Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Software, Cool tools
Ten ways OS X rocks
Smashing Magazine does a good old-fashioned "why OS X is so much better" piece -- ok, well they're not that blatant (it's actually focused on the "top ten usability highs"), but with all of the iPhone/App Store news going around, it's kind of refreshing to see some nice, traditional Mac praise.So why is OS X better than other (*cough*Windows*cough) operating systems? Metaphors play a huge part -- when you use a Mac, you're not just browsing through files or using plugins, you're flipping through what look like album covers, or pulling up a "Dashboard." And everything is extremely intuitive -- it's clear upon first look at the screen what does what or where to find certain features of the operating system.
Every system has problems, and OS X is no exception. But using it day to day, OS X definitely gives out all kinds of "wait, it was that easy?" and "just works" moments. And that's why we're such big fans of it in the first place.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Adam said 4:49PM on 8-14-2008
How do you get tabs in a Finder window??
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Phlake said 4:59PM on 8-14-2008
According to the article, that screenshot is a mockup. Sorry, tabs in Finder still don't exist, at least not natively.
Kilopound said 11:05PM on 8-14-2008
Aw man, I just got really excited seeing that. Way to get my hopes up TUAW, just to smash them to the ground!
Rockwell said 4:53PM on 8-14-2008
Does anybody want to explain that screen shot? How did the Finder gain tabs?
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chinkanees said 4:57PM on 8-14-2008
hmm, what's this with the tabbed browsing in 'finder'? never seen this feature before. i guess this is photoshopped? 8-|
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heytpn said 5:00PM on 8-14-2008
Nice new comment system! Anyway, Windows is intuitive, too. I have nothing against Macs, but It's kind of hard to navigate through OSX. It's easy, but not AS easy. Just sayin'....
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Matijs said 5:12PM on 8-14-2008
i just used vista and its a damn good filebrowser, better than osx !! (sorry guys)
corpirate said 7:35PM on 8-14-2008
sorry.. i just don't agree with that at all.
I've always found the layout of the filesystem in Mac OS X to be incredibly logical.. and therefore have no problem using Finder to get to the app/file that I require.
Whenever I use Explorer it just feels incredibly detached from the computer, and the layout is horrible.
I also find with Windows that you are encouraged at every available opportunity to keep things on the Desktop. It seems that if you want to get to where your files are actually stored they are buried away under 3+ clicks or double clicks, in folders which are titled terribly.
In Mac OS X, click the Finder icon.. and you are taken directly to your files.
I also find that launching an App in Mac OS X can be achieved much faster with the Dock, or even a Applications stack in the Dock, or as another user points out.. Go/Applications.. or even clicking the Finder icon and then the Applications folder in the Sidebar.
Macskeeball said 11:30PM on 8-14-2008
Most likely you're just used to the way Windows works by now, even though its interface is often more poorly thought out from a scientific usability perspective.
Alex said 5:03PM on 8-14-2008
Yeah, a comment system that actually works.
But seriously, is there a way, besides PathFinder, to get tabs into Finder?
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George said 5:09PM on 8-14-2008
Umm...from this Windows user perspective, it is NOT obvious from first glance as to how to start an application that is not on the desktop. You are presented with icons on the desktop-much like Windows-but after that...a misplaced menu bar that, seemingly, has nothing to do with the desktop until you click it. "FINDER", which I would expect to bring up something like EXPLORER, instead brings up system related stuff. Nothing in the menu starts an application. No, you are supposed to click the little 'Finder' icon on what appears to be the task bar but is really something called 'the Dock.' Huh? At least in Windows (prior to Vista, anyway) there was something called 'START'. Now, even Vista muddies the water a bit by replacing 'START' with an orb. WTF?
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Dave said 5:45PM on 8-14-2008
Um.. Go > Applications is difficult?
The reverse argument could be that I click Start on Windows and see nothing for applications. Just a bunch of seemingly random sub-menus about the system.
I get your point though. If you've grown up on one particular platform, switching to the other will naturally create a learning curve. I used DOS, then Windows for about two decades before I switched to OS X a few years ago. There was a learning curve but I found that, overall, OS X was more intuitive in day-to-day use.
Ben Hollander said 8:51PM on 8-14-2008
I understand your points as I used to be a Windows user DIFFERENT from Windows. This isn't fair, if a Mac user went to use a PC they would be confused because where the dock is, there is something called a task bar?
Also, isn't Explorer a lot like finder? You browse your system/hard drive......
Balls said 5:28PM on 8-14-2008
The biggest reason I dig MacOSX is that it doesn't get in my way.
I get to do almost all the things I want (except playing games) without having to fight with my computer.
Windows has gotten better about being annoying, but it still has a long way to go before it catches up to OSX (imo).
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Jono said 5:33PM on 8-14-2008
I'd consider myself an Apple fanboy & for the last few years with Macs it did 'just work' for me.
But since Leopard, iPhone updates & MobileMe I don't have that cosy feeling anymore. It doesn't all 'just work' for me anymore. I still prefer OS X to Windows & could never see myself going over to Windows, but I don't feel as smug as I used to.
It just seems to me that Apple are doing too much & spreading themselves too thin lately.
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Balls said 5:34PM on 8-14-2008
#7 is a bunch of horse-shit. In order to make changes to your ipod/iphone in iTunes, you have to hit apply.
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Kieran said 5:39PM on 8-14-2008
I think one thing that makes Finder great especially for switchers like me is that, if you've used iTunes you know how to use finder. Devices, smart searches etc all down the left side. Coverflow to flip through your data and get previews and even the way folders can be expanded works like the podcasts in iTunes. It was a great idea to make it work like that.
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Mark Jaquith said 5:41PM on 8-14-2008
You really should replace that screenshot with something that isn't a mockup. The incongruity between an entry praising the ways OS X rocks with a mockup calling out ways OS X sucks is too much to bear.
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Hansi said 5:48PM on 8-14-2008
After using Mac OS for 6 month I have a huge amount of things that bug me, a lot more than on Windows, the main reason I still use OS X is its superfast sleep mode, Vista takes at least 5 seconds to boot from sleep, OS X does it in probably 2 seconds every time.
But the Finder is the worst, even Mac fanboys are going to have a hard time convincing someone the Finder is better than Explorer
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Lerxst said 2:10AM on 8-15-2008
Gotta agree with that..when it comes to file management, Finder is quite basic. The only way around that, for me, was to shell out some extra money for PathFinder, but then I suffer a bit with having 2 "finders" at the same time, there are moments they don't get along well, e.g. changing desktop background, or with apps that put stuff in the desktop such as CoverSutra.
That's pretty much my only major grip with OS X, though. Even though I enjoy XP as well, when it comes to the experience (no pun intended) OS X is way better.