Thanks for the helpful reply. A few things I'd like to point out about your comments.

You have to have a CC# and/or have an iTunes account to update? Nonsense

The following is from a reply I posted a little earlier to the same comment:

As soon as I received my computer (from my company) it was asking me to update three programs. One was the OS (I think) the other two were built in apps that required I put in my CC# to update. It did make me create an iTunes account (I have the spam to prove it), if there was a way to opt out of this it wasn't obvious and I looked hard. I think the apps were iphoto and imovie. I canceled out of giving my CC# several times, I didn't want to give it up for no reason, but I couldn't "activate" my account until I did, and until I activated the account I couldn't get rid of the "you need updates!" message. That I even need to create an account at all is pretty lame, that I have to enter a CC# to update other software is super lame.

As for my critique about the file system, I just wish /Users/ was /home/ really.

I have the full sized mac keyboard, and option does say alt on it but it doesn't behave like the alt key (maybe if I hold down the fn key that replaced insert?). When using emacs the alt (meta) key is essential. The removal of the other keys is pretty bad with insert at the top of that list.

Thanks for the informed reply. I'm happy you're trying to help and some of your suggestions will help me transition to the new system. That said, I have a few comments about your comments.

As of Lion, you sign in with an Apple ID. That is not iTunes, but iTunes also uses this ID. You do not need a credit card number [apple.com] to update your OS.

As soon as I received my computer (from my company) it was asking me to update three programs. One was the OS (I think) the other two were built in apps that required I put in my CC# to update. It did make me create an iTunes account (I have the spam to prove it), if there was a way to opt out of this it wasn't obvious and I looked hard. I think the apps were iphoto and imovie. I canceled out of giving my CC# several times, I didn't want to give it up for no reason, but I couldn't "activate" my account until I did, and until I activated the account I couldn't get rid of the "you need updates!" message. That I even need to create an account at all is pretty lame, that I have to enter a CC# to update other software is super lame.

It sounds like you are using the mini bluetooth wireless keyboard. You would probably prefer the full-size keyboard [apple.com] which has many of the keys you are concerned about.

I have the full sized keyboard. It lacks the keys I mentioned. I use emacs a lot and by using iterm2 I can replace option with alt, but that's hardly the same as having an alt key because it then disables option. It does not have an insert key, scroll lock, num lock, pause etc.. but it does have 19 F keys that have no apparent function. I tried switching to a PC keyboard, but it lacked the command key so that didn't work out very long. I've resolved to just getting used to it. But the lack of these keys is pretty crappy. Especially the insert key.

When you full screen an application, a virtual desktop for that application window is created on the fly. Your other windows are still there on their original desktop. You can still Opt-Tab back to them or use Mission Control/Expose. I don't understand what the issue is here?

The issue is that the button is useless. I don't know why anyone would ever use it given that it hides all the windows on your other screens. I don't much care what it technically does. What it effectively does isn't terribly useful. Seems a little like a crippled maximize button. How exactly is it useful?

This is another one those scenarios where you have to unlearn Microsoft paradigms. The green button is not a maximize button, and no one ever said it was. It is referred to as the "zoom" button [macyourself.com].

So it's called the zoom button, but it doesn't zoom? That really doesn't make any sense, but ok. It really should be optional how you want it to behave if anything. The unpredictable behavior makes me hesitant to use it. For example, on chrome it resizes vertically only (apparently no web pages can benefit from extra width?), but in my IRC client it resizes both. Why? Who knows? It just does. You're going to be flipping a coin on any new program you install as to what this button actually does. That, in my opinion, is bad design. It doesn't have a maximize button? Well it really should, that would be helpful.

It's not perfect or intuitive, but Command+Shift+G will bring up a dialogue to allow you to type in a path.

Which would be halfway good if it showed the path to the folder you were currently in or had tab completion. As it is, Finder really sucks and I'll more often than not just use the console. I don't really like nuCommander either.

If you don't like the Apple Magic Mouse, you aren't forced to use it.

Yeah... I sort of am forced to use it, for now. It's provided by the company I work for. I don't think they'd be upset if I brought my own mouse in, and that's what I'll probably end up doing. The right mouse button thing is really a pain though.

I have to completely disagree with you here. Multi-monitor support is an area that OS X really shines. Windows in a multi-monitor scenario on the other hand is a total frustrating experience.

I'm not sure why we're talking about windows monitor support all of a sudden. The biggest problem I had was that I have to be careful when I close my laptop. If there are other monitors hooked up and the dock is on one of them when I close it, it means time to hard reboot the computer to get anything back.

* Child windows open up on random monitors seperate from their parent. * God forbid you boot up without one of the monitors

That's up to the programmer. You can center the dialog on the parent window, or you can spawn it on the center of the main monitor. If it's doing something wrong that's hardly the OS's fault. To your second point, I use multi monitors in windows quite a lot and that was an issue pre vista, but it has been fixed for a few years now.

Also, since the introduction of the Windows 8 disaster, there's been much discussion as to why a touch-screen on a laptop is generally considered a bad idea.

I thought that touch screen was useless too, then I got one, kinda used it a little then really started using it. I don't use the touch screen features, I just use it instead of the trackpad/mouse. The PC trackpad on the Vizio (ct15tb1) (10 point multitouch with mac-like gestures) isn't bad at all and is quite comparable to the Mac's, but even so it's much faster to use the touch screen. The only down side is fingerprints :(

Also, since the introduction of the Windows 8 disaster...

I like 8 more than 7 just for the minimalist UI. Never liked the start menu - no love lost there. The much improved file copy and task manager are really cool too. Other than metro - which should go rot in hell - win 8 is just like 7 which is just like vista. I don't care for a lot of the extra steps they put in to get to common tasks (get to your network adapter for example). I could write a few paragraphs on "the stupid things in windows" but this isn't a critique of windows. But the popular idea that "Windows 8 [is a] disaster" I think is a little hyperbolic.

However, don't mix personal-preference with "This OS sucks." You seem to be doing that a lot in this rant of yours.

I didn't say "This OS sucks". I actually said I could switch to this OS full time. I was just pointing out some things that can really be improved upon.

No this is not FreeBSD. It's OS X. The userland core it is built upon is its own BSD variant called Darwin. It has roots in Mach, FreeBSD and even NeXTStep/OpenStep. As far as conventions go, care to elaborate? What exactly about the file system layout do you take issue with?

I come from FreeBSD/CentOS systems so I would really like a /home/ directory to store user profiles in. I don't like the capitalization of the directory names either. Not that my opinion matters at all.

In the meantime you always have the option of bootcamp. You don't lose anything by going with Mac. You can always install a Windows partition and enjoy all of the software available to PCs, and boot back into OS X when you're done with your gaming.

Or I could just use windows for everything. I don't really like dual booting. Seems like a waste of precious SSD space. It would be great if I could just play my x86/x64 games on my x86/x64 processor somehow without installing another OS/partition.

Like I said before, it's not a bad OS. Both OSs have their good and bad parts. I could write a critique about a lot of the stupid things that win8 has, but this one was about OSX. I'm not trying to pick a winner here. If I'm wrong about something, like I'm not doing it right, that's one thing, outside of that people will either agree with my criticisms or they won't.

Anyways, this was a good discussion, thanks for the feedback. I'm happy to continue and thanks for being civil in the debate, I know people can get pretty passionate about their OSs.

Yeah, because that was my only complaint./s My point was there was a lot of unused keys and they've removed a lot of keys that are very useful (alt, scroll lock, insert, num lock). But you're free to try and spin my comments however you like.

Yeah, I'm going to end up doing that. This mouse was provided by the company so I'm stuck with it until I get another one. The critiques are still valid I think.

I've recently been made to switch from a Win8 machine to a brand new OSX machine. The Win8 machine has three monitors, 256ssd, 16bg ram, i7. The OSX machine is a Macbook Pro Retina i7 256ssd, 16bg ram with two external monitors. There are some cool things about OSX but there are many stupid things about OSX. And they're not stupid like "this is different" stupid, they're stupid like "this shit is stupid". Because I'm feeling verbose I'll list the really stupid low hanging fruit. And at the end I'll list what I really enjoy about it.

OSX

• * I have to sign up for iTunes to keep my computer updated!?
• * I HAVE TO GIVE ITUNES MY CC# TO KEEP MY COMPUTER UPDATED!?
• * I have to restart my computer to keep it updated? I thought this was Unix?

Keyboard (external mac? keyboard)

• * Why is the keyboard all fucked up? Two keys labeled delete? Is there some aversion to calling a backspace key a backspace key?
• * Where the fuck did insert go!? You know some people actually use insert!
• * For that matter where is num lock and scroll lock? Again, I use those keys!
• * Why redesign the num pad into a Apple(TM) num pad and move all the keys around?
• * The behavior of the home and end key is stupid! They jump to the end and beginging of the document instead of the end and begining of the line! What gives them the right?!
• * They remove essential keys like insert but I have F1-F19!? And an eject key on a system that doesn't even have an optical drive? (not that they knew that about my system, so a small pass there.)
• * Seriously? No Alt key? WTF, I thought this was UNIX! How the fuck am I supposed to use EMACS!?

OSX Windows

• * WIndows present resize mouse cursors on some windows edges that cannot be resized! Inexcusable! I should be able to resize the window from any edge. And for god sakes, if I can't resize it from that edge don't show me a fucking resize cursor and make me think I'm losing my mind.
• * What the hell is up with this full screen arrow. Useless shit. It removes all the windows from my other screens and throws up a lame gray background. Lame.

• * Is this green control box maximize or what!? It seems like sometimes it wants to maximize height and width, and other times it will only maximize height. Be consistant. No, actually, always maximize both!

• * I would be so happy if when I resize the top edge of the window to the top of the screen if the bottom would snap to the bottom of the screen like win7/8. I'm not saying this makes all the difference in the world, but when you make it difficult to resize (my first point on windows) this is even more important.
• * More customization of color and style would be nice, but I'm not going to cry about too long about that.

• OSX Finder

  • * Seriously? This is the worst piece of shit file manager I've ever seen. Apple has a lot of talented people, money and has had plenty of time to make something wonderful and they made this? As quickly as I could I replaced it, I'm using nuCommander now. Get your shit together Apple.
  • * I can't remove this POS from my dock without doing some serous surgery to the OS. Even if I do get it removed, it'll come back and stick there until I restart if I open it somehow. Grow up finder, not everyone should be forced to use you. But then, this is Apple, home of "we force you to use shit" so I shouldn't be surprised.
  • * I can't type a path in here? Fuck that! That alone makes this program trash. Really, a lot of the "finder replacements" are trash for the same reason. Are people afraid to have a path bar you can type in?

  Apple Magic Mouse

  • * RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON!!!! Oh my god! I can't click this right mouse button like 90% of the time. Oh there's a right mouse button, but when you try and click it, it produces a left mouse click. You have to remove your hand entirely from the mouse, make sure there are no heat source near it (like your palm), be damn sure you don't have any fingers on the mouse (why would you leave your lazy fingers on the mouse?!) and ever so delicately click the top right most edge of the mouse to produce a right mouse click. This is a constant frustration. It's a very poor design and should never have made it out of testing.
  • * This is not how a mouse wheel should work. How the fuck do you expect me to play any games with this mouse if the "wheel" goes all spin happy? The behavior of "normal" wheeled mice work great, why not stick with it?
  • * While we're on the wheel; there's no wheel! There's no third mouse button! Ugh, oh well. I guess I don't need to be able to open links in new tabs with a single click, I'll just use the right mouse button - oh fuck it, I give up.
  • * This mouse is the ultimate function following form, the complete oposite of what a work machine needs. I don't care how shiny a mouse is, just work well and I'll be happy.
  • • Key and Keyboard shortcut behavior
    • * Why can't copy and paste work consistently in whatever program I'm using? It seems to not work like 50% of the time I use it. It's not just me, everyone that I've talked to about it says that same thing. I'm not sure what the exact cause of this odd copy/paste bug is, but it sucks bad.
    • * Wouldn't it be nice to be able to remap a key on the keyboard and have it change the way all programs interpret that key? Well, too bad. You can remap a key, but only if the program supports it, and only one program at a time. (home, end, insert, alt)

    Multi monitor support

    • * God help you if you shut down your mac with multiple monitors hooked up and wake it up without. You'll have to reboot the sad way.
    • * It keeps forgetting the settings of the various screens and giving them new background settings. Not a huge deal, but annoying.
    • * I can't easily span multiple screens with a single window, might be more a window issue than a multi monitor issue.
    • * Laptop screen not a touch screen. Maybe not a huge deal, but my new Vizio 15" is a touch screen and I find myself using it quite a lot more than I thought I would. But then I can only plug in one external monitor to it.

    File System

    • * Isn't this FreeBSD? Then act like it! Setup directories the way FreeBSD sets up their directories! Why use an existing OS and throw out all the very long held conventions of that OS? Not only did they throw out FreeBSD conventions but they threw out all Linux and Unix conventions! Oh they kept some things, but they're inconsistant or rarely used, which only makes matters worse.

    Things I like about OSX/Macbook

    • * It's FreeBSD! Yay!
    • * It has a terminal! Yay. Even though iterm2 is much better.
    • * Multiple desktops rock, and they're very well implemented.
    • * Kinda sorta minimilist. That's cool. (borders, menus, etc..)
    • * Cool desktop background chooser
    • * I can hook up 3 monitors to my Macbook, that's pretty damn cool.
    • * It's a pretty small device. I can take it with me anywhere. That's great.
    • * Magnetic power plug. Convertible power brick, that's cool.
    • * Track pad has a lot of cool gestures. Although my new Vizio laptop has the same thing - I know that's new for a PC laptop.

    All in all I could replace my Win8 machine with an OSX machine, but for one thing, there are no games on OSX. Sure I can play Minecraft (even though it's buggy on multi monitors, but that's probably more Minecraft's or JVM's fault) but I want to be able to play real games. You know what I'm talking about. Until then, this is just a work computer, and I'll use it because I'm getting paid to use it.

It doesn't swirl at all, it's frozen.

It doesn't matter if it was "not motivated by political bias", a claim which itself is highly suspect, it was de facto political bias. Some groups withdrew their tax exempt status when illegally asked for donor lists. This surely had an impact on their operations and subsequently influenced the vote outcome. But it only happened to "right wing" groups so somehow it's OK because they want lower taxes. . This logic is sickening. I would argue that the fact they are critical of the IRS or the government would be a good reason to be very careful about such audits less they appear biased. That they are in fact biased confirms the conspiracy theories put forth by these groups.

The same group of people who say "this is OK" would be crying bloody murder if the tables were turned.

I'm sure it costs a lot less than the damage to persons and equipment that it protects.

THIS! THIS 1000x! Damn, I was about to drop a comment about The Forever War. What a complete and marvelous book! The entire life span of humanity in war experienced in one lifetime, by someone who saw action in Vietnam. Not only was it believable it was scientifically possible! Best Sci-Fi I've ever read. And I read a lot. That said, Card's Ender's Game is not bad at all, I'll surely see it when it hits the DVD shelves (and someone rips it for my lazy ass).

Did you warn them!? About Haiti and Japan?!

DDT has a long history and nowhere in it is actual proof of causation of any of the aforementioned ailments. The best anti-DDT activists could prove is correlation and linking to diseases, never causation, in spite of decades of trying. So much of this "scientific research" was done trying to affirm the positive idea that DDT caused disease. Weak inductive logic has no place in actual scientific research! "Affirming the positive" is a huge problem with so much of science. You don't create "scientific facts". You only create theories that hold up to repeated attempts to falsify them. This is never the case with the anti-DDT research. It's always about affirming the "scientific fact" that DDT is evil. In the 50's and 60s people virtually bathed in this stuff. Big trucks would billow out DDT into parks to kill off mosquitoes, and all this time no ill effects were ever proven to be caused by DDT. And thanks to DDT the US is free of malaria.

Because of anti-DDT activists and the pseudo-scientific FUD created by them 3rd world countries have had to deal with the scourge of malaria that kills over a million every year, and tens of millions over decades. If you want funding from the US you had better not use DDT, oh sure we did and eliminated the threat of malaria in our country, but we learned the errors of our ways by great pseudoscientists like Rachel Carson that using DDT can have unclear and unknown effects to the thickness of egg shells in some avian species, so you know, let everyone die from malaria, this egg shell stuff is pretty serious.

People using weak inductive logic claming harm to the environment to prevent the use of life saving procedures make me sick. Rachel Carson and people like her have blood on their hands and will never feel guilty for the tens of millions of deaths caused and the hundreds of millions of lives forever changed. If there was justice in this world (and there never was) Rachel Carson would be made to live in a country where DDT has never been used. Let her sleep under a mosquito net forever afraid of a malaria infected bite. No, she slept in great comfort in a place where DDT had already wiped out the scourge of malaria.

Only as recently as 2007 has this anti-DDT hysteria subsided and the use of DDT has begun again. If it is so damn harmful why is it OK now? Of course it's a good thing they're using it again, but it's far too late to save the lives of the millions of people who could have been saved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT#Criticism_of_restrictions_on_DDT_use

Wikipedia is a funny place. You can see the fights between editors that occur right in the article. In the section "Criticism of restrictions on DDT use" the same over zealous anti-DDT editors just couldn't help themselves. By god they weren't going to let these criticisms of the restriction of DDT go unchallenged! They'll insert quotes of someone's opinion to refute the critical assertions in the same paragraph as the criticisms. That'll show the critics what's up! And, no, nobody will ever venture to think that there is any sort of unfair bias in the article!

Chemists who create chemicals to save people's lives are not mad scientists and these anti-DDT activists are not all knowing supermen come to save the planet. So many of these activists just know, without need for proof, that DDT is bad. Why? Why, because it's a chemical, and chemicals are bad! And look at these ignorant people spraying chemicals without knowing what us activists know.

Everything is a chemical. You can die from cyanide poising from eating too many almonds or apple seeds, but you'll never die from DDT.

You're such a brave little bigot aren't you.

You're a fucking troll! Chips and dip with coke and rum obviously best. Vegetables are what my food eats!

But I'm with you on these other guys, corn nuts? WTF!

And the freakin updates that FORCES me to reboot.

Annoying as hell, but you can disable that behavior.

I use CentOS/Gnome, OSX and Win 7 and 8 and hands down 8 beat them all. The minimalist UI looks fantastic, task manager is mind blowingly awesome, but the one that took me over the top was the new copy/move dialogs. MS really nailed it with this new feature. Shows a graph of move activity, current speed, etc. but even better when it sees that you're trying to copy another file to a location that you're already trying to copy to, it cues it up rather than try and make two simultaneous transfers. On top of that you can pause/resume transfers. No longer will people say “wtf why does it say x seconds left” because they’ll clearly see that the transfer speed ebbs and flows. When you try and move files to a location where the file name already exists it gives you a very nice grouped choice dialog so you don’t have to click through prompts, this actually removes the need for “yes to all”, hard to explain without seeing it. I would say that this copy/move dialog like this would sell me on any system, it’s that good.

And of course it plays windows games, which is the primary reason for consideration in the first place. Hard to beat win 8 with all that.

Oh yeah, before I forget, fuck metro and whoever made it they should get some terrible STD. Fuck the start menu, I never liked the old one, the new one just makes me want to rip my eyes out with a spoon, but at least they removed the damn useless start button.

I've never been a fan of Stardock, but ModernMix actually seems like a good idea (for once). It allows you to run metro apps in a window. And they also have a start menu replacement for people who actually liked the old start menu, but I am not one, so you can find that link on your own if you're interested.