I have a confession to make – these words are being written under Windows XP. For the first time in my life, my day job demands that I use an operating system other than one created by Apple.
And it's not as terrible as I remember. I am usually able t
o figure out how to use the Internet, read my e-mail, create Word documents and all the rest. What has surprised me is all the little ways it's been driving me crazy, and how they represent the real difference between the XP and OS X experiences.
Based on a light argument I got into recently with a Windows-using friend whose essential point is that you can tweak either OS to work the way you want it to, I'd like to share the pain points I've uncovered over the last two and a half months. I've organized it by rather anal retentive subjects
Mouse Tracking
I still have no idea whether this is quantifiable or not, but I have long thought, and continue to feel that my control over the mouse cursor under Windows is just not quite right in some way. I can barely explain it, except that I feel I'm using a controller to point to things in Windows, and I just point on a Mac. I often miss what I want to point at here, and I've accidentally deleted files as a result.
The Maximize Button
The fundamental metaphor of the Windows GUI is different from that found in Mac OS X, and the maximize button is the greatest example of this. It epitomizes the way that Windows is very task-oriented while OS X is based around the application with many windows. No matter how much I try to work as I do in OS X, with lots of slightly overlapping windows, under XP, I only feel comfortable filling the screen with each application I use. Understandably, programs written to take advantage of this, such as MS Office and Web browsers, feel more comfortable than the ones that try to feel Mac-like, such as the faintly appalling Windows version of Adobe Creative Suite.
Changing Keyboard Shortcuts
This one is more subtle, but it drives me completely nuts. When I want to close a window in XP, I might have to use alt+F+X, or ctrl+W might do it, or ctrl+Q might quite the program, or alt+F4 might do it, or there might be no shortcut at all. I am as fast under OS X as I am in part because I almost never have to think about what I'm doing or reach for the mouse. Some programs (such as Lotus Notes, hint! Hint!) don't even have keyboard shortcuts for essential functions, like check for e-mail.
Programs That Reinvent The Wheel
This is mainly about Lotus Notes, but I think it's endemic to the Windows way of doing things. Programs are written under the assumption that there won't be a helping, friendly ecosystem to assist them when a function is called beyond their core values. As an example, Lotus 7 has an embedded version of Internet Explorer – I can't figure out how to get it to launch an external browser (Thank God for Firefox!). Some programs use the term Properties, others Preferences. There is no consistency across the line, and the big picture of a family of applications is not considered.
Command Button Orientation
This one is a small quibble, but it's big in terms of the experience of the operating system itself. A whole lot of really critical buttons are oriented at the bottom-right or bottom-left of a program window. Since the Start button and task bar are by default at the lower-left, I often over-shoot what I'm trying to click on and end up switching into a new application or launching Photoshop and what have you. This is doubled in the Start button itself, which hides the All Programs button in a tiny font that gets lost among all of the other frequently accessed icons.
Being Too Helpful
I don't actually want to have all of my PowerPoint documents stacked into one taskbar entry – it adds to my work rather than organizing it. I don't need a pop-up that won't dismiss itself every time I connect to a Wireless network I've joined before.
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Pros (Yes, there are a few!)
iTunes runs great. Um...it hasn't crashed as much as I expected, and the WiFi reception is significantly better than on my Powerbook.
That's all. Thoughts?
