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How Apple Could Have Made The OS X Switch Easier
I wonder why Steve Jobs & Co. didn't include some basic things in OS X that would have made the transition for long-time OS 9 users much easier. I've sort of reached a point now where I probably won't use these tools because going "cold turkey" has at least somewhat worked for me. But this is precisely the kind of thing that makes me shake my head and wonder at the arrogance of not just Apple but computer manufacturers in general.
In response to my earlier posts on this subject, several readers wrote me to point to three specific tools that they said had made their transitions easier. Please note that I have not downloaded or installed these tools so I can't offer any first-hand insights or help:
- ASM - gives you back your Application menu on the right hand side of the menu bar - also adds "Classic window mode", which one reader described as "really useful"
- WindowShade - makes it possible to collapse windows to their title bars with title-bar double-clicks as in OS 9 (and a few other goodies)
- Fruit Menu - Gives you access to your Apple menu again.
I recall, too, that back when Apple was first talking about OS X (how many years did we end up waiting after the first promised release?), there was a huge, raging debate about the best way to migrate Classic users to the new OS. I seem to recall diagrams with yellow compatibility boxes and an alternate approach which was more integrated.
Given the length of time Apple took to produce this sucker, you'd think they'd have figured out how to make all OS 9 apps just run under OS X even if they had to do a Virtual PC-style emulator or something. The need to launch a separate OS to run some of these programs is not only annoying, but it makes it impossible to make a clean break with the past. Ultimately, this one failure could do more to delay adoption of OS X than anything else I've seen.
© Copyright 2002 Dan Shafer.
Last update: 11/13/02; 2:12:30 PM.
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