macOS: A Linux User's Opinion

macOS: A Linux User's Opinion

The Linux Experiment's videos

#apple #macos #linux #technology #software

[rswierczynski]

I used Windows and Linux a lot during my life, because I always liked to customize and tweak the files as much as I could, and I "hated" platforms that opted for a more simplified and casual experience, claiming that they were platforms for people who did not understand computers. Today I'm using MacOS for 2 years, working as a programmer, and in my spare time the last thing I want to do is dig around files and customize something in my operating system. Today I understand that, in fact, MacOS was not the ideal system for me as a teenager, but today, I want the most direct and simple experience possible, and because of that MacOS has become my daily use system.

Some old friends even joked saying "wow, you used to hate Apple and today you carry a Macbook and an iPhone everywhere". Yeah... times change.

[GeorgeSK]

As a lifelong Windows user I switched to Macos last year. I really love it, but I agree that file management is behind Windows. There are 3rd party apps for some of these nags. But there is one big advantage *nobody* usually mentions in reviews - *the Time Machine backups*, they work like a charm, plug and play on external drives. Restoring an accidentally deleted file or even application is a matter of seconds, *even restoring or migrating the system to the exact state as you left it at the last backup without time consuming reinstallation of apps.* A complete migration/restore of the system with apps from a backup in around 30-45 minutes.

[Jaroshevskii]

Your macOS doesn't have graphics acceleration. The system will have transparency and possibly other effects and the system will not be as smooth to use

[carlsouthern]

I use linux on my home PC and my primary home laptop, but as a photographer and videographer I find that, for many reasons, the Mac is the best specialized tool for those jobs. That being said I yearn for a time where true professional photo and video apps are available on linux

[charliesumorok]

20:00 You are more used to having them together. The menu bar is useful for bypassing keyboard shortcuts on websites. It also has search built in, which does not need to be implemented by the app.

[AntonioBrandao]

In macOS Finder there is the “cut” feature: just include the “Alt” key when you paste, and it will move the file. You still have the option to paste without moving if you skip the “alt” key. MacOS lets you decide at the moment t of pasting.

In macOS there are features you don’t even know about which are great. For example you can cycle between windows of one application using the keyboard, or cycle between apps regardless of how many windows each has open, unlike Alt-tab in windows that cycles between all windows of all applications.

[nanoblackz]

@26:50 For those who doesn't know about moving file (cut) on mac, the feature is already there. When you want to cut the file instead copying it, right click on the file -> click copy -> on the destination folder, right click then hold "options" button on keyboard -> Then in the pop up menu, there will be "move" or "move here" options -> click "move" or "move here", then it will cut the files to the destination. "Options" button is there on mac keyboard for alternative menu.

[Patrikch]

I really like macOS especially now with Apple Sillicon. I also use many apps like Pixelmator Pro or Final Cut Pro, which are macOS only. I also have PC with Windows, but I am using it only for gaming. My dad was working at Microsoft here in Czechia during the Longhorn development and they were brainwashed about the new File Systrem etc. What we have now? Nothing. NTFS is really outdated and not optimised for SSD drives, unlike APFS or Ext4. Also it looks like the NT kernel is going to be outdated. I also like experimenting with Linux. I really like the new Gnome, becauce it kinda looks like macOS. 😅

[charliesumorok]

24:44 If they are using the terminal to download something, they are likely to be able to use other commands, like open, to open the current directory (.), which, for the terminal, is the home folder by default.

[natbarmore]

5:36 that’s an interesting perspective on design languages. The reason I don’t like overly-flat designs is precisely because they _lack_ readability and contrast. I’ve run into this on Windows 11, some parts of Windows 10, Android of the last few years, Google Chrome, some Linux desktops, and the last several versions of macOS (particularly in light mode). It’s not specific to any one flat design language.

macOS used to be _so_ much better when it comes to subtle visual contrast and interaction cues. It’s still better than everything else I’ve tried, but that’s largely a testament to how much work it is to do well (and most OS designers either lacking the skill or choosing to spend their efforts elsewhere) and how big Apple’s UX lead was, rather than having to do with what Apple has done recently.

[syn]

In the dock settings, you can allow the dock to hide, tweak its size, and even force windows to not minimise in a preview bit in the program's icon. Heck, you can even hide the menu bar according to a wide range of behaviours in there too.

[Rthabett]

For me Mac os did actually make me more productive and it's pleasant to the eyes especially the animation.

[ha.alamin]

The classic zoom window functionality isn't to “make the window as big as possible”, but to toggle between ‘user-set size’ and ‘application-set size according to the content inside’. So zooming a browser when looking at a page of a certain width, for example, will resize it to as wide as the page content. Since it's application-dependent, if there's no content, it may not have a sensible default to set it to.

[charliesumorok]

18:02 You can use ⌥ and double click any corner. This is combining snapping the window corner to the edge by double clicking the corner, and ⌥ to mirror the resize actions to the opposite side.

[natbarmore]

25:18 ⌘-up arrow in the Finder takes you up to the parent folder of wherever you are.

Though if you’re gonna be organizing your files a lot*, I recommend switching to the column browser view. (And turning on the file path display.)

* as opposed to just dumping everything in the Documents folder and using tags and/or search to find the right file

[netom]

The ribbon in MS products is quite screen-estate hungry, hence not clearly superior to menus.

Menus are a great way to provide explorability and also a good tool for learning about keyboard shortcuts.

They have a simple way to adapt to screen size constraints too.

Having a single menu bar, as opposed to one per application window, further reduces the screen estate waste.

[sko]

Historically, the green button tries to fit all information displayed in as less space as possible. If the current view space does not show all the content, it will make the window just big enough to show it. If your window is to big for the content, it will shrink it so that it just can hold it. I think it was called 'fit to content' in the Mac Bible. Clicking it again will take you to the last state. That's what I love about macOS pre X, it made so much sense.
Also historically, the red button only closes a document, in times where programs (I guess you'd call it apps nowadays) would takes ages to start. Not an issue anymore, but then there's a download in Firefox going, and I like to close the website I'm just on. Firefox asking me if I want to cancel the download. Why? Do you really need an useless window to continue the download?

[Alphalaneous]

The inconsistent closing is also half a problem in Windows, many third party apps minimize on close on windows and it gets annoying

[OktayAcikalin]

16:00 The idea is from the time when we had slow spinning hard drives or disk drives. Keeping an heavy app running, which you would use regularly, gives you the feeling of a faster OS. Even if Windows and Linux keep their file manager in memory, starting them up each time would be much slower.

Today we have much faster systems and app startup times, so yeah they could drop it. But as I just verified on my slightly older i5 laptop and workhorse, nautilus needs like 3 seconds to execute (not counting loading it from the SSD), but it keeps itself around in memory for some seconds. So when I call it again, the window opens instantly. I think, this is the best compromise. The close button works as expected, and the management is hidden behind the curtain.

[MusPuiDiTe]

For the missing shortcuts Photos and Music, the reason is that Mac has always been developed as application based: you open your favorite Music or Photos management app, that saves things in that folder...it's more likely that for Apple there's no need to have a shortcut that the average user will never need