macOS Ventura y Pobreza funcional

Mit macOS Ventura präsentiert Apple wieder einmal eine neue Variante der Fensterverwaltung:

Managing multiple overlapping windows has been a defining feature of using a Mac since 1984. For decades, it’s been a huge productivity boost to savvy Mac users, since it allows multiple panes of information of arbitrary sizes to be arranged arbitrarily on a user’s screen. But for some users, the Mac’s windowing metaphor has led to confusion and frustration, whether it’s windows covering other windows or hidden or minimized windows being unfindable.

You, an expert Mac user, may be fine with the way things are. But Apple’s got a broader audience to serve with the Mac—there are more Mac users today than ever before, and the Mac installed base just keeps growing—and it’s never really been satisfied with the available window-management tools on the Mac.

I have to admire Apple’s insistence on this topic. Over the decades it’s tried windowshades, a floating application bar, Dock minimization, single-window mode, Exposé, Spaces, Mission Control, Full Screen, and Split View, and while many of those features have been embraced by some Mac users, the company still doesn’t think that it’s cracked it.

So here comes the latest attempt to refine window management on the Mac: Stage Manager, which makes its debut with macOS Ventura (and iPadOS 16, but that’s another story). Stage Manager is best thought of as a way to create arbitrary groups of windows that you can quickly switch between.

Ich neige mit zunehmendem Alter dazu, neumodische Spielereien achselzuckend zu ignorieren, solange mein LaunchBar und app switching wie gewohnt funktionieren. Abgesehen von einer rabiaten Umgestaltung der Systemeinstellungen –

System Preferences was long overdue for a refresh, but System Settings isn’t the redesign we needed. Instead, it’s a clear example of why you can’t just graft iOS or iPadOS design onto macOS and call it quits.

– und der Einführung neuer Bugs glänzt mac OS Ventura in der Paradedisziplin neuer Betriebssystemversionen, der Entfernung hilfreicher (Anwendungen|Funktionen|Optionen). Aktuell betrifft das verborgene Login Items, Datumsformate, Network Locations

System Preferences used to have a Network Locations feature, where you could set up profiles that would change your network settings based on where you were—for example, if you used a fixed IP address on your Ethernet connection at home but wanted to use DHCP at work or if you wanted your computer to use wired Ethernet first at home but prioritize Wi-Fi at work.

I doubt many people will miss this since it’s not as though Ethernet adapters are common on Macs anymore, and you can set different settings for different Wi-Fi networks or Ethernet dongles anyway (your dock on your desk and your USB Ethernet dongle at home can still have different settings). But if you do rely on it, you’ll need to figure out something else.

– und die Möglichkeit, (Encapsulated) PostScript-Dateien mit der Vorschau-Anwendung zu öffnen:

Other apps that can view or convert .ps and .eps files are available from the App Store and elsewhere.

Schwer nachvollziehbar, zumal die Formatunterstützung offenbar noch im System vorhanden ist. Tatsächlich erzeuge ich regelmäßig PostScript-Dateien mit Acrobat Pro (File → Export to → PostScript), um aus proprietären, nur mit Acrobat lesbaren Dokumenten standardkonforme PDF-Dateien abzuleiten. Künftig wird GhostScript (ps2pdf) diesen Ausbruch aus dem Adobe-System unterstützen müssen. Eventuell ist diese Feature-Anämie aber auch ein subversiver Akt von CLI-Fans im macOS-Entwicklungsteam, denn Datumsformate und Netzwerkumgebungen sind nicht wirklich verschwunden – sie haben nur ihr GUI abgeben müssen.

Ganz unabhängig von U-Booten bei Apple halte ich es mit John Gruber

I’ve updated my devices across the board, with the exception of my Macs. I have no particular or specific concerns about Ventura, I’m just always more conservative about MacOS updates than other devices, because my Macs are so essential for my work.

– und Marcel Weiher:

In other words, I had set the Bozo Bit on Apple. By default, when Apple does something new these days, I fully and quietly expect it to be broken. And I am surprised when they actually get something right, like Apple Silicon. And it wasn't an angry reaction to anything, in fact, it wasn't even much of conscious decision, more a gradual erosion of expectations.