One other link worth checking out... http://www.versiontracker.com (the OS X
tab).
> And some of my own:
> 1) Don't screw with it's default installed folder structure. OS X is less
> tolerant of critical files and folders being moved around. Deleting or
<snip>
You can delete apps from the /Applications folder if you desire, and do so
fairly safely (as opposed to the ~/Apps folder which is yours to do with as
you please).
> 3) Get used to using Shift+Command+N to create a new folder. In OS X, the
> old create a new folder key command of Command+N now opens up a new Finder
> window instead. Yup. This is a pain in the arse until you get used to it.
Another EXTREMELY useful feature is one copied from Windoze/inherited from
older X-Windowing systems... you can have the same folder open in two
different windows.
> 4) OS X has expropriated some key commands that may have been used in OS 9
> apps that you're used to. Most notably (and quite handy) is the Command+H
& if command-H or command-M drive you insane, there are a few apps that
allow you to use the Preferences to turn cmd-h and cmd-m off (IIRC BBEdit
Light)
BTW you can still option-click to hide an application (why use a deeply
hidden menu when you don't have to), both by clicking on another app on the
Dock, or on the desktop.
> 1) OS X is ROCK SOLID! To date, I have never seen my System crash. And I
> have read only a few instances of this happening to others. Yes, apps may
> crash on occasion. But that is where another benefit of OS X shines through.
> If an app in OS 9 crashes, what must you do? Reboot your whole Mac! In OS X,
Yes, OS X is quite solid, but it certainly isn't 100% bullet-proof. I've
managed to _completely_ take down OS X 10.2.1 three or four times with
misbehaving software (QuickTime). With previous versions (10.1.5, 10.2) all
the Mozilla-derivatives would take down the whole OS with some regularity.
IMNSHO 10.1.4 was the most stable version of OS X I've experienced so far. I
haven't been using 10.2.1 long enough to pass judgement on its stability yet
(especially since I refuse to run Netscrape/Mozilla now... Chimera is the
only Mozilla derivative I'll run).
No RAM-based OS will be immune to poorly written programmes (protected
memory only works if the apps play by the rules) but OS X is getting better,
and, for most users would be considered rock-solid (compared with Win XP
Home Edition/ME/OS 9).
> just reboot the app! Which brings me to another point:
OS X 10.2.1 seems to allow this consistently. Previous versions of OS X
would sometimes require a restart to clear out problems from memory, or deal
with crashed components. Of course, I haven't been using OS X 10.2.1 for
very long so the OS hasn't had a chance to build up quirks (yep, a reinstall
of OS X will be necessary once in a blue moon, and when you have to do that,
it'll be a *lot* more painful than OS 9 (though, it'll happen *much* less
frequently (I'm guessing 1/2 years vs. 1/6-9 mos for OS 9 (which is my rule
of thumb))).
> 2) You no longer have to worry about assigning memory to applications in the
> iMovie, all running at the same time. The system doesn't even flinch.
Provided you have enough RAM ;) :) ;) (try doing a lot on one of the 128 MB
demo iMacs in a store -- they're pretty zippy with only a few apps (700 MHz
is fast from my POV (450 MHz G3)), but if you're running more than one or
two apps virtual memory will cause some significant slow downs. The single
best investment for OS X would be a 256 MB or 512 MB RAM chip.
> 3) Although OS X's UNIX heart is a venerable one, OS X itself is very new.
Although, technically speaking OS X's heart is _not_ UNIX. It's "UNIX-like".
> Update after update, it is getting faster and faster as Apple optimizes it's
> code. Currently even the latest version ("Jaguar") is slower than OS 9 in
> some chores (window resizing being one of them).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Stupid !@$!@#%%_(*_^ Aqua!!! (of course,
I wouldn't be grumbling if I had a 700 MHz machine)
> 5) I love the Dock.
And, for people like me who hate the dock there's ASM (Apple Switcher Menu),
and TinkerTool (both available from http://www.versiontracker.com). They'll
allow you to keep some of the most useful features of OS 9.
PS With TinkerTool you can tell the !@#$% crap Dock to stick to the
top-right of the screen (now why Apple doesn't enable that option in its own
interface is beyond me -- I don't want a Dock floating around the middle of
the screen like a useless piece of crap. I work from top down so having
blank (and VARIABLE) space between the dock and the menu bar is irritatingly
useless (I constantly am noting that failure in GUI design when I see demo
machines setup with the dock in the middle of the bottom of the screen)).
I'm still waiting for Apple (or, in a moment of desperation (I hate third
using party extensions), a third party) to start using the F-keys again to
launch applications/documents.
> 12) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think that OS X looks
> absolutely amazing! MS gave it a good try with XP's "Luna" interface, but it
> looks like a Fischer-Price toy compared to the photo realistic, refined and
> brilliant look of OS X's "Aqua" interface.
It looks good but by doing so sacrifices a lot of speed :( (at least for
"slower" computers).
<shudder> Luna, potentially a good idea, but basically a poor copy of Aqua
with poor colour choices (though, I've found Luna to be *much* faster than
Aqua on slow (400 MHz pentiums vs. 450 MHz G3s) machine).
OS X. A good idea, desperately needed and well implemented. It's certainly
not an OS for everyone, and it's still quite rough around the edges at
times. If you're used to OS 9 and you find that OS 9 _works_ for you then
don't bother upgrading. If you're an upgrade freak (like me), or desire the
latest and greatest hardware, you'll *have* to get OS X whether you like it
or not (& overall, I have to say I like it... on my machine (G3/450) I don't
find that OS X is that much of an improvement over OS 9 (mostly b/c the GUI
is a tad slower than OS 9)).
But, if you simply use your computer to do plain old work, stick with OS 9
(and the *cheap* hardware). The work that my father does with his computer
requires SuperPaint, MS Word 5 (he does not like 6), Excel Eudora and a web
browser of some description. He doesn't even need OS 9 to do that. OS 8.1 on
a 7200/90 is more than enough for him, and, eventually, when I replace my
B&W G3 he can take over my (now worthless (compared to what I paid for it))
computer, run OS 8.6 and still do everything he needs to (even his
scanner'll run on the PCI SCSI card... though, come to think of it, he'll
need a new printer... no serial port... hmm, can't I get a serial port for
the G3... for some reason GriffinTechnologies comes to mind when I think of
that?).
L8r, Eric.
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