Thoughts on Mac OS X 10.4: "Tiger"
As every Mac user knows, Apple released its newest operating system recently. If you like cumbersome names you can call it "OS X 10.4," but the buzz-word code name is "Tiger." Personally I could do without the cutesy code names; after a few iterations it's impossible to remember which version was which and no one remembers whether Jaguar or Panther came first. I'll just call it 10.4.
When 10.3 came out I jumped at the chance to install what was likely to be the first really polished version of OS X, and I was right. "Panther" was faster, better organized, and included standout features (like Exposé) that really made the upgrade compelling.
10.4 supposedly does the same, but I can't say that I find the improvements in this round as attractive. Let's take them in no particular order.
Spotlight
This supposed "global" search doesn't seem to exist (or offer a significant improvement) where I need it most -- in my e-mail client (I use Entourage, which doesn't interact with Spotlight) and in my text editor, StickyBrain (more on StickyBrain later). Entourage maintains its own database format to which Spotlight doesn't have access, and since Entourage 2004 (the second version of the software for OS X) doesn't interact with the OS X Address Book or iCal, I don't see any reason that the Microsoft engineers would try to work with the operating system on that level either. I've been tempted plenty of times to switch to the Apple Mail client, but even the new version that ships with 10.4 is missing too many features (like categories!) to be useful to me. I also enjoy the fact that my calendar exists in the same application as my e-mail; it uses fewer resources and just generally integrates better. (Now if only Entourage could publish and subscribe to the iCal format.)
The find feature in Entourage is pokey but sufficient. The best find feature I've seen in a mail client is in Mozilla Thunderbird, the search bar for which defaults to searching both the subject and the sender simultaneously, which really cuts down on the number of searches you have to perform when looking for a receipt or a flight confirmation.
As to Spotlight's other functionality for finding iTunes tracks or launching applications, the excellent (and free) Quicksilver does a great job of both. I'm not sure why we need a global search tool for things like this when each application has a great search tool built in. Don't you have to launch iTunes to listen to the track you just found? And can't you search within iTunes in the same efficient manner? I don't get it.
Of course, doing all of my writing (other than e-mail) within one application really helps matters. I don't need a tool that will search all of my Word documents because I don't create a lot of Word documents. Almost all of the information I deal with (again outside of e-mail) on a day-to-day basis gets dumped into StickyBrain: addresses, reviews, blog entries, you name it. Searching within Stickybrain is lightning-fast, even with hundreds of entries.
Unfortunately, Chronos has "upgraded" StickyBrain into a feature-laden behemoth that doesn't even behave in the same way the old version does. I purchased the version 3 upgrade but quickly returned to version 2 because it's faster and does just what I need without ever getting in my way. Version 3 actually lost useful features. For example, in version 2, if you start a new note and then change its category, the note will change colors and fonts to match its new category. Not so with StickyBrain 3, which uses a confusing "folders" scheme. Version 3 also added a ton of visual clutter and a back-end database called "OpenBase" which takes significant time to start up. I'm hoping to heaven that Version 2 remains compatible with new versions of the OS X.
Bitching about tangentially-related software aside, Spotlight just doesn't seem like something I'd use. I live in three applications (StickyBrain, Entourage, and Firefox), each of which have excellent search capabilities built in. So on to the next feature.
Dashboard
I don't get this one either. Lots of little web-enabled widgets eating up screen space? There are a few widgets I've seen that look neat, but when I see most of them I dismiss them as toys. Someone needs to show me a really great widget and then explain how it's better than a web page that does the same thing. Until then, I don't need Dashboard eating up system resources on my already overburdened Powerbook.
Safari RSS
A new version of Safari. Yawn. Firefox does (almost) everything Safari does, in most cases better -- and a few things that it doesn't. As for RSS reading, I recently made the switch from my standalone reader, NetNewsWire, to Bloglines. With Bloglines I have all my subscriptions no matter where I am or what computer I'm using, which is great. The other beauty part is that NetNewsWire will read my Bloglines subscriptions, so if I ever want to go back to a standalone reader, I can. But it all works so much better, not having to switch between apps.
iChat AV
OK, this one might be good. The multiple video chat windows sound great. But I only know one other person at this point with an iSight, so it's not really necessary. For text chat, I use Adium. Next!
Automator
This sounds pretty cool too, but there will have to be some pretty repetitive tasks in my future for me to devote the time to figuring out any scripting language, even if it doesn't technically require any scripts to be written. AppleScript was supposed to be monkey-easy and I never used that either.
.Mac Sync
The new .Mac sync features (bookmarks, contacts, calendars, e-mail) would be great if I were using Apple Mail and iCal. But I'm using Entourage because Mail and iCal pretty much blow. So .Mac sync is really only good for my iDisk, which I rarely use. Another strike. (I guess what I'm saying is that Apple and the Microsoft Mac Business Unit really need to get it together.)
Those are the features that jump out at me from Apple's Tiger page, and none of them are insanely great on the same level that Exposé was. That's not to say that I'll never upgrade to 10.4; sooner or later some software that I'm using or want to use will require me to do so. (In fact, the latest version of QuickSilver is Tiger-only. Hmmmm.) I'm just not licking my chops the same way I did with 10.3.
When 10.3 came out I jumped at the chance to install what was likely to be the first really polished version of OS X, and I was right. "Panther" was faster, better organized, and included standout features (like Exposé) that really made the upgrade compelling.
10.4 supposedly does the same, but I can't say that I find the improvements in this round as attractive. Let's take them in no particular order.
Spotlight
This supposed "global" search doesn't seem to exist (or offer a significant improvement) where I need it most -- in my e-mail client (I use Entourage, which doesn't interact with Spotlight) and in my text editor, StickyBrain (more on StickyBrain later). Entourage maintains its own database format to which Spotlight doesn't have access, and since Entourage 2004 (the second version of the software for OS X) doesn't interact with the OS X Address Book or iCal, I don't see any reason that the Microsoft engineers would try to work with the operating system on that level either. I've been tempted plenty of times to switch to the Apple Mail client, but even the new version that ships with 10.4 is missing too many features (like categories!) to be useful to me. I also enjoy the fact that my calendar exists in the same application as my e-mail; it uses fewer resources and just generally integrates better. (Now if only Entourage could publish and subscribe to the iCal format.)
The find feature in Entourage is pokey but sufficient. The best find feature I've seen in a mail client is in Mozilla Thunderbird, the search bar for which defaults to searching both the subject and the sender simultaneously, which really cuts down on the number of searches you have to perform when looking for a receipt or a flight confirmation.
As to Spotlight's other functionality for finding iTunes tracks or launching applications, the excellent (and free) Quicksilver does a great job of both. I'm not sure why we need a global search tool for things like this when each application has a great search tool built in. Don't you have to launch iTunes to listen to the track you just found? And can't you search within iTunes in the same efficient manner? I don't get it.
Of course, doing all of my writing (other than e-mail) within one application really helps matters. I don't need a tool that will search all of my Word documents because I don't create a lot of Word documents. Almost all of the information I deal with (again outside of e-mail) on a day-to-day basis gets dumped into StickyBrain: addresses, reviews, blog entries, you name it. Searching within Stickybrain is lightning-fast, even with hundreds of entries.
Unfortunately, Chronos has "upgraded" StickyBrain into a feature-laden behemoth that doesn't even behave in the same way the old version does. I purchased the version 3 upgrade but quickly returned to version 2 because it's faster and does just what I need without ever getting in my way. Version 3 actually lost useful features. For example, in version 2, if you start a new note and then change its category, the note will change colors and fonts to match its new category. Not so with StickyBrain 3, which uses a confusing "folders" scheme. Version 3 also added a ton of visual clutter and a back-end database called "OpenBase" which takes significant time to start up. I'm hoping to heaven that Version 2 remains compatible with new versions of the OS X.
Bitching about tangentially-related software aside, Spotlight just doesn't seem like something I'd use. I live in three applications (StickyBrain, Entourage, and Firefox), each of which have excellent search capabilities built in. So on to the next feature.
Dashboard
I don't get this one either. Lots of little web-enabled widgets eating up screen space? There are a few widgets I've seen that look neat, but when I see most of them I dismiss them as toys. Someone needs to show me a really great widget and then explain how it's better than a web page that does the same thing. Until then, I don't need Dashboard eating up system resources on my already overburdened Powerbook.
Safari RSS
A new version of Safari. Yawn. Firefox does (almost) everything Safari does, in most cases better -- and a few things that it doesn't. As for RSS reading, I recently made the switch from my standalone reader, NetNewsWire, to Bloglines. With Bloglines I have all my subscriptions no matter where I am or what computer I'm using, which is great. The other beauty part is that NetNewsWire will read my Bloglines subscriptions, so if I ever want to go back to a standalone reader, I can. But it all works so much better, not having to switch between apps.
iChat AV
OK, this one might be good. The multiple video chat windows sound great. But I only know one other person at this point with an iSight, so it's not really necessary. For text chat, I use Adium. Next!
Automator
This sounds pretty cool too, but there will have to be some pretty repetitive tasks in my future for me to devote the time to figuring out any scripting language, even if it doesn't technically require any scripts to be written. AppleScript was supposed to be monkey-easy and I never used that either.
.Mac Sync
The new .Mac sync features (bookmarks, contacts, calendars, e-mail) would be great if I were using Apple Mail and iCal. But I'm using Entourage because Mail and iCal pretty much blow. So .Mac sync is really only good for my iDisk, which I rarely use. Another strike. (I guess what I'm saying is that Apple and the Microsoft Mac Business Unit really need to get it together.)
Those are the features that jump out at me from Apple's Tiger page, and none of them are insanely great on the same level that Exposé was. That's not to say that I'll never upgrade to 10.4; sooner or later some software that I'm using or want to use will require me to do so. (In fact, the latest version of QuickSilver is Tiger-only. Hmmmm.) I'm just not licking my chops the same way I did with 10.3.
1 Comments:
Hello, dear Alter-Ego :D
man. this is weird. haha :) stumbled upon your blog entry by googling for "chris holland widget" :)
Nearly a year later after your asking about seeing a useful widget out there, I recently wrote and released one you might, hopefully, find marginally interesting :) Well .. it only caters to U.S. customers for now ...
man this is weird. feels like i'm talking to myself ... but not :o
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