What OS X Could Learn From Windows
Okay.
Hard hat? Check.
Flak jacket? Check.
Flame proof vest? Check.
White flag? Check.
Deep breath? Check.
Windows has some features OS X could do with.
There, I said it. Nice and quick and up front. No beating around the bush. So what now? Duck!!!
Is it safe to come out yet? I’ve been burnt before daring to suggest this. But here I am again, sucker for punishment.
1) Compatible control keys. Switching between Mac and Windows this drives me nuts. I have to consciously think “command-C or control-C?” It shouldn’t have to be that way. And if you’re running RDC or VPC and copying and pasting between OS X and Windows!! Sheesh!
The problem isn’t the labeling, it’s the location of the keys used. I had to use a Windows PC today and I kept pressing Alt-C to copy. This is why it’s a problem. If it was simply a matter of labeling, no worries, mate. Apple - and the zealotry - need to concede that this battle is lost.
Implementing this would rock many people’s boats, so if Apple did make this change it’d have some serious domino affect on other keystrokes and applications that use them, but maybe it could be done with the switch to Intel, just to ease the pain slightly.
2) Save button on toolbars. I don’t think any of the Apple software ever gives you the option to include a Save button. Print button yes, Save button no. A little test - raise your hand if you save your work more often than you print it? Ah, so I’m not alone. Good. You can put your hands down. Thank you.
3) A multi button mouse. And you thought I’d say two. Why stop at two? Especially with things like Exposé, Dashboard and Spotlight. They’re just crying out for single click activation from a mouse. Ok. So this isn’t a Windows feature per sé, but still is needed.
4) Only show relevant file types in open and save dialogs. For those who like seeing every file that’s every existed in their Documents folder, give them a checkbox to show all files. But personally, if I am opening a Pages file, I don’t want to see all my iMovie, Excel, iDVD etc files. And OS X already knows which are which because non-related ones are greyed out.
5) Sort folders to top of directory listings I know that we don’t go folder mining as much since we got Spotlight, so I won’t labor on about this one.
6) More context sensitive help. I notice since I first raised this two years ago, more of it has crept into OS X. So I guess at least I can’t be flamed for this one!
Now why is it that I can list all the features I want Leopard to have and as long as none of them are from Windows, its cool? But dare suggest OS X needs a feature already in Windows and the world comes down on you. We can admit that OS X is not perfect, but not that Windows is better in some ways.
But Apple have admitted it in the past. Here’s just a couple of things I’ve seen Windows do that Apple has added:
- Command-tab switching
- Existing files selectable in Save dialog
Last week I suggested changes to the iPod and more people than not, disagreed. And I reckon this week it’ll be a lot worse. But if I added to this list “Change to Intel CPU’s"… two months ago I would have been burned at the stake. Now it seems we all think that change is logical. So before you get the flame thrower out remember, we know Apple make changes, they borrow from Windows and borrow from their 3rd party developers.
Also, I know I’m going to get flamed for this being a “tired old argument that has been done to death”. Sorry if you feel that way. just pretend I didn’t say these features already existed in Windows and that they are new and revolutionary. If we stop asking, Apple may think we don’t want them anymore. Microsoft copied so much from Mac OS, why can’t Apple do a little copying back?
And if you can take the heat, what would you like to see Apple borrow from Windows?
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I would personally like to see better image file viewing. In the Windows world, viewing thumbnails is very easy. Add the “maximize window\” button and those two features can make image viewing much easier.
*please inform me if there’s actually a way i can do this on OS X*
However, I do have to disagree with the multi-button approach. I only disagree because there are many, many third party mice you can buy. Apple tends to keep their products easy to use for those who don’t use the computer for more than 12+ hours like i tend to do on weekends. I’ve helped out seniors with their computer problems, and some of them don’t even know the difference on when to use the right-click function.
Some interesting points, however:
1. The idea of compatible control keys as you suggest is just plain daft. If one stops to think about it, the Mac system of modifier keys is far more sensible. If you particularly want to use the same system as Windows, under 10.4, you can go to Keyboard in System Prefs and do so. So in a way, problem solved already.
2. Save buttons on toolbars? Fair enough point, but not really an OS X one. This is more up to the app developers. I agree that maybe more apps need to include this ability (from all developers, including Apple) but it is not an ‘OS X thing’ From a personal perspective, I just use Command-S, but then I’m more of a keyboard person.
3. Multi-button mouse? NO. This is part of the Mac. It keeps it nice and simple. Perhaps Apple should make a 3 button mouse, but it shouldn’t be standard. As it is, things work pretty well I think, whereby one can just plug in any 3 button USB mouse and expect it to work. Although I do think Apple should work on improving scrolling performance in OS X, but that’s another matter…
4. Fair point. On the other hand, I occasionally do want to work with a file that “isn’t compatible”, but the Windows way is probably better.
5. Yup, totally agree. Maybe only do it when sorting by Kind.
6. No opinion on this one.
Can’t really think of any features off the top of my head that Windows has that I want to see put it.
5) Sort folders to top of directory listings - Yup, as a recent switcher this irritated the heck out of me but I guess I’m used to it now.
An extra thing I’d like fom windows is the ability to resize a window from any part of the window frame rather than just from the right hand corner - again, this would help the switching experience enormously!
I was going to post this anyway, but Don beat me to it. I’l just have to second it instead.
More resize handles ! They don’t even need to be visible all the time - Windows’ window edges are a little clumsy, after all, but I’ve often moved the resize handle off-screen and have to move the window back in order to resize.
Sometimes a windows has grown bigger than the screen height somehow, and it’s not so easy to resize. Or resize handle is hidden by the dock, or so close to a hidden dock, that it’s hard not to trigger the dock.
So yes. Resize handles.
Perhaps also better navigation of menus via keystrokes rather than mousing. This is a problem if you’ve ever tried a 30” display. (I don’t have one, but I’ve tried one in the store). That’s a lot of screen to navigate if you need a menu option. I think windows is better at that even though it deosn’t need it so much due to its wasteful method of attaching menubars to individual windows.
I’ve been using DejaMenu a little, and it can be quite a timesaver. Or at least a mouse-movement saver.
Chris,
I shall now pull out my spiked club of vengeance and beat you with it for daring to write such an article. But before I do that I think I shall respond to your points.
1) Compatible control keys.
Who cares? If you use windows then you just right click or menu click everything. I don’t remember the last time I used the keyboard shortcuts for any lenght of time.
2) Save button on toolbars.
Sorry but that is completely useless to me. When I run OS X I use keyboard shortcuts like crazy often times forgoing the mouse entirely. So Command-S works very well for me. Just like Command-P, Command-O and the rest.
3) A multi button mouse.
Go buy 3rd party hardware if you care otherwise just use the keyboard shortcuts.
4) Only show relevant file types in open and save dialogs.
Hum, don’t really care one way or the other.
5) Sort folders to top of directory listings
Once again this is not something I care all that much about.
6) More context sensitive help.
Eh, don’t care on this one either.
Change location of Command key? WTF? Muscle memory is locked already for Mac owners. Give us the option through System Prefs to change it, sure. But to change the default now? You are one sick puppy.
Sure, put as many frigging buttons as you like on the bar - I’ll ignore that one too. My motto is - mouse? what mouse? Give me a keyboard shortcut and you can do whatever you like.
Add a second mouse button and the mouse morons will start crying for a third, a forth, a fifth. Forget the second button - ctrl works well enough. But give us a scroll wheel!
You and I might like the idea of grouping folders but I train new computer users and I know this is one feature that will drive them nuts. New users tend to ignore icons for quite some time. When they start going down the list and what they want can’t get found they don’t think - “Oh, I gotta go down to the files” No, they figure what they want is lost and give up.
Windows and Mac Help suck - anything to improve it would help.
And to think I was looking for completely different things to be listed here…
Most of the command interface is close enough. I like the one button mouse but obviously nothing is stopping anyone from buying a different one - with a scroll wheel. Half the Mac users I know already did. I’ve never really noticed the lack of a “Save” button on the command bar until now, yeah, I guess that’d be nice - but what I’d rather see is a full CLOSE button similar to the big red X on every XP window. I hate having to Quit so often, though the keyboard shortbut works.
Frankly, I’d rather see other things:
1. Better native support for digital media. Sure, Mac supports DVD out of the box - something Windows does NOT do (depending upon who’s box you open). But with all of the streaming media formats out there, I’m finding way too many that aren’t fully supported by Mac. WMV for starters. I can download WMP for Mac but it doesn’t integrate real well on a lot of sites I’ve visited.
2. Browser engine simulation in Safari. Too many sites still look screwy in it and for the time being Internet Explorer is still king (sigh). Steal the engine simulator out of Netscape and this isn’t a factor.
3. Better USB printer support. Every printer I’ve used on both types of machines are substantially faster to initialize and begin printing on Windows regardless of the drivers I use on Mac. I’ve tested this on multiple machines of both types and with the volume of printing I do it’s been very time consuming, for me at least.
4. The thumbnail thing mentioned above is sorely missed, though I tend to think that Apple is ultimately shooting for something different here. Instead of browsing your My Pictures folder we’re supposed to be browsing iPhoto, same with My Music / iTunes. Now, if only they had a video option. Digging through videos on Windows is much easier than on a Mac, though Spotlight helps a little bit.
5. Finally, increase the damn default font size a little bit. I was trying to make a photo book in iPhoto last night and couldn’t even read my own captions. I’ve heard several complaints from older folks I’ve got into Mac’s about the same thing. Browsing on a 20” iMac at 60 years old, with a 60 year olds eye sight, just isn’t a picnic for some and really turns them off to the whole experience.
I want to add shortcuts/favorites to the Finder in open/save dialogs. That’s the best time to make them, as you’re digging through directories and wondering why, wanting to create a solution ‘now’. I also want labeling colors to show on the Finder shortcuts, to organise them better. (sorry, slightly off-topic, but let’s start a movement for these basic features)
Is it possible for any of you to objectively look at the suggestions made here instead of responding with something like “I don’t really care” about this or that?
I thought some of the suggestions made a good deal of sense, even if not all of them apply to me. I am not going to say more context sensitive menus aren’t needed all because I wouldn’t use them. That’s not only a little closed minded but a bit ignorant in not realizing that the world doesn’t quite revolve around you alone.
Placement of the keys is a good point, especially since Mac folk like to preach about the benefits of switching, while acknowledging that most of us are still stuck using Windows in work. Wouldn’t it be nice if keyboard shortcuts were ubiquitous between both platforms, both in function and placement? Then there is one less reason for someone to use the excuse the switch is “too hard” or “confusing”. I mean you guys do want people to switch don’t you? You seem to through that term about every chance you get. So why fight a few simple changes that might go a long way in convincing people to do so.
I say this while admitting it is a bit unfair to existing Mac users who would then have to ignore their own muscle memory and accustom themselves to a new key placement. But in the long run I think the benefits of such a move would far outweigh the negatives. The Mac is currently gaining market share, Apple is THE brand right now. Interest is high. It’s time to pull out all the stops and do the little things that will translate into higher adoption rates of Mac based machines.
Then you want to talk about “ease of use” by defending the one button mouse (which basically unnecessarily forces two handed computing while browsing) and then turn around and suggest that the average user take the time to re-map their keyboards if they want similar shortcut placement? Yea, I see tons of average users remapping keyboards right out of the box, no problem. But it’s the two-button mouse that’s confusing right?
Let me dispel the two-button myth right now. IT IS NOT CONFUSING. It is an extra button. Even people who NEVER use the right button and are completely clueless as to it’s function are not confused by it’s presence. It’s there, they ignore it, they left click. Period! Who is confused by this? I hear Mac users use this excuse all the time and it baffles me. I support users on a Windows based network and maybe a less than half the users use the right mouse button. The rest don’t even know why it is there. But of all the stupid support calls I have ever gotten I have never received a call that the right mouse button somehow complicated their computing experience. Either it made it easier or it had no affect at all. Who decided a two-button mouse was complicated?
That’s like saying we should do away with the keyboard shortcuts you guys are falling all over yourselves in praise of because the dozens upon dozens of shortcuts are too much for the average user to remember. Right? Too confusing?
Well get rid of them, the Mac is all about being user friendly. And keyboard shortcuts require too much brain power, so dump them.
How would everyone feel about that?
A two button mouse should be included with a Mac, because while a 3rd party mouse will do the trick why should I have to pay extra (not to mention search for a suitable white mouse to match an iMac for instance) when this is a device that should be included in the purchase price?
A second mouse button is not anymore confusing than shortcut keys. Those who don’t know, or are unwilling to learn how, to use them, ignore them and move about their business. Yet everyone has the option.
A save button or more contextual menus, who would argue against this? They wouldn’t take away from the experience and they might have more upside than you are willing to admit at the moment?
Open minded.
Think Different.
Remember all that?
Good article Chris.
Re: Browser engine simulation in Safari. No. Web standards anyone? It’s time to stop caving into poorly written, proprietary browsers, no matter their market share. (can you tell I’m a web designer?) I’d like to see Safari offer a dialog when it comes to non-standardized sites, that helps users register a complaint with said site.
If Windows and OS X were to have the same Command/Control key functions it is definitely Windows that should change. On both systems computer users universally use these more than any other shortcut key and the Mac’s Command key wins by virtue of proximity to other keys. If you need to create a new document do you really want to have to reach from the outside corner of the keyboard and combine that with the N key, or use the command key that is much closer? The close proximity of the command key allows for more one-handed shortcut key combos as well.
As far as features that I would want, I have no idea what features Windows has since I haven’t used it since “95”. But one feature I want desperately is the ability to make my entire system default to “List” view in my Finder windows rather than “Icon” view. I can’t think of a more useless way to try and see your files than those icons that may or may not show up in the window.
1) Good you got your vest on, since for promoting the idea of making the ENTIRE USERBASE RELEARN THEIR SHORTCUTS you deserve a healthy whipping which any pro making money with his Mac will wholeheartedly deliver. Serious domino *pffff*
3) Go out and buy a multibutton mouse, it works. You don’t need it for the machine to work though & many buttons confuse certain users. (see comment 1.). The Mac (still) is about simplicity.
AngryHamster, the button-problem is not located within the minds of people who have at their disposal or are willing to or even get the idea to call techsupport.
I’ve also seen physically impaired people use Macs, people with a significant lack of fingers or even arms. Admittedly I did not ask, but my idea was that a single button mouse is more accessible if you use it with your foot. Those are minorities and they could well buy special equipment for their needs? Macusers are a minority as well, so should we all learn WinKeys? Who’s to decide? One thing is for sure: I doubt that the installed userbase wants to relearn their keys because “decision makers” opted for the “cheaper” system a decade ago.
Bad Beaver,
Not that I am trying to be insensitive to certain situations but the examples you provided are clearly in the minority. Are you saying that products should be designed and geared to the minority of the purchasing public? All because Mac users are the “minority” of the computing public?
I would disagree wholeheartedly with both of those assertions.
And if you read what I wrote I addressed the most common reason given by Mac users as to why Apple should never include a two-button mouse. Complexity. And I stated quite clearly that a two button mouse offers no more complexity than a one button mouse because the right button is not required to be used by it’s mere presence. Instead it is a shortcut to use contextual menu’s, among other things, as opposed to the two handed keyboard/mouse combo.
Single handed right click, or two-handed keyboard/mouse Ctrl+click. Which do you think would be easier to learn for the average, everyday, first time computer user? You could disagree with me when I say it is clearly right click, but of course neither of us would be wrong as it is all based on preference.
Now I am not asserting that your preference is difficult and therefore should be struck from the Mac OSX, and taking it a step further, calling for the removal of all keyboard shortcuts because it’s just too damn many for the average user to remember. Silly right?
Yet it is continually argued that a two-button mouse makes the Mac more complex and confusing to the average user. How exactly?
Furthermore if that user opted not to use either of those methods are they more or less confused by their presence at all? Should we remove both options because they can be construed by some to be confusing to all? And if not then why should other users be denied the option to do so within their basic purchase price?
That’s at the heart of this matter. When you buy a Mac you shouldn’t be required to purchase additional hardware because my preference is different than yours. Two button mice are not a fringe product; they are very much mainstream, much more so obviously than the 1 button variety.
You want switchers? You want them to feel comfortable. A two button mouse is the simplest concession that can be made, much more so than keyboard key placement (whether that option has as much merit as a two button mouse or not) and yet existing Mac users continually argue against it for outdated and simplistically irrational reasons. A 2 button mouse is no more complex than a 1 button mouse, no matter how you try to spin it.
Apple needs to get over the hang-up and include a worthwhile change in their already insanely great computing package.
Just the mere fact that this request will not go away, and never will, should tell you it has more merit than the average Mac zealot gives it credit for.
Again…
Open minded.
Think Different.
Remember all that?
“Only show relevant file types in open and save dialogs.”
No, no, NO! That’s one of the features I hate the *most* about Windows. When I want to save a new file I often want to name it the same as another file of a different type. But I can’t see any other types! Plus, it creates the illusion that there aren’t any other files in the folder. People will say “Hey, where’s my file?!” A better solution (which is what OSX already does) is to grey out non-relevant file types. As for the problem of clutter, see below:
“I don’t want to see all my iMovie, Excel, iDVD etc files.”
Dude, haven’t you ever heard of subfolders? You don’t just throw all your docs into one gigantic folder.