Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Software, Features, Productivity
My top X unlikely requests for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Major new features in the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard like Time Machine are great, but I've been thinking about all the other aspects of the Mac OS X experience that could use some spit and polish from Apple's engineers. They've done a fantastic job building a damn impressive OS over the years, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvements both big and small (besides: they have to keep their OS product cycle on a good pace). Following is a list of 10 unlikely requests I have for the next version of Mac OS X that might not be worthy of a Stevenote, but they could bring smiles and sighs of satisfied relief to many a user:
- Removing applications - and all their baggage: Deleting (or "uninstalling") an app on Mac OS X is easy: you just move it to the trash. But what about all the extra data apps create when you use them (databases, media libraries, etc.)? Sure there are 3rd party apps like AppZapper that truly remove the app and all those extras, but I think Leopard needs an integrated, obvious and thorough process for removing apps and their extra baggage (perhaps AppZapper could go the way of CoverFlow?). I can't count the number of times I've been asked how to do it by users both old and new. This method could include a dialog when dragging an app to the trash which asks the user if they want to nuke the 'extra' files like Application Support directories and preferences. I know many apps don't leave much behind, but it all can pile up, and there are at least a few apps that really know how to gobble up the mega and gigabytes. To help everyone get on the same page though, a dedicated System Preferences pane would work best.
- Don't make me eject an idle drive: This one is always a tricky conversation, and I should disclose up front that I am certainly no developer. All I know is that it seems just a little strange in the year 2006 (or 2007, once Leopard is released) that I still have to eject a flash drive I haven't touched in two hours. Mac OS X is now both smart and pretty - I don't think it should be that hard to implement some kind of smart ejection system that can eject the drive when not in use, but fire it back up when needed. Further, if we set my lazy nerd ambitions aside for a moment, I'm sure this would save the lives of countless finance reports and term papers for all those users who don't understand what 'ejecting' a drive means or why they have to do it.
- Multi-disc spanning throughout: iTunes, at least since version 4 (and possibly earlier?), has been smart about spanning data/backup burns across multiple discs if the media you're burning exceeds the size of the CD/DVD you inserted. In other words: it's darn smart about backing stuff up. I think it'd be great if iTunes would share some of its secrets with the rest of Mac OS X and its 3rd parties so *everything* can be smart about spanning multiple discs when burning. Finder - I'm looking you dead square in the eye, and iPhoto is next in line.
- Learn some things from the Windows Start button: Before you delete TUAW from your bookmarks, hear me out. The Finder's menus, especially the Go menu as well as the Apple menu, more or less all tag-team most of the same 'launch pad' functions that the Windows Start button offers, but I think they could use some fleshing out. For example: the Go menu offers shortcuts to locations in the Finder, such as the Applications menu - why not turn that Applications location into a dynamic menu that allows direct access to clickable application aliases? Why make me open a Finder window at all?
- Full NTFS friendliness: This isn't just coming from my Boot Camp-using side, as I hear woes from classmates and employees across the web, annoyed that Mac OS X can't write to NTFS drives (the default file system for the latest versions of Microsoft Windows). Sure it can read them, but it can't write anything to them - an obnoxious roadblock for those using external hard drives formatted by these latest versions of Windows, as well as Boot Camp users who can't dump files onto the very Windows partitions Boot Camp creates for them. This request is further driven by the fact that I've found cheap ($30) utilities on the Windows side for reading Mac OS X's HFS+ drives, why can't Mac OS X write to NTFS drives? In other words: it's going to be 2007 when Leopard lands - these OSes should be able to speak each others' languages. [Update: I thought I had seen a utility for Mac OS X to write to NTFS drives, but I can't remember its name and readers are commenting that it doesn't exist, in part on account of Microsoft not releasing code for it.[
- Polish your integration: This one is a little harder to articulate, but sit back for moment and think about all those little areas where application integration is such a dream, yet one little quirk brings the house of cards tumbling down. My best example: iPhoto + Desktop & Screen Saver preferences. Oh sure, iPhoto's albums appear in that System Preference Pane, but since the last one or two versions of iPhoto, they can no longer be used to randomly change wallpapers; the option grays out. Unless, of course, you select an album or a few images in iPhoto, then chose Share > Desktop. But then that produces the bizarre behavior of opening the Desktop & Screen Saver Preference Pane... you see where I'm going here? It isn't a seamless experience, and what's worse: in my example, it *used* to work properly with iPhoto '04.
- Make the screenshot process more obvious: I know this one might upset a few 3rd party developers, but taking a screenshot in Mac OS X is a fundamental yet still cryptic process. Traditional PC keyboards have a better-known 'Print Screen' key, and when you consider that nearly 50% of new Mac users are Windows switchers, you already have a good case for *something* to be done. Now pile on the fact that tips for taking screenshots with native Mac OS X tools are still circulating the Mac web, and it's clear that plenty of users both old and new are confused on the process. What's worse: an app called "Grab," buried in the Utilities folder where many users inarguably don't venture (just like the unsung Services menu), isn't helping matters either. This is another area where I think Windows, at least the new Vista, has a good idea: a dedicated, more powerful new screencapping app called "Snippets" is in the Start menu; perhaps one of the places with the best odds of catching a user's attention. [Update: yes, the *process* of taking a screenshot (cmd - shift - 3/4) is inarguably easy on Mac OS X, but I still maintain that *learning* about that process and Grab.app is cryptic for users both old and new. Besides the Help files, I can't find that keyboard shortcut listed anywhere in Mac OS X - not even in Grab.app itself. Update 2: Readers have pointed out that the screenshot keyboard shortcut is also buried in the Keyboard & Mouse Preference Pane. Touché, but I would still argue that isn't quite as obvious as it could or should be.]
- To click-through, or not to?: Another somewhat abstract Mac OS X behavior, but it makes a lot of difference to most users whether they know it or not. John Gruber has written at length about click-through in Mac OS X, as it's an element of an OS that can really smooth out the ride. In summary: click-through is a behavior which allows a button or other element of an application to be clicked on and activated when it isn't in the foreground (and it also relates to how apps in the background look, such as dimmed buttons and search fields). Windows treats nearly everything as a button, no matter which app or window layer it's sitting on, and a good portion of Mac OS X decidedly does not (this isn't the post to discuss why, but the cliff notes reason is that it's a usability desicion). However, some apps, like the Finder (and until recently, Safari), still do exhibit this behavior, and it can make for an awkward and unsure experience. While it can be argued that click-through is useful in some specific instances, such as being able to pause/play music from iTunes regardless of whether the app is in the fore/background (and I would agree), this behaviorneeds to get cleaned up across the rest of the system and 3rd party apps to help standardize the experience.
- Offers a quick tutorial for new(ish) users: Something that plays on the first boot of Mac OS X and is easy to exit, save for later or never see again. Granted, this is also something driven by the wave of new users switching to the Mac, but let's face it: users both old and new could benefit from a quick tutorial of working with Mac OS X, as well as some of the behavioral differences from Windows. This includes little things like using cmd-delete for moving files to the trash, as well as all the extra goodness Apple has baked into the OS, like FTP ability and system-wide spell checking that sometimes needs to be manually enabled (I'm looking at you, Safari). This could preemptively answer a lot of newbie questions, as well as provide a pleasant, multimedia experience for new users who have just landed on foreign territory. Bonus points for using the much-hyped new Speech services in Leopard for all the directions and voice-overs.
- Release the long-rumored 'Home on iPod' feature: Maybe this one isn't that 'unlikely' since rumors have made the rounds on the Mac web for at least a couple years now, but I've been salivating for this feature since I heard about it. iPods are getting pretty spacious these days, and users are on the go and working on multiple machines now more than ever. While the iDisk is a web-based solution good for a few documents and Quicken database backups, it really can't handle the heavy lifting that today's Mac users demand. Having an easy way to sync directories through an iPod would be the cat's meow (get it?), and it would bring relief to many a file management-induced headache.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Keith said 1:13PM on 11-05-2006
I just want iChat to be more appealing, or comparable to Adium...
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follerec said 1:15PM on 11-05-2006
*Learn some things from the Windows Start button*
Why not just create a folder with aliases to your most often used apps, then drag this folder to the dock. The Finder "Go" menu isn't always available (remember, Mac menus only display the current app). The dock is always available. Or you could use some sort of addon for this. I remember there's something available in MacUpdate.com.
Or just use spotlight. Or Command-tab to the Finder, Command-Shift-A, type the name of the app, then Command-O. Both are faster than having to mouse click your way through.
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iFelix said 1:18PM on 11-05-2006
One thing I would like OS X Leopard to be able to do is something like System Restore on Windows XP.
So when I have installed 10.5.6 and realise that this has caused some third party apps to go a bit weird, I can roll back to 10.5.5 really easily.
Often an OS update has caused certain applications to fail such as EyeHome with an update to 10.4. A system restore would make life a little easier.
I don't think Time Machine has this capability, but I would like to see it in Leopard.
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jhn said 1:45PM on 11-05-2006
Application "uninstalling" is the wrong way to go. A definite superiority of OS X is the lack of a need to "install" and "uninstall" applications. You just copy and delete the one file. Following Windows and Linux on this is a really, really bad idea
As to support files, remember that these are mostly just xml plists or data you've created. Sometimes there are big-ass caches. Maybe there should be a "cleanup" feature that would get rid of old preference and support files, as well as caches and logs and other random stuff throughout the OS.
But this cleanup feature should be separate and not connected with the idea of "uninstalling" applications. This uninstalling nonsense encourages Adobe-style application puke, where instead of keeping everything wrapped up into one bundle there are a bunch of other extraneous folders and such. At least Adobe keeps them all in /Applications, but it is still really messy. Earth to big developers: templates and so forth can go inside Application bundles, too.
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Fraser said 1:23PM on 11-05-2006
I like all of the ideas you have mentioned, and would request the myself! but one more i would request would have is as follows: OS X is marketed as a visually brilliant OS, but one thing that bugs me is if you have lots of flash drives, and an external in a few partitions, the desktop can get confusing with so many similar icons, so, my solution is that OS X should have a bank of built in icons tat you can easily switch between so it is easier to distinguish between drives, or a way to pick and choose exactly what drives you want on the desktop, as th choice is currently very restricted.
I know its a small thing, but one of these things that would make it much nicer to use (for me, at least)
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Gyve Safavi said 1:27PM on 11-05-2006
How about these:
1) Give movies icon previews like pictures (in thumbnail view)
2)Allow people to maximize windows to full screen (without dragging the corner)
3) Give people a more comprehensive manual IE with keyboard shortcuts , zoom feature, All my friends who are switching don't even know half of the cool features on a mac!
4)Please, for the love of God, make it simple to share files with users on a network. NO, PUBLIC FOLDERS SUCK! Why can't anyone get it right? Windows never recongnizes half of the computers and macs, well they have drop boxes.
5)Do something about font sizes in TextEdit!
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jhn said 1:28PM on 11-05-2006
Also, the Windows start button, where you are layering one hierarchy (the Start button menu) ontop of another (the weird and disorganized Program Files directory) is really dumb.
And then, because the Start menu itself is really disorganized and random, you have the weird XP hiding/unhiding menu items behavior which is just wrong.
If anything, the Applications folder should just be better organized into subfolders. (I don't like how you can't move some Apple apps around without breaking Software Update. I get around this by using color labels for different kinds of apps.)
A more organized Applications folder means you don't need to add an extra layer of menus and launchers on top of it. And the dock is for frequently launched applications.
If Spotlight in Leopard improves as an app launcher (a la Quicksilver, etc), maybe all of this talk will be obsolete.
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Raz 4 life said 1:30PM on 11-05-2006
Shift + Command + 3/4
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jhn said 1:35PM on 11-05-2006
My request: move the Application name in the menubar to the right side of the screen, like in the classic OS. This way, the "file" menu and the rest aren't always bouncing around.
If you want to look at anything from Windows, look closely at the new Office ribbon and compare it to tabbed inspectors and palettes. I think the Office ribbon is a bad idea for Office itself, as it is really wasteful you want to work on multiple documents. (And it perpetuates the Windows constantly-maximized-window habit.) But for single-window applications, like iPhoto, it's pretty slick. And it's better than putting random buttons all over the place like in all the iLife apps.
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Nik Fletcher said 1:39PM on 11-05-2006
Heh. Unlikely requests for Leopard? How about...
Down with Brushed Metal!? :)
Re-write Finder. :)
Not using iTunes 7 as a UI model?
Let's get a consistent UI and *then* build on it! Original requests I know ;)
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Scott Rose said 1:46PM on 11-05-2006
These are OUTSTANDING suggestions, and I have one that is just as needed. Under your heading "Polish your integration", this is the #1 biggest problem that EVERY SINGLE NEW USER TO THE MAC ENCOUNTERS:
THERE IS NO WAY TO ACCESS THE iPHOTO LIBRARY FROM WITHIN AN OPEN DIALOG BOX!!
We're talking about users who have used webmail for years, and aren't quite ready to make the leap to Apple Mail yet. So when they go to attach photos to an outgoing email in their webmail program, they get an "open" dialog box, but absolutely no way of browsing their iPhoto Library in an easy-to-use manner!!
Oh sure, they'll try to click around in their "Pictures" folder inside the "iPhoto Library" folder, but as you know, that folder makes absolutely no sense to human beings, and is nowhere NEAR the Mac experience that it should be!!
Even worse, they'll try to go into the Finder and muck around in the iPhoto Library folder, and before they know it, they've corrupted their entire iPhoto Library b/c they started renaming pictures & moving them around & throwing away seemingly-meaningless folders!!
EVERY SINGLE MACINTOSH USER should be able to **VISUALLY BROWSE** their iPhoto Library right from any open dialog box, just like you can browse your iPhoto Library when you click on the "Media" button inside Pages or Keynote or iWeb or Comic Life. WHY ISN'T THERE A "MEDIA" BUTTON RIGHT WITHIN THE OPEN DIALOG BOXES??
Some companies like Snapfish.com have actually addressed this limitation on Apple's behalf, by creating plug-ins for Safari that actually LET YOU BROWSE YOUR iPHOTO LIBRARY RIGHT FROM YOUR OPEN DIALOG BOX!!
But Apple needs to step up to the plate and do this for its users, instead of depending on a few companies here & there to make up for this limitation on Apple's behalf.
Not everybody is going to switch to an email client right away that is supported by iPhoto, and be able to use iPhoto to integrate with their email program. 99% of the people I meet on a regular basis use webmail, and they want to easily attach photos to their outgoing webmail.
And -- even if these users DO switch to Apple Mail as their email client, many of them are clicking on the little paperclip "attach" button to try to attach photos -- and once again, they end up in the EXACT SAME DILEMMA. They don't know that they have to switch to iPhoto FIRST and THEN switch into their email application.
If the Mac is supposed to be so intuitive, why does Apple make this so difficult?? I deal with this problem at least twice a week.
Nobody at Apple is in the field every single day like I am, getting new users to switch to the Mac, and therefore, nobody at Apple sees what I see in the field. There are MAJOR areas of the Mac operating system that MUST BE MADE more user-friendly for new Mac users. There are parts of the operating system, such as this, that just make absolute NO SENSE at all.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. APPLE MUST IMPROVE THIS EXPERIENCE.
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Tice Tice said 1:55PM on 11-05-2006
How about the missing Command/X for files. I really miss that simple thing to "transport" files through the filestructure with cutting out and pasting somewhere else without loooong drag'n'drop procedure.
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Leonard Nimrod said 1:57PM on 11-05-2006
Apple keyboards don't have a "Print Screen" function, but the process is much easier than with Windows. One keyboard command and the image is saved to the Desktop. Windows requires I access a program like Paint to paste the copied image to. But I'm still not done, I have to choose to Save the file and where to save it.
It may not be obvious, but it's certainly easier.
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sjmills said 1:58PM on 11-05-2006
The click-through thing is really annoying, mostly because it isn't consistent throughout Apple apps. No window should allow click-through unless that window has a specific need or it. I can't tell you how many times I've inadvertently clicked a button when I only wanted to bring that window forward. It took a while to unlearn the old behavior of no click-through, and not it takes more time to click a background window because you have to aim for areas that have no UI elements.
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JD said 2:06PM on 11-05-2006
The problem with NTFS write support isn't Apple, it's M$. That is the same reason you can't write to NTFS using Linux or any of the BSDs. And before someone tells about writing to NTFS with their Mac/Linuxbox/toaster/auto-muffler -- I'm talking about released non-beta code that the author doesn't drop 5 caveats and a "watch out you may trash your data" warning onto. M$ is under no compulsion to release the inner workings for NTFS so Apple would be nuts to chance releasing code that might send everyone's NT filesystem to the bit bucket.
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John said 2:07PM on 11-05-2006
About the "Windows Start Menu" - Put the Applications folder in the dock, click and hold your mouse or right click to pop up a menu of all the contents of that folder....
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Jon said 2:42PM on 11-05-2006
One thing I miss from Windows is the address bar on Explorer windows. It made it very easy to edit and copy+paste the current directory.
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iDarbert said 12:27PM on 11-06-2006
"This request is further driven by the fact that I've found cheap Mac OS X utilities for accomplishing this, as well as cheap utilities on the Windows side for reading Mac OS X's HFS+ drives."
Is that even possible? Or you meant to say there aren't utilities for Mac OS X who do the same job as MacDrive does with HFS+ under Windows?
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oompa loompa said 2:12PM on 11-05-2006
years ago when i bought a powermac 6400/200 there was a mac intro/tutorial on start up and it was there on the machine for the future...
it was a woman who walked on top of windows and pointed things out etc...
anyone else remember that?!?!
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Andrew Eller said 2:20PM on 11-05-2006
What I hate is when using fast user switching, sometimes the screen turns a shade of blue. I used to have to log out and back in to fix it until i found a script on this site that fixed the issue. I still wish the issue would be fixed though.
Another thing is that if you have a password prompt upon waking from sleep, and then from that dialog box you select the "switch user" button, the screen does the cube rotate but it has an awful grey speed lines look that makes you think you messed up your computer.
I also hate that you can sometimes still click on menubar icons while in the dashboard.
I also don't like how if you have exposé set as a hot corner and are using dual displays, the screen messes up when trying to zoom in on the screen, the computer tries to do an expose when you are moving the mouse cursor.
I also wish for the media browser in the file open menus.
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