Ticket Options
Question Details
TICKET ARCHIVE -> OS X inconsistencies
RobinS - Feb 24, 2006 - 2:17 pm
I'm amazed at the lack of inconsistancy in OS X. Mail has different command than Finder/iTunes/Safari/etc. These are all OS X programs. Yet in one the Tab works but not another, in another Enter means Enter but not the Finder where it means Rename. Command+Down Arrow means Enter in Finder.
This is absolutely illogical. Is there a way of remapping all this mess so the same commands mean the same things?
I'm not even talking about 3rd party software. I'd like to start with getting the OS X programs right then remap the others.
Who designs this stuff? Are they on drugs? Are they totally brain dead? (I can't believe I haven't asked this question before - so I'm just as bad as the other lemmings.)
Doesn't this bug people? Or do Mac enthusiasts just take it without a murmur?
This is absolutely illogical. Is there a way of remapping all this mess so the same commands mean the same things?
I'm not even talking about 3rd party software. I'd like to start with getting the OS X programs right then remap the others.
Who designs this stuff? Are they on drugs? Are they totally brain dead? (I can't believe I haven't asked this question before - so I'm just as bad as the other lemmings.)
Doesn't this bug people? Or do Mac enthusiasts just take it without a murmur?
earthsaver - Feb 24, 2006 - 4:47 pm
I'm big on keyboard shortcuts in general and I've been using Macs for more than a decade. Most of the shortcuts are the same among applications. However, you also have to understand that the Finder and iTunes are not applications that were born in OS X. They are instead "Carbon" applications which were built for OS 9 and then code was added to make them function natively in OS X.
So, for example, in Mail and Address Book, when you drag vertically on list of messages or contacts, you select them, but when you drag horizontally, you pick them up. However, you always pickup in iTunes. In the Finder, such functionality as Mail/AB was added, not naturally-occuring. Meanwhile, Return has always been a shortcut for renaming in the Finder. And Enter has not always been a key on the Mac keyboard until Apple went extended back in the 90s or so.
Does this begin to help?
- Ben
So, for example, in Mail and Address Book, when you drag vertically on list of messages or contacts, you select them, but when you drag horizontally, you pick them up. However, you always pickup in iTunes. In the Finder, such functionality as Mail/AB was added, not naturally-occuring. Meanwhile, Return has always been a shortcut for renaming in the Finder. And Enter has not always been a key on the Mac keyboard until Apple went extended back in the 90s or so.
Does this begin to help?
- Ben
RobinS - Feb 24, 2006 - 5:34 pm
What I can't begin to comprehend is why in Finder doesn't Enter mean to launch a program when it does in almost every other app? What's the point of changing things?
Solution: Can I remap these stupid commands to something consistant?
Solution: Can I remap these stupid commands to something consistant?
earthsaver - Feb 24, 2006 - 5:54 pm
You can use the Keyboard Shortcuts section of Keyboard & Mouse preferences to change some shortcuts. You can do more with Unsanity's Menu Master. However, both of those are for menu commands.
http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/menumaster
Enter opens items in Windows, but in what other apps do you mean? It has been the shortcut for rename in the Finder since the beginning; not a change. Please elaborate on your experience.
http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/menumaster
Enter opens items in Windows, but in what other apps do you mean? It has been the shortcut for rename in the Finder since the beginning; not a change. Please elaborate on your experience.
RobinS - Feb 24, 2006 - 6:05 pm
How about a key remapper that is program specific? Should that work?
Mail: you can't use page down/up in the message list. ???
Every program seems to have some bizarre twist of key logic. Its like the designers don't even talk to each other. Why navigation and execution isn't consistant is beyond all relms of logic.
Mail: you can't use page down/up in the message list. ???
Every program seems to have some bizarre twist of key logic. Its like the designers don't even talk to each other. Why navigation and execution isn't consistant is beyond all relms of logic.
earthsaver - Feb 24, 2006 - 11:24 pm
You *can* use page up/down in the message list. I have no problem with that, anyway, though I never find myself doing so. I rarely press home, end, page up, or page down. There are more accessible shortcuts than them, I find, in most applications.
You can build your own keyboard layouts with Keyboard Builder, but that won't affect your keyboard shortcuts or your modifiers. There are utilities like DoubleCommand that let you rearrange modifier keys in all sorts of combinations. And then there's Menu Master to add or remove menu command shortcuts. However, without rewriting applications, I don't think you can change the basic functionality of some keys and their behavior in applications.
I'm still curious to know, in your experience, what other inconsistencies perturb you and which among them you feel you can't just learn as exceptions where most of the shortcuts are the same among apps.
You can build your own keyboard layouts with Keyboard Builder, but that won't affect your keyboard shortcuts or your modifiers. There are utilities like DoubleCommand that let you rearrange modifier keys in all sorts of combinations. And then there's Menu Master to add or remove menu command shortcuts. However, without rewriting applications, I don't think you can change the basic functionality of some keys and their behavior in applications.
I'm still curious to know, in your experience, what other inconsistencies perturb you and which among them you feel you can't just learn as exceptions where most of the shortcuts are the same among apps.
IF THIS IS YOUR QUESTION AND YOU WISH TO RESPOND, LOGIN HERE FIRST.
