OS X Annoyances

[VirtualGuitarist]

Why don't you just enable "show item info" in the in the "view/show view options"-menu?

 

Of course it's possible to do cmd option i to see the infos of the currently selected file(s)

But it takes too much space.... I think it would be much more useful just to have some real interesting infos in the bottom bar, like the size of the currently selected item(s) at least....

 

Hem... Greenhorn... i knew that since the begining. But when you have to examine hundreds of files, your 'cmd-i' is not as handy or useful as it should be. I completely agree with Zalg, and we should have a way to customize the infos that appears in the bottom bar.

 

Other VERY enervating anoyance is that when you select hundred files and do cmd-i, hundred info windows appear! Why not a unique window showing the total size of selected files, so that you can know wether they can fit on a cd?

 

And i would like to persist on my idea of info bubbles. I like the way that Linux handle them, and i'll love to see them in osx.

[velinn]

And i would like to persist on my idea of info bubbles. I like the way that Linux handle them, and i'll love to see them in osx.

 

Not to nitpick, but it isn't how "Linux" handles them, it's how KDE handles them. Personally I hate those big ugly tooltips in KDE, in fact, I hate most of the "features" in KDE. That is why I used Gnome. Gnome is a lot more elegant. Those huge ugly tooltips in KDE would look horrible in OS X. OS X is combination of elegance and usability; even if a big huge tooltip with file sizes and thumbnails provides the information you want, they would totally clash with the OS X environment.

 

That being said, I also dislike that multiple files open multiple Info windows. As a workaround, I copy files into their own directory and get the info on the directory itself rather than the individual files. It just takes a second or two more to copy files to a temp dir, but I agree that you shouldn't have to do that.

[Xenctuary]

As far as I can tell, attempting to "merge" two directories with the same name results in the newer data overwriting the entire folder. Unlike Windows, the individual files aren't just placed within it!

[deadlyhifi]

it really annoys me that when a dialogue box pops up (like Don't Save, Cancel, Save) that you can't switch between the options with the keyboard. In Dreamweaver the default option seems to be cancel but I most always want it to be 'Yes'.

 

I've tried the tab, the arrow keys, how do I do it? Oh wise ones, share your knowledgebases.

[greenhorn]

it really annoys me that when a dialogue box pops up (like Don't Save, Cancel, Save) that you can't switch between the options with the keyboard. In Dreamweaver the default option seems to be cancel but I most always want it to be 'Yes'.

 

I've tried the tab, the arrow keys, how do I do it? Oh wise ones, share your knowledgebases.

Hi,

 

in many cases, you can use the first letter of the option to choose it. In you example, try to press "d" to choose "don't save". Doesn't work in all apps, afaik.

[greenhorn]

Hi again,

 

for those of you who talked about the missing-slideshow-feature: Maybe "Picturepop Pro" could be something for you"...?

 

Sorry, forget something... :-)

 

If you're at it, take a look here: Introduction of some nice software-pieces now and then

 

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/

[BuXb]

As far as I can tell, attempting to "merge" two directories with the same name results in the newer data overwriting the entire folder. Unlike Windows, the individual files aren't just placed within it!

Yes, that's a BIG one !! Please somebody fix that - that is definitely NOT a feature but a big friggin bug !!

[A Nonny Moose]

My chief annoyance is that without using a plug-in, Safari will not "Search In Google" in a new tab or new window, hence allowing you to get reference information about some text without losing your place on a page being studied.

 

Press command-enter after typing in your search.

[CSMatt]

My major Mac OS X annoyances:

1. There appears to be no way to permanently delete a file. I don’t use the Trash unless I have a reasonable doubt as to whether or not I should delete a file. If I’m confident that I will never need it again, I permanently delete it. Windows allowed this by using the shift+delete key combination. The seemingly equivalent command+delete does not work in the same way. Holding down command as I drag the file to the Trash doesn’t work either. This is a real problem for when I am deleting files from a removable drive. I like the fact that Mac OS X allows drives on which Mac OS X is not installed on to use the Trash by placing a “.Trashes” directory in the drive’s root, however such a directory should be created on a need-to-use basis. I tire of having to delete it every time I use the removable disk in a non-Mac OS X environment.
   
2. I want to be able to delete or securely delete only a select number of files from the Trash at a time. The Trash seems to only want you to be able to remove all of the files or none at all. I’ve had to drag files out to the desktop that I still wasn’t sure that I wanted deleted and empty the Trash with the remaining files being the ones I wanted to delete. Then, I have to drag the “rescued” files back into the trash again. There should really be a contextual menu option to delete an individual file or group of files in the Trash.
   
3. I have yet to see the ability to drag anything with the right mouse button. Any attempts to do so create the same result as just clicking with the right mouse button.
   
4. There is still no hibernation available in Mac OS X. Mac OS X is the only modern major operating system that I know of which offers a suspend/sleep ability but does not offer hibernation. Granted, Mac OS X seems to sleep and awake much better than these other systems, but that’s still no excuse for the lack of hibernation. One time, I left my iBook in sleep mode for weeks and came to find that the battery died and that I had lost everything in RAM. A hibernation mode would have prevented this.
   

I have others, but they have already been mentioned in some form in this topic.

 

My major Macintosh hardware annoyances (only semi-related but nonetheless important):

1. There needs to be a manual eject key for the optical drive. I have no idea why Apple is so ignorant as to that users want this kind of ability on their internal removable storage drives. Even the floppy drives didn’t have an eject button when they were offered. People had to drag the drive to the Trash every time. The eject key does not count, as it is recognized only by Mac OS X and Apple’s eject key driver for Windows XP. What if you want to eject the disc without being in the Mac OS operating system? The tray-loading iMac G3s had a manual eject key, so this proves that it won’t kill Apple to make one available. Anyone who owns one of the tray-loading Power Macs or the Mac Pro will be hit really hard by this inconvenience. Sure, there’s an eject key in the menu bar, but what if you are not running Mac OS X? How do you possibly expect to get the drive open, especially if there’s no disc inside? What if you have the duel-optical Power Mac G4 or the Mac Pro and want the slave drive to eject instead of the master one? Out of all of the hardware annoyances I mention here, this one needs to be addressed first; either make the eject keys recognizable by the EFI directly, or add a manual one that is recognized by the firmware of the optical drive. If there are two optical drives, add a manual eject key for each.
   
2. The external Apple keyboard is too sticky. The keys don’t stick down, but I find myself having to pound the thing to get the key to input. The problem seems to be pushing the key at a slight angle; if you don’t push it directly down, it will stick in the upright position. Of course, most of the time I am not aware of this until I look at what I’ve typed and notice that some words have missing letters. This might be because my only experience with them is using 6-month-old Apple keyboards on public access computers that have been worn down and have all sorts of crud in them, but I think that this applies to new keyboards as well.
   
3. Apple needs to offer a true two-button mouse. The 20-year dominance of the PC two-button mouse and the 10-year dominance of Windows has ensured that no one subconsciously pushes down both buttons at the same time when they mean to do something that only requires the left button. The only advantage of a one-button mouse is that left-handed users can just move the mouse to the other end of the keyboard and not have to manually switch the button assignments. The Mighty Mouse is not a two-button mouse; it is a one-button mouse that has the ability to sense the direction in which it is being pushed. It is thusly ineffective for gaming purposes where you might need to use both buttons at the same time. For example, if I’m in a first-person shooter and I am duel-wielding two guns, and each mouse button corresponds to the trigger for the gun on each respective side, I can’t use the Mighty Mouse to fire both weapons at the same time because of the Mighty Mouse’s one-button design.
   
4. There needs to be some easy way to turn off the startup chime that doesn’t involve manually muting the sound in Mac OS X. Even more annoying is that the desktop Macs seem to have built-in speakers that sound the chime through the speakers even when headphones are plugged in. This is very intrusive if I am working in a noise-sensitive environment.
   
5. The control, option, and shift keys on all Apple keyboards need their iconic equivalents on the face of the keys. Any moron can look at the corresponding shortcut next to a menu item with the clover in it and associate it with the “clover key,” but no one without experimentation or digging through manuals is going to know that the up arrow means “shift,” the carrot means “control” (this one is especially bothersome seeing as there is a carrot key on the keyboard), and the indescribable symbol means “option.” I’m not saying that the words should be removed, but the symbol equivalent should be present as well, much like how the small delete key on the external Apple keyboard is arranged. Likewise, the command key should say “command” somewhere on its face.
   

Also, someone mentioned that they wanted the ability to initiate the screen saver at will. Well, I have no idea how this got here, but the computers in the iMac computer lab I'm in right now have this seemingly-integrated ability through a lock in the menu bar. This might have something to do with the fact that everybody here access the computers with remote accounts, but I think this might be some sort of unlockable feature in Tiger.

[Mofo-X]

It the same I way I miss the old window blinds feature from OS 9. double click the title bar and it folds up like a window shade.... not minimizes to the dock.

 

Greetings,

 

This was a feature I sorely missed, you can purchase WindowShade X from Unsanity.com and it adds window blind, minimize in place, trasnparent and stay on top features depending on ex command double clicking title bar.

 

Regards,

 

{censored}-x

[rogabean]

Greetings,

 

This was a feature I sorely missed, you can purchase WindowShade X from Unsanity.com and it adds window blind, minimize in place, trasnparent and stay on top features depending on ex command double clicking title bar.

 

Regards,

 

{censored}-x

 

 

cool. but I still think Apple should have this added to the window behavior preferences as an option to act like classic...

[A Nonny Moose]

There appears to be no way to permanently delete a file. I don’t use the Trash unless I have a reasonable doubt as to whether or not I should delete a file. If I’m confident that I will never need it again, I permanently delete it. Windows allowed this by using the shift+delete key combination. The seemingly equivalent command+delete does not work in the same way. Holding down command as I drag the file to the Trash doesn’t work either. This is a real problem for when I am deleting files from a removable drive. I like the fact that Mac OS X allows drives on which Mac OS X is not installed on to use the Trash by placing a “.Trashes” directory in the drive’s root, however such a directory should be created on a need-to-use basis. I tire of having to delete it every time I use the removable disk in a non-Mac OS X environment.

 

Yes there is, but it's a Terminal command. You can make an AppleScript to utilize this Terminal command and then delete at your leisure.

 

I want to be able to delete or securely delete only a select number of files from the Trash at a time. The Trash seems to only want you to be able to remove all of the files or none at all. I’ve had to drag files out to the desktop that I still wasn’t sure that I wanted deleted and empty the Trash with the remaining files being the ones I wanted to delete. Then, I have to drag the “rescued” files back into the trash again. There should really be a contextual menu option to delete an individual file or group of files in the Trash.

 

Lock the files before emptying the trash and it won't delete.

 

I have yet to see the ability to drag anything with the right mouse button. Any attempts to do so create the same result as just clicking with the right mouse button.

 

Can you explain why this is needed when you can do the same thing with the left mouse button???

 

There is still no hibernation available in Mac OS X. Mac OS X is the only modern major operating system that I know of which offers a suspend/sleep ability but does not offer hibernation. Granted, Mac OS X seems to sleep and awake much better than these other systems, but that’s still no excuse for the lack of hibernation. One time, I left my iBook in sleep mode for weeks and came to find that the battery died and that I had lost everything in RAM. A hibernation mode would have prevented this.

 

It exists

 

 

 

There needs to be a manual eject key for the optical drive. I have no idea why Apple is so ignorant as to that users want this kind of ability on their internal removable storage drives. Even the floppy drives didn’t have an eject button when they were offered. People had to drag the drive to the Trash every time. The eject key does not count, as it is recognized only by Mac OS X and Apple’s eject key driver for Windows XP. What if you want to eject the disc without being in the Mac OS operating system? The tray-loading iMac G3s had a manual eject key, so this proves that it won’t kill Apple to make one available. Anyone who owns one of the tray-loading Power Macs or the Mac Pro will be hit really hard by this inconvenience. Sure, there’s an eject key in the menu bar, but what if you are not running Mac OS X? How do you possibly expect to get the drive open, especially if there’s no disc inside? What if you have the duel-optical Power Mac G4 or the Mac Pro and want the slave drive to eject instead of the master one? Out of all of the hardware annoyances I mention here, this one needs to be addressed first; either make the eject keys recognizable by the EFI directly, or add a manual one that is recognized by the firmware of the optical drive. If there are two optical drives, add a manual eject key for each.

 

The only time this was really an issue was when Celine Dion destroyed the iMac G4's CD Drive (it actually had to be taken in for repairs because the DRM wouldn't allow it to eject). I've never had a problem with something not ejecting when I tell it to eject and there are tons of ways to eject a disk.

 

The external Apple keyboard is too sticky. The keys don’t stick down, but I find myself having to pound the thing to get the key to input. The problem seems to be pushing the key at a slight angle; if you don’t push it directly down, it will stick in the upright position. Of course, most of the time I am not aware of this until I look at what I’ve typed and notice that some words have missing letters. This might be because my only experience with them is using 6-month-old Apple keyboards on public access computers that have been worn down and have all sorts of crud in them, but I think that this applies to new keyboards as well.

 

It's the crud on the keyboard, because I've had the same problem.

 

]Apple needs to offer a true two-button mouse. The 20-year dominance of the PC two-button mouse and the 10-year dominance of Windows has ensured that no one subconsciously pushes down both buttons at the same time when they mean to do something that only requires the left button. The only advantage of a one-button mouse is that left-handed users can just move the mouse to the other end of the keyboard and not have to manually switch the button assignments. The Mighty Mouse is not a two-button mouse; it is a one-button mouse that has the ability to sense the direction in which it is being pushed. It is thusly ineffective for gaming purposes where you might need to use both buttons at the same time. For example, if I’m in a first-person shooter and I am duel-wielding two guns, and each mouse button corresponds to the trigger for the gun on each respective side, I can’t use the Mighty Mouse to fire both weapons at the same time because of the Mighty Mouse’s one-button design.

 

This is something I agree with you on. There needs to be a true two-button not mighty mouse.

 

There needs to be some easy way to turn off the startup chime that doesn’t involve manually muting the sound in Mac OS X. Even more annoying is that the desktop Macs seem to have built-in speakers that sound the chime through the speakers even when headphones are plugged in. This is very intrusive if I am working in a noise-sensitive environment.

 

True, but the startup bong is a hardware test. Not hearing it is a signal of something wrong. So it becomes a choice of whether or not you want to risk not knowing if something is wrong.

 

The control, option, and shift keys on all Apple keyboards need their iconic equivalents on the face of the keys. Any moron can look at the corresponding shortcut next to a menu item with the clover in it and associate it with the “clover key,” but no one without experimentation or digging through manuals is going to know that the up arrow means “shift,” the carrot means “control” (this one is especially bothersome seeing as there is a carrot key on the keyboard), and the indescribable symbol means “option.” I’m not saying that the words should be removed, but the symbol equivalent should be present as well, much like how the small delete key on the external Apple keyboard is arranged. Likewise, the command key should say “command” somewhere on its face.

 

This is a huge quirk for me too, but it also goes on Windows keyboards too. It seems more like a universal problem rather than something that is just an Apple issue. That being said, fingernail polish will fix that, as you can write on the keys with nail polish.

 

Also, someone mentioned that they wanted the ability to initiate the screen saver at will. Well, I have no idea how this got here, but the computers in the iMac computer lab I'm in right now have this seemingly-integrated ability through a lock in the menu bar. This might have something to do with the fact that everybody here access the computers with remote accounts, but I think this might be some sort of unlockable feature in Tiger.

 

That one is easy. You make a hot corner and move the mouse over there. Check out System Prefereces in the Screen Saver Pane. Then click on that hot corner button.

[jacksonblack]

it would be really nice to have a way to turn off that ugly drop shadow on the desktop icons' text. and maybe some other visual tweaks. a font smoothing tool that works as well as microsoft's cleartype tuner (i.e. makes text really readable, not just blurry) would also be something very much appreciated.

[CSMatt]

Yes there is, but it's a Terminal command. You can make an AppleScript to utilize this Terminal command and then delete at your leisure.

Since you claim to be "the God of AppleScript," would you mind making one for me? I rarely use Macs anymore ever since I had to get rid of the iBook and later drop out of the online math class that used the iMacs, but it would probably be benificial to others who have a similar frustration.

 

Lock the files before emptying the trash and it won't delete.

While that would also work, the process of locking and then unlocking the files is still just as tedious as moving them. I would still like to see someone design an application or an extension that would correct this.

 

Can you explain why this is needed when you can do the same thing with the left mouse button???

I suppose that this is one of those "Windows does this, so why doesn't Mac OS X?" claims, so it's not as important as some of the other things I have mentioned. Ever since Windows 95, dragging with the right mouse button always produced a list of choices after the drop (for files, it was move, copy, or create a shortcut). I'd just like to see something similar in Mac OS X, because it can be frustrating having to hold down keys to switch between copy and move. I'd also like to see a way to create an alias by dragging, if such a method doesn't already exist. Neither of these two issues personally bothers me very much, but it is still something I would like to see in the future.

 

It exists

So it does. This should have been an advertised improvement in the main page when it came out.

 

The only time this was really an issue was when Celine Dion destroyed the iMac G4's CD Drive (it actually had to be taken in for repairs because the DRM wouldn't allow it to eject). I've never had a problem with something not ejecting when I tell it to eject and there are tons of ways to eject a disk.

This is just one of my Macintosh "pet peeves." I just don't see why Apple insists on a software eject. Even so, kudos to Apple for using slot-loading CD drives, especially in their laptops.

 

It's the crud on the keyboard, because I've had the same problem.

That figures. If I ever buy an Apple keyboard, I'll be sure to buy a cover as well.

 

This is something I agree with you on. There needs to be a true two-button not mighty mouse.

At least this problem has a sensible solution; buy a third-party USB mouse. I've been able to find a functional one for my VAIO for $10. However, I have to hand it to Apple for their scroll ball; every wheel-based method of side scrolling is just inferior compared to it, even if the ball could be a little bigger.

 

True, but the startup bong is a hardware test. Not hearing it is a signal of something wrong. So it becomes a choice of whether or not you want to risk not knowing if something is wrong.

If the chime is muted, Apple could add an option that makes a sound if something is wrong. Because a hardware failure so rarely happens, I can live with a bothersome noise that indicates its presence as opposed to one that indicates a lack thereof. This same principle could be applied to PCs with internal speakers as well.

 

This is a huge quirk for me too, but it also goes on Windows keyboards too. It seems more like a universal problem rather than something that is just an Apple issue. That being said, fingernail polish will fix that, as you can write on the keys with nail polish.

It really should not be necessary to have to do that. Becides, usually the process of finding out the hard way what the symbols mean instills their key equivilants into the user's mind and renders the manual "tatooing" of the keys redundant.

 

On a related note. I really haven't come across this problem on PC keyboards. Care to explain this?

 

That one is easy. You make a hot corner and move the mouse over there. Check out System Prefereces in the Screen Saver Pane. Then click on that hot corner button.

True, but the lock-in-the-menubar method is easier and simpler. Too bad it only works for network users.

[velinn]

It exists

So it does. This should have been an advertised improvement in the main page when it came out.

 

Does this work for Hackintosh? I notice there are 'things that need to be run in Open Firmware at boot', but I don't know if that is an Apple specific hack, or if it's required by the OS for hibernation.

[Jetwash]

True, but the lock-in-the-menubar method is easier and simpler. Too bad it only works for network users.

 

The lock-in-the-menubar works for all users not just network users, goto Utilities -> Keychain Access and Preferences , show in menubar.

[A Nonny Moose]

Since you claim to be "the God of AppleScript," would you mind making one for me? I rarely use Macs anymore ever since I had to get rid of the iBook and later drop out of the online math class that used the iMacs, but it would probably be benificial to others who have a similar frustration.

 

Believe it or not, it was a lot easier to make an Automator workflow (and it took me less coding, since I didn't have to code a delete file option). Here's how to work it:

 

1. go to System Preferences and enable access for assistive devices in Universal Access

 

2. Open this using Automator (should be able to do it with just a double click)

 

3. I was assuming you wanted to securely empty the trash. If you want to change that one to the other one, delete the word secure.

 

4. Save this workflow as a plug-in for the Finder.

 

Now Automator will delete it for you. The downside is that it will secure delete the entire trash. But give me a little bit and I'll give you another one to play with.

Delete_me.zip

[aliquis]

That applications doesn't quit when you close the last window.. Maybe.

[A Nonny Moose]

SAVE IT AS A PLUGIN FOR THE FINDER

[macgirl]

One of my annoyances, of course after after using Firefox and the NoScript Plugin is taht Safari has not a similar thing, well there is PithHelmetit not easy as NoScript plugin.

 

I know, I know this is very off topic

[Cheeze]

the thing that annoys me most about OS X is the fact you have to open the applications folder to run applications rather than just having a drom down menu like in Windows.

another thing is that OS X doesn't always pick up my keystrokes, so i will finish typing and find the first few characters missing

[velinn]

Agreed. I used to not mind it at all, it's just two clicks of the mouse to get to all your programs, rather than navigating through a giant list like on Windows.. but as I've collected more and more programs it's gotten annoying to scroll through them all.

 

Quicksilver and Overflow both help with this. In fact, something like Overflow should be built right into the OS. It's a great feature addition. I couldn't live without it.

[greenhorn]

another thing is that OS X doesn't always pick up my keystrokes, so i will finish typing and find the first few characters missing

That might be a problem with the keyboard rather than OSX. I've got to say that the keyboards Apple delivered since the iMacs came out are just {censored}. A shame for Apple, imho

[non sequitur]

mbp keyboard is the shiznit.

[Numberzz]

For me, sometimes how when you click the spotlight button in the top right corner, it takes a few seconds to actually open. BTW, MBP keyboards are the shiznit.