Sure some could be better, but changing these would upset the whole user base. (And mac users could claim those things broken in kde in the same way)
I have used windows, gnome2, gnome3, xfce, mac and so on and dislike kde, and gnome3, and all the others. Even mac is really dumb sometimes, but macos is the most polished by far.
I can read in the news more or less every day that fundamental things like input devices, monitors, audio, or basic GUI features are messed up or bluntly broken in macOS. People already "joking" that one needs to way at least two or three point releases before trying out major updates. That's even worse than the situation on Windows by now (and MS is also breaking things with every update).
As a Linux user that uses a "perpetual beta" distri (Debian Testing) I'm horrified about such news. Comparable breakage does happen on my OS maybe 2 times in a decade on average, and when some catastrophe like that happens (monitor stops working, no audio, USB not working, or such) it's usually fixed within hours!
Both Gnome and KDE are better desktop environments, heck even Windows 11 has done a better job (although they ruined the taskbar now).
The mere fact that you can not change things to your liking on Mac proves my point. You have to buy- and install third party applications from developers that you do not know or trust, and that is just to fix some of the most basic issues. Microsoft recently also decided to go down this route, and have now sabotaged their own Taskbar, preventing users from moving it.
It has nothing to do with "not being used to the Mac-way" – these things are just worse on Mac. There is nothing good about not having direct access to the location address in your File Manager, or not being able to change this stupid default behaviour of various keys and UI elements.
The ability to use "cut" on files, and actually change location by a text-based address bar are both to be considered core features. It is entirely brainless and inconvenient that we have to hold in "option" just to get a "move files" option to show up in the right click context menu.
That's one of the biggest jokes on the Mac, indeed.
On Windows it's not much different besides one detail: You also need a shitload of tools and gadgets only to make basic things usable. But at least those tools are mostly free (like in beer) or even OpenSource. On the Mac instead you have to pay ridiculous amounts of money only to get some basic options (like for example, I think it was ~30 bucks, only to be able to configure the acceleration of the mouse cursor).
The usability on the Mac is very broken, but people knowing how to "milk" other people created a whole market for laughable expensive apps out of it only to fix the most annoying things. That's just sooo ridiculous! I personally have no clue why people are buying this kind of stuff. It's like they want to be treated like -peep-. Imho the "jokes" about Stockholm syndrome victims are no jokes any more. That's bitter reality.
BTW:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/apple-causes-religio...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276887293_iReligion...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233647272_The_Cult_...
https://www.itproportal.com/2015/08/13/the-religion-of-apple...
By now it's a quite irrefutable scientific fact that hardcore Apple users are brainwashed sect members.
Should be obvious anyway. Just look how they behave and what they keep saying when confronted with critique…
> Sometimes audio balance will randomly shift to the left or right with bluetooth headphones
> There is a delay of ~100ms when pushing caps lock
Another seems objective not subjective
> Pressing enter in Finder renames a file instead of opening it
Who thinks the enter to rename is reasonable?
Decades of MacOS users?
Users expect actions to match the sequence of inputs. If the user can type CAPS and "TITLE" and get "tITLE" its a bug.
Basically 50 years of computer interfaces of all kids across all OS across planet earth use enter or return for activation. This includes Mac in all other contexts.
F2 to rename dates back to windows 3.1 with environments like KDE using the same key that is familiar to windows users. Like many things it is an arbitrary choice without any inherently correct answer. The nice thing about it is in dolphin is that one can easily discover this by right clicking a file or folder and noting the shortcut listed beside the action so you can both complete the task visually immediately and learn the hotkey easily.
Bugs are when systems don't work as intended. Intent you don't like isn't a bug.
Enter or return does different things in different contexts. Its most frequent functions are go to a new line or end text entry. Saying it means activate and implying activate means open is trying to find consistency where it isn't. And what it does in Finder is what it does in other text fields.
Return for rename is older than Windows 3.1. The error rate for pressing F2 is high for something so common as rename.
A long standing one actually. I remember having it in Mojave/El Capitan already on my 2102 MBP.
The others are annoyances from not being familiar with the UI, some more motivated than others. But let’s recall the sad story of the thumbnails in GNOME’s file picker, for a second…
What made me stick with the platform though was never having to worry about drivers, and updates being polite and patient, and not being bombarded with a billion ads everywhere like in Windows or Ubuntu. Also not having to drop into the command line to change monitor settings is nice. And the M1 is just soooo nice, fast and quiet and cool, no x86 laptop is even remotely close anymore. They put the ThinkPads, my previous favorite, to shame.
So yeah, to your point, the dumbed down UI is a pain, but the rest of the experience is so much nicer now. I'd take needing a few extra apps over having to go back to desktop Linux...
I can't remember the last time I had to do this on Linux. Sometime in the the 90's, I think.
It's like a race to the bottom to please an elusive lowest common denominator class of users that doesn't exist. I find these other "modern" UIs incredibly condescending.
Instead, discoverability should be #1, creating soft, natural learning curve that welcomes new users without capping or hiding advanced functionality.
Also, you can also fix the "caps lock" issue by remapping it to "control". Completely fixes the "caps lock" button. It works on Linux too! ;)
And of course, a "always on top" flag would have been really nice for dragging and dropping between windows. That option is really nice in KDE, but missing on both Mac and Windows.
Press Command-Shift-G and it will appear as a small window. (I haven't figured out how to do this in a "Open/Save File" dialog, so if anyone can chime in, greatly aprreciated)
> "Cut" does not work for files in finder, severely complicating moving files
It's annoying that there is no shortcut equivalent, but if you need to actually move a file either drag and drop it, or press Option while right-clicking in the target Finder window - the menu entry will change from "copy here" to "move here".
> The Maximize button does not maximize, but instead enters full screen, meaning that I never use it
Yuck, yeah. Very irritating. Use SizeUp, well worth the 13 US$.
It breaks my normal work-flow when I am on my mac, which is most the time nowadays.
There also is a shortcut for moving files, but I do not care about that.
this is something that should be done everywhere, if it isn't, it's a potential security issue.
Trust me, the alternative is much, much worse. You do not want users using the same password everywhere.
I use a password manager, passwords are encrypted and only briefly available doing the copy / paste operation. It also has an auto-fill option which further limits the attack surface.
KDE is much more respectful towards users, because you can actually remove/add the "always on top" flag as needed, and that IS the way it should be.
Luckily macos is extensible so you can create your own service for that.
What is the shortcut for "paste and move"?
⌘+V for paste
⌘+⇧+V for paste and move
The way Mac handles copying and pasting text is also horrendous, because it also copies the styling, something I actually never need to do. The way to paste text without styling is a horrendous long, and inconvenient keyboard combo.
Other system does that too, but it is just less often an issue. Typically what I do instead is I have a plain text window open, paste my text in that, then copy it again, and finally paste it in the intended destination. It is piss annoying
Specifically:
- I really miss a decent address bar in finder that can be edited directly
- some windows on mac are always on top, preventing access to other windows. E.g. Password dialogs for encrypted hard drives.
- "Cut" does not work for files in finder, severely complicating moving files
- The Maximize button does not maximize, but instead enters full screen, meaning that I never use it
- There is a delay of ~100ms when pushing caps lock on the keyboard that can not be turned off without installing karabiner elements
- Pressing enter in Finder renames a file instead of opening it, an action that is rarely needed and extremely unintuitive – this erroneous behaviour can also be corrected with karabiner elements
- Sometimes audio balance will randomly shift to the left or right with bluetooth headphones, had to install yet another app to auto-fix it every time it happens because Apple is too daft to fix the bug.
- There is no delete key on the Mac keyboard, meaning that deleting a file is suddenly a two- key shortcut combo, whereas it is much easier on Windows/Linux (hit delete). Sigh.