Re: Why I hate Mac & OSX

On Oct 25, 5:52 am, -hh <recscuba_goo...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Posting order revised, for self evident reasons.

Fa-groon <fa-gr...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

It "don't belong here"? DON'T belong here? Did you flunk English?

Sorry, but since Mauitz isn't an obvious CSMA Troll, he deserves a
courtesy on grammar (particularly since his blog post isn't poorly
written).

Thank you, indeed English is not my first language (I'm originally
Swedish).

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:07:02 -0700, Mauritz wrote:

First of all the most obvious flaw which is the track pad with just one
button.

Yes, it does seem odd until you recognize that the 2nd hardware button
has been superseded by multitouch software.  It takes some awareness
to find the tutorial, plus some getting used to.  FWIW, I found it to
be a pleasant surprise as an upgrade to my 2005 vintage G4 laptop.


True, but I always try to turn off as much of the "click"
functionality. It works ok with multi touch gestures, but when it
comes to single click the chance of accidentally clicking while just
typing (Or worse dragging) just isn't worth it. If you accidentally
drag a node in XCode to somewhere else it can really mess stuff up
(Especially if you don't notice it until after you have committed your
changes to version control).

...On desktops
you at least have an option to enable two mouse buttons, but it
seems on laptops you have no such luck.

This shows the author (and, by reflection, rot) is stupid.

Sorry, but what it really means is that he is still in the "Lack of
Optimism". Windows mindset.

What is meant by this is that if the computer's operator encounters
some issue, those in the Windows mindset tend to throw up their hands
in frustration and say "Stupid Windows!" and stop looking for a
solution.

But an Optimistic Mindset operator says "this doesn't make any
sense ... there's got to be a way and I simply haven't found it" ...
and makes a small effort more to learn about his computer and as often
as not, finds what he was looking for.   I personally saw this sort of
self-help many times back when I was helping to supporting ~200
users ... and IMO it was one of the basic reasons  why Macs required
(for us) roughly 1/3rd as much IT support in our Enterprise...in
simplest terms, they didn't give up as easily.

In more recent years, the problem has become worse, as Windows
hardware has raced to the bottom:  when a particularly key or feature
is missing, the immediate negativity of the "Windows Mindset" was that
it could only have been eliminated because its cheap hardware - - and
no other possibilities, such as that the optimism that there was an
alternative (possibly better) solution.


I really do think that I have more of a positive mindset normally.
Originally I am a Linux/Unix user although I have lately been forced
to work a lot on Windows because of work. I usually have no problem
figuring out how the "right way" of doing things are for any given OS.
It's just that on Mac for a software developer it is simply not as
productive as either Windows or Linux mostly because of it being so
mouse centric. In XCode there simply is no way of working with it
without using the mouse (As a good example I can't switch to another
file that I am editing in my project without using the moues and I
have read through the entire list of keyboard bindings to find it and
failed).

Continuing with the Blog:

 "Next thing that annoys me immensely is that Apple have
 removed a bunch of very useful keys from the keyboard.
 The ones most obvious to me is PageUp, PageDown,
 Home and End. All keys which you as a coder use a lot.
 Granted I have the really small laptop, but even the 17"
 Macbook Pro still doesn't have those keys."

Same "Windows Mindset" negativity issue:  one assumes that the
elimination of a dedicated key means that the function is gone
forever.  All of the keyboard layouts have retained the up/down, left/
right keys ... try them with "Command+" ...

... and while you're at it, try also the others (Shift, Control,
Option)

Trust me, I have really looked. There just isn't a page up/page down
combination on the keyboard. There is a scroll up and scroll down,
that is not the same thing though because it doesn't move the cursor
so the moment you start typing it will jump back to where you were
before you started scrolling. I think it comes down to Apple simply
deciding that you're not supposed to use the keyboard to navigate
large documents which I as a coder find very frustrating (I've had a
chat with one of the Genius Bar people about it and got the response
back: Why would you wanna to that?).

 "Mac computers have no less than 5 modifier keys. Granted Windows
  machine have basically the same set of modifier keys. The difference
  is that on Windows two of them are use very sparingly."

Translation:  2 are very much underutilized on Windows.

 "On Mac you use all 5 modifier keys and a dizzying array of
combinations.
  They have also tied up all the function keys with rarely used OS
functionality
  so that when you are in X-Code for instance instead of using
something easy
  like F8 for step you are forced to resort to Command+Shift+O."

Even though I'm not an XCode user, what I immediately saw is that this
shortcut example was a variation on "Command-O", which is the UI-
constant "Open" command.  As such, adding "Shift" suggests that its
function will be derivationally similar ... and after a quick Google
search, I see that this is the XCode command for "Open
Dictionary"...YMMV, but this shortcut selection makes logical sense,
as it is an easier mnemonic than "F-anything"


Actually the problem is that when you are debugging code you have a
tendency to switch fast between these commands a whole bunch of times
(I'm doing these from memory so don't bite my head off if I get one
wrong):

Step Into, Step Over, Run and Step Out:

In Visual Studio they are mapped to: F10, F11, Shift+F11 and F5
respectively
In GDB/Emacs that are mapped to: i, s, o and g
In XCode they are mapped to: Command+Shift+I, Command+Shift+O, Command
+Option+P and don't remember the step out.

It is simply not designed to be productive. Especially the switching
between the multiple different modifiers is a pain.

But YMMV applies as to what's easier - if it really bothers you, there
are utilities that allow you to remap.

"Lets move on to the screen which compared to what I am used to
 really sucks. The resolution is simply atrocious....you can get
 1920x1280 resolution on a 15.4" screen but with Mac..."

You do realize that what you're asking for is nothing less than a full
1080p HDTV theater experience out of a laptop?  To meet THX industry
recommendations at a viewing distance of 2ft, you need a 15.6" wide
(not diagonal) screen.  As such, supporting 1080p on laptops smaller
than 17" is a waste of resources ...

... but the Windows industry recognizes that some of their customers
buy based on hardware specifications and ignore (or aren't aware of)
their physiological limitations, even though they'll convince
themselves via the PLACEBO EFFECT that they can perceive that there is
a difference.

I don't mean to be cruel, but unless you were able to successfully
pick "Screen B" 80% of the time in a scientifically valid BLIND-BLIND
controlled experiment, you bought based on what you believed was
better, not what you were actually able to perceive.

FWIW, as a rule of thumb, most people can't discern resolutions
significantly higher than 100dpi at typical computer viewing
distances.  Afterall, we're not all still 18 years old such that our
pupils are still flexible enough to be able to dilate all the way out
to 7mm pupil diameter (PD)...but by the time that we hit our mid/late
20's, our eyes have already degraded, and our max PD is down to
5mm ... yes, that's a 50% reduction in light-gathering.

In my use case I write code. The more lines I can make out on a screen
the better I can work. I have good eyesight. I always if possible
change to 8 point font and run the highest resolution available. On my
"real" laptop I have 1920x1200 on a 15.4" screen and it is great. I
can fit over hundred lines of code on the screen in one page. I just
don't like the 17" laptops because I bring my laptop with me
everywhere and they are just to cumbersome to bring around. I can pick
out the "good" screen 100 times out of a 100. It's really not hard if
you have good eyesight. Again, it comes down to what you use the
computer for. If all I did was edit photos or watch movies I wouldn't
care that much about the resolution but for writing code you just want
those DPI:s. All I'm saying is that I don't like the fact that with
Apple I don't have the choice even if my needs are in a minority.

 "Finally lets go on to build quality..My Air broke within about
  one month which is a record even for me."

But the product baseline is full-featured laptops that are <3lbs.
Other than the Air, what other products exist in your sample size to
be a fair comparison?  Please note that I said "full featured", so
netbooks with 7" screens don't count...they've sacrificed other things
(such as screen size) in order to get under that 3lb weight bogey.

FWIW, I wouldn't take a Lotus Esprit to a Demolition Derby.

I have a Lenovo X300 which is about the same size (And includes an
optical drive in that package). It has yet to break. Since I wrote
this message the Mac has broken down and needed repair again btw :).

Software....

Two generalized comments:  some of us prefer the de-linking of Apps to
Windows, as we loathe how Windows shuts down the App when we choose to
close all windows (such as when moving between projects).  Second,
some of us don't like the green button's lack of Maximize=fill screen
paradigm either...although I do have to say that I dislike Window's
version more, since it has an annoying habit of slightly OVERfilling,
whereupon I then waste time resizing.

I always use a laptop and there you don't have the issue with
incorrectly calibrated screens. I have seen it once in a while when
using a stand alone screens though and I agree that it is annoying.
You would have the same issue with a Mac though if you hooked it up to
a non calibrated screen (Like a TV with a computer input for instance)
with not seeing the menu bar.


Other...

"Apple is the only company I know of in the US who require a
  signature to their packages when you order something from their
website."

The caveat being "That You Know Of".   Suffice to say that they're not
unique in this regards.   For example, B&H (a premier retailer of pro-
level photography equipment).

Absolutely, it's just a little annoyance. It's just funny to me that
Apple is the one company I do business with that tries to force me to
get a printer (Because you need the printer to print out the
authorization form to leave the package at the door).

Just for the record, I did not post my blog entry to this group
because it obviously don't belong here.

Regardless, I hope that you'll see this reply.

-hh

I did. :)

/Mauritz
.

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