Want to do ___? Tough.
June 12, 2009
One of the reasons entrenched Windows users find switching to the Mac unappealing is that the interface is so different. Different can be better. But in my opinion, after 6 months developing on the Mac, different is definitely NOT better. I consider myself fairly used to the Mac interface and the Apple way of doing things, and sorry, any version of Windows blows OSX out of the water.
OSX, quite frankly, makes me want to fight.
Today I figured I’d finally see if there was a way to maximize a window without dragging the bottom right out and moving the window around. This is ridiculously annoying, when sometimes you just want the focus to be on the window you are working in.
Of course, there isn’t. But in searching I found this Mac user explaining why you shouldn’t even be looking for a Windows feature analogue on the Mac:
“Ask just about any Mac user and I think they’ll agree that it’s one of the many little things that makes the Mac UI superior to Windows. In most cases, maximizing a window serves no practical purpose, and actually just ends up wasting screen space by filling it with blank whitespace. After you get used to Mac behavior, I think you’ll see why it’s better.”
All I can say is, “AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAH“. Seriously, a missing feature is not “superior”, it is a missing feature. Even if there are good reasons for it not to be there, if 10% or more of your users really need it to get any pleasure out of using your system, it should be in there.
Color me once again completely mystified by Apple. But every day it becomes a little more clear to me why Apple has had such a lack of success in getting more desktop market share.
Not to turn your site into ground zero of a holy war, but aside from the maximizing windows thing (the green button on each window actually maximizes the window to a size that displays everything in that window, even if that size is below full screen size), what other interface issues are you running into?
Generally, if it’s something that Apple is screwy with, someone out there has come up with a nice workaround.
@Chris A - I wouldn’t mind at all if this site turned into a battleground. The best discussions are ferocious in my opinion
To answer your question, the Windows environment is so well suited to getting shit done fast, and this, in my view, is in stark contrast to the Apple way of thinking, which really feels like “our way or the highway”. I constantly get the feeling that they have this fixed idea of how people ought to work, but in reality, people fall into their own way of getting things done.
As a simple example, I know I can accomplish anything in Windows without a mouse, or without a keyboard. On the Mac, that just can’t happen. No keyboard shortcuts? Huh?
I have been told that there are all sorts of add-ons and extensions out there that will turn OSX into whatever I want it to be. I just remain befuddled that Apple thinks it’s acceptable to require users to scour the Internet in order to make their OS what they want and/or need it to be.
Apple reminds me of Python. Ultimately, both are very powerful and flexible. However, the look and feel are just about set in stone. In Python, blocks must be rigidly and precisely defined using whitespace. In OS X, you have to mostly conform to their idea of how things should be organized and laid out. The choices usually make sense so I often use OS X and Python, but sometimes they are annoying and neither is the best for everything.
My servers all run Linux. My gaming machines all run Windows. Yes, a lot of the reason that I use other platforms is because of Apple’s restrictiveness. Sure, I’m running the same Apache on Linux that I could run on OS X. But while Unix is the foundation for OS X, it’s clear from beginning to end that Apple would rather you use the GUI. Sure, there are Mac ports of Windows games that I could run instead. But to get a video card for my Mac, I’d have to pay twice what I’d pay for a comparable PC GPU.
Regarding missing features, an important reason behind Apple’s popularity is that they don’t allow a ton of customization, or rather a lot is hidden and brought to the surface only with third party tools and widgets. The other extreme is a typical Linux desktop environment, where the power user could tweak to his heart’s content, but those menus upon menus of options would (and do) frighten off new users. See also: http://www.ted.com/talks/david_pogue_says_simplicity_sells.html
I forgot if I had a point to begin with, but it’s probably something like “Yes, Apple’s restrictive. Yes, some of their UI choices will seem dumb, because people think and work in different ways, yet Apple works in one. On the other hand, it seems to be working for them, so they’re unlikely to change. Sure we can and should complain, but ultimately we should vote with our wallets and jump ship if they’re TOO inflexible.”
Finally, regarding the keyboard/mouse thing, it was designed that way since the beginning. Linux and DOS/Windows have commandline ancestries, but Mac OS was a graphical interface from the very beginning, and therefore the “one hand on the keyboard, one hand on the mouse” control scheme is deeply rooted. Questionable choices with long histories abound (e.g. the Registry is in Windows 7 still), but understanding the background might reduce the perceived idiocy.
Good post.Thanks for your sharing.
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