Notes on OS-X Maverick

Well, playing some more with a few of Apple's app under OS-X 10.9, Mavericks, it seems to me Apple is becoming more like Microsoft in restricting users with their apps to specific, dumb-downed options, tools and features, and making the more than the casual user disliking the software.

You can read all the reports, articles and blogs on all the "cool" stuff you can do, all so easy and "trust us" that it's ok. Yeah, if that's how you use your Mac, but if you're in between that user and the experienced user, meaning you like more flexibility and latitude with apps, then you're toast.

I'm kinda' one of those who like to know what's under the hood, so I learn enough to understand the idea or concept and the basic logic and reasoning to things, but I'm more a hands on user with some apps, which is where Mavericks really sucks as the changes didn't add new things but changed things for the better and worse.

In the case of Safari, I liked Safari 6.x under Mountain Lion where I could keep a bookmarks tab open and wander through then to click on the ones I wanted to visit. The major folders were in a column on the left with the major and sub-folders on the right for the major folder you clicked in the column.

It was easy to edit and move links around. That's gone. The bookmarks are now a move in/out sidebar you can't edit or move folders or links, only click. The edit bookmark Web page is like a finder type list view. Meaning if you have a long list of folders, it's work moving links around.

In addition if you click and link and come back to the bookmarks page, all the folders are compressed again. In Safari 6, it remembered where you left and kept you there, so you can continue to other links in the same folder or subfolder(s).

Now you have to reopen each succeeding subfolder every time. How dumb is that? Why couldn't they have kept the old edit bookmarks with the new sidebar bookmarks? Not rocket science, but then they're not changing things for folks like me.

What I do like is the way it handles memory, using each tab for it's only memory allocation, and closing the tab, removes the memory. This is better than one giant memory cache. It's more daemons and work, but better use of memory.

One of the few good changes they made with memory, the rest are argueable about being good or not. Really, because it uses more total memory for the same apps than Mountain Lion, about 1+ GB more over 10-12 GB's. And the purge command is really meaningless now as the memory quickly jumps back to the pre-purge level.

As for mail, it's relatively the same. I really hate they dropped the remote server (host) window to manage e-mail from your Mac. You have go to those Websites to manage it or use the preferences to remove it but that option doesn't discern any you want on the host, it deletes all of the inbox.

There was no reason to remove the remote window, because to run the delete you have to do what exactly what they removed this window in the first place, send the unencrypted password over the Internet. That's a WTF moment I'd like to ask them personally about.

Outside of that and losing about half my menu bar apps, Mavericks isn't a must upgrade from the users persepective as from Apple's who's forcing you to upgrade to match your iPhone and/or iPad IOS 7 system and the iCloud options.

And yes, I hate IOS 7 too. The icons reminds me a kindergarten class designed them. Fortunately my iPad is still on IOS 5 for the few things I use it for, which is mostly documents, but yes, I'll replace it with the new iPad next year with IOS 7.

For now I'm just waiting for the applications to be updated on the App Store, but I'm not holding my breath as I've had a few going back to early this year waiting for updates available on their companies' Website since they stopped sending Apple updates.

Really, it's why I don't recommend buying on the App Store unless it's the only choice. Otherwise, buy it from the company but make sure their a recognized developer or Maverick may not allow or run it.

Apple is being Microsoft, and I hate Microsoft (long story from work computer and computer geeks).