Mac users, what do you like and dislike about OS X?

[iBurley]

Alright, so I was a Windows user for a long time, I'd say I sort of became a Linux user in about 2007-2008, went full-time around 2012. I've still got a Windows drive laying around for when I just need to play that new AAA title that won't give me Linux support, but primarily I'm a LInux user. Now, one thing I've never gotten the opportunity to do, is really try a Mac. I've played with them in the Apple store for a few minutes at a time just because, but I've never sat down with one and really used it. My gaming computer is getting a bit (okay, a lot) long in the tooth and I'm sort of considering not building another, but switching to a fully laptop workload and maybe building like a Xeon based workstation if I really miss having that desktop compute power.

 

The more I think about it, I certainly don't want it to run Windows, and as much as I love Linux, I don't know if I trust it's compatibility enough to try and use it as a mobile system, one where I'd have to plug into foreign printers and expect it to work, use somebody else's monitor or other peripherals while I was out of town. Linux is great in my controlled little network, but in the wild? I don't know if I trust it. So I'm left sort of wanting a mac, but without ever having truly used the OS, I'm left at a loss. What if I hate it? I'd be buying a fairly well-specced Retina Macbook Pro, and that's a hell of a price to swallow just to try out OS X and possibly have to pay a restocking fee and return it if I just don't like it.

 

TL;DR: So what I'd like to hear from Mac users, is what do you like about it? What don't you like about it? What made you choose it over Windows or Linux? Bonus points for desktop screenshots and maybe a list of your most used applications.

[SinisterPat]

Im not a completely Mac user but I can tell you that MAc is a really good OS for work. I don't like the fact that you cant play games on a Mac. Maybe a Hackintosh but definetely not a mac.

[iBurley]

4 minutes ago, SinisterPat said:

I don't like the fact that you cant play games on a Mac.

Yeah, that's something I'm sort of struggling with as well. The original plan, before I got all worried about Linux compatibility in the wild, was buy a laptop capable of playing the basics, Counter Strike, Dota, World of Warcraft, and then picking up a console to offload any casual gaming. Problem is, the Macbook Pro line only has a single machine with a dedicated video card, and it's not even really capable of playing those fairly basic titles.

[SinisterPat]

1 minute ago, iBurley said:

Yeah, that's something I'm sort of struggling with as well. The original plan, before I got all worried about Linux compatibility in the wild, was buy a laptop capable of playing the basics, Counter Strike, Dota, World of Warcraft, and then picking up a console to offload any casual gaming. Problem is, the Macbook Pro line only has a single machine with a dedicated video card, and it's not even really capable of playing those fairly basic titles.

But for the best of both worlds get Linux. I heard you can play certain games on Linux. And there are drivers for nvidia cards.

[Aereldor]

Sort options are Finder-wide and it's horrible.

[kaiden1337]

I use a Mac and personally, you can always do a BootCamp for Windows if you need to. Windows can run the games better than OS X and then when you don't game, switch it back. I don't know about Linux though. The problem with a Hackintosh is that OS X is designed to be used on Apple's hardware so you'd probably get some issues.

[iBurley]

2 minutes ago, kaiden1337 said:

The problem with a Hackintosh is that OS X is designed to be used on Apple's hardware so you'd probably get some issues.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't try a Hackintosh. I've looked into it and it honestly doesn't seem like you save that much and then you're limited in the system updates you can do.

 

Gaming certainly wouldn't be my primary focus with this machine, it would just be nice if I could play the basics. I likely wouldn't even pick up the one with the dedicated card unless I was sure I'd be able to play the titles listed above.

[iBurley]

Side question, now this is a rant on OS X from a Linux user (but he does own and use Apple computers in production), so it's a bit...maybe toxic, but do you feel these file system limitations on OS X?

 

[ottoedler]

7 hours ago, iBurley said:

I've looked into it and it honestly doesn't seem like you save that much and then you're limited in the system updates you can do.

Actually you do save a lot of money, you might just invest some more time to build the system. And if you do it right, you are not limited in the system updates at all. Just don't mess around with crappy tools like Tony's MultiBeast, as it's changes to the OS are getting corrupted with every system update. Instead use something like Clover Bootloader or an Ozmosis UEFI to embed the matching kernel extensions, so they get injected at each bootup to the vanilla OS, regardless of the system version.

[Satlen]

I love os x but the one thing that bothers me is the inconsistency in Finder. IE the views change in each folder, getting everything to align to a grid is a pain, and columns are inconsistent depending on your directory. 

[ottoedler]

1 minute ago, Shockz said:

I love os x but the one thing that bothers me is the inconsistency in Finder. IE the views change in each folder, getting everything to align to a grid is a pain, and columns are inconsistent depending on your directory. 

You can simply set the layout of one folder as system default in the view options

[Linus_torvalds]

1 Sort options are horible!

2 I have dock on the left side hidden and you know what? See this gap between safari window and edge of the screen on the left side? you can't make full full screen in any program that gap will always be there where you have dock hidden!

 

3 If pictures are in folder or on desktop and you open one you can't view another one by pressing left or right button. You must mark every picture and then open one and then you can view other pictures with left or right buttons.

4 There is not many options to make your own keyboard shortcuts for your own programs. (I do write programs in python that do useful stuff that i used to waste time for).

5 Customization? Forget about that. Even windows is more customizable then mac os, not to speak about linux

6 Programs do not close when you press close button! :facepalm:

7 Finder is shit!

[iBurley]

5 hours ago, mate_mate91 said:

1 Sort options are horible!

2 I have dock on the left side hidden and you know what? See this gap between safari window and edge of the screen on the left side? you can't make full full screen in any program that gap will always be there where you have dock hidden!

 

3 If pictures are in folder or on desktop and you open one you can't view another one by pressing left or right button. You must mark every picture and then open one and then you can view other pictures with left or right buttons.

4 There is not many options to make your own keyboard shortcuts for your own programs. (I do write programs in python that do useful stuff that i used to waste time for).

5 Customization? Forget about that. Even windows is more customizable then mac os, not to speak about linux

6 Programs do not close when you press close button! :facepalm:

7 Finder is shit!

Well that's a whole lot of negatives, but what do you like about it? What made you buy a Mac in the first place?

[Linus_torvalds]

8 hours ago, iBurley said:

Well that's a whole lot of negatives, but what do you like about it? What made you buy a Mac in the first place?

That's not a MAC, That's my HP 4540s hackintoshed

I would never buy a mac. Macs are overpriced. I do not like paying extra for nothing. Macs have the same hardware that PCs do. If i wanted ultrabook i would buy XPS or HP spectrum, if i wanted power laptop i would buy one of macbook pro rivals. I would have installed Mac OS on them and be happy. But i do not need either one.

Apple made one port on macbook air and justified it by having as thinnest laptop as possible and sell connectors for about 90$, and guess what? asus made even thinner laptop that has 7 ports! other laptops have much more ports in same sizes. Battery life and specifications are the same. 

I have installed Mac because i do not like windows. Yes i know that there is linux and i like it even more then mac but the thing is linux lasts for only 2 hours on my HP 4540s battery. Mac lasts 3 and a half hours. Linux is not optimized well because of closed sourced hardware drivers. mac is optimized well on my hp 4540s hardware. This laptop is legend for hackintosh you can search the internet for this. That's why i bought it. I have installed 250 GB Crucial BX 100 SSD and 500 GB HDD caddy in DVD ROM and whole thing costed me about ~300$ I am happy with it. This way i have linux like stability, speed, reliability and environment for developing.

[Hamako]

11 hours ago, mate_mate91 said:

Yes i know that there is linux and i like it even more then mac but the thing is linux lasts for only 2 hours on my HP 4540s battery. Mac lasts 3 and a half hours. Linux is not optimized well because of closed sourced hardware drivers. mac is optimized well on my hp 4540s hardware.

Have you tried installing TLP? It increases battery life dramatically.

[Linus_torvalds]

2 hours ago, Hamako said:

Have you tried installing TLP? It increases battery life dramatically.

Yes. I searched the internet and even forced GPU and CPU speeds lower then default. But that does not make battery life on linux even close to what i get on MAC OS. It's like lottery. On some hardware you can have same battery life on linux as in windows but that's not the case for me.

[vanished]

I'm not an active user of it but I have used before enough to know what I like and don't like.

 

First off, the core OS really impressed me.  I did some things with it that just shouldn't have worked

 

I really hate the interface though.  The way windows are (or more like aren't) managed, and by extension the way "big" programs like photoshop just sort of spill their guts everywhere instead of being all locked into one window nicely, the way Finder works for browsing files, the way Preview works... all of it, I just hate it.  Just my opinion.

[Bonssons]

Things that I like

insane battery.

gorgeous screen.

reasonable fast.

useful terminal (gcc, vi/vim, git, posix, etc).

the touchpad makes me fell that mouse is just not as good as before. Really, this force touchpad is just that good.

Keyboard is nice. Well design, comfortable to type on.

 

Things that I dislike:

 

Not being the target OS for some of the simple games (things that any modern laptop could run).

On fullscreen mode, the bar containing date, battery and time doesn't show. And no options to make it show at all times =/

No "delete" button. I mean, there is a delete button that works as backspace on windows. But no "delete". I have to use fn + delete to erase something after the cursor.

(well, since I started to use vim this isn't much of a problem anymore, and it is something that one can easily get used to).

and for some damn reason, safari + youtube is not a good match up. When you put a video on full screen, you can't pause the video with the keyboard, only with the mouse. And sometimes the computer >freezes<. I mean, my laptop has frozen 3 times, and all of them were when switching to youtube on safari.

That is why I came back to chrome =) Please, eat as much battery as you want, just please don't freeze my computer.

It is white (not really white, but close to it). It just show every damn dirt on it.

[Guest]

I'm not bound to OSX but it definitely has my general favoring over Windows and I might make a solid transition once I get a different WiFi card. It's just a very productive OS. I need to try out Linux yet as well, but that's just comparing OSX to Windows. Even then, I can use Windows for gaming and what not (I run Hackintosh) but for a main workstation or just getting shit done, OSX has my favor. Just from such basic things as better sticky notes and better management for contacts, networking and networking profiles, etc... honestly there's so many things and each OS has its ups and downs. Some negative things that definitely should be pointed out are that removing and installing applications/programs whatever is much more different and I myself am not really used to it because apparently even if you do remove that application there are still files that are left behind. That being said, I guess the same is with Windows but to a different degree. 

[Bonssons]

@gabrielcarvfer oh yeah, that is true. On this price point, there are a lot of windows machines that have a battery as good as the one on mac devices. 

 

Thanks, I'll keep in mind your recommendations, in case some day I decide to go back to windows.

 

As for the Opera Beta, I'll look it up. So far I have been using safari when I wanted to save battery.

(of course, no youtube.)

[jimistephen]

I was watching a video with Linus Trovadls where he said he was not a "head in the clouds kind of guy, he's they guy trying to fix the pothole right in front of him". It was at that moment that Windows, Linux, and OSX came into view for me. Linux is for the guy trying to fix the potholes right in front of him. OSX, now macOS, is for the head in the cloud dreamers and windows is for the everyone else just trying to get stuff done. I was a Ubuntu 14.04 full time user for 2 years until I February when I got my MacBook Pro. It just works with my iPhone. They Apple apps are amazing to use for the most part. (I am using Chrome) It just seems to work most of the time. That being said I do miss ubuntu sometimes.

[JFischer00]

On 5/21/2016 at 0:34 AM, kaiden1337 said:

I use a Mac and personally, you can always do a BootCamp for Windows if you need to. Windows can run the games better than OS X and then when you don't game, switch it back. I don't know about Linux though. The problem with a Hackintosh is that OS X is designed to be used on Apple's hardware so you'd probably get some issues.

 

On 5/21/2016 at 0:35 AM, iBurley said:

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't try a Hackintosh. I've looked into it and it honestly doesn't seem like you save that much and then you're limited in the system updates you can do.

 

Gaming certainly wouldn't be my primary focus with this machine, it would just be nice if I could play the basics. I likely wouldn't even pick up the one with the dedicated card unless I was sure I'd be able to play the titles listed above.

You people must not have tried or read about Hackintoshes recently. I did a Hackintosh a couple months ago and it was almost as simple as installing Windows or Ubuntu. Everything works fine; I've gone through OS updates 10.11.4 and 10.11.5 without any issues. You just have to pick your hardware somewhat carefully.

[LexCalifornia]

On 21 May 2016 at 5:06 PM, Shockz said:

I love os x but the one thing that bothers me is the inconsistency in Finder. IE the views change in each folder, getting everything to align to a grid is a pain, and columns are inconsistent depending on your directory. 

I've ran into exactly the same issue after updating to El Capitan but there's a solution that worked perfectly well for me:

 

How To Change View Options For All Finder Windows

 

-Lex

[LexCalifornia]

On 21 May 2016 at 6:12 AM, iBurley said:

TL;DR: So what I'd like to hear from Mac users, is what do you like about it? What don't you like about it? What made you choose it over Windows or Linux? Bonus points for desktop screenshots and maybe a list of your most used applications.

My daily driver for the last five years is a 2011 MacBook Pro 8,1. Most important for me is the reliability of these machines. I'm working with the same piece of hardware for five years now and besides an SSD and RAM upgrade it's in original condition. In five years of daily usage the battery only lost 11% of it's design capacity. The screen is in perfect condition and I haven't had a single issue since I bought it. Back in 2011 SSD were just right at the doorstep, nowadays an SSD is nearly a must for everyone who works with a computer on a daily basis. 

 

The operating system on the other hand is another story. I really love Mac OS X. If you're an experienced linux user and you know what a terminal is, then you won't have a lot of trouble using Mac OS X. The file limitation isn't an issue for me, altho I don't really load a lot of files at the same time - video editing on my 'old buddy' isn't really a daily task. And everything else? It just works! I've had one app crash in five years. I can't even tell you how many times my Windows Explorer crashes on my daily on my desktop. And that OS X simply 'works' is another important point for me personally. When I'm on the go I don't have time to care about crashes or things that don't work or find solutions. But you gotta prepare yourself that you load everything you'll need on your Mac machine before you're disconnected form the www. Like: QuickTime isn't exactly the best choice as a video player. And most Mac users will agree.

 

There are a lot pieces of software that you simply gotta install before you're completely ready to leave the house. But in my opinion - that's it. Once you've loaded your OS X you're set to work on the go. And yes, MacBooks are expensive laptops. But when I compare how many times especially the IT guy in my company buys a new laptop because either the battery is damaged or his screen shows dead pixels or the wifi card doesn't work well... I don't have these issues. And that's what makes MacBooks - again, in my opinion - so damn amazing. They're work horses you can rely on for a long time if you care about them.

 

Coming from the Linux department you shouldn't run into issues, like I said, if you know how to work with a terminal, you're good to go because sometimes it comes in handy.

 

Still, there are some things I don't like about OS X: Before El Capitan you could - with a little bit of work - change the overall visual style, make it look the way you wanted. That's gone thanks to some major changes in the OS. But oh well, it also saves a bit of memory, right?

 

My usual absolute dislike: The Finder (aka the Mac excuse of a file explorer). It's okay. For humans. For power users not really. But there are other options. Like Commander One. Remember Total Commander? Yep, Commander One is like the new polished, fine shaped cousin of it. Dual window file explorer with ftp, dropbox and I don't know what else capability.

 

And yes, that's kind of a problem with OS X. A lot of 3rd party apps are way better than the built in one. But oh, wait, that's the same with Windows! Or does anybody here really use Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer without the face of shame?

 

What might be a problem for a lot of people is that most of the 3rd party apps aren't exactly cheap. Like you really need a good calendar? There would be Fantastical which is a great one! For about 50 bucks. You're seeing where I'm pointing at, right? Good software costs money. On a Mac sometimes even more. 

 

Other than that, OS X - and again, for me personally - is the perfect on the go OS. Stable, fluent and it always feels like everything is just easier. Like, I don't feel as stressed with my MacBook than I do with my Windows machine. And that's something I really appreciate while working on my Mac. It feels comfortable.

 

A hackingtosh is a good way to try OS X out. It's way cheaper than actually buying a Mac, especially if you figure out that it's just not for you. But also, you're coming from Linux. So you're used to tweaking your system to make use of everything it can do. Ever installed a sound driver by hand or a wifi driver on a really old machine and the only way to do it is by using a terminal session? Don't worry, usually on a Mac all three major OS branches work. You can easily put OS X, Windows and Linux on it. I know for sure that Windows 7, 8.1, Ubuntu and Kali Linux aren't an issue and everything works out of the box. (Most likely thanked to standard hardware).

 

If you're really not sure and wanna try it out, either use it on a hackintosh system or shoot yourself a used macbook on craigslist or eBay. (I would go with craigslist because you can check it before you buy it - HINT: use Coconut Battery to check the health of the built in battery.).

 

If you're not doing graphic intensive tasks you can go with any MacBook from even 2011 (utilising the Intel HD 3000 iGPU.). Throw an SSD in and 8 gigs of Ram (use the exact same specs like given to the model, Ram compatibility can be an issue with macs) and you're good to go. Like I said, I'm working with the same machine for five years now and it's not nearly obsolete.

 

-Lex

 

[LexCalifornia]

On 21 May 2016 at 6:17 PM, mate_mate91 said:

1 Sort options are horible!

2 I have dock on the left side hidden and you know what? See this gap between safari window and edge of the screen on the left side? you can't make full full screen in any program that gap will always be there where you have dock hidden!

 

3 If pictures are in folder or on desktop and you open one you can't view another one by pressing left or right button. You must mark every picture and then open one and then you can view other pictures with left or right buttons.

4 There is not many options to make your own keyboard shortcuts for your own programs. (I do write programs in python that do useful stuff that i used to waste time for).

5 Customization? Forget about that. Even windows is more customizable then mac os, not to speak about linux

6 Programs do not close when you press close button! :facepalm:

7 Finder is shit!

Lemme give you a helping hand to some points on your list because I know they're annoying.

 

#1 Sort options: Commander One. Forget about Finder. Commander One is one, if not the best file explorers for Mac OS X. They usually have a sale a couple times every year where you can get the Pro version for around 2 USD if you really need it.

 

#2 True but you can use real full screen on Apps -> klick the green button.

 

#3 Combination of Commander One and XNView MP. Just set XNView as standard for viewing photos.

 

#4 Where can we submit our requests? 

 

#5 Sadly not anymore. Since 10.10 Apple seems to hate customisation. Back in Mountain Lion times there were really neat styles you could apply using 3rd party apps.

 

#6 Use cmd+Q to close applications. Way faster than you'll ever be with a mouse and it really closes the application. (that apps don't close completely is something I can understand every time I use Pages. The red dot closes the actual sheet, but leaves the App itself open. That's useful if you work with more sheets at a time).

 

#7 And again - and hopefully until you hate me and try it out - Commander One.

 

-Lex

 

Real full screen mode:

Edited June 15, 2016 by LexCalifornia
Attached Screenshot