Why does everybody think OSX is so easy?

[mamamia88]

After about a week of trying I finally hackintoshed my pc. Been using my Linux thinkpad this morning and out of the box I am out of the gate running and I can change everything that annoys me. This just seems super unintuitive to me. Is it better for someone who’s never used a computer before? I’m genuinely curious everybody praises apple for ease of use but I don’t feel like learning that much just to be confused everytime I switch computers. Windows and Linux just work for me lol

[Guest]

Because it is easy.

But easy is not something everyone experiences on the same scale.

So going off of someone else's description of it doesn't always work out.

[Wh0_Am_1]

Mac OS is different in many ways and the same in others. It is easier as it simplifies many actions and functions, but also hard as it has it's own conventions that those used to some Linux distros and Windows may find appalling. If you want to better understand the software, you may want to get hardware that is designed for it and not windows, even if it is a trash throwaway mac keyboard. Basically if you want to understand a Mac, you need to change your expectations and spend more time with it. Honestly speaking though, unless you have to, I would just stick with whatever you were using already, because it is likely far more flexible than Mac OS, even if it is less stable.

[FakeNSA]

In my experience, it's mostly a matter of being more approachable, visually comfortable, and simple.

As someone who has spent their entire life adapting to the idiosyncrasies of windows, I struggle with it (currently primarying a mac at work, because I hate myself).

 

However, I can definitely see that the reduced surface-level complexity would make it attractive to a first-time or less technical user.

[mamamia88]

18 minutes ago, Wh0_Am_1 said:

Mac OS is different in many ways and the same in others. It is easier as it simplifies many actions and functions, but also hard as it has it's own conventions that those used to some Linux distros and Windows may find appalling. If you want to better understand the software, you may want to get hardware that is designed for it and not windows, even if it is a trash throwaway mac keyboard. Basically if you want to understand a Mac, you need to change your expectations and spend more time with it. Honestly speaking though, unless you have to, I would just stick with whatever you were using already, because it is likely far more flexible than Mac OS, even if it is less stable.

I have a Linux laptop and a windows gaming pC. This was an experiment on my old gaming pC. I think I’ll keep it so I have all 3

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

it's just more intuitive. linux has been catching up, but it's not the same yet. especially with cryptic error messages. for example on Ubuntu fi you are installing a snap app from the software center sometimes it glitches and gives you an error even though the app is installing, that kind of thing can be very annoying to a normal user who isn't a linux terminal expert. 

 

the guides for doing stuff online don't help, almost all of them use terminal commands which are very unfriendly to new users. like, an example of what i'm talking about:

 

the stuff that pops up when you google makes a big difference if you are new to linux. like, if you don't know how the built in software works and you just google how to install something this is what pops up, even though there is also a gui method on linux. if you don't know, you can't enjoy those things either. 

 

this is why macOS still has the "noob OS for babies who don't know how a computer works" reputation, even though most stuff is just as simple on Linux these days. 

[Nayr438]

2 hours ago, Ashley xD said:

The guides for doing stuff online don't help, almost all of them use terminal commands which are very unfriendly to new users.

Not to mention the amount of outdated and lacking documentation provided by distros and the outdated information that tends to pop up in search results.

The only distro with up to date and informative documentation is Arch and well you should know how new user unfriendly and cli oriented it is.

 

Then if we add to that the confusion caused by varying package managers and repositories, and the ongoing battle between Flatpak and Snaps on top of these repositories.

I am on KDE Neon currently, opening the software center and searching for say piper yields 3 results from 3 sources, with the only one including and activating the libratbagd service being the one from the standard repos. Then the lack of information about whats actually supported and not supported in these containerized packages, which actually does vary due to various limitations and/or limited packager/developer interest.

 

Then we have the case where software X works on distro A but not distro B due to dependency reasons, or software X is only shipped compiled as a DEB but your on Manjaro.

Then there is the varying out of the box hardware and proprietary support... or the varying desktop environments and applications.

Make a poor choice and your first impression isn't great.

 

These make Linux less new user friendly and make MacOS and Windows more appealing, they have one base and everything is just expected to work. MacOS adds to this simplicity by limiting hardware support and if I remember correctly a easily accessible software center. Considering your typical user is only concerned about using there set of applications and don't want to mess with the system, the need for having a highly customizable system isn't much of a priority, instead focusing on making the system as easy to use as possible by removing confusion, thus limiting your ability to alter the system. We also have to take into consideration what the user is used to, depending on which school I was in at the time we used either MacOS or Windows, if you become more familiar with one then you will have a hard time transitioning to another.

[Sauron]

Most people use computers differently from how this community does. For them, macos can be easier to get started with - though windows 10 has improved a lot on that front. Linux has the inherent obstacle of requiring you to install it, something the average user can't do (not because installing ubuntu is particularly harder than installing windows but rather because they can't install an operating system, period).

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

23 minutes ago, Sauron said:

though windows 10 has improved a lot on that front

what? it has 2 places for settings, a software store with basically no apps in it, live tiles confuse the hell out of people who haven't used them before, it updates without asking... 

 

how do i know all that is a problem? well, my grandma has a windows laptop and she really should have just got a macbook. 

[Sauron]

23 minutes ago, Ashley xD said:

what? it has 2 places for settings, a software store with basically no apps in it, live tiles confuse the hell out of people who haven't used them before, it updates without asking... 

Live tiles were 100 times worse on 8, it asks when to update (though it didn't use to) and the store while barren contains the minimum people usually need as opposed to having to scour the internet for installers like you used to. Far from perfect but at least it's serviceable from the moment you power it on.

 

We tend to look back with rose tinted glasses on windows 7 just because vista and 8 were abominations but it really shows its age nowadays.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

11 hours ago, Sauron said:

We tend to look back with rose tinted glasses on windows 7 just because vista and 8 were abominations but it really shows its age nowadays.

i actually loved windows 8, you could completely avoid the metro crap if you wanted to, like all your settings were still in the old control panel etc, you could still use the old windows update options... it was wonderful in my opinion.