Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS
Things I'd Like to See in Leopard
WWDC is rapidly approaching and along with it we'll get our first preview of the features in Leopard. And so I've started to think seriously about the things that I'd like to see in Leopard. In no particular order:A New Finder
I've disliked Mac OS X's Finder since Mac OS X first shipped. It's not nearly as streamlined or versatile as it should be. It wasn't until Tiger that the Finder began to handle gracefully a disconnected server volume. I certainly don't miss the days when a disconnected server volume often meant restarting the computer. The Finder has gotten better by degrees, but it's still got a long way to go. For instance, why can't we have the Finder columns autosize itself to filenames so the full filename(s) is visible instead of having the user have to manually resize the column width? And if the Finder can remember window placement, why can't it remember a custom column width that I've manually set on a window? Also, why can't the green plus button be either a zoom/shrink button (as it is now) or a maximize button (a la Windows)? While I personally don't like full-screen window usage, I know that having such a UI element as an optional preference would greatly ease the switching process for Windows users. And why must we resize our windows only from the bottom right corner? Writing about the Finder just makes me angry, so I'll move on now.
Better Save/Save As Dialog Boxes
There used to be pretty good keyboard control over many of the dialog boxes that we're presented with. For instance, if you go to save a file, most of the Save As dialog boxes would also respond to hitting the letter S as if you were clicking the Save button; and hitting the letter C on the keyboard would cancel the dialog. But since Mac OS X's debut, this behavior is all over the place. Some programs are written to understand this, but most simply don't have the fine-tuned keyboard control. I know many many people who would immediately gain a major productivity boost were this type of feature to be included in Leopard or if Apple encouraged developers to use build this type of keyboard control into their applications. We used to be able to do it; why can't we now.
A Dashboard Toggle
This is an easy one. I already use the great Dashboard Killer to disable Dashboard on some of my machines. If it's so easy to turn off Dashboard, then why isn't this just a preference in the operating system?
Better Menubar Item Control
I don't know about you, but on my computers, everything has its place and generally my icons don't move around. Once I've put an icon or a program in it's proper place on the desktop or in the Dock, I do not want it to move around. I rely heavily on motor memory to stay productive. Dock icon magnification wants to make me punch someone; thankfully I can turn it off. So why can't I then have better control over the load order of my menubar items? Why is it that sometimes the Airport menubar item loads before the iSync one and vice versa?
A Better Firewall
The IPFW-based firewall in Tiger is pretty good, but it could be so much better. How much better? Well, it could be just like Little Snitch, and then I'd be happy. Give us better information about incoming and outgoing activity and a way to build rules on the fly based on that activity. It's only a matter of time before our platform is hit with a real virus or trojan, and having a great firewall would be a big step towards protecting us against unwanted intruders.
Better CD-RW and CD-R Burning in the Finder
In Windows, it's very easy to add more data to an already-burned CD-R or CD-RW. With tools like the excellent BurnXFree, you can add more sessions to a CD-R or CD-RW, but when burning in the Finder, you have to either settle for one session for every CD-R (essentially a one-time burn) or completely erase the CD-RW and then write to it again new. This is very clumsy behavior and not logical. Simply put, please allow me to add data to a CD-RW in the Finder without having to erase it first.
Well, I could go on all night. I'm sure some of you have things you'd like to see in Leopard. Let's hear it. What's your wishlist look like?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
bophojones said 11:22PM on 6-28-2006
The ability to natively run Windows applications from within Leopard without using an emulation program like Parallels.
As if that would ever happen...
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dky said 11:24PM on 6-28-2006
I'd like to see a virtual desktops kind of thing ...
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Gedeon Maheux said 11:30PM on 6-28-2006
I agree with pretty much all of your comments. The Finder does need a great deal of work to make it the rich application all Mac users need and want. The column view is definately the one that needs the most work in my opinion. Auto-sized columns would indeed be wonderful, but even more so would be the ability to view and sort columns by date. Navigating to something would be SO easy if all columns sorted by most recent first. Its a simple feature that would add a great deal to the Finder.
Plus, Apple's Finder icons are in desperate need of an overhaul. The default folder icon is without a doubt the worst offender of this held over from Mac OS 8 (remember Copland anyone?). It has no place in Mac OS X and a lot of people wish they would just go that little extra mile and replace it.
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david said 11:37PM on 6-28-2006
I second the keyboard commands. I have a hell of a time (ie: it wastes my time) by having to click on a button to save or tell Safari not to save a password. Sure, ESC cancels a dialogue box, but thats about it. Firefox responds well to hitting "N" to not save a password etc.., but its not a system wide thing.
A new Finder would be great. Mainly, a better way to connect to servers.
Heres hoping to a few of those fixes in 10.5
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Liquidmark said 11:39PM on 6-28-2006
The ability to run .exe apps without windows (As an option). Possible, But a long shot due to legal matters.
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macman said 11:41PM on 6-28-2006
Right on about finder.. as a switcher from WinXP, folder navidation feels tedious by comparison. I'd also like to be able to throw a window into the background ala BeOS by right-clicking the title bar. It's a super fast way to navigate screens w/ lots of windows open. Speaking of which, i'd like to see focus-follows-mouse, so that i don't have to click on a window to be able to interact with it, just hover over w/ the mouse. ahh Tracker.. man's best friend.
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Cody Peacock said 11:46PM on 6-28-2006
will my g3 be able to run leopard please no cause i really need a reason to upgrade
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Stephen said 11:48PM on 6-28-2006
Yes, auto-resize in Column View would be great. I like the Column idea, but I stopped using it because I can hardly ever tell what files are what as the default width isn't wide enough, and manual resize is too slow.
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Adam said 11:50PM on 6-28-2006
• The ability to change the system font. Lucida's butt-ugly. This was included, in a somewhat limited form, in Mac OS 8; why did they ditch it?
• A few Aqua shades other than blue and graphite. I'd like a variant for each of the old iMacs (save for Dalmation and Flower Power), but at least a red and a green and a white.
• And maybe a smaller font option for iTunes, for those of us who like to have a lot of tag columns onscreen or who want to see more tracks in the list.
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Stephen said 11:50PM on 6-28-2006
Oh, and I'd like to see Brushed Metal back. Wooo, brushed metal! Yeah! (At least as an option...?)
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Christopher said 11:53PM on 6-28-2006
1> iChat needs some improvement. for starters an instant messenger should only take two windows in text-chat mode: one window for the contact list and one for the open chat(s). iChat needs an Adium-like tabbed chat window. Also, having to have three windows open to see all of my contacts is silly: iChat needs to integrate the AIM, Jabber, and Bonjour contacts into one contact list. Secondly, iChat needs to be multi-protocol: that means Yahoo and MSN support needs to be added to iChat. the new Macs (like my iMac) are coming with the video camera built-in: for me this means either snubbing my family (who use Yahoo) to use iChat, having multiple chat programs open, or using a program like Adium and not using the camera. None of these are ideal solutions and I am sure there are others in the same position.
2>iSync syncs my bookmarks, calendar and address book information between my iMac and the Powerbook: the process is seamless and happens in the background. I want the same feature to be available for files and folders: intelligent syncing of documents between two computers. Here is how I want it to work: I get home from class; set my Powerbook down on the coffee table and open the lid: I want the iMac to notice the powerbook (via bluetooth or airport) and automatically start to sync the files that have been changed since the last sync - in either direction: if a file has been changed on both computers - then notify me of a conflict (just like it does with address book). Of course, I don’t want to mirror all of the files on the iMac to the Powerbook, so I also want to select the folders that I want to sync. All of the technology is available for this sort of thing and the number of people who have both desktops and laptops grows all of the time. In fact, most pro applications are licensed in a way that assumes that the user has both: syncing that “just works” is long overdue.
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Bryan said 11:53PM on 6-28-2006
I'd like...
1) Voip
2) DVD ripper
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Jedediah Johnson said 12:02AM on 6-29-2006
Though we could name lots of things for OS X 5, the truth is Apple attentionally leaves things out for the sake of having 3rd parties fill in certain needs. That way the Mac is a supported platform.
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Rafe said 12:32AM on 6-29-2006
Apple doesn't really have the ability to integrate reverse-engineered technologies into their OS willy-nilly. They did OK with Samba, because Microsoft doesn't have room to complain. But they'll piss off a lot of companies if they integrate Yahoo! Instant Messaging, MSN, etc. into iChat. Using the AOL network alone probably took a lot of negotiation.
Adium can get away with it because they're small and FOSS-like. Apple cannot.
This goes for NTFS support, Active Directory support, Exchange support, and other proprietary technologies. I'm tired of people asking Apple to support things that require reverse-engineering. Stick to well-documented technologies (HFS, Jabber, XML, PDF, LDAP, MBOX, etc.) and you can only expect the best support and compatibility from the best OSes.
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Nathaniel said 12:44AM on 6-29-2006
I'd be happy if the Finder would just join the 20th century and support multitasking. Seriously, you can't move a folder because a file in the same directory is alredy in the process of being moved? It's the file manager for people who have very few files and never actually manage them. Sigh...
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Gunesh Raj said 12:46AM on 6-29-2006
Hi, I would love to see:
1. Running windows Aps alongside with Macos Apps transparently.
2. Finder with MS Explorer features, like folder view on the left & thumbnail viewing.
3. Focused viewing, Maximising a window means taking up the full space. This is useful sometimes.
4. Safari Pages snapshot, where tabed pages will show like expose & we could choose.
5. Bash with color by default.
6. Desktop icons will be behind the dock & it makes it very hard to find that file, Ordering must be done so its easilly accesible.
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Chris Clark said 12:49AM on 6-29-2006
A dashboard toggle? Remove the menu from the dock, disable the F12 keystroke, and it'll never be activated. Simple as that. If it's already running and hogging your memory, then either kill the dock process or log out and log back in. If you don't activate it yourself, the widgets won't be loaded.
You want the system firewall to bug you constantly? Continue using Little Snitch, then. I can't imagine a world where constant interruptions from the system firewall would be of use to the average (non-ubergeek) user.
Better keyboard navigation? Turn on Full Keyboard Access. It's the first thing I enable on a new Mac. Just because it doesn't work 'just like the good old days' doesn't mean it doesn't work.
That said, menubar navigation does need some work. Particularly with reference to attaching keyboard shortcuts to the Applescript menu.
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Peter Lozzi said 1:15AM on 6-29-2006
For those who are disgruntled about column width... Hold the [OPTION] key when resizing finder columns, then close the window. (Make sure this is the first thing you do when you open the finder window.) Your custom column width will be remembered and applied to all columns.
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Christopher Williams said 1:34AM on 6-29-2006
It's funny to see so many who would like the core of OS X, the Finder, to be more like Windows, and to have seamless running of Windows apps.
1. Finder more like Path Finder (at the very least add a Drop Stack and tabs like PF4 -- an integrated terminal and image conversion from contextual menu would be bonus).
2. Hooks into gut technologies like Bonjour, Core Image and Core Data from Applescript.
3. Simple, intuitive Desktop switching.
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Michael H said 1:49AM on 6-29-2006
All of these things you mentioned shouldnt constiture a whole new OS. It can be added thru a software update.
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