8 ms·

Don't worry. Linux is slicker.

vonklaus 11y ago
As someone who just switched to Linux from OS X, it is really hard to migrate. I miss the subtleties of the apple ecosystem. Sure Linux is awesome, but I have been battling trackpad support issues, keymapping the super_key to CMD, and just general battling the UX. tl;dr a more powerful operating system with worse UI, which is the obvious trade. A less powerful system with a fantastic UI.
- aerique 11y ago
  It's a phase. I run into similar issues when using OSX while being used to Linux.
  - xur17 11y ago
    I went through a similar struggle when switching to a Mac about a year ago for work. I still miss the ability to drag windows around from anywhere by holding the alt key, and dragging any part of the window. Never found a good replacement in OSX.
    - vonklaus 11y ago
      haha. You guys must be right. That is the exact functionality that is the most annoying for me right now! I need to get used to this new OS. I miss 3 finger swipe right. ctrl+alt+shift+ [direction] is quite a macro just to move a screen.
      - girvo 11y ago
        I personally changed that to be Super+<Arrow> to change virtual desktop, and Super+Shift+<Arrow> to move the focused window to it. Much nicer shortcut, IMO. Elementary OS[0] uses that by default, actually. [0] https://elementary.io/ https://elementary.io/
      - aerique 11y ago
        Realize that what you mean with "to get used to this new OS" is possibly "I need to get used to this desktop environment / window manager". I don't know what desktop environment you use but it is possibly Ubuntu's Unity, Gnome or KDE. On Unix you have a lot of choice on the (graphical) interface you chose to interact with. So while to one you're currently using might be OK, there's bound to be one that's even better suited to your needs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment (Also, it's usually trivial to change your keybindings.)
        vonklaus 11y ago
        yep thanks. I run ParrotOS which is basically debian with some slick UI and pentesting toolsets. It is a gnome desktop enviro. I will check those links out. The keybindings did not hold on the tut I followed, no biggie. My major point is that I am a mac superuser, but when I switch windows I have to manually deselect a window (because it follows me). It is just absorbing the nuances of linux and inculcating the macros into my head. It is like switching from JS to Ruby for me.
    - geon 11y ago
      Dragging overlapping windows is a stupid idea to begin with. I use a keyboard based window manager as much as possible (Spectacle), and with splitscreen I can hopefully almost completely stop using windows.
      - yoz-y 11y ago
        Overlapping windows is what makes mouse based interaction fast. Not everybody wants to use keyboard all the time. Also, often times it is useful to have more than two windows on screen at a time.
        geon 11y ago
        > Overlapping windows is what makes mouse based interaction fast. How does the overlappingness make anything faster? If anything it becomes slower, because you need to move windows out of the way, or select them before you can get to the covered part. > Not everybody wants to use keyboard all the time In no way necessary. I don't think the WWDC splitscreen demo used keyboard shortcuts at all? > it is useful to have more than two windows on screen at a time. Having more than one window on the screen is also not helped by the windows overlapping. I regularly have 2-4 windows side-by-side on the same screen at once without overlapping, and multiple such screens and fullscreen windows on virtual desktops.
    - donut2d 11y ago
      You can do the same non-focused window dragging in OSX by holding down command. Actually, you can interact with the unfocused window when holding down command, click buttons, etc.
    - wjoe 11y ago
      I use HyperDock for this: http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ It's mainly focused on modifications for the OS X dock which I don't use, but it also does alt drag window movement, and alt + num pad for tiling windows. It costs a a bit of money after a trial period, but it's the most reliable replacement for alt drag I've found so far.
- dripton 11y ago
  UI is subjective. I get mildly annoyed whenever I use a Mac. Little things like having to click on a window to give it focus, or having to use command instead of control in many programs, break my flow. I'd probably get used to those if I only used a Mac, but since I use Linux 95% of the time and Mac 5%, I never do.
  - fastball 11y ago
    Wait how else do you give windows focus? You mean like with the keyboard? Like SHIFT+TAB? That's on OS X.
    - mouhtasi 11y ago
      I believe some window managers give the option of automatically focusing to the window under the cursor.
      - endgame 11y ago
        And once you're used to it you'll never want to go back. All of my experiences with focus-follow-mouse on commercial OSes have been almost-but-not-quite right.
        eropple 11y ago
        > And once you're used to it you'll never want to go back. Eh. I've used focus-follows-mouse and tend instead to strongly prefer the OS X method of allowing scroll events to percolate to the window under the cursor but retaining keyboard focus on the window it's currently in. This allows me to scroll, say, a web browser on my right-hand monitor, while continuing to type in the left.
        bubblesorting 11y ago
        Focus-follows-mouse doesn't work so great in OSX because of the global menubar, everywhere else it's great though!
        tehwalrus 11y ago
- wjoe 11y ago
  As someone who uses Linux for everything but just had to start using OS X for work, it's really hard to migrate. Remapping ctrl to cmd and various other keyboard oddities, unfamiliar mouse acceleration, and missing features like middle click to paste and holding alt to drag windows. Various other things that I'm able to customise to my liking in Linux, but are much harder to modify in OS X. Chances are you're going to think that the thing you've been using for years is "good UI", and anything different is "bad UI". I don't doubt that Apple have spent a lot of time designing their UI/UX to work well for most people, but it feels bad to me because it's not what I'm used to. Either way, you get used to it. I've found programs that make OS X work in a way that's more familar to me, and learned to work with the things I can't change.
PhasmaFelis 11y ago
Linux is a lot of good things, but "slicker than OS X" (in the sense of basic user-friendliness to the average computer user) is not really one of them.

As someone who just switched to Linux from OS X, it is really hard to migrate. I miss the subtleties of the apple ecosystem. Sure Linux is awesome, but I have been battling trackpad support issues, keymapping the super_key to CMD, and just general battling the UX. tl;dr a more powerful operating system with worse UI, which is the obvious trade. A less powerful system with a fantastic UI.

aerique 11y ago
It's a phase. I run into similar issues when using OSX while being used to Linux.
- xur17 11y ago
  I went through a similar struggle when switching to a Mac about a year ago for work. I still miss the ability to drag windows around from anywhere by holding the alt key, and dragging any part of the window. Never found a good replacement in OSX.
  - vonklaus 11y ago
    haha. You guys must be right. That is the exact functionality that is the most annoying for me right now! I need to get used to this new OS. I miss 3 finger swipe right. ctrl+alt+shift+ [direction] is quite a macro just to move a screen.
    - girvo 11y ago
      I personally changed that to be Super+<Arrow> to change virtual desktop, and Super+Shift+<Arrow> to move the focused window to it. Much nicer shortcut, IMO. Elementary OS[0] uses that by default, actually. [0] https://elementary.io/ https://elementary.io/
    - aerique 11y ago
      Realize that what you mean with "to get used to this new OS" is possibly "I need to get used to this desktop environment / window manager". I don't know what desktop environment you use but it is possibly Ubuntu's Unity, Gnome or KDE. On Unix you have a lot of choice on the (graphical) interface you chose to interact with. So while to one you're currently using might be OK, there's bound to be one that's even better suited to your needs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_manager https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment (Also, it's usually trivial to change your keybindings.)
      - vonklaus 11y ago
        yep thanks. I run ParrotOS which is basically debian with some slick UI and pentesting toolsets. It is a gnome desktop enviro. I will check those links out. The keybindings did not hold on the tut I followed, no biggie. My major point is that I am a mac superuser, but when I switch windows I have to manually deselect a window (because it follows me). It is just absorbing the nuances of linux and inculcating the macros into my head. It is like switching from JS to Ruby for me.
  - geon 11y ago
    Dragging overlapping windows is a stupid idea to begin with. I use a keyboard based window manager as much as possible (Spectacle), and with splitscreen I can hopefully almost completely stop using windows.
    - yoz-y 11y ago
      Overlapping windows is what makes mouse based interaction fast. Not everybody wants to use keyboard all the time. Also, often times it is useful to have more than two windows on screen at a time.
      - geon 11y ago
        > Overlapping windows is what makes mouse based interaction fast. How does the overlappingness make anything faster? If anything it becomes slower, because you need to move windows out of the way, or select them before you can get to the covered part. > Not everybody wants to use keyboard all the time In no way necessary. I don't think the WWDC splitscreen demo used keyboard shortcuts at all? > it is useful to have more than two windows on screen at a time. Having more than one window on the screen is also not helped by the windows overlapping. I regularly have 2-4 windows side-by-side on the same screen at once without overlapping, and multiple such screens and fullscreen windows on virtual desktops.
  - donut2d 11y ago
    You can do the same non-focused window dragging in OSX by holding down command. Actually, you can interact with the unfocused window when holding down command, click buttons, etc.
  - wjoe 11y ago
    I use HyperDock for this: http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ http://hyperdock.bahoom.com/ It's mainly focused on modifications for the OS X dock which I don't use, but it also does alt drag window movement, and alt + num pad for tiling windows. It costs a a bit of money after a trial period, but it's the most reliable replacement for alt drag I've found so far.
dripton 11y ago
UI is subjective. I get mildly annoyed whenever I use a Mac. Little things like having to click on a window to give it focus, or having to use command instead of control in many programs, break my flow. I'd probably get used to those if I only used a Mac, but since I use Linux 95% of the time and Mac 5%, I never do.
- fastball 11y ago
  Wait how else do you give windows focus? You mean like with the keyboard? Like SHIFT+TAB? That's on OS X.
  - mouhtasi 11y ago
    I believe some window managers give the option of automatically focusing to the window under the cursor.
    - endgame 11y ago
      And once you're used to it you'll never want to go back. All of my experiences with focus-follow-mouse on commercial OSes have been almost-but-not-quite right.
      - eropple 11y ago
        > And once you're used to it you'll never want to go back. Eh. I've used focus-follows-mouse and tend instead to strongly prefer the OS X method of allowing scroll events to percolate to the window under the cursor but retaining keyboard focus on the window it's currently in. This allows me to scroll, say, a web browser on my right-hand monitor, while continuing to type in the left.
      - bubblesorting 11y ago
        Focus-follows-mouse doesn't work so great in OSX because of the global menubar, everywhere else it's great though!
      - tehwalrus 11y ago
wjoe 11y ago
As someone who uses Linux for everything but just had to start using OS X for work, it's really hard to migrate. Remapping ctrl to cmd and various other keyboard oddities, unfamiliar mouse acceleration, and missing features like middle click to paste and holding alt to drag windows. Various other things that I'm able to customise to my liking in Linux, but are much harder to modify in OS X. Chances are you're going to think that the thing you've been using for years is "good UI", and anything different is "bad UI". I don't doubt that Apple have spent a lot of time designing their UI/UX to work well for most people, but it feels bad to me because it's not what I'm used to. Either way, you get used to it. I've found programs that make OS X work in a way that's more familar to me, and learned to work with the things I can't change.

PhasmaFelis 11y ago

Linux is a lot of good things, but "slicker than OS X" (in the sense of basic user-friendliness to the average computer user) is not really one of them.