[turkeywelder]

Recent M1 user here - I had a PowerPC mac back in the Leopard/Tiger days. I thought OSx would have come on leaps and bounds since then.

It's....more or less unchanged. As well as this crazy installer thing, there's quite a bit about Macs that just seems off.. My list of "things that don't seem right" as a long term Windows/ChromeOS user

- Window snapping isn't built in outside of fullscreen mode (seriously?!)

- Sleeping the mac does not sleep the mac, it wakes up at all sorts of times

- Every time the OS updates, I have to go through a setup process again, trying to upsell me on iCloud drive. Nothing updates as nicely as ChromeOS but I'd hope for at least a reboot and back to where I left off

- TouchID for login works....but not often enough - it constantly pesters me for a password

- Pressing enter renames a file rather than opens it. What?

- The Finder is either named ironically or I'm not getting it - file paths are obscured, seeing file details is hidden behind a dialog.

We bought the M1 because ChromeOS didn't like our old Samsung printer and the VPN software my partner uses and Google had killed the update life for it for...reasons. In an expensive lesson of "whoops", the Mac doesn't like the printer either.

A lot of this is me getting back into it and getting used to things, but I sort of miss ChromeOS.

In Apple's defence, the hardware is amazing and the bluetooth is fantastic. Could have put a port on either side to make charging nicer though.

[bayindirh]

> Window snapping isn't built in outside of fullscreen mode (seriously?!)

You can just install Magnet. It's a little unobtrusive app which can do neat things with windows.

> Sleeping the mac does not sleep the mac, it wakes up at all sorts of times

Power Nap is useful. When I open my Mac in the morning everything is updated from mail to apps. It doesn't turn on fans on older Macs for smaller tasks too. You can turn it off.

> Every time the OS updates, I have to go through a setup process again, trying to upsell me on iCloud drive. Nothing updates as nicely as ChromeOS but I'd hope for at least a reboot and back to where I left off

I don't experience this except once-in-a-year release updates. Even in that case OS state including all the applications' state is restored for the last 6-7 years or so.

> TouchID for login works....but not often enough - it constantly pesters me for a password

Unless Touch-ID is disabled for something (long sleep, location change, reboot, etc.) It never failed to recognize my finger.

> Pressing enter renames a file rather than opens it. What?

This is a bit backwards at first, but when considered, it's logical. command+down enters the folders and files (and opens them in the corresponding application).

> The Finder is either named ironically or I'm not getting it - file paths are obscured, seeing file details is hidden behind a dialog.

Finder is neither advanced nor explicit like KDE's dolphin or a more advanced file manager like forklift, but it's hidden features are plenty. Also, the search engine (Spotlight) can find everything, so in fact Finder really finds. Just let it search.

As a Linux and Mac user, Windows feels off for a very long time for me. Mac feels more natural and Linux most flexible and verbose. At the end of the day, macOS has the most efficient use of space and allows deep productivity with less friction. This is my experience after using both for more than 15 years.

Moreover, I've found that trackpad gestures of MacBooks neatly integrate into daily routine and they disappear by becoming instinct. This is one of the best sides of apple ecosystem. One can use the device without thinking about using it. It provides enormous speed gains.

[cuddlybacon]

>> TouchID for login works....but not often enough - it constantly pesters me for a password

> Unless Touch-ID is disabled for something (long sleep, location change, reboot, etc.) It never failed to recognize my finger.

Touch-ID will periodically demand the password. I've always guessed this is done so you don't end up forgetting it. It also demands the password on reboot.

I wonder if the person you are replying to is rebooting a lot.

[tomduncalf]

> command+down enters the folders and files

Or Cmd+O, which feels easier to remember to me (o = open)

[rubyist5eva]

Window snapping exists in macOS, hold the option key while hovering over the zoom button and the snapping options pop up in a tooltip.

Personally, I like that macOS is more or less unchanged. It’s familiar, and I don’t have to worry about big sweeping changes like Windows 8 or Gnome 3 and Gnome 40.

For everything else there’s usually a tiny utility app you can install the gives you the functionality and runs in the background using very little resources.

[adolph]

As long time Mac and relatively recent cross platform user, native window snapping is a joke in macOS made tolerable by Magnet. Option just changes the green button mode from new workspace (or whatever its called) to whole screen. In most Windows OSes the eponymous key plus an arrow will cycle the UI window through helpful positions of whole, half, quarter.

The sibling comment challenges the parent regarding the importance of window snapping. I used to think it wasn't a big deal. I was accustomed to mousing windows here and there and seeing bits of other things behind. After using iOS I have a new appreciation for focus, simplicity and reduced non-functional effort.

A significant amount of user-time in a standard desktop GUI is spent changing application and window contexts. Why wouldn't it be as much a first class concern as brushed metal and lickability?

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12

[rubyist5eva]

> Option just changes the green button mode from new workspace (or whatever its called) to whole screen.

Hover for a second, a tooltip will pop-up for left-snap and right-snap. If you don’t hold Option it does the workspace version like iPad where it splits into a new workspace.

[mirthflat83]

I have honestly never felt the need for snapping for almost a decade. Just use multiple monitors if you really need that screen estate

[adolph]

Poor window management isn't a great argument for more monitors. That's just using your neck to make up for a deficient UI.

[totalZero]

I use multiple monitors and that simply means I have to do more work to snap windows. The windows sometimes migrate from desktop to desktop upon startup and wake, and there are more of them to deal with when I want to rearrange things.

[turkeywelder]

ohh that option thing is well hidden, thanks for that. Is there a keyboard shortcut for it?

[rubyist5eva]

I haven’t found one but I never really dug into the keyboard shortcut settings because I use Rectangle anyway.

[robertoandred]

> The Finder is either named ironically or I'm not getting it - file paths are obscured, seeing file details is hidden behind a dialog.

View -> Show Path Bar and Show Preview

[andreynering]

> Sleeping the mac does not sleep the mac, it wakes up at all sorts of times

This can be improved a bit by forcing the Mac to "hibernate" instead of suspend when you put it to sleep:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/51729

By default, it would hibernate only after some time.

You can also disable the "Power Nap" checkbox on Settings > Battery.

EDIT: Typo

[tomp]

> - Pressing enter renames a file rather than opens it. What?

Press space instead... mostly will "open" the file (preview it).

[pmx]

cmd and down arrow to actually open it. I'm used to it now but it still annoys me!

[m463]

I always use cmd-o - never knew about cmd-down - it seems to do the same thing - why a different keystroke?

[qubitcoder]

Same here. I just learned about Cmd+down today after using macOS for nearly two decades. I've always used Cmd+o (as in, "open").

But it makes sense. Especially when considering that an Application on macOS is basically a folder (e.g. right click on an app, and select "Show Package Contents"), so navigating "down" into an app would open it.

[perardi]

Sleeping the mac does not sleep the mac, it wakes up at all sorts of times

This sure used to work.

My 16-inch MacBook Pro (as in, the new keyboard model) just does not want to stay asleep if the screen is open. Even if I put it in Do Not Disturb mode, notifications (like my nightly reminder to take my melatonin) wake it up, seemingly no matter what option I toggle.

[andreasley]

My 16-inch MacBook Pro sleeps just fine.

I assume you have Power Nap disabled and no devices attached that try to wake the MacBook?

[perardi]

…son of a…

Oh that’s embarrassing. I do still have Power Nap enabled.

Well let’s give that a shot. Thanks for the reminder about that option.

[sjg007]

How performant is chromeos? I'm thinking of getting one as it is basically linux.

[turkeywelder]

In our use it was perfectly fine, it'll run fine with 4gb of ram and a Celeron. I wouldn't want to do hardcore software dev on one because they're usually low end screens and CPUs, but as a "here's a safe machine you can't break" they're absolutely brilliant for family.

Boot time is instant, OS updates are instant, battery life is great, if there was ever "linux for the desktop" it's ChromeOS.

It's not all roses though: full disclosure: our Chromebook is stuck on Chrome 68 so these might not apply any more.

- The file management is poor, a zip file can and will confuse it

- Bluetooth is Windows XP levels of stable, if you get a device it likes you're good, but it can be finicky.

- The device has a fixed expiry date where they stop getting software updates, this is the big kicker for me, because we had a perfectly functional machine that was a bit old that just got turned into E waste because nobody wanted to support the software any more. Shame because it was a fantastic machine. I'm hoping our Mac lasts longer than the Chromebook it's replacing

[tanaros]

I have no experience with this, but you may be able to install Neverware CloudReady on the old Chromebook to extend its life.

[coldtea]

>- Window snapping isn't built in outside of fullscreen mode (seriously?!)

As if that's a major future? (seriously?!)

>- Sleeping the mac does not sleep the mac, it wakes up at all sorts of times

It sleeps just fine for me, across half a dozen of Macs over 2 decades.

>- TouchID for login works....but not often enough - it constantly pesters me for a password

Like the first time after a boot/login?

>- Pressing enter renames a file rather than opens it. What?

What what?

>- The Finder is either named ironically or I'm not getting it - file paths are obscured, seeing file details is hidden behind a dialog.

And most people care about paths (as opposed to navigating to folders they created or searching for files) because?

The rest can always enabled to show the paths.

>We bought the M1 because ChromeOS didn't like our old Samsung printer and the VPN software my partner uses.

Maybe just buy a different printer instead of a new computer?

A lot of the complaints are "it's not what some other OS does".

[luka-birsa]

Love the "It works for me" ethos. Very popular amongst us IT guys. Sadly not much help to the OP.

If we want to have better products, we need to address issues that people have using them. Apple UX is slowly eroding over time, to the point that I planned to move to Windows camp after the forced replacement of my MBP.

Sadly or thankfully M1 really helped to put a curb into those plans :).

[turkeywelder]

> Like the first time after a boot/login?

More often than that - I knew it'd ask on fresh boot, but this is after switching users or just a night where it pretends to sleep. I'm still tracking it down and figuring out the scenarios. I'm not averse to it as an OS, I just want to understand why it's done something when it has.