Introduction
It’s finally here. After years of waiting and at least two abortive attempts, Apple has finally released a brand new, stable, modern operating system. And what are Mac users doing about it? Whining.
We do this a lot. We may be fiercely devoted to our Macs, but our relationship with Apple is love-hate. And we’ve had cause to complain over the past 17 years. We’ve watched as Apple has lost great products to bad marketing; as Microsoft has stepped in and practically used Apple for its R&D; as the press has snubbed Apple for no apparent reason; and as the PC world has unjustly labeled Macs as unstable, incompatible toys.
Many of us have also earned the right to whine. The Mac community has been vocal enough to reinstate cancelled Mac versions of popular software titles. We’ve bugged our bosses until they let us have Macs, and then made them work in Windows territory: logging onto their networks, printing to their printers, opening their documents. We’ve learned file extensions, email encoding techniques, type and creator codes, ZIP and BMP files. We made noise when we hated Microsoft Word 6 and now Office for Mac is arguably better than its Windows counterpart. I could go on…
But with Mac OS X, the whining has gotten out of control. We’ve lost our perspective. We did well with the Public Beta; Apple responded to the feedback it received and OS X 10.0 was a vast improvement. But now many Mac users have abandoned constructive criticism and a healthy perspective in favor of complaints and reminiscences about the good ol’ days of System 6. Yet the future is brighter than that.
A Work in Progress
I’ve lost count of the cautiously hopeful writers proclaiming, “OS X is a work in progress.” Yes, it is, like every operating system. It’s not just the periodic patches and updates; it’s also the drivers, extensions, and utilities that make an OS grow and change constantly, meeting the needs its creators didn’t originally anticipate. Without some key enhancements, I certainly can’t use OS 9 efficiently.
And progress is being made on OS X, from all sides. In the three months since its debut, Apple has released four updates addressing some of its major shortcomings, such as speed and lack of support for built-in CD-RW drives. More are on the way. OS X ships with Internet Explorer 5.1, to which there has already been one update. Don’t like IE? Use OmniWeb. Both already support Flash. Apple has released iTunes, iMovie, and AppleWorks. Macromedia has released Freehand. Adobe, Macromedia, Microsoft, Connectix, and other major players have promised that their next versions will be OS X-compatible. Meanwhile, independent developers are building applications to fill whatever holes they perceive, from productivity tools to games to interface enhancements.
- Darwin home page
- The X on X Project: X Windows on OS X
- MacGIMP
Not enough? Don’t forget Darwin, OS X’s open source BSD core. The open source community is hard at work, recompiling BSD/Linux apps for Darwin. Already you can install a version of X Windows that runs alongside Apple’s user interface and load apps like the GIMP, an open source alternative to Photoshop.
Still not enough? Don’t forget how well Java is integrated into OS X. Run a Java program, and it pops up looking like another OS X app. Apple may not have included an administrative tool for your AirPort network, but just download the Java AirPort Configurator and you’re all set.
Let’s not forget Classic either. It’s getting a bad rap from the Mac press these days, which is frankly undeserved. I can run all my old apps alongside the nifty new OS X ones, with only a minimal loss of speed and stability. No, I don’t get protected memory, multiprocessing, or pre-emptive multitasking, but on the other hand I didn’t have them before. Classic is a remarkable transitional tool.
So when should you upgrade? That’s not an easy question to answer, nor one I can answer for you. Installing and learning a new OS takes time and some patience. But if you have that, along with memory, disk space, and $130, I encourage you to install OS X on a partition or separate drive and form your own opinion. For what it’s worth, I have upgraded. I use Photoshop, MS Office, and several other apps in Classic. I’m a fan of Entourage, but Mail is a decent program and I’ve switched over until Entourage is Carbonized (if Apple’s mail import scripts are giving you problems, see my manual mail conversion instructions). What I lose in Classic speed and stability I more than make up in native OS X apps: Mail, IE, OmniWeb, Preview, Acrobat Reader, iTunes, AIM, Interarchy, BBEdit, and others. Plus, I’m a UNIX geek and really like having a command line and the various BSD tools.
But whether you upgrade now or later, I suspect you’ll want to at some point, and more importantly you’ll have to. What’s important, then, is to examine Mac OS X from the standpoints of new users and users who have migrated and become comfortable.
Mac OS X: Usability
Aqua
Aqua is Apple’s new user interface for OS X. Frankly, it’s gorgeous. Windows casting shadows on other windows, translucence, subtle animations, candy-coated buttons, and the genie minimizing effect – these are unlike anything that’s gone before. Some complain that it’s too glitzy – it’s slow and why not take a minimalist approach that detracts as little as possible from getting work done? Well, yeah, it is a little slow. But taking a long term view: Apple will continue releasing updates to speed things up, and more and more people will have G4-based computers, on which Aqua is much faster. And Aqua may be more eye-catching than a minimalist approach, but it takes up about the same amount of space and fulfills the same needs, so it doesn’t detract from getting work done when it’s fast enough.
Given all that, I see Aqua as a tremendous advantage. Look at what the iMac did for Apple’s consumer sales. It was so successful that products from PCs to microwaves to phones started imitating it. Aqua is to software what the iMac was to hardware – and to consumers concerned more with style than with processor speed, nothing could be more important. (Microsoft has clearly reached the same conclusion in creating Windows XP.)
Know Your File System
One significant difference between Windows and Mac OS has always been the relationship between users and the file system. Windows users interact most often with the Start menu, Desktops, and My Documents folders. They don’t necessarily know that these are located at C:My Documents, C:WindowsDesktop, and C:WindowsStart Menu (in the simplest single-user setup). On the other hand, Mac OS 9 users generally know where their files are: their applications are in Macintosh HD:Applications, their documents in Macintosh HD:Documents.
I’ve always seen this as usability advantage for Mac OS, for several reasons:
- It’s relatively easy to explore the file system. In particular, this makes administering one’s own machine much easier.
- Mac OS generally avoids the cryptic clutter that often plagues Windows.
- With direct, comfortable file system access, Mac users are more likely to put things where they want them. Perhaps as a result, Mac programs are often more tolerant of files in odd locations, and the resultant support for customization gives users more freedom.
With the introduction of OS X, the gap has necessarily closed. All Mac OS X systems have the usual UNIX directories (/dev, /usr, /var, /bin, /etc), some containing hundreds of files whose location and name may be vital to the system’s operation. In addition, libraries, applications, and even mailboxes are often directories, each containing numerous files with resources, code, sub-libraries, and internationalization information.
Apple’s solution is to hide the advanced information. The standard UNIX directories and supporting files are simply not shown. Bundles, such as applications and mailboxes, are displayed as single files instead of folders. Users who want access to all this hidden information can obtain it via the command line. One can also hack into the Finder’s preferences to display hidden files. (This can be accomplished via the command line, Apple’s Property List Editor from the Developer Tools CD, or the freeware TinkerTool.)
At first I was dubious about this new scheme. But ultimately it seems like a good compromise: users remain familiar with what might be called the “front-end” file system on their disks. Some of the flexibility is gone, as far more items need to be in specific locations. But a user’s mental model continues to include a basic understanding of the file system.
Finder and Dock
We miss our Apple menus, our application switchers, and other OS 9 shortcuts. I personally miss the ability to launch my favorite apps with a single function key. Existing Mac users will have the hardest time adapting, but shouldn’t be the benchmark. Because we will adapt, and it won’t take that long. I already feel more comfortable in X than in 9. In the meantime, we should again be evaluating the Finder (and Mac OS X) from the two perspectives listed above (new users and users who have learned and adapted).
From those perspectives, there isn’t much difference. Your disks are on your desktop – as they were before. Double-clicking one opens a window with its contents – as it did before. Double-clicking a folder opens that folder’s contents – as it did before. Now, though, they appear in the same window. I suspect some people will like this and others won’t, but regardless you can change it in the Finder’s preferences. You can drop things onto your desktop for quick access. The icon and list views haven’t changed, and the columns view is a useful addition (though something akin to the Windows Explorer would be nice too). There are other helpful additions, including a customizable, hide-able toolbar with additional functions, shortcuts, and more display options.
The Dock has roughly the same functionality as the Apple Menu and application switcher did. The ability to minimize windows to the Dock is great, though Windowshade functionality will be missed (and I anticipate a third-party utility that will recreate it). Drawers are gone, but much of their functionality is part of the new minimization feature. I actually think the Dock could have learned a lesson from the Windows taskbar: Right now there isn’t enough segregation of application shortcuts, OS controls, open applications, folders, and minimized windows. But overall the Dock handles its tasks at least as well as its predecessors.
So there is some room for improvement here, and we know Apple’s hard at work with updates. But by and large, it’s the same as it was before. And if you agree that the OS 9 Finder had exceptional usability, how can you not reach the same conclusion about its OS X successors?
Mmm…Market Share
With Mac OS X, Apple also increases the Mac’s potential audience. Robustness and stability will clearly make the OS more appealing to designers, one of Apple’s core audiences. Similarly, stability and Aqua will increase appeal in the home and education sectors. In addition,
- Darwin has the potential to lure Linux/BSD users to the platform, since it can provide them with what they have now, plus the ability to run more mainstream apps and work with a full-fledged GUI when that might appeal;
- Power users who might want more “under the hood” access now have a time-tested command line interface;
- Users looking for a robust operating system for high-end tasks of any sort can now consider OS X a viable option;
- Corporate IT departments will find OS X much easier to integrate into existing UNIX-based (and even Windows NT-based) networks than its predecessor.
Couple this potential with Apple’s innovative, attractive hardware design and competitive pricing, and increased market share seems more attainable than ever before.
Conclusion
I’m not suggesting that OS X is perfect, or that changes and improvements aren’t necessary for its success. What I am saying is this: Instead of whining, we should be excited. There’s every indication that the necessary improvements are in progress. We’ll get used to what’s different about OS X. The non-Mac press is finally singing Apple’s praises. OS X beat Windows 2000 in CNET’s recent OS Death Match. So why aren’t we celebrating? Let’s tell everyone what a kick-ass platform we have! And more: Let’s give Apple the feedback it needs to keep making improvements, and let software and hardware companies know how important it is to port their drivers and applications. We’ve kept our faith and stuck with Apple. Now we have a chance to pull farther ahead in the OS race than ever before. Let’s take full advantage of it.