Originally posted by: halfadder
Originally posted by: Cerb
(I definitely don't like the file browser for apps, nor the dock in general, but the rest of OS X is pretty cool).
Some various things to try:
* Apple menu -> Dock -> Turn Hiding On
What exactly does this do?
* Apple menu -> Dock -> Turn Magnification Off
Came off by default. This is a feature they use to sell (every demo has had it on), that makes the dock terrible for real use.
* Resize the dock by placing your cursor over the vertical speration bar (usually to the left of the trash can icon). Click, hold, and drag up or down to resize the dock.
Or right-click and get a full set of options. At 800x600, the dock needed resizing ASAP
.
* Column View in the Finder/File Browser (the third icon on the view buttons looks like three tall columns)
I turned the icons down to small, labels on the right, hit the upper-right button...hot damn! This is what I use dFileman for in Windows! And I get out of it with a mouse click.
Perfect.
For applications, it's mainly that I think a start-menu-like menu is superior (note: I don't use the Explorer start menu in Windows).
* Click on desktop or a Finder/File Browser window. Finder menu -> Preferences -> General -> New Finder windows open: Applications. That way you can get one click access to the Applications directory from the Finder icon on the dock.
Getting there isn't as much of an issue as that I'd like it as a popup. Better yet, blackbox-like, as a popup from the desktop.[/quote]or
* Open a Finder/File Browser window, click on your hard drive icon, then drag the Applications folder to the dock. This will place an alias on the dock that you can right-click (or control-click) to get pop up access to your applications. You can make a different folder with aliases that you can rename/organize/whatever to any layout you want.[/quote]I will try that ASAP!
or
*
http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/fruitmenu/ (awesome awesome awesome piece of software)
* Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Appearance -> Appearance: Graphite (yay, no more blue)
* Note that in the System Preference application, you can click "Show All" and drag your favorite preference panels to the top shelf for quick access in the future.
Figured that stuff out.
* Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Expose
Set a screen corner to "All Windows" and another corner to "Desktop" so you can quickly slam your curosr into a corner to activate an expose feature.
Top-right corner. AFter doing that, expose has not only become useable, but actually intuitive.
* Clean your dock by draging an icon off the dock and dropping it on to the desktop, the default dock from Apple has way too many shortcuts on it.
Already got that, too.
My initial impression of OS X's interface is that the dock really is made to look better and sell things more than it is to be used, and that applications management is defintiely made for dummies. However, there are quite a few features that really are awesome.
Dialog boxes, FI. Anand's article doesn't do their management of them justice.
Also, tabs: instead of paper folder tabs, in which rows must change positions when selecting tabs, it is a rounded button panel slightly apart from the set of panes that would normally be tabbed. Not as real-world-like, but much better as a GUI element.
Application menus are always in the same spot. KDE can do this, but it has been buggy in the past, and still doesn't remove them from the windows. This is something I'd never used much, but figured I'd like...and I do
.
I would put OS X as dead even with Xandros 3 for actual useability (if I weren't a gamer, Xandros w/ Crossover Office would probably make up my main desktop OS, rather than Windows 2000). I would not compare it to windows, if simply because I think it's cool that I can pop open terminal and use a fully featured command line interface
.
Lastly, I would say that my initial performance expectations were reached. Many things, like web browsing, are not as slow as I would have expected, with a 5400 RPM HDD, though it gets as bad as a desktop Linux or Windows once you use up all of the RAM. Like Win2k/XP, the 256MB RAM isn't enough for heavy daily use (word processing, mail, and dozens of browser windows/tabs open).
Facebook
Twitter