I’ve been using Apple’s Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on my Apple PowerBook since nearly a month now….. I can’t help but think “this is how computers should be”.
I’m trying to understand and jot down my thoughts on why it has made me more productive and why it is such a pleasure to use.
Note that whatever I am writing here is from the point of view of a Linux user and a non-geeky one at that too. I like using Linux because it gives me many advantages and features that are suited to me but I don’t compile kernels or ./configure every application that I want to install. I’m not an advanced user by any means (see my blog’s tag line for more information).
For the uninitiated, what is Mac OS X? Well, Mac OS X is the operating system (similar to Windows) that runs (only) on Apple Macintosh computers.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is claimed to be the “most advanced operating system in the world”. Hmm, not quite. Why? Because it is more like a Linux distribution rather than a core operating system like Windows. Distributions contain lots of applications bundled so that you have almost everything you need when installing a distribution. On the other hand, when you install an operating system (in the true definition of the term), you need to install all your required applications separately such as photo software, bluetooth software, calendar, addressbook and email applications, office suites, DVD player software and so on. Tiger has most of this stuff as part of the system, these applications are not core of the operating system but are certainly central to getting your work done.
The lines are certainly blurring about where an operating system starts and the applications begin. For example, Microsoft Longhorn (the next generation of Microsoft Windows) is adding RSS capabilities to the core system which also means Internet Explorer (following the example set by Firefox and Safari browsers).
First and foremost, every user expects the computer to be simple and usable. Needless to say, Mac OS X is miles ahead of the competition here. Simplicity just oozes out of the system. I find that aspect more appealing than any other “feature”.
For example, there is no Start menu and there is no taskbar. To run applications, open the Finder application (which is sort of like Windows Explorer), click on Applications folder and then double-click the application you want to run. Browsing your hard disk follows the exact same paradigm. Notice, that applications are treated just like files and are no different.
Under the hood, applications are just folders with .app extension – they show up as “applications” in the GUI. It can’t get more simpler than that and retains the Unix tradition of ‘treat everything like a file’.
Without a taskbar, how do you see what all you’re running? Press F9 and it shows you all the windows that you are running, and you can select the one you want to look at. There are keyboard shortcuts to cycle through applications as well as cycle through windows of the current application.
That reminds me that Mac OS X makes a distinction between application and windows of the application. For example, if I can start the Safari browser and close the window that opens up, the Safari application is still running. I can press Command-N to open a new window and continue. To completely quit Safari, you have to press Command-Q. This paradigm is consistently followed by all software. One of the advantages of this approach is that opening new windows are a snap compared to opening the full application every time. Also, you can have applications running even without a window open, such as the iTunes music player.
The Help functionality has radically improved over the previous Mac OS X 10.3 “Panther” where it used to take 6-7 minutes to just open! In Tiger, it opens instantly and the find functionality makes it really usable. I know that most developers sneer on the mention of documentation, but I feel a good to-the-point documentation is very important and has certainly solved many issues for me as a user.
There are many applications that come with the Mac OS X such as the iCal calendar application (which I particularly like), QuickTime audio/video software, iTunes music player, Mail application, iPhoto photo software, Garage Band professional music-making software, iMovie HD for making home movies, etc.
What I like in most of them is the level of attention to detail. Mail.app is a good example. Mail has threads like every other modern email client, but what made it useful for me is the ability to move threads (which I was never able to do in Thunderbird). Similarly, the preferences section is to-the-point and makes it very easy to add new accounts, etc. without confusing the user.
Another thing I really really liked was the Activity Viewer. Press Command-0 (command-zero), and it pops up a window which shows you exactly what Mail is doing. You can even cancel operations in this Activity Viewer.