What I dont like about mac (tell me what you think)

[dbizzle]

I posted something like this a few weeks back, and after exploring my mac a little more and using some of the responses that I got, here is the revised edition. I would appreciate any feedback. BTW, sorry it’s so long. I really would appreciate 5 minutes of your time to read this and give me some feedback. Who knows, maybe it will get back to Apple and we will some revisions. Also, if you have anything to add to this list, please do.

I am a new convert to mac a few months ago, where I was previously a windows user. Though I love mac, there are a few things that I don’t like about it. I really did have to think hard and actually search for things that I didn’t like about my mac, and that’s saying something, but here they are. (sigh).
What I don’t like about my iBook G4:

Hardware:
- Narrow hardware support. I have had 2 scanner/copier/fax/printers, and neither of them has worked with mac. They have been recognized by mac, but the drivers could not be found or downloaded. From what I hear, even if they had been found, many of their features would not have worked (like the scanner). I know that it is usually the hardware manufacturer’s fault that they don’t work on mac because they don’t supply the drivers, and I know that there are programs you can buy to make your scanner work, but the basic fact is that if a guy has a printer and it works great on windows and then just plain doesn’t work on mac, he has a problem with it. He doesn’t care why it doesn’t work, just that it doesn’t. If the hardware support could somehow be improved, it would help people switch to macs more easily.
- I really miss on windows when you would plug anything in, windows would immediately recognize that you had done so, tell you what it was that you plugged in, and automatically install it for you, all the while telling you what it was doing. Even if there was a problem with the hardware, at least the computer told you about it. I really wish that macs had a feature like this.
- I have gotten used to it, but a big turn-off for some of my friends that have messed with my iBook is it’s lack of a right click mouse button. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but does anyone know if Apple is planning on doing something about this? Are macs going to start having right mouse buttons?

iMovie:
- Doesn’t play nice with non-quicktime video files. When I try to use an outside mpeg video file, sometimes it won’t import, and the other times it has no sound when it is imported.
- changing the length of photos on the timeline is overcomplicated. Sometimes it wont let you drag the size bigger or smaller on the timeline, and imovie puts a limit on how big (long) you can make a photo
- it would be nice to be able to have an extra video and audio track (especially video)

Audio / Video Chat:
This isn’t apple’s fault, and it’s not that big of a deal, but as far as I know, there is no multi-protocol chat client that supports voice chat and / or video chat. Adium is great, but I can’t use my nifty built-in microphone. I know, I’m getting kind of specific, but I was saddened when I couldn’t find one for the mac (trillian and gaim do this for windows, as far as I know (at least the audio chat) – correct me if I’m wrong)

Battery:
Maybe I just have a lower-end laptop (iBook G4) or have been mistreating my battery somehow, but I have read up on it a bit, and tried to treat my iBook’s battery right and I still cant seem to get more then 2:30 – 3:00 hours of battery life out of it. the box it came in said it would get 5-6 hours. now, granted, I am usually using my airport, listening to music with iTunes, surfing on Firefox, and have a couple little programs running in the background (quicksilver, adium,) but still shouldn’t I be getting around 4 hours most of the time? does anyone else have this kind of problem? I have turned off my airport when I’m not using it, turned off Bluetooth, and reduced my screen contrast to around 50%. Any other suggestions?

Hardware “plugins”:
Not really something I don’t like about my iBook, just something that would be nice. I could always use one or two more USB 2.0 slots, and I wish that apple put a plugin to be able to show your screen on a TV or something, without having to buy a separate special mac cable.

iPhoto:
Great photo program, but there are a few features that programs like Picasa (Google for Windows) can do that I wish iPhoto could. Also, some of my suggestions pertain to using photos on a mac, not iPhoto itself.
- iPhoto doesn’t store ratings, keywords, or comments in the photo itself. If you have to re-import your photos for some reason (there are a lot of reasons that I can think of) then you lose all of your rating, comment, and keyword info. I don’t think that it would be too hard to somehow permanently store this in the photos themselves, seeing that they store the title, date, pixels, maker and model of camera, as well as tons of exposure information.
- not being able to view what photos are on your camera and being able to be more selective regarding which photos you import, instead of only being able to import all or none of the photos, and not being able to see what the photos are before you import them off of the camera.
- as far as I know, cameras that use SecureDigital memory cards do not mount as disks, while cameras that use Memory Stick memory cards will mount. This really bugs me. Do CompactFlash memory cards mount as disks?
- it bugs me that there aren’t some basic options in iPhoto that will let you do the things that the program ‘preview’ will let you do, such as easily zoom in on the picture (you can do this, but only in ‘edit’ mode, and it could be improved), show the photo full screen (the only way to do this is to make a slideshow), etc.
- I greatly dislike the way that iphoto sorts photos in the actual folders. It does it first by year, then by one or two or three folders with seemingly random numbers on them, then the photo title. I want, like in itunes, to be able to create folders and sort my photos in different ways so that they directly correspond to the folders in the actual photos/iphoto library folder. I want to be able to easily navigate my photos when I am not using the iphoto program. (see picasa as an example).

iTunes:
- Much the same as iPhoto, I think that my only problem with iTunes is that doesn’t store my song ratings inside the song’s tag itself. I end up moving my music around a lot, and this is a must for me. I don’t think that it would be too hard to store the rating, even If it had to be stored in the comments folder like the soundcheck volume setting.
- I also think that their ‘video’ section could use some improvement. I can’t recall any specifics, but I tried using iTunes to arrange my video database, and finally gave up after a couple of weeks.
- I know that Apple / iTunes probably can’t do anything about it because of the music industry, but I would love to see the ‘copy music from ipod to computer’ option come back to iTunes. It is a bit of a hassle trying to find a third-party program to do it for you.
- I cant seem to get universal shortcuts to work for iTunes. (using cmd - → or something like that to change a song, even when itunes isn’t selected) am I just stupid or do they not have these / they don’t work?

iCal:
- There is no button to be able to add a new ‘to do’ item.
Except for using the keyboard shortcut “cmd – k” there seems to be no good way to add a ‘to-do’ item.
- there has to be a way to have iCal’s dock icon show the current date even when iCal isn’t open. I had a fake windows version of the dock on my windows machine, and even It showed the current date. If I am mistaken and this isn’t easily possible, please explain why.

Address Book:
- not a very big deal, but it would be nice if, in address book, when you scrolled to a contact that has a picture, you would be able to click on the picture and get a enlarged version of it (those pictures are kinda small). Right now, you can click the ‘edit’ button the contact and then when you double click on the picture it brings up a window that you can edit the picture in, but I just think it would be nice if you could also do it the other way. What I am thinking of is very similar to the iTunes artwork. If you click on it it opens a separate windows with the full size image of the artwork.

DVD Player:
- You are unable to limit and password protect what ratings / content that can be viewed using DVD Player

Other:
- it would be nice to be able to change some of the aspects of the dock (such as the color / opacity of the background rectangle of the dock, be able to have multiple docks, etc.
- I know that mac strives to keep it simple, but it would be nice to have a few more options on many of the programs and system (maybe an advanced features option that is more difficult to find / mess with unless you know what you are doing). See above point for an example of extra features / options that I would like to see in some of the programs.
- when some of my windows friends have messed with my computer it has bugged them that when you closed a program with the red circle (comparable to the ‘x’ button in windows) it would not close the program, like it does in windows. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but I thought I would put it out there anyway.
- is there anything on the mac that is comparable to a ‘shortcut’ on windows?
- I’ve noticed that when I try to change certain system settings, or open certain programs, I need to input my administrator password to do it. I like this, but I want to be able to do it for things like individual programs, folders and documents. I don’t want to simply remove acess to them (I know how to do that), but instead I would like someone to be able to acess it if they know the password. Is there a way to do this?
- it is not a requirement, but it would be nice to be able to change some of the aspects of the GUI (colors, sizes, fonts, themes, etc) without the need of a third party program.
- very minor thing, but at the login screen, I have a list of different profiles. When I click on the profile I want to log into, the rest fade away and my profile moves to the center. I have noticed that when my profile moves to the center it is quite choppy, not nearly as smooth as I have come to appreciate from the Mac GUI. I know, its kind of petty, but I might as well throw it in while im at it.


That really is everything I can think of that I don’t like about mac. and I strained on a couple of them. That truly is amazing. the list would never end if I did one of these for windows. it would also never end if I did one on the things that I love about mac. Again, I appreciate any input and responses. Even if It is just rip apart something I said or correct me

I decided that I can’t spend all that time and space ragging on macs without a short list at the end saying the things I love most about my mac:

It is pretty:
- I have looked for any ugliness in Macs, and even during startup and reformatting your hard drive, the Mac looks nice. I love the smooth transitions, soft glows and shadows, and cool effects. In this aspect you totally blow windows away.

Simplicity:
- how simple and easy everything is. Mac is made to be a personal computer. It is intuitive and easy to use. I love it.

Powerful Free Programs:
- I love all the free programs that mac’s come with. From iPhoto, to iTunes, to address book, to iCal, to iMovie, to Garage band, they are all incredible programs that would make any windows user jealous.

Stability:
- Before I bought a mac, I heard about how safe, smooth and stable they were, which is one of their major draws. They act like quality machines. I can now say, firsthand, how great and stable my mac is. I love it. I love how well the OS and the hardware work together. After using a windows machine for a little while, it nearly drove me crazy.

Great GUI:
- I love how simple and usable the Mac’s user interface is. From the menu’s to the dock, to the finder, it is wonderful. I love having my CD’s and harddrives and anything else show up on the desktop, and then be able to eject it by either a simple eject button that is placed in the corner of the keyboard, or by dragging it to the trash.


I could go on for a while, but this post is plenty long already.


db

 

[Mikuro]

*gasp*.....done reading! I think I have a few answers.

- I have gotten used to it, but a big turn-off for some of my friends that have messed with my iBook is it’s lack of a right click mouse button. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but does anyone know if Apple is planning on doing something about this? Are macs going to start having right mouse buttons?

Well, Apple released the MightMouse for desktops. A sign of things to come? I dunno. In case you don't know, though, you can get the contextual menu on any Mac by holding down Control when you click.

iMovie:
- Doesn’t play nice with non-quicktime video files. When I try to use an outside mpeg video file, sometimes it won’t import, and the other times it has no sound when it is imported.

Bitch to Apple about this. Please. I mean it! QuickTime has had half-assed MPEG support since....well, always! And it's been around for over a freakin' decade! The limitation of not being able to export the audio is just absurd. If you want to use MPEGs in iMovie, you'll probably want to first convert them to something useful using ffmpegX. WAY more of a hassle than it should be.

iTunes:
- Much the same as iPhoto, I think that my only problem with iTunes is that doesn’t store my song ratings inside the song’s tag itself. I end up moving my music around a lot, and this is a must for me. I don’t think that it would be too hard to store the rating, even If it had to be stored in the comments folder like the soundcheck volume setting.

Agreed. But just in case you don't know, you can move your files around all you want without iTunes losing track of them as long as iTunes is loaded when you move them. The only problem with this is that if you want to move them to another disk, you're out of luck, since that's just copying.

- I cant seem to get universal shortcuts to work for iTunes. (using cmd - ? or something like that to change a song, even when itunes isn’t selected) am I just stupid or do they not have these / they don’t work?

Nope. iTunes doesn't have this feature. Fortunately, there is an abundance of third-party freeware to address this issue. I personally use SizzlingKeys to control iTunes from any application. Butler can also do this, although I don't use that feature of Butler. Both are free. Search for them on http://www.macupdate.com

- it would be nice to be able to change some of the aspects of the dock (such as the color / opacity of the background rectangle of the dock, be able to have multiple docks, etc.

You can change the opacity with TransparentDock.

- I know that mac strives to keep it simple, but it would be nice to have a few more options on many of the programs and system (maybe an advanced features option that is more difficult to find / mess with unless you know what you are doing). See above point for an example of extra features / options that I would like to see in some of the programs.

There's actually quite a bit of this in the Mac OS, as well as some of Apple's applications. Most require little command-line tricks to access. Check out TinkerTool. It gives you access to a lot of features and options Apple built in but decided not to make readily available.

- when some of my windows friends have messed with my computer it has bugged them that when you closed a program with the red circle (comparable to the ‘x’ button in windows) it would not close the program, like it does in windows. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but I thought I would put it out there anyway.

This is a fundamental difference in the way the Mac and Windows treat applications. The big difference here is that on the Mac, applications are still perfectly usable even without any windows open. This is because the Mac uses a single global menu bar, as opposed to Windows' window-based menu bars. This difference drives me crazy every time I have to use Windows!

If you're hellbent on having it work the Windows way, I think there are some third-party programs that'll let you do that. I can't think of the names of the top of my head, though. Edit: I just did some searching, and it's possible what I was thinking of was just for OS 9. Hmm.

- is there anything on the mac that is comparable to a ‘shortcut’ on windows?

Yes, aliases. Select any item(s) in the Finder, and go to File > Make Alias (command-L). You can also create aliases by holding down both Command and Option while dragging an item. You can duplicate items by just holding down Option.

There are also symbolic links, which are kind of like aliases. Aliases come from the classic Mac OS, whereas symbolic links come from Unix. This is another feature that Apple decided not to make readily available. You can create them from Terminal, or easily with third-party programs like SymbolicLinker. The difference between aliases and symbolic links is hard to decribe and can be confounding. Apple really, really needs to work on making one thing that Just Works.

 

[dbizzle]

Thanks for the great reply, Mikuro. I just might email this to Apple and see what they think. Im looking forward to hearing what the other 40 of you think about my little list

 

[fryke]

"the other 40"? ... I must say I agree with what Mikuro said in most points, so I guess it'd be rather confusing if I tried to redo that whole post in my own words...

 

[pl_bear]

<complaint mode>
Finder doesn't change the cursor when you are in the area that allows window resize - I'm regularly finding myself activating another window because I was just slightly off

For that matter, I really want to modify the window size using any edge of the window (like Windows allows)

I want a key or menu option to tell Finder to update the display of the contents of a folder (much like "Refresh" in Windows) - It's very frustrating to add or delete something on a network drive and not be able to see that change in Finder

</complaint mode>

 

[ex2bot]

In iCal, you can right-click (or control-click) on the To-Do List to create a new to-do. You may have to click the push-pin button to show the To-Do List.

Doug

 

[symphonix]

Hardware:
- Narrow hardware support. I have had 2 scanner/copier/fax/printers, and neither of them has worked with mac.

Really? What make and model?

- I really miss on windows when you would plug anything in, windows would immediately recognize that you had done so, tell you what it was that you plugged in, and automatically install it for you, all the while telling you what it was doing.

I really hate the way Windows requires a lot of fussing around and dialogues every time I plug in a camera or USB key - and even more fuss to safely remove said device. With the Mac, if I plug in a device its just there, ready to use, with no messages or fuss.

When I'm done, I can just eject the device to remove it (one drag of the mouse, or a click and Cmd-E), while on Windows I need to right click a tiny icon, choose "Safely Remove Hardware", select the device, select its subsystem, click Close, then close the three dialogs that I've made in the process. Frankly, it sucks the big one.

- I have gotten used to it, but a big turn-off for some of my friends that have messed with my iBook is it’s lack of a right click mouse button. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but does anyone know if Apple is planning on doing something about this?

The MacBooks all have a virtual right-click. Use two fingers on the pad when you click, and it becomes a right click. One finger to click. Oh, and drag two fingers on the pad to scroll. The iBook, being an older system that is almost phased out, hasn't got this, but Ctrl-click will do the same thing.

There is a philosophical and carefully thought out reason why Apple resisted the right button for so long. Studies showed that using a right mouse button at any time during a procedure added an average 2 minutes to each helpdesk call - if a problem requires a user to right-click on something, then on average it takes another 2 minutes to explain that to the user.

For developers, it forced them to keep all options and features visible in the main menu, as opposed to hidden away in popup menus. The result: cleaner, neater software.

Battery

Nah, I have to agree with you on this one. The iBook's batteries were never that great. Good enough, but not great. :-(

I wish that apple put a plugin to be able to show your screen on a TV or something, without having to buy a separate special mac cable.

What, one standard video output port that can drive VGA, ADC, DVI and TV/Video outputs somehow isn't enough for you? If you're worried about paying $30 for a simple and convenient video cable, then I can't see any change Apple could make to the design that would make it cheaper for you.

- iPhoto doesn’t store ratings, keywords, or comments in the photo itself.

True, and a minor annoyance, but a decision that was taken because the methods used by other programs such as Picasa are actually contrary to the standards for JPEG and RAW and *might* cause problems later on with other programs, or be lost completely when you edit a photo in another editor. The solution is to use the Share -> Burn option to backup your photos, as this stores their library information as well. Yes, its an annoyance, but I think Apple went the right way on this one.

- not being able to view what photos are on your camera and being able to be more selective regarding which photos you import, instead of only being able to import all or none of the photos, and not being able to see what the photos are before you import them off of the camera.

Wait, what? Why would you not want to import all photos? Planning on leaving some on the camera are you? If so, what happens to them when your camera breaks or is stolen? Face it, most of us are happy just to get our photos off the camera and into the photo library with no further fuss.

- as far as I know, cameras that use SecureDigital memory cards do not mount as disks, while cameras that use Memory Stick memory cards will mount.

Not true. Mine uses SD and mounts as a disk.

... show the photo full screen (the only way to do this is to make a slideshow)

Are you using the current ('06) version of iPhoto? If so, have you clicked the "Full-Screen" button in the lower left?

I greatly dislike the way that iphoto sorts photos in the actual folders. It does it first by year, then by one or two or three folders with seemingly random numbers on them, then the photo title.

I've never understood why people have so much trouble with this. If your photo is in iPhoto you can grab it straight from iPhoto and drag it into whatever program you want. Or from Spotlight, for that matter. On a modern, 21st century operating system I can't see any reason why you'd still want to deal directly with the file system for this kind of thing.

- Much the same as iPhoto, I think that my only problem with iTunes is that doesn’t store my song ratings inside the song’s tag itself.

I agree with you on this one. Once again, though, it was a matter of meeting the standards for the files iTunes uses, several of which don't have any metadata support at all.

- I also think that their ‘video’ section could use some improvement. I can’t recall any specifics, but I tried using iTunes to arrange my video database, and finally gave up after a couple of weeks.

True, iTunes still sucks a fair bit for video. I only use mine for music.

DVD Player:
- You are unable to limit and password protect what ratings / content that can be viewed using DVD Player

Let Apple's DVD Player team know about it: http://www.apple.com/feedback/dvdplayer.html

I think it should be added to the Parental Controls control panel. In fact, I expect it has already been added to Leopard by now.

- it would be nice to be able to change some of the aspects of the dock (such as the color / opacity of the background rectangle of the dock, be able to have multiple docks, etc.

You can, with add-ons like TransparentDock. Apple is wise, though, not to include these options as standard, as they tend to confuse people.

...maybe an advanced features option that is more difficult to find / mess with unless you know what you are doing

As someone who has spent 4 years working at the IBM helpdesk, I can tell you that there is no control panel hidden away in Windows anywhere, plastered in "Warning don't change this setting unless you know what you're doing" labels and hidden behind several "Advanced..." buttons that several hundred new users won't click on every single month.

- when some of my windows friends have messed with my computer it has bugged them that when you closed a program with the red circle (comparable to the ‘x’ button in windows) it would not close the program, like it does in windows. I don’t know if there is a good solution to this, but I thought I would put it out there anyway.

On Mac, its usually preferable to leave a program open. There are no memory issues as inactive programs swap out to virtual memory neatly. Closing a window should do just that - close a window.

- is there anything on the mac that is comparable to a ‘shortcut’ on windows?

File -> Make Alias. ... And unlike Windows shortcuts, an alias won't "break" if the file its pointing to is moved. Make an alias to a file, then move the file, and the alias will still point to the right place. Windows can't do that.

- it is not a requirement, but it would be nice to be able to change some of the aspects of the GUI (colors, sizes, fonts, themes, etc) without the need of a third party program.

The Futz Factor is how much time people spend piddling around with their computer changing themes, desktops, icons, fonts and so on. The average PC user has spent over an hour each year on "Futzing" these settings. I consider this time wasted. So does Apple.

 

[symphonix]

- very minor thing, but at the login screen, I have a list of different profiles. When I click on the profile I want to log into, the rest fade away and my profile moves to the center. I have noticed that when my profile moves to the center it is quite choppy, not nearly as smooth as I have come to appreciate from the Mac GUI. I know, its kind of petty, but I might as well throw it in while im at it.

This feature uses the Quartz 2D Extreme system, so if your iBook doesn't have a Q2DE compatible card, it will look choppy.

... and I strained on a couple of them. That truly is amazing. the list would never end if I did one of these for windows. it would also never end if I did one on the things that I love about mac.

Yay! Up until this point in your post I was starting to think "Oh, come on, thats a bit of a stretch to complain about *that*. I mean, have you ever tried it on Windows? Sheesh!" - But now I see that, like me, you have a real eye for seeing things done right. And the only way technology ever gets better is with careful thought about how it should work.


I decided that I can’t spend all that time and space ragging on macs without a short list at the end saying the things I love most about my mac:

Simplicity:
- how simple and easy everything is. Mac is made to be a personal computer. It is intuitive and easy to use. I love it.

I agree. After six years on Mac, I hate having to use Windows now. Every task that should be simple is needlessly awkward.

Anyway, if you have any more questions or ideas on how things can be improved, talk about them here. I've found that many of the bugs I've reported to Apple, or features I've requested, have come to fruition. Other things I disliked at first, I now see a good reason for and am grateful that Apple did things the right way - The way iPhoto and iTunes store their data is a good example, as it prevents that data from being lost if you edit the file in an external program.

Oh, and one important thing about iTunes I think you should know: if you turn off the "Copy items to my iTunes library" option in the preferences, you can then import files from a DVD *and leave them on that DVD*. Then, any time you want to play those songs, put the DVD in. iTunes will still store ratings, etc.

 

[ex2bot]

About the trackpad only having one button: If your iBook is relatively new, it should have the trackpad options such as two finger scroll and double-tap or whatever to "create" a second button.

This is really a non-issue anymore.

Doug

 

[Timotheos]

I have an older G4 powerBook, with only one button usability too but i found a program called iScroll2 (theres another application similar but i think you have to buy it)

Anyways, iScroll2 adds all the functions of the new MacBooks. If you put two fingers on the trackpad and click it acts as a double click and if you put two fingers on the trackpad and move them up or down, you can scroll up and down.

Amazing program.

I have to agree with you on the great GUI and how everything is so simple and polished. When i first had to use OSX two years ago I was blowen away and since that day I cant stand to use Windows. Crazy how quickly I was won over, guess I never knew what I was missing.

 

[Mikuro]

About the trackpad only having one button: If your iBook is relatively new, it should have the trackpad options such as two finger scroll and double-tap or whatever to "create" a second button.

This is really a non-issue anymore.

I have to disagree. Cheap hacks are no substitute for real, physical buttons. Using the trackpad for clicking is always awkward, especially if you need real precision.

Apple needs to get over their schizophrenia. Either make an OS that never requires you to use contextual menus (like OS 8/9), or add a second button — a real second button, that's sefl-explanatory and doesn't require RSI-inducing finger dances.

 

[Timotheos]

I have to disagree. Cheap hacks are no substitute for real, physical buttons. Using the trackpad for clicking is always awkward, especially if you need real precision.

Apple needs to get over their schizophrenia. Either make an OS that never requires you to use contextual menus (like OS 8/9), or add a second button — a real second button, that's sefl-explanatory and doesn't require RSI-inducing finger dances.

I would have to disagree with that. I find it much better. The single button on my pBook is massive and never a hassle, even when I used it as a single button only.

Now that i use a second button via my trackpad its even better, i dont have to look where i put my fingers, i just drop a second finger down and it hits the trackpad. On every other non mac laptop im allways clicking the wrong button, allways have to look where my fingers are positioned in relation to the buttons and the buttons seem to thin in general.

 

[eric2006]

It's probably a matter of preference. In any case, you'd think that there'd be room for two sensors under that obscenely long trackpad button, to at least give us an option.