iTunes I understand, but what don't you like about Preview? I think it's actually one of the best parts of the mac. I'm also confused at what you mean by blurry monitors and Xcode dictating what goes in your machine?
Preview's "modern" file model which forces you to duplicate files to work on them and then automatically creates files on the filesystem with a name you don't want and you then have to go and clean up.... annoying. A lot of non Mac monitors (I have two HPs at the moment) are not very sharp used with a Mac. Apparently only Apple monitors work well with MBP - this could be balooney by anti-mac it people, but the fact that the monitor is not sharp is a fact. With XCode the fact that you have to download the whole XCode when you just want Make for example, and it comes with its own version of Ruby, etc, and it causes havoc if you have installed your own version of Ruby. brew is good, but luckily certain core unix tools only seem to come with XCode
Citations for any of these? I have 'make' installed on my mbp without XCode (along with clang, etc), and I use my mbp with 2 24" monitors all the time (in clamshell mode), and it's no less sharp than it is with a desktop.
I never said that monitors work better with desktop computers as opposed to laptops. I said that only Apple monitors are sharp when connected to laptops, as opposed to non Apple monitors. Wasn't that clear?
Again, citation? What monitors are you comparing? I honestly hope you're not truly complaining that a 1080p monitor looks less sharp than a 4k or 5k display.
Also, where's your citation/article/anything that you can't get Make without installing XCode?