MacWorld Expo Report, Part II

As promised chrisd back with his report from the expo floor at MacWorld and a brief note about what Linux can learn from the Macintosh. Walking the show floor at MacWorld, I'm beginning to feel a little sorry for people who are Windows boosters. Where do they go for their community? The Mac folks have MacWorld and WWDC, we have LinuxWorld, O'Reilly and Usenix, but they have what? Comdex? There is no MicrosoftWorld. Whether this is a result of their size or what, I couldn't tell you. But there is a similar feel that the "Linux Faithful" and "Apple Faithful" share and that is that we are clearly part of a user and developer community.

Yesterday, I reported on the Jobs keynote and his ability to expand his reality field to encompass and entire ballroom. Today, do people still feel energized by his talk? Some were still pumped just to a part of the show, gasping and oo'ing and enjoying the melodrama of it all, but the next day there was a collective vibe of "well, was that it?". This is not to say that they were disappointed by it, but they perhaps wanted something more. The rumors had been flying for months about a flat screen iMac, and since that was what Apple brought forward, it was going to been seen as an evolutional, and thus anti-climactic, step, even if it was daringly packaged.

Many noted that they were expecting a speed bump for the G4 towers, but with Seybold coming up in February, many expect Apple to announce their tower update then to a more professional audience.

At the Tuesday keynote "The Power of X", Phil Shiller and Avie Tevanian talked about OS X and what it means to apple and to the future of the Macintosh platform. Apple is stressing how stable and crash proof OS X is and what this can means to the "Apple Faithful". They discussed the kernel, the media layers, security and the user interface and how it all works together. What they've done with their BSD derived core is really impressive. As part of the keynote, Tweak Films showed off an OS X based deep ocean wave visualization app that they assert they ported from Unix in weeks, with significant functionality gains.

The show floor itself was bouncy fun. For me it was a nice change from the austerity of a Linux exposition and it's focus on sheer functionality, capability and commerce. Large exhibitors included Alias|WaveFront, Adobe (not having anyone at this conference arrested, I noted), FileMaker pro, Microsoft and a number of other software development houses. As I walked the floor, I made a mental note of applications that were available for both Windows and the Macintosh. The reality is that there isn't much that is specifically for the Mac intosh, with the obvious exception of the hardware from apple, with all the vendors one ends up asking, what is unique here?

What Apple has that is unique, and sadly Windows and Linux both lack, is cohesion. Everyone with devices and software for the Mac seem to work so well with each other and the OS. We should strive to emulate that cohesion whenever practical for open source software. Before, the apple story was cohesion without stability or power. Now, with BSD at it's core, you can bet that Apple will be able to attack Windows, SUN and Linux on the power front. A year from now it will be interesting to see how many people are running apache to serve pages from their Apple machines, and I will be unsurprised if someone is giving an apache serving presentation at the next Apple WWDC.

Please note that I have posted some pictures of my trip to MacWorld, with some pictures of the new iMac and of the keynote.

Comments

Re:...Isn't there?

[byolinux]

I think Microsoft would like to think that all the world is Microsoft World, and probably Microsoft's World at the same time.

Ideas Anyone?

[ianaverage]

I was thinking about how the open-source community could start to bring a little more cohesion to the many projects that are out there, and I personally was unable to come up with much. I do think that sourceforge is a decent start, but by no means is it going to really bring the applications together.

Do any of you have an ideas that can be implimented to bring the cohesion that will obviously strengthen opensource? Can some functionality be added to SourceForge to help this?

How well will Apple respond to that community?

[Zergwyn]

I have been using Macs for awhile now, since using my first SE/30 almost a decade ago(heck, I even have an old Apple IIe kicking around). Apple has made a big change in its move to OS X, but what has made it a lot better for me is how at each major update (beta>10.0>10.1) there has been an obvious willingness to respond to feedback they have been given. The system has come a long way since the PB, restoring many old features and functionality that users asked for. Yes it has flaws, especially evident in Job's insistance on doing things His Way(TM) in many cases. But that is definitely changing. In the beta, the menu bar didn't even really exist, the NeXTish dock tried to cover even more stuff. Metadata and networking seem to be improving somewhate, and springloaded folders look to make a comeback in the next version.

I view all the moans from other Mac users in much the same way I remember the horror people expressed at the transition from OS 6 to OS 7. I am thrilled to be able to have a command line and all the power it offers at my finger tips, and the stability is very welcome. It is just fun to play with again, especially since it is so much more customizable. The system is still fresh, and has great potential. People should try to think of it as it will be in a year or two, with a bit more polish, and a lot more software. I hope that the linux community will be able to gain valuable stuff from OS X, just as we can gain from *nix. As long as Apple continues to show a willingness to respond to what users want, I have a lot of optimism for the system.

No WindowsWorld since Windows users don't like Win

[ciryon]

There is no WindowsWorld because most Windowsusers don't really like Windows, or their computer generally. It's just something they have to use, wether they like it or not. When something doesn't work they don't think it's the Operating System's fault. They believe it's their own fault or perhaps they blame it on "the computer". It's actually a very popular excuse: "I couldn't do it/was late because the damn computer didn't work". And never ever realize that it could be Microsoft's fault.

Mac users love their computer environment and are very very faithful to Apple. Linux users love their OS and realize if something doesn't work it's usually their own fault, but it can be resolved with a little work.

Ciryon

jenga

[analemma]

With Mac follows cohesion from the main Apple offices and the Jobby the friendly CEO.

The cohesion within the Linux community is different entirely, although present nonetheless. Go here for an example.

To hold the two side by side is entertaining, but nothing more.

Re:Isn't that just sheer shortsightedness?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's only kde and gnome that copy windows.

Enlightenment copies amiga to some extent.

Re:The main reason all the Mac stuff work cohesive

[Graymalkin]

Just because someone would develop it doesn't mean anybody would use it. For every one person who wants some cohesion between all the different apps they use in Linux there's five who say they want it their way or no way. If you pool Linux users, some are using KDE, some use GNOME, others just use WindowMaker, some may just to twm or no GUI whatsoever. If you poll Windows users they're all using Explorer and Mac users are all using Finder. Some say the lack of choice is a detriment (these are the people who use one of the above mentioned graphical kits and will continue to use it no matter what).

Why would KDE and GNOME developers need to break X compatibility in the first place? Both toolkits are abstracted from X enough so that both toolkits are pretty portable and only use X on Linux because that is what everbody else uses and some apps talk directly to Motif or Xlib which some people feel they can't live without.

Re:Silly and shallow thinking by chrisd

[SerpentMage]

Folks hate to break this bubble. But the Windows community does have a community. It is called PDC or TechEd. These are the big events. And Windows has its heros, Charles Petzold, Kraig Brockshmidt, Don Box, Chris Sells, Jeff Prosie, etc, etc, etc.

The problem is that if you are NOT in that community you will never know that there is a community.

For example to me there is no MAC community (I use LINUX and Windows). But my personal perception does not fit reality. Hence the assertion that there is no Windows community is absolutely false.

Re:Isn't that just sheer shortsightedness?

[d0n quix0te]

----
But each window gets it's own menus just like Windows. The widgets are IMHO, better than either Mac or Windows.
----

This actually will slow you down due to fitt's law. There have been a lot of studies (yes people in HCI do emperical experiments) that show that menu's on a window (ala Windows and many UNIX GUIs) are 500% slower than a fixed menubar on the top of the screen. This is due to a function of psychomotor skills of your brain. It is commonly dubbed 'Fitt's law', and is the reason why Macs have a global menu. Show's that sticking with a top menubar in OS X is not continuing thee tradition, but keeping what is best for the user.

You may think it is faster to access your menus on a per window basis, but you are actually slowing yourself down (assuming you are a human being and not an alien with a completely different psychomotor skills...)

Re:copy != plagiarize

[Alan Partridge]

but Apple IS the source by virtue of acquisition - the people who created NeXTStep / OpenStep are the SAME PEOPLE working on OSX aren't they? From what I understand, there's been quite a bit of the "reverse takeover" going on at Apple.

Re:I prefer being able to view DVDs, personally

[Alan Partridge]

Very badly - file extensions are both idiotic and competely unnecessary, as amply demonstrated by the Macintosh OS for the last 15 years. Many of us are actively badgering Apple about this stupid situation.

Re:Silly and shallow thinking by chrisd

[the_2nd_coming]

the problem with that logic is that most windows users do not know of the community. If you use Mac or Linux, you know there is a community since it is right there to help you from the start. you get into the platform, and right away, you are presented with resources and information on where to get help. people on UseNet talk about it and point you in the direction that you need to go where you can read about the community.

in windows, you do not have this advertisment. UseNet is about the only place you can go for help (save the web logs). do those people talk about the famouse Windows community members? do those people point you to resources that inform you? no.

even if Windows does have a community, it is so pitifuly weak and diluted, that it has no impact on 95% of the windows user base.

Re:Silly and shallow thinking by chrisd

[nehril]

C'mon chrisd, do try harder next time

indeed chrisd. otherwise people will pick on every turn of phrase or minor comment in your post, trash it and you, and generate karma for themselves.

Chrisd, everything you said is wrong and sucks, and you are a slashdot editor, so everything you said is doubly wrong and sucky. And I can't believe you used the word "the" in your article. Clearly you do not understand even the basics of computing, and you should submit yourself to the Soylent Green recycling center immediately.

and I now their is a spelling mis take in they're somewhere, I just don't halve thyme to find it and generate karma form it. Ewe should use a spell czech pogrom.

C'mon chrisd, do try harder next time.

Re:No WindowsWorld since Windows users don't like

[Alan Partridge]

Oh dear, I was trying to be reasonable about it but, and I'm only going to say this once, Windows 2000 (at least the 7 workstations and servers I look after) crashes PLENTY, if not as much as the classic MacOS. But far worse is the complete lack of rational to the crashes - an app will work perfectly for a week and then come over all faint during an ovcernight render. With the MacOS, we find that you experience a problem, determine the cause, fix or disable the offending item and that's it, PROBLEM SOLVED. Certainly, some iterations of MacOS are notorious for memory leaks but if you use the good ones along with decent apps, you can keep a Mac running for weeks between crashes no problem.

Re:My experience with macs...

[pelorus]

>That's funny. My office used to be 100% mac and
>is now 80% Windows. Our servers run AIX and
>Solaris except for the NT file server. You know
>what? Everything is much faster, much more
>stable, and generally we are much more
>productive.

We used to be 30% Mac and 70% UNIX. Now we're 100% PC due to some questionable decisions about four years ago. We've lost more "features" than I care to count, we don't seem to have better security due to weekly updates because of security exploits on Windows and at least when my old Mac crashed I could get someone to fix it and the problem would go away. These days the spotty IT geeks just say "Reboot and ignore the error messages".

Sure, our machines are faster now but I'm comparing a 800Mhz Pentium with half a Gig of RAM to a Quadra 650 (at what, 40Mhz) with 16 Mb RAM. If it wasn't faster I'd be wondering. Windows has been such fun that I went out and bought a Powerbook for myself.

OSX -- LINUX -- WIN

[ellem]

The folks at Apple are geniuses. Here's why.

1 -- The make you run their OS on their hardware. IT HAS TO WORK. They know what you have.

2 -- They practically force 3rd party developers and manufacturers to "Do the Apple Thing" Subsequently things look a like, work alike and keep the "Apple Vibe"

3 -- They make users fanatics. They create a niche whrere "creative people" _need_ an Apple. You're not going to be creative on a PC; _Are you?_

------

Now Linux has fanatic users, sure. And Linux will run on a million different different machines. Sound? Who needs sound? :) But Linux has a real *nix thing going on. It is percieved as being unfriendly. Anytime someone makes a "Friendly" distro the community complains. The Linux community is more interested in Flame - Wars.

Vi vs Emacs
KDE vs Gnome
Enlightenment vs Sawfish
RPM (et al) vs make
Red Hat vs Everyone else

No sense of community like Mac has. More of a taunting older brother (UNIX) with a smart alecky sibling.
----------

Windows is a horrible mess.

DOS, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, XP, NT, W2K

More bad publicity than anything I have ever seen. If I was MS I would pull Outlook off the shelf and send everyone on the planet a copy of Eudora or something. Even things that are not Outlook/Explorer related tend to get lumped into an MS problem (see also AIM.)

Users _don't_ want to get together and talk about their computers. (Some wold argue that is becuase they are busy using them, others would say it is because they are busy rebooting!) But in any event I see little pride in owning XP SP1.

----------

Apple has created a "Vibe" about their product. Created a myth that their products are the only thing that can do certain things.

Truth be told -- Apple makes excellent products and _NOW_ has an excellent OS to go with their _cool_ hardware. And let's face it Anything you can do on a Mac you can do on any PC (Lin/WIN). You could even be... creative. But the perception persists because Apple has made their marketing work so well that _YOU_ believe it.

Re:OSX -- LINUX -- WIN

[overunderunderdone]

Created a myth that their products are the only thing that can do certain things.... Anything you can do on a Mac you can do on any PC (Lin/WIN). You could even be... creative.

Part of the prevelance of this myth is that it used to be quite true. Several years ago if a freelancer claiming to be a professional designer came to me looking for a job but told me he used a PC he would not get the job. Why? because he was not and could not be a professional. Professional art and design software simply wasn't available on the PC. Since those days Adobe, Quark etc. have all ported their apps to the PC and now it is not only possible to be a professional designer using a PC there are actually some that do.

Today the advantages are subtler and found in smaller details. First off there is simply the inertia of the industry and compatiblity with that industries standard. nearly all of your professional peers and all the vendors you need are primarily mac based. Designers, photographers, service bureaus, printers etc. are all using macs - You are on the wrong side of whatever (ususually minor - but still there) compatiblity issues remain between PC's and Macs.

Secondly: ColorSync. Systemwide and well supported color management is HUGE for a visual artist. Particularly the art-director or designer who is responsible for making sure that the photo looks the same to the photographer, to the designer, to the client, to the proofsheet, to the final printed piece. You have no idea what a big, important, potentially costly issue this is. You would be amazed at how much color can change each step along the way without good color management and how screwed you are if it comes out wrong.

Finally, and this advantage is not limited to artists though they are perhaps more impacted by it than most, ease-of-use, "intuitive" UI and that cohession the article spoke of. Artists, designers, musicians etc. are "right-brained" they tend to be more intuitive than deductive. The computer is only a tool to them, they often have a love/hate relationship with it. They love it for the creative power it gives them. They hate it's fussiness and the technical crap they need to learn to get it to work. The less technical crap the better - the more that technical crap is hidden away or the better they are able pursue their real goals (the creative stuff they love and get paid for.) Linux and Unix in general are complete failures at "intuitive" UI. Everything is learned jargon and technical details - great and natural for the "left-brained" engineer or Programmer but an unnecessary nightmare for the creative professional. Windows is not so bad and is always getting better. But it still isn't quite as natural to an intuitive thinker than the Mac - it still carries some of the baggage of it's more technically minded past. One of my favorite quotes from "Triumph of the Nerds" was when Jobs said that Gates' problem was that "he had no taste - and I mean that in a large way" Jobs also made the point that Apple had (because Jobs hired them) programmers that were also artists and musicians - people that in his mind were not only technically astute but who had "taste" or a sense of aesthetics. Gates hired people like himself - technical astute but without any aesthetic sensibilities whatsoever. The initial products from each company reflected that. It has changed over time, Apple after Jobs became less of a creative place, Microsoft as it grew learned to appreciate the value of good design (and hired away many UI people from Apple). But the products still reflect the philosophies that went into their creation.

Re:MS Community

[bay43270]

There is no MicrosoftWorld I know Microsoft isn't the most popular company here, but lets at least try to be honest here. Microsoft does have plenty of user-directed-propaganda-fests. They just choose to distribute the information across the contry, rather than making users fly to California. Take a look. Personaly, I haven't been to any of these presentations, (my wife does from time to time). I wish other companies would bring the show to the user like this. I would love to get information about Java directly from Sun without incurring the overhead of plane tickets and hotel rooms.

G4 updates at Seybold????

[nedron]

I wouldn't expect anything significant in February re: the G4 towers.

My guess is that we won't have a major tower announcement until the Apple show this summer. At that time, I would expect the G4 towers to become the G5 tower, as Motorola will be ready to ship in quantity during that timeframe. Why spend cycles updating the towers for faster G4s when new G5 models are just around the corner?

Re:G4 updates at Seybold????

[InstantCool]

I'd say Summer is a long way from Feburary. They simply can't wait that long. If they don't upgrade the G4 line, the iMacs will kill off G4 desktop sales since iMacs are only slightly slower, but loads cheaper.

Besides, the G4 Apollo chip is ready to go. They could at least break the Ghz barrier with the G4 line. Then in summer annouce the new G5 towers.

See modern-day religion at work...

[marm]

Why not *pick* to copy Apple's HCI and adopt it for the Linux desktop?

Did it ever occur to you that the Mac UI is not the be-all and end-all of user interface design? No, because the Mac UI is 'holy' and many proponents of it adopt a 'holier-than-thou' attitude, yourself included. I can't deny that MacOS 9.x is pretty good from an HCI point of view, but is it as good as some Mac disciples make it out to be? Hardly.

There are actually quite a number of areas where MacOS 9.x is deficient compared to other systems, from a usability point of view. Let's list a few of the major ones, shall we?

• The Task Switcher - requires 2 clicks to switch application, compared to 1 click with a Windows-style taskbar. This is one of the disadvantages of having a single top-level menubar, as there isn't enough screen real estate to have a taskbar as well. Of course OS X has both a panel and a top-level menubar, which is great. Except that now about a third of your screen is unavailable for application windows.
• The Finder - yes, Finder has usability problems. People crow about the Finder being 'spatial', meaning that directory windows and the icons contained within retain the same size and position as when they were previously opened. This is good, as the human brain is very good at remembering sizes and positions.
  What isn't mentioned is the side effect this causes - when every directory is opened in a new window, the screen rapidly fills up with windows, overwhelming the user. It is possible to tell the Finder to close the previous directory window when opening a new one, but only with a non-obvious keyboard modifier when double-clicking. Also, if the previous directory window has been closed, it is now impossible to navigate backwards. Other systems (Windows included) have found solutions to this problem - why hasn't the Mac?
• Context Menus - The lack of a second button on the standard Mac mouse is for some a boon in terms of simplicity. However, for anyone past beginner level it is a serious usability handicap. Context menus have been shown to be a major enhancement to mousing efficiency, but by and large, Mac apps ignore them as they require use of a keyboard modifier or a non-standard mouse. It is amusing to note that the Mac, the most mouse-centric of all desktops, requires the keyboard for something as simple as a context menu. Which brings me on to...
• Keyboard navigation - or the lack of it. You're stuffed on a Mac if you can't use the mouse. The menubar is totally off limits to you, which makes the computer all but useless. The Finder allows a certain amount of keyboard navigation, but again, without access to the menubar you have a problem. Remember, not everyone has the faculties to use a mouse, and if this is the case for you, forget every other question about usability - a Mac just isn't usable.

There are more usability problems than this - these are just the first that came off the top of my head. Note also that both Windows and the Linux GUIs have avoided all these problems, and also come up with some good ideas that Apple hasn't even touched on - like the universal viewer application (Explorer, Konqueror, Nautilus), or thumbnailing of all pictures, not just the ones that the creator app decided to attach a thumbnail to.

Perhaps it isn't such a good idea to be blindly copying the Mac after all?

Don't even get me started on OS X, right now it's an ill thought-out usability nightmare. I'm sure it will get better, but right now it's the last place to be looking for usability ideas. It's pretty, yes, but pretty does not equal easy to use.

Of course, the problem is that most people don't have access to a Mac and don't know what it's like to use a Mac and don't understand the Mac gestalt, otherwise they'd be using Macs already...

Suuuuure. When you finally wake up and pull your head out of the sand, be sure to let us know, ok?

In the meantime, the rest of us can get on with using and improving our GUI experience, pulling the best ideas from existing GUIs as well as inventing new ideas. Blindly following anyone is a seriously poor idea.

Are there Windows boosters?

[lostboy2]

I'm beginning to feel a little sorry for people who are Windows boosters. Where do they go for their community?

Hmmm... In the 15+ years that I've been working with computers, I don't think I've ever met anyone who was a Windows booster (who don't also work for Microsoft), and certainly none of the people I've met who have had to manage or support a Windows network have been real fans (myself included). At best I'd say people were neutral. [That's not MS-bashing, that's a true observation!]

In my experience, most people who do praise Microsoft do so for their business success (which is another issue, which I won't go into here) rather than the merits of Windows.

But, that aside, it seems to me that non-technically-savvy Windows-users would not be interested enough to want to attend a UG or convention, and technically-savvy Windows-users know enough about the problems with Windows that are hard to deny.

Linux fans can rally around the Open Source warcry; Mac users can bond over the cohesion of their systems. What can Windows users use as our mantra? "BSOD"? "Buffer Overflow"? The best we can use seems to be "market-share".

But the people with enough passion for the technology (who would be likely to organize/attend a convention) don't really care about Market-share, in my experience. We're motivated more by Cool-share.

With Microsoft's current totalitarian licensing scheme (e.g., forcing people to create a Passport account), the message that they send is that Microsoft isn't interested in cultivating user loyalty; they're more interested in developing subordination as a means to get to our money. [Okay, that _is_ a little MS-bashing, and a slight rant. :-)]

But that's just my opinion.

-- D.

Re:Umm...wrong

[P.Didimus]

Task Switcher-Pull down a floating App switcher tab from the menu. 1 click app switching

The Finder-Using 3 button mouse assign option click to 2nd and control click to the 3rd button. option click to navigate forward, control use contextual, Command click in the Window's Title bar to navigate backwards.

Contextual Menu-if a user doesn't know what this is he also probably doesn't need a two button mouse.

Keyboard navigation-Mac OS 9 has great built-in options for optional input such as feet devices and speech command. And keyboard menu navigation has been an option for as long as I remember (Mac OS 6.x)