird to use hotkeys, but I definitely know where the window went at all times.
- tomku 13y agoXFCE and Unity both allow you to move/resize windows without using the title bar or the ridiculously small drag handles. Both of them support alt-click+drag for moving windows from any point inside, and also resizing from the edge/corner nearest to where you click using alt-middleclick+drag (Unity) or alt-rightclick+drag (XFCE). I've rebound Unity's to use the right button as well, for consistency. I can't speak for other DE/WMs, but I didn't want to leave someone suffering the pain of trying to resize using the corner/edge drag handles - they really are unacceptably small. Edit: I can also add that clicking on the workspace switcher or pressing Super/Windows+s in Unity brings up a screen that lets you drag windows between viewports. I'm sure it's not what you're used to, but I find it to be sufficient.