OS X Annoyances

[sandmanfvrga]

Here is one that drives me f****** nuts! In Winblows you can open a ZIP file and NOT extract the content to look at it. In OSX, it extracts it without asking. ARRGGHHH!!! Irritates me.

[bluedragon1971]

There's this idiotic thing called Fitt's Law that, well, to put it bluntly says (and I'm paraphrasing it in my own unique damned way):

 

The time it takes you to move the mouse to move the cursor to point it to something onscreen is directly related to how freakin' far you have to get the mouse moved so the cursor points to something onscreen.

 

The actual Fitt's Law quoted verbatim says: "The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target."

 

I'm sure someone out there can understand what it means in it's original form, but I really get sick of people telling me that OSX and Apple's seemingly absurd "Human Interface Guidelines" is the defacto way things should be.

 

Try this example on for size:

 

Say you have one of those monster LCDs so popular today, 1920x1200 resolution, perhaps even 2560x1400 (the 30" Cinema Display does that res natively iirc). Now say you're running a Windows app, like maybe Word or whatever really, it doesn't matter. The point is, if for some reason you need to access the menu/toolbar on that application, it's right there, attached to the window itself. If you have a huge screen and you need to get access to the File, Edit, etc menu/toolbar, it's right there on the window, mere centimeters of mouse movement away, onscreen it might be an inch or two.

 

Contrast that with something on OSX. If you have an application open like that you'll encounter a situation just like in Windows: every single application (for the most part) uses the same exact guidelines - except with OSX it means the menu/toolbar (and I know some apps break this guideline) is at the top of the screen, way up there, inches of mouse movement (typically based on the default mouse settings most people never change - hardcore people yes, regular Joe Schmoe consumers, no) and a helluva lot of screenspace covered.

 

Calling Fitt's Law idiotic shows your lack of understanding of it, and the research behind it. As for your examples, you are again showing your lack of understanding of Fitt's Law. The menu bar on a Windows app is a very small target. The menu bar in OS X is what is known as an infinitely large target. Why? Because you can shove your mouse at it and you CANNOT miss it, as it is at the edge of the screen. I think you should read some of the reasoning behind Fitt's Law before you dismiss it as "idiotic".

 

Here is a good explanation of why you are wrong: http://www.xvsxp.com/interface/fittslaw.php

 

There are forward and back buttons, but you have to put them there in the "customize menu" critter. I do think those buttons should have been on there to begin with though instead of added later.

 

You don't even have to do that. Select a group of pictures that you want to browse through, then double click. This will open Preview with all of those pictures in the tray (just like multiple pages of a PDF file). You can then use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to scroll through them.

 

if i have to use the keyboard your gui royally sucks period

 

Myzar, while I respect your contributions to the community in the form of your releases, your comments here (and in your installer for OS X) rate you as a first class troll in my book. You seem to have a real hatred of Apple.

[A Nonny Moose]

There are several that have that hatred, be it directed at Apple or at the PowerPC Processors

[br0adband]

Yanno, I purposely didn't link to X vs XP's use of the Fitt's Law argument because it's stupid. You just proved my point, so thanks!

 

As for me being wrong, the thread is about my annoyances with OS X, so I posted what my annoyance with it was, the biggest one of all, for all Macintoshes since the pre-Macintosh Lisa days. It is a waste of time and effort moving my mouse any more than necessary. Using Fitt's Law to say that OSX is a better GUI is like saying it's easier to shoot fat people because they're bigger targets than skinny people.

 

It's just that ludicrous.

[rollcage]

Yanno, I purposely didn't link to X vs XP's use of the Fitt's Law argument because it's stupid. You just proved my point, so thanks!

 

As for me being wrong, the thread is about my annoyances with OS X, so I posted what my annoyance with it was, the biggest one of all, for all Macintoshes since the pre-Macintosh Lisa days. It is a waste of time and effort moving my mouse any more than necessary. Using Fitt's Law to say that OSX is a better GUI is like saying it's easier to shoot fat people because they're bigger targets than skinny people.

 

It's just that ludicrous.

 

Actually, it's easier to shoot fat people because they can't run as fast (i know this from experience... ).

 

As for the home and end keys, that used to annoy me, but i soon learned that apple+right is the same as end and apple+left is the same as home in windows.

 

My only real annoyance with OSX is the lack of a unified theme. Open mail and we have one thing, and then open itunes and we have a completely differenct one.

[A Nonny Moose]

I hate the theme issue too. There's an Application Enhancer module called Unifier that will take care of this little issue until Apple makes up its mind.

[baysie]

Everything works but, I would like a mic in, so I can use record sound.....

[rollcage]

I hate the theme issue too. There's an Application Enhancer module called Unifier that will take care of this little issue until Apple makes up its mind.

Too bad it's not a universal binary. Guess it's either be happy with the look or the performance of my system. I'll give it a try though and see how well it works. Thanks for the tip!

[Pippin]

I wish Preview was like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.

[cardinal]

I wish OS X had a start button and a taskbar. I wish it had Registry so it was easy to edit settings. I wish that application menus were attached to windows. I wish that it had system tray. I wish keyboard shortcuts were the same as in Windows. I wish it had Fax and Picture Viewer instead of Preview. I wish I was running Windows XP.

 

We can close this thread now. This should cover all of the past and future complaints that are likely to appear in this thread.

[selectodude]

I wish OS X had a start button and a taskbar. I wish it had Registry so it was easy to edit settings. I wish that application menus were attached to windows. I wish that it had system tray. I wish keyboard shortcuts were the same as in Windows. I wish it had Fax and Picture Viewer instead of Preview. I wish I was running Windows XP.

 

We can close this thread now. This should cover all of the past and future complaints that are likely to appear in this thread.

 

Thank you. I was about to say that in a less kind manner.

 

I've been a user since OS 8.5. Windows makes me want to punch babies. But when I use it, I take it for what it is, and I don't try and make it into OS X.

[velinn]

Thank you. I was about to say that in a less kind manner.

 

I've been a user since OS 8.5. Windows makes me want to punch babies. But when I use it, I take it for what it is, and I don't try and make it into OS X.

 

I'm a recent convert to OS X, but I come from a Linux background not a Windows one. In a way I suppose I can understand the Windows people and their complaints. I have to say that the transition to OS X was made much easier for me knowing I could pop open a Terminal at any time and be presented with bash, just like I was used to on Linux. ssh and what not work just how I'm used to and that is nice. So for people with a frame of reference that is completely different it would be harder to get used to.

 

That being said, earlier I suggested that if you're going to switch OSs you should be willing to relearn how you interact with your computer. Every OS has its own system of doing things and if you're not open to learning how each OS handles things, then you really should be using what you're comfortable with. Otherwise, you're just going to end up frustrated.

 

 

[steps up on soapbox]

 

I've encountered many similar complaints in the Linux world from ex-Windows users. The problem is that people aren't looking for a new OS for the most part, they're looking to escape from Windows. That is a subtle but important difference. OS X, Linux, BSD, etc aren't Windows replacements, they're complete Operating Systems that function in their own ways, and have their own specific strengths and weaknesses. They don't strive to be like Windows as if Windows was some benchmark to be compared to, they strive to be the best at what they do.

 

So if you want to change OSs think about why you're doing it. Do you really want a new OS, or are you just looking to escape from spyware/adware/EULAs? If it's the former, then you need to leave Windows logic at the door and start to learn the strengths of the OS you've chosen. If it's the latter, you're going to end up back in Windows anyway, so you might as well just reformat and invest in a good Anti-virus/Spyware cleaner.

 

[steps down off of soapbox]

[ampTK]

The way some windows user complain about things in other OSs, things they call problems but are just different ways to approaching things; is like going to England and say they drive "the wrong way"

[A Nonny Moose]

I wish OS X had a start button and a taskbar. I wish it had Registry so it was easy to edit settings. I wish that application menus were attached to windows. I wish that it had system tray. I wish keyboard shortcuts were the same as in Windows. I wish it had Fax and Picture Viewer instead of Preview. I wish I was running Windows XP.

 

We can close this thread now. This should cover all of the past and future complaints that are likely to appear in this thread.

 

You forgot "I want to use MS Paint." How could you forget such a problem? *flogs*

[kdhflaksdhgfk]

What really bugs me is the lack of the ability to turn the screen of a mac off at will. It's extremely annoying on an iMac when you want to walk away for a few minutes but don't want to go into the energy saver preferences and tweak those settings. Something that uses a key combination or a menu bar icon would be just wonderful.

[cardinal]

What really bugs me is the lack of the ability to turn the screen of a mac off at will. It's extremely annoying on an iMac when you want to walk away for a few minutes but don't want to go into the energy saver preferences and tweak those settings. Something that uses a key combination or a menu bar icon would be just wonderful.

This is the second time someone has expressed the same annoyance, so I am really curious about rationale, because I am not able to imagine how it would be useful.

 

Although I have external monitor with a power button, I never use it. I have monitor sleep set to 5 minutes, and that takes care of it. I never just sit at the computer looking at it and not moving mouse for more then 5 minutes, except for watching videos, but that disables power saving anyway. And if I go to make a coffee for a few minutes and come back to find my monitor off, I just move the mouse, and it is on 3-4 seconds later.

 

The main drawback of not having sleep on, and having to press something to turn off the monitor, is having to remember to do it, and having to know ahead of time if you'll be away for a while or not.

 

If you have siblings/roommates and don't want them to see what is on your screen, a screensaver activated on demand should do the trick.

[Rockett]

Installing network printers that don't have their driver built in to OSX. You download the driver from your manufacturer - install it. Go the add the network printer and guess what? The new driver isn't an option. Plug the printer right in to the Mac and poof it works.

 

This drives me nuts.

[EPDM]

I hate not having a My Computer icon, coz I hate drives on me desktop.

 

Also can I create a drawer like in ObjectDock, and put all me desktop Icons in dere. I hate cluttered desktops!!

 

Also why are cracked apps so hard to find??? If u know any good links/forums, please PM me.

 

[sarcasm mode on]

 

I hate morrons who 'accidentally' installed MacOSX86 on their peecee and expecting it'd be like windows.

 

[/sarcams mode off]

 

 

Most of what I've read on this thread has nothing at all todo about that little app that would make life easier but all about the differences between OSX and Windows. In fact for some things mentioned here other users reply by giving the proper Mac OS solution (it's usually involving proper use of the keyboard). So most here is about us not knowing how Mac OS X works (at least not on the same level as our windows knowledge).

 

I suggest we stop this thread now or at least only let ppl who have thorough knowledge about OSX complain. Until we do know more of how a MacIntosh computer work. Perhaps we'd better read a good book about Mac OS X before "complaining" about the little things.

 

I for one will not participate in this thread any further until a) I learn to program and until I have sufficient knowledge about OS X.

 

Cya around ppl... after I finish reading that OSX manual :-)

 

EPDM

[BuXb]

Here is one that drives me f****** nuts! In Winblows you can open a ZIP file and NOT extract the content to look at it. In OSX, it extracts it without asking. ARRGGHHH!!! Irritates me.

Stuffit Deluxe. Make archives open with it by default and you're set.

 

About the home/ end keys I have come up with a solution here in this thread.

[Swad]

Just for the record, this isn't a thread for wishing OS X was like Windows - a lot of these annoyances are legitimate things within OS X.

[A Nonny Moose]

What really bugs me is the lack of the ability to turn the screen of a mac off at will. It's extremely annoying on an iMac when you want to walk away for a few minutes but don't want to go into the energy saver preferences and tweak those settings. Something that uses a key combination or a menu bar icon would be just wonderful.

 

Make an all black JPG and save it in a specially created folder. Then make that folder your screensaver. You can also then declare a hot corner for it to activate to "turn your monitor off" at will.

[br0adband]

I may be wrong about this, so if I am I apologize, but I'm quite certain what jpgodlew is talking about is related specifically to laptops. He's talking about actually shutting off the LCD itself to save battery life, hence his mention of the power savings. Since the LCD is arguably the most power hungry part of a laptop next to the CPU - which can typically change power needs due to speed switching based on usage - any power savings because of the ability to simply turn off the LCD would translate into far longer runtimes on a single charge of the battery.

 

While I'm not aware of any version of Windows (even Vista) that offers a "turn off the LCD when I press F12" sort of 'switch', at least with Windows you can set it to turn off the LCD when you close the lid without forcefully entering Sleep mode. I'm not sure OSX allows that, guess I need to look into it myself.

 

Again, I could be wrong but jpgodlew's specific mention of power savings makes me think that's what he's referring to: laptop usage and power savings by disabling the LCD at will.

 

bb

[velinn]

While I'm not aware of any version of Windows (even Vista) that offers a "turn off the LCD when I press F12" sort of 'switch', at least with Windows you can set it to turn off the LCD when you close the lid without forcefully entering Sleep mode. I'm not sure OSX allows that, guess I need to look into it myself.

 

I was asking about that earlier in the thread. I really dislike that when I close my lid, the laptop goes to sleep. Someone here said there was a way to change that, but I can't find any mention of it, and they never replied about how to do it. Even Google searches turned up nothing on the subject, except for other people that disliked this action as well.

 

Why do I need to close my lid? Well, like I said, I have cats. If you don't understand what that means, you don't have cats.

[br0adband]

Well, I guess this is straight from the horse's mouth.

 

If that's true and there's no way around it, I have to say that's pretty sucktastic considering I'm planning to get an MB/MBP at some point. I don't use external monitors - unless of course someone happens to give me a 20-30" ACD. So that feature, especially for conserving battery life by closing or somehow just turning off the LCD manually (would be nice, wouldn't it?) is conspicuously absent.

 

Not a good thing, in my opinion.

 

bb

[jgrimes80]

I was asking about that earlier in the thread. I really dislike that when I close my lid, the laptop goes to sleep. Someone here said there was a way to change that, but I can't find any mention of it, and they never replied about how to do it. Even Google searches turned up nothing on the subject, except for other people that disliked this action as well.

 

Why do I need to close my lid? Well, like I said, I have cats. If you don't understand what that means, you don't have cats.

 

 

It's called Sleepless I believe...