Big IDEA

Some thoughts on the Mac interface

26 March 2008

It’s been a while since I last wrote about my experience switching to Mac from linux. There are just a few things that continue to irritate me. These issues may or may not be resolved in Leopard.

1. List folders first, please. You can set up Finder to list folders first, which is fine. However, when you switch to the file open or save dialogs, you’re forced to revert to an alphabetical listing of all files and folders. Huh? See proof below.

   

2. No simple option to show hidden files in Finder. OK you’ve adopted the concept of dot-files, so please provide an easy way within the Finder interface to view them.

   While I’m on the Finder, I wish there were a quicker way to choose the method for arranging files (by size, date, type, etc.).

3. The disembodied menu bar doesn’t make sense to me. I use the keyboard shortcut cmd-q to quit applications. I don’t know how many times I’ve hit cmd-q, thinking the application I wanted to quit had the focus, only to realize it didn’t. As a result, I end up closing the wrong app! To combat this, I now have to look up at the menu-panel thingy to make sure the app I want to close has the focus. This causes eye strain.

   Another reason the disembodied menu bar doesn’t make sense is that it also serves as a place to store applets: clock, battery monitor, IM clients, weather, wi-fi, volume, etc. When giving a presentation with a data projector with low resolution, I couldn’t access things I needed because they wouldn’t fit on the screen.

4. The window switching still defies all logic. I’ve really tried to understand how this is cool, elegant, sophisticated, or whatever Mac is supposed to be, but it’s really stupid that you can cycle through applications with cmd-tab and not be able to bring a minimized app out of the dock. I’m willing to use cmd-tilde to cycle through multiple windows of an application, but not allowing me to focus a minimized app via cmd-tab is just a cruel joke. Somewhere, a Bohemian dressed in black is laughing at me.
5. The scroll wheel is there for a reason; please allow me to use it. In particular, the volume applet should allow you to scroll to change the volume when just hovering over it, without having to click first. Trying to change a font face or size in NeoOffice is just painful, though in all fairness, it’s probably a function of NeoOffice and not Mac.

I really like my Mac, but it could be better.