Is…that it? There are apps that let you do that. If you were feeling sadistic you could write some AppleScript to do it for you.

Ah yes, then you download an app for that. And that app has its own updater.

Then you realize you want your mouse and trackpad to scroll in reverse directions. So you download an app for that, which comes with its own updater.

And then you want a flat acceleration profile for your mouse, and you download an app for that. That, too, comes with its own updater.

Next, you realize that the Mac app-based cmd-tab sucks and you'd much rather have Windows-like behavior. So you download an app for that, which also comes with its own updater. (Yes, yes, I know the arguments Apple users bring out, it's always been done this way on Mac etc etc. Still really bad.)

Then you get a taste of auto-tiling on Linux and spend a couple hours setting up yabai and skhd (thankfully updated via homebrew), before realizing that you'll need to turn off SIP [1] for a semi-usable experience.

Then you do go and turn off SIP, and you realize that your iOS apps no longer work because macOS has DRM built into its hardware that detects if you've turned off SIP.

And then, one of those apps prompts you for an update, and in doing so it steals your keyboard focus while you're typing. And you say "is this what I spent $2500 to experience", and cry.

[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai#requirements-and-caveat...

What's an "update"? Don't you mean a helper?

I come back from lunch and my MacBook sounds like a jet turbine and is nearly on fire. Something needs a whole CPU just to show me a freaking dialog.

> Then you realize you want your mouse and trackpad to scroll in reverse directions.

No, I don't. I want it to be like pushing or dragging a virtual piece of paper. That's what it is and how it feels the most natural to me. That being said I'm pretty sure you can already configure this without an app, in the system preferences.

> Next, you realize that the Mac app-based cmd-tab sucks and you'd much rather have Windows-like behavior.

No way. I love the cmd + tab and pairing that with keyboard shortcuts for navigating browser tabs is super powerful and doesn't require compromising the beautiful giant amount of screen real estate by inducing multitasking with multiple windows open. It's okay if it comes as a configuration but I would hope the default behavior stays this way.

> No, I don't. I want it to be like pushing or dragging a virtual piece of paper. That's what it is and how it feels the most natural to me.

Yes, that's what makes sense for a trackpad. Many people want that behavior for their trackpad, and also for their mice to scroll in the traditional direction, which is the opposite that of a trackpad.

> That being said I'm pretty sure you can already configure this without an app, in the system preferences.

Have you actually tried it out?

> No way. I love the cmd + tab and pairing that with keyboard shortcuts for navigating browser tabs is super powerful and doesn't require compromising the beautiful giant amount of screen real estate by inducing multitasking with multiple windows open.

I really don't know how macOS-style application vs Windows-style window switchers have any bearing on this. Why should two Firefox windows next to each other be treated differently from a Firefox window next to Safari window? A browser window is a browser window.

> Have you actually tried it out?

Not parent commenter, but yes, there is literally a single tick you can turn on to reverse the direction since forever.

Just to be pedantic, natural scrolling was introduced to OS X in 2011 with the release of Mac OS X Lion, 10.7.

To be clear, they’re asking about having scrolling on a mouse and trackpad act differently from each other. The System Preferences / System Settings ‘Natural Scrolling’ option affects both mouse and trackpad, even though they’re in different places, and without third-party software it’s not possible to do what the commenter is asking.

Sounds like you haven't tried it out.

Just use the Rectangle app, problem solved. It would be nice to have it built in, but it is not a big deal.

There are multiple apps for this. I've had window management on my macs for a decade+.

Everyone mentioning multiple apps such as "rectangle" or "amethyst" doesn't really understand how restrictive they are compared to tools like i3 or sway.

Window snapping, tiling and screen navigation is a HUGE deal. I basically don't use my mouse when programming in Linux and it's really difficult to do the same on Mac.

Then you want "yabai".

which, while better than the native macos experience, is really clunky compared to i3.

I used to love tiling window managers. But I found out that UI heavy applications (those with a lot of extra things around the data itself, eg an IDE with toolbars and stuff around the actual editor) don’t seem to fit well into half a screen, so I prefer to use a predictable arrangement where for instance the left and bottom bit of my terminal is visible even though part of it is obstructed by the web browser. (Then I can click the web app and see if the log message I was waiting for appears in the terminal.)

I use Hammerspoon for this and I have keyboard shortcuts that will move the window and resize it to a predefined position. And I have shortcuts to select certain apps quickly.

Hammerspoon is scripted in lua so I don’t feel very constrained in what I can do.

There is also Phoenix, it uses JS.

I haven't missed window snapping since going full Apple a couple years ago. Whenever I need to see another tab or window, like if writing code and wanting documentation at the same time, command + tab and browser tab shortcuts are really fast and responsive and seamless. I prefer the larger amount of screen real estate in use without snapping plus the keyboard shortcuts over reducing the screen real estate to multitask via snapped windows, because windows side by side affect my focus more than just tabbing when needed.