X Things I Hate About X
Category: Apple/Mac OS...
Posted Monday, August 09, 2004 at 04:14 PM [GMT-6]

I "upgraded" to Panther (Mac OS 10.3) last week (another reason for the light blogging). This experience has reinforced the chill of terror that runs up my spine whenever I learn that my [fill in the blank] is to be "upgraded." "Upgrade" is the new euphemism for getting less for more, in far too many instances.

I had previously taken an oath not to upgrade my desktop computer to OS X until I bought a new one with it already installed. I was afraid the new OS would slow down my first generation G4 and, more importantly, disrupt my well-established workflow. But a peculiar confluence of events conspired against me, necessitating that I "upgrade" our wireless network to AirPort Extreme in order to take advantage of 128-bit encryption, and that, of course, required the jump to X.

Interestingly, the new OS doesn't bog down my computer. In fact, it's quicker in starting up and shutting down, and many of my apps are faster. I'm sure that's because they've been optimized for OS X and I wasn't getting that benefit by running them under OS 9.

But the workflow worry? Oh yeah...I got that, and in spades.

It's sort of like waking up one morning to find that the rooms of the house you've lived in for two decades have suddenly been rearranged, and the furniture either replaced or put in new locations. It's not that the old layout was necessarily better in all cases, but it was at least predictable and you could navigate it with your eyes closed.

Under OS 9, every item had its place and every task its flow. Sure, the system had its peculiarities, but I knew what they were and how to work around them. OS X has thrown most of that trivial-but-useful knowledge out the window and presented me with a whole new set of workarounds, most of which I've yet to discover.

With that in mind, here are ten things I really don't like about the new OS, in no particular order. Some of these things are bugs in the system, some are "features," some are due to shortcomings in the applications themselves, and some are due to my lack of experience and knowledge. But they all came with the package.

1. I hate how my computer's fan continues to run even when the system is in sleep mode. It's a documented bug, affecting just a few G4 models. Lucky me.


2. I hate how my wife's Windows 2000 laptop can't print to our USB laser printer connected to the wireless base station, even though the documentation says it can.


3. I hate how the keyboard commands for copy and paste periodically stop working, for no discernible reason, requiring a relaunch of the Finder to (sometimes) correct the situation. Another documented bug, this one.


4. I hate how I can no longer automatically preview a web page in the browser of my choice via Adobe GoLive.


5. I hate how my scanner has no OS X driver, and, further, won't function in Classic mode (don't worry if you don't understand these terms; they're not really important), instead requiring that I reboot into OS 9 (which, at least, I can still do...some models won't do that anymore).


6. I hate how clicking the desktop doesn't bring the desktop to the front. Well, it didn't in 9 either, but I figured Apple should have corrected this by now.


7. I hate how the new version of iTunes requires a three-step process to rip a WAV to MP3 rather than the one simple step previously required.


8. I hate the fact that I can't get the Firefox installer to complete its designated mission. Sure, Firefox isn't even compatible with OS 9, but what good is compatibility if you can't get it installed?


9. I hate the way clicking on one of several files opened within an application doesn't automatically give you access to all of the similar files that are open.


10. I hate how stoopid the Terminal window makes me feel.

OK. I feel better now, especially since I had to struggle to complete this list. It makes me realize just how good Panther really is. I could easily come up with 50 things I love about it that weren't present in 9. Simply put, Panther is a gem of an OS and when it works (which is almost always, despite my whining), it works beautifully.

That doesn't make the process of rebuilding and relearning my workflows any easier, but I have no doubt that I'll get there with a little time and patience.