Well macOS has tried and failed, with their mix of "spaces", fullscreen apps, and maximized windows.

Edit: what I'm saying is they did try to do the fullscreen (and even tiled) modes.

> macOS has tried and failed

I, along with many millions of people, are using spaces and fullscreen apps daily with no issue. I have used i3 and sway before, and I much prefer the macOS UX. To say that it has failed is sheer arrogance.

On what do you base such a ridiculous claim?

I've never seen anybody use fullscreen-apps/spaces/maximized-windows smoothly, ever.

It's especially bad on multi-monitor.

  - New windows appear on unfocused monitor at random.
  - Can make shortcuts to spaces, but not the fullscreen-apps (which look like spaces to all other effects). There are apps to make shortcuts to apps, but this is useless if you have e.g. two terminals in fullscreen mode, it just targets one window at random.
  - Cannot deactivate the slow change-space aninmation.
  - Windows are grouped under same app in Alt-Tab list.
  - When fullscreen-app, some dialogs do overlay the app, some are hidden on some random space, and some forcefully move your active space. At random.
  - Plugging and unplugging monitors frequently wreaks havoc among the window disposition.

totally agree on maximized windows and spaces - I run 3 monitors, and use neither

You're missing the point. Sway is a team of people working on their own time out in the open to create something they really care about for almost no money. The final product is staggeringly good compared to a commercial OS like macOS, and yes, tiling WM requires more up front investment and isn't a normal pattern for most folks, but that shouldn't make people feel like Sway or tiling is beyond them.

But they aren't making an OS. They're making a window manager. Why are you comparing a WM to an OS?

Because I’m not being pedantic, and because it’s impossible to look at Sway outside the context of Linux.

Why do you want anyone to feel shame about there being another product that does things differently, though? They weren't trying to achieve what Sway did, and what they did achieve is great for what most of their users want. No need to try to put them down.