| I admitted my bias right up front. I like OS X, and I like it a lot. Its not perfect (far from it), but its let me do some things with my Mac that were never before possible. With that said, there are definite areas for improvement in OS X
I knew that going in, so Im not overly disappointed. Things Id like to see addressed include resizable column views, replaceable Finder font, multiple Get Info windows, spring loaded folders, and a few others.
In addition, the OS needs drivers for external peripherals before it can truly be considered an every-day OS. Until this situation changes, I will still need to re-boot into OS 9.1 for tape backups, burning CD's, scanning, and dowloading digital images. Other than those times though, my home machine will be in OS X 100% of the time. Ive used nothing but the Public Beta since September until I got my Staples copy earlier this week, and Im quite happy with the progress that was made on the system during that timeframe.
I could go into tons of detail on all the apps and system settings that are available in OS X, but quite frankly, thats half the fun of using the system finding those things! The online help system is reasonably good, and there are a ton of web resources out there to help you learn this site, of course, but lots of others check the LINKS page for a list of over fifty!
OS X is UNIX based, and you can (if you like), choose to learn much more about UNIX. You dont have to, of course, but its available. Ive been using three books that I highly recommend:
- Sams Teach Yourself UNIX in 24 hours A great beginners guide, with a nice easy pace.
- OReillys UNIX in a Nutshell Just a reference; all commands with brief explanations.
- OReillys UNIX Power Tools - Explains how to really take advantage of the power of UNIX. More advanced, but some great tips (some of which will be making their way to the macosxhints site, after I learn how to apply them to the OS X environment). You should be very comfortable with the command line and UNIX in general to get the most out of this book.
In my one day of serious use of the system, Ive noticed a couple minor bugs related to retaining settings and window redrawing, and Ive had one Finder restart (which didnt affect anything else, of course, thanks to protected memory). Also, my machine is currently incapable of sleeping, due to the Adaptec 2930 SCSI card. Other than that, I havent had a crash or hiccup yet and Classic is yet to quit unexpectedly, despite how busy I've been keeping it (as youll soon see). While OS X may not be ready for my Mom just quite yet, I'm more than willing to bet it will be by July.
NEXT - Performance |