What is with this window resizing thing...why on earth is the only way to resize is to grab a tiny piece of the bottom right corner of a window OR use the + icon in the opposite corner. Either way, I find myself tracking the mouse across a large screen to just resize the window...there are so many ways this is a UI fail.
Why is this a huge pain in the rear....
First, obviously I will be having more travel with the mouse to get to a place where I can resize. Often I just want to resize the width or the height, not both, so in other OSs I can go to the closest edge and drag. In OS X I have to travel to that (often) far off corner, and if it is near the bottom/right edge of the screen, I first have to travel to the top of the window to move it up/left then travel back to the corner to resize.
This has been the subject of a number of threads in OS X forums; one thread had the response was:
"Yes it's a bit annoying at first but I just got used to it after a while. It's a trade-off for not having window borders."
Excuse me, trade-off for not having borders...To be honest those extra 10 pixels that I get in OS X are not a trade off for this...
Another response was...
"It's because the windows in OS X don't have borders like they do in Windows. Look (if you are on OS X) at the sides of your browser window. Do you see any borders that could be dragged to be resized (other than perhaps the top)? Because I don't."
Which of course misses the point that you don't need visible borders to have an area that activates the functionality...iTunes in Windows anyone? No borders there either, but I can resize from any corner or side.
here's a use case, I have a window open; i have got the width just right (more or less means the window isn't displaying what I want); so now I just want to change the height of the window without changing the width. OS X does not allow this; by using the corner grab I am automatically changing both dimensions.
This is a case where it seems style has triumphed over utility; and just saying OS X is different from Windows does not explain or excuse the fact that this is really useful UI functionality that is absent in OS X.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
The Beginning
The first computer I owned was a Sinclair ZX-81...1K RAM (which I upgraded to 16K with the optional plug-in box), no storage, 2 colours display (black and white), programs loaded through normal cassette tapes; then I moved up to a Sinclair ZX Spectrum with an amazing 48K RAM and sporting a display of 16 colours. That was a long time ago.
Since then, I have been a long term Windows user. I started with Windows 3.1 and moved through Win 3.11 for workgroups, Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win XP, Vista, and finally Win 7. In the past few years I have also used various flavours of Linux - Mandriva, PuppyLinux and Ubuntu. I have even used operating systems from command line only, such as AIX, and the fore-runners of GUI OSs like GEM.
But I am not a computer specialist, programmer, developer or other kind of computer whizz/geek/nerd (delete based on your prejudice); these are just the tools I use for work and play. I'm not a computer professional, but a professional that uses computers.
Some tools are good for some things, others are better; I just want the one that makes my life easier.
But you'll see an absence of Apple; I've never used an Apple computer OS, unless you count iOS, which I don't. See, I like Apple products; I still have my first Apple product, a 3rd-gen iPod (20GB), even though the battery doesn't hold charge anymore; I did have a 4GB iPod Mini, but sold it on eBay when I upgraded to a 3rd-gen 8GB iPod Nano. I also have a 3rd-gen 4GB iPod Nano, and (here's the iOS part) I have an iPad and an iPad2.
But I have never used and real Mac OS...until now. iMacs were on sale...and for years I had heard about how easy Macs are to use, how everything just works, how they are so much better than Windows...and now I had 2 iPads and 3 iPods, I couldn't resist. So now I have a 21.5" iMac, 3.2GHz Intel core i3, 4GB Ram, 1TB HDD, runnning OS X 10.6 (they call it Snow Leopard, but it's just another release, but I guess if you give a cool name, it becomes cool).
I wanted to log my experience of using this magical and revolutionary technology that is (so I've been told) so much better than Windows.
Since then, I have been a long term Windows user. I started with Windows 3.1 and moved through Win 3.11 for workgroups, Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win XP, Vista, and finally Win 7. In the past few years I have also used various flavours of Linux - Mandriva, PuppyLinux and Ubuntu. I have even used operating systems from command line only, such as AIX, and the fore-runners of GUI OSs like GEM.
But I am not a computer specialist, programmer, developer or other kind of computer whizz/geek/nerd (delete based on your prejudice); these are just the tools I use for work and play. I'm not a computer professional, but a professional that uses computers.
Some tools are good for some things, others are better; I just want the one that makes my life easier.
But you'll see an absence of Apple; I've never used an Apple computer OS, unless you count iOS, which I don't. See, I like Apple products; I still have my first Apple product, a 3rd-gen iPod (20GB), even though the battery doesn't hold charge anymore; I did have a 4GB iPod Mini, but sold it on eBay when I upgraded to a 3rd-gen 8GB iPod Nano. I also have a 3rd-gen 4GB iPod Nano, and (here's the iOS part) I have an iPad and an iPad2.
But I have never used and real Mac OS...until now. iMacs were on sale...and for years I had heard about how easy Macs are to use, how everything just works, how they are so much better than Windows...and now I had 2 iPads and 3 iPods, I couldn't resist. So now I have a 21.5" iMac, 3.2GHz Intel core i3, 4GB Ram, 1TB HDD, runnning OS X 10.6 (they call it Snow Leopard, but it's just another release, but I guess if you give a cool name, it becomes cool).
I wanted to log my experience of using this magical and revolutionary technology that is (so I've been told) so much better than Windows.
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