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To leave Commie, hyper to
http://commie.oy.com/commie_leaving.html
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> Unix oriented programmers do not like or want a GUI on their computer.
> If it has to be there, they want it to be there only when necessary."
>
> what's this guy's problem ? he wants everything to have cute little
> icons, and doesn't mind having to move a mouse around all the time ?
The point is more like: "The GUI in Mac has traditionally been so
well-made, that it's been _fast_ to use a mouse. In OS X, the
approach is more Windows- and UNIX-like."
And that's actually true. Compared to any other desktop GUI, Mac 9
(and earlier) are _very_ mouse-friendly. Most of the time you don't
miss keyboard shortcuts, because you can access the same commands as
fast (or even faster) with mouse.
He's frustrated, because with OS X, Apple has left behind many of
those little details that have made using the mouse in Mac so fast.
First Apple polishes and developes a well-made mouse-driven user
interface for about twenty years (if you count in the time of
developing Macintosh), and then they trash a lot of that know-how in
one year.
Then again, Steve Jobs is a UNIX guy, after all. He's making Mac NeXT-
like, not Mac-like. He's been using UNIX from 1985. When he got back
to Apple, he's work machine remained the same as in NeXT: a NeXT
cube.
> but even on a Mac, don't you get a bit tired of needing a mouse
> to do every damned thing ? DO you need a mouse all the time ?
> (I don't know, I'm asking.)
There are keyboard shortcuts, but not so many as in Windows or Gnome.
Then again accessing dropdown menus with mouse is (about) five times
faster than in Windows (*). When opening a submenu of a dropdown
menu, there is no delay (like in Windows or Linux), etc.
Not to mention other mouse-driven UI elements like the popup windows
on the bottom of the screen and window shade.
Using BeOS was about as fast as using a Mac.
> "And let's face it, out of every 100 people, 94 are using Windows, 5
> are using MacOS and 1 is using some variant of Unix or some other OS."
I think he's just guessing. Then again, I don't think Linux is that
popular in home use.
---> jab
(*): This is the classic example, and is related to the fact that in
Mac OS the program menus are always on the top of the screen, which
is related to Fitt's Law ("The time to acquire a target is a function
of the distance to and size of the target."). They don't change their
location all the time, like in Windows, or any window manager in
UNIX. Therefore, you don't have to look too precisely, where you
throw your mouse to open a menu.
More about this here:
http://www.asktog.com/columns/022DesignedToGiveFitts.html
... and here:
http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html
