On 9/17/07, Ian Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I have a theory that PC users like to customise more that Mac and
Linux
users. I don't know why but once you buy a mac, your pretty much
in the fold
and rarely change anything.
For example how many mac users have you seen using something else
besides
itunes to manage there ipod? Or how many mac users have you seen
with a
different colour UI? Few, and i'm wondering if that's because the
interface
is so perfect that actually its restrictive? Or is it just that
mac users
are too busy to play with the skin/ui?
Each of these are different questions.
As for skins and UIs, there's a reason why most people don't change
their theme - it's already pretty good. So much so that there are tons
of people making OS X impersonation themes for Windows, KDE and GNOME.
That said, there are tools like Unsanity's Shape Shifter:
http://www.unsanity.com/haxies/shapeshifter/
and a wide variety of themes available:
http://interfacelift.com/themes-mac/
I'm really happy with the OS X theme, and have no need to change it. I
have a custom backgrounds set on my PC on both the XP and Ubuntu
partitions, but haven't been bothered to copy it over to my Mac. I'm
lazy. I actually don't care too much about the UI. I'm reasonably
happy with it.
I've customised the living crap out of my .bash_profile file though.
What goes around that is mostly irrelevant.
But let me ask a question to the list (those at barcampbrighton
know what
I'm going to ask)
Q1. How many of you Mac users have Quicksilver installed?
Guilty as charged. I don't think it proves your point though, Ian. It
has a ton of different themes and plugins available. And I've written
a load of custom user scripts for Quicksilver so that I can control my
Mac the way I like (for instance, a simple script called "Lock" which
locks my keychains and flips back to the login screen - useful when
I'm at somewhere like BarCamp where I can trust everyone enough to
leave my laptop out, but not trust them enough to let them browse my
e-mail!). I've also written custom scripts to post to Twitter and
Jaiku from Quicksilver.
Quicksilver is not a 'monopoly' though. Most people use it because
they don't like Spotlight - the built-in OS X "type it, find it" tool.
And there's a following out there for LaunchBar which does the same
sort of thing (I used LaunchBar back on 10.2).
My parents are both Mac users. Both of them have Quicksilver installed
on their Mac (my insistence). Neither of them use it. Both use the
Dock. Both have custom backgrounds.
And Quicksilver is going open source with the next release
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/08/09/quicksilver-goes-open-source-with-
leopard-release/
Also, Quicksilver has become so popular that there's been a huge set
of spinoffs on the Windows platform:
http://www.lifeclever.com/scott-hanselman-10-quicksilver-
alternatives-for-windows/
Q2. How many of you Mac users have a iPod and use iTunes?
I have an iPod and iTunes, and think it's brilliant. Everyone bitches
about iTunes, but I really like it. I use it for tons of podcast
subscriptions and it's almost rock solid. I'd switch to other podcast
management tools if they were any good. I've tried them, and they
either flake out or do things in other, undesirable ways.
There are ways to improve iTunes, of course. I don't like the standard
'filtering' system in OS X - you can't specify complex rules, so you
are forced to do things like create search dependencies (ie. create a
playlist that contains all X, another playlist that contains all Y,
then a playlist that contains things which are both X & Y or X & !Y
etc.) I think this is a case of Apple simplifying the interface at
expense of useful functionality, and is one of the reasons I don't use
the Apple Mail client.
I use OS X because it has support for the software I use, and it
annoys me marginally less than Windows.
Q3. How many of you Mac users have change the dock position?
I did have my dock on the right for a while, but because of the fact I
have a wide-screen laptop, I have it at the bottom so I can fit more
stuff on it. That said, I'm not a big user of the Dock. I use Alt-Tab
and Quicksilver more.
The corollary of those questions are:
How many Mac users all use the same text editor? I did an informal
poll in the pub after BarCamp and the answers were all over the map:
TextMate, BBEdit, TextEdit, Emacs, Vim, SubEthaEdit, Eclipse.
How many people use the same browser on the Mac? Well, if only a few
other operating sysems could have the diversity of Firefox, Safari,
Camino, Shiira, iCab, OmniWeb and so on.
Just as a point of reference, I currently have running on my Mac:
Finder, Quicksilver, Firefox, Adium, iTunes, the OPML Editor, iTerm
(terminal emulator), QuickTime Player (with Perian plugins), Azureus
and Oxygen. (And in that interminably ever-expanding top-right hand
bar, a last.fm client and the Plaxo Sync thingy as well as all the
standard buttons).
As for whether OS X is inimical to the goals of Backstage? It's no
more than any other commercial software. And there are some really
nice advantages to it. You can buy a Mac now which comes with the full
development stack (Xcode, Objective-C etc.) in the box.
The idea that we are all fanboys is ridiculous. Talk to any Mac user
who's been on the platform for more than six months and they'll give
you a list the length of your arm of what's wrong. I've been on the
Mac platform since 1999, and there's a ton of things wrong with it.
But it's got a lot right about it.
Yours,
--
Tom Morris
http://tommorris.org/
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