Why is this here? I'm one of the biggest OS X 'fanbois' in the world, and I read the rumor mill sites every day, and I enjoy them for what they are: speculation.
But this isn't news; news is typically factual. And the Apple Rumor business is abysmal; 9to5mac, and specifically Mark Gurman, have one of the best track records in the game[1]; even then, it's a horrendous track record.
If this stuff shows up, then yay. I'll be thrilled. Especially proper multi-monitor support for full-screen apps. And I'm not saying that Mark Gurman is wrong (after all, he has "sources"). It's entirely possible that everything in this article will show up in 10.9
But it doesn't change the fact that it's still chaff, not wheat.
It just looks like Apple integrated TotalFinder, but considering that is closed source, I imagine it will not be an integration with TotalFinder, but there own brew.
When I saw power user features I wondered if it might be something that might convince people that OS X isn't going further down the locked down iOS route and certainly multiple monitors and more advanced use of finder are towards the power user end of things.
On the other hand it would be fair to say that they're relatively a small investment on Apple's part and it would be possible to read too much into them.
Looking at changes like this my take is that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I don't think Apple are going to lock down OS X the way iOS is locked down but nor do I think that power users are as critical a part of their target audience as they once were.
The end result - small changes for power users, enough to give them faith that they're not being completely ignored, and more significant investments for the new breed of typical Mac user.
>> "The new operating system includes major enhancements to the Finder application such as tags and tabbed browsing modes."
This would certainly be a welcome improvement.
However, not sure this ranks as a "power user" feature so much as a "fixing a really broken" feature. The finder in OSX ranks up there with the single-button mouse as among the most nonsensical stubborn non-features Apple has clung to over the years.
Yeah, I didn't see anything I'm interested in as a "power-user".
OSX lately has decided to hide a ton of features out of the box that require changing values in Terminal before being useful. A quick list I know of:
- Hiding full paths in Finder
- Launchpad can't actually delete things.
- Library is hidden
Other weird default settings:
- Scroll with trackpad is inverted
It also doesn't have Ubuntu's nice window snapping or Windows' snap to sides feature, which is a big time saver.
Finally, I don't feel like "port iOS features to OSX" has been a win for Apple. It just seems to confuse people by adding more crap to the OS.
I can't say I agree with the many people that think the Finder is broken. For my purposes the Finder works fine, doesn't get much in my way. Might be because I've used Apple computers for around 20 years now. I can imagine people migrating from other platforms have more issues with the Finder, since it works quite differently from Windows, Linux OS-es.
Actually, I don't think I interact much with the finder directly nowadays. I start apps using Apple-Spacebar and switch between apps using Apple-Tab. Finder is pretty much only used for some file management purposes (moving files to other folders, copy files etc...) and for those purposes it seems to work fine for me.
I do really wish Apple will fix full-screen display for multiple screens. I can imagine a lot of Apple developers would like to see this changed as well. Perhaps Steve Jobs blocked this change in a previous Mac OS X release due to personal issues with it? I can't imagine any Apple developer implementing full-screen support as it stands currently, only if it was forced by management, cause it makes no sense at all with regards to multiple screens.
There isn't anything in there that would get me back on board (I jumped ship about two years ago). I would consider proper multi monitor support for fullscreen "apps" a bugfix and not a feature.
Where is the proper window manager (or at least some hooks for 3rd party window managers) and the modern file system (at least give us snapshots and copy-on-write)?
OS X works extremely well on a laptop, which has been Apple's primary Mac focus for a while now. Flicking between virtual desktops/fullscreen apps on a multi-touch trackpad is a wonderful way to use a 13" screen.
If you replace the awful Finder with something usable, I'd argue that it's the best OS (desktop environment) for that particular form factor. For a proper workstation...well, they haven't even bothered to update the hardware for years. No surprise that the software has been neglected as well.
These look like good moves. While Microsoft and Ubuntu are shunning their desktop users, Apple is making me look the smarter for choosing a company who still stands believes in a desktop OS :)
FYI, I was a decade long Windows user who switched to Mac then to Ubuntu then back to Mac after Unity.
There hasn't been one called "cougar," which is a scary-cat name people think of, I think. Of course, "cougar" is another name for the puma, but then, so is "mountain lion," so that may not be a barrier.
Cougars(/pumas/mountain lions) are also interesting because they're not big cats, taxonomically speaking, so potentially the entire felidae family is in play, and it's pretty big. "Lynx" is a possibility... maybe also "wildcat" or "bobcat"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae
I've never had to reinstall my *nix tools when using OS X.
Where are you installing them? OS X respects all of the guarantees in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard so if you aren't installing custom-built binaries in /usr/local then the problem isn't OS X.
The first thing I noticed is that this would be the first OSX release to be named after something other than a great cat. Instead, they seem to be going for alcoholic beverages now.
“this would be the first OSX release to be named after something other than a great cat.”
No, OS X versions have had internal codenames named after French wine regions for quite some time. Known monikers are Pinot (10.3), Merlot (10.4), and Chablis (10.5).
[+] [-] dljsjr|13 years ago|reply
Why is this here? I'm one of the biggest OS X 'fanbois' in the world, and I read the rumor mill sites every day, and I enjoy them for what they are: speculation.
But this isn't news; news is typically factual. And the Apple Rumor business is abysmal; 9to5mac, and specifically Mark Gurman, have one of the best track records in the game[1]; even then, it's a horrendous track record.
If this stuff shows up, then yay. I'll be thrilled. Especially proper multi-monitor support for full-screen apps. And I'm not saying that Mark Gurman is wrong (after all, he has "sources"). It's entirely possible that everything in this article will show up in 10.9
But it doesn't change the fact that it's still chaff, not wheat.
[1]: http://www.quora.com/Who-has-been-the-most-accurate-in-predi... (sorry for the Quora link, the cited site is no longer up)
[+] [-] 1qaz2wsx3edc|13 years ago|reply
I only hope 10.9 doesn't break TotalFinder.
[+] [-] Tyrannosaurs|13 years ago|reply
On the other hand it would be fair to say that they're relatively a small investment on Apple's part and it would be possible to read too much into them.
Looking at changes like this my take is that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I don't think Apple are going to lock down OS X the way iOS is locked down but nor do I think that power users are as critical a part of their target audience as they once were.
The end result - small changes for power users, enough to give them faith that they're not being completely ignored, and more significant investments for the new breed of typical Mac user.
[+] [-] doktrin|13 years ago|reply
This would certainly be a welcome improvement.
However, not sure this ranks as a "power user" feature so much as a "fixing a really broken" feature. The finder in OSX ranks up there with the single-button mouse as among the most nonsensical stubborn non-features Apple has clung to over the years.
[+] [-] dechols|13 years ago|reply
OSX lately has decided to hide a ton of features out of the box that require changing values in Terminal before being useful. A quick list I know of: - Hiding full paths in Finder - Launchpad can't actually delete things. - Library is hidden
Other weird default settings: - Scroll with trackpad is inverted
It also doesn't have Ubuntu's nice window snapping or Windows' snap to sides feature, which is a big time saver.
Finally, I don't feel like "port iOS features to OSX" has been a win for Apple. It just seems to confuse people by adding more crap to the OS.
[+] [-] wsc981|13 years ago|reply
Actually, I don't think I interact much with the finder directly nowadays. I start apps using Apple-Spacebar and switch between apps using Apple-Tab. Finder is pretty much only used for some file management purposes (moving files to other folders, copy files etc...) and for those purposes it seems to work fine for me.
I do really wish Apple will fix full-screen display for multiple screens. I can imagine a lot of Apple developers would like to see this changed as well. Perhaps Steve Jobs blocked this change in a previous Mac OS X release due to personal issues with it? I can't imagine any Apple developer implementing full-screen support as it stands currently, only if it was forced by management, cause it makes no sense at all with regards to multiple screens.
[+] [-] lorenzfx|13 years ago|reply
Where is the proper window manager (or at least some hooks for 3rd party window managers) and the modern file system (at least give us snapshots and copy-on-write)?
[+] [-] TillE|13 years ago|reply
If you replace the awful Finder with something usable, I'd argue that it's the best OS (desktop environment) for that particular form factor. For a proper workstation...well, they haven't even bothered to update the hardware for years. No surprise that the software has been neglected as well.
[+] [-] account_taken|13 years ago|reply
FYI, I was a decade long Windows user who switched to Mac then to Ubuntu then back to Mac after Unity.
[+] [-] Shorel|13 years ago|reply
It's the best desktop experience I've ever had.
[+] [-] gcv|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pattern|13 years ago|reply
[1]: http://www.applematters.com/article/ftff/
[+] [-] bkeating|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SurfScore|13 years ago|reply
OS X 10.9 - House Cat FTW
[+] [-] apendleton|13 years ago|reply
Cougars(/pumas/mountain lions) are also interesting because they're not big cats, taxonomically speaking, so potentially the entire felidae family is in play, and it's pretty big. "Lynx" is a possibility... maybe also "wildcat" or "bobcat"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae
[+] [-] b3b0p|13 years ago|reply
I'm personally waiting for Thundercat.
[+] [-] croddin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emehrkay|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dljsjr|13 years ago|reply
Where are you installing them? OS X respects all of the guarantees in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard so if you aren't installing custom-built binaries in /usr/local then the problem isn't OS X.
[+] [-] hnriot|13 years ago|reply
And what's a unix hacker doing complaining they need to recompile their toolset?? Whimp :)
[+] [-] Millennium|13 years ago|reply
Why do I find this darkly hilarious?
[+] [-] Samuel_Michon|13 years ago|reply
No, OS X versions have had internal codenames named after French wine regions for quite some time. Known monikers are Pinot (10.3), Merlot (10.4), and Chablis (10.5).
[+] [-] smickie|13 years ago|reply