Apple to release OS X 10.9 with new power-user features, more from iOS

http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/29/apple-to-update-os-x-with-new-power-user-features-more-from-ios-later-this-year/

by uladzislau • 13 years ago

35 44 13 years ago

Millennium• 13 years ago

The first thing I noticed is that this would be the first OSX release to be named after something other than a great cat. Instead, they seem to be going for alcoholic beverages now.

Why do I find this darkly hilarious?

smickie• 13 years ago

It says 10.9 is 'internally codenamed' so I assume Cabernet not the the final release name. Fingers crossed for OSX Ocelot.

Tyrannosaurs2• 13 years ago

My money would be on Cave Lion or White Lion (the two lion types other than mountain that aren't geographically described), though for giggles I'd prefer East Dillon Lion.

shrikant2• 13 years ago

Ubuntu 11.10 was Oneiric Ocelot, so Apple might not want to muddy the waters there.

Samuel_Michon4• 13 years ago

I think ‘Lynx’ would be neat, as it is the last major version before OS X 11 (or whatever they will call it), linking it to the next generation. It also reminds us of the lowly text web browser and the fact that the web is only 20 years old.

Samuel_Michon4• 13 years ago

“this would be the first OSX release to be named after something other than a great cat.”

No, OS X versions have had internal codenames named after French wine regions for quite some time. Known monikers are Pinot (10.3), Merlot (10.4), and Chablis (10.5).

nwh• 13 years ago

Similarly, iOS builds are named after ski slopes.

emehrkay2• 13 years ago

Lets hope that it doesn't require us to re-install all of our *nix tools like every other release did in the past.

dljsjr4• 13 years ago

I've never had to reinstall my *nix tools when using OS X.

Where are you installing them? OS X respects all of the guarantees in the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard so if you aren't installing custom-built binaries in /usr/local then the problem isn't OS X.

emehrkay2• 13 years ago

With every update I seem to have to reinstall just about any command line tool that I've previously installed because either they've moved some executables, or deprecated something , or the old binaries simply do not work with the newer version of the os. MySQL is probably the biggest annoyance with regard to upgrading. I don't believe that this is just a thing that I go through because the answers to my problems are a Google search away and I've taken an 07 MBP from Leopard to Mountain Lion.

hnriot• 13 years ago

OSX is unix??? It already comes with the standard set of tools.

And what's a unix hacker doing complaining they need to recompile their toolset?? Whimp :)

timc3• 13 years ago

The tools for recompiling and libraries packages depend on are broken in new and wonderful ways which is why this is no fun ;-)

account_taken2• 13 years ago

These look like good moves. While Microsoft and Ubuntu are shunning their desktop users, Apple is making me look the smarter for choosing a company who still stands believes in a desktop OS :)

FYI, I was a decade long Windows user who switched to Mac then to Ubuntu then back to Mac after Unity.

Shorel• 13 years ago

As a happy Ubuntu Raring user, I can't honestly agree with the complains against Ubuntu.

It's the best desktop experience I've ever had.

account_taken2• 13 years ago

I tried Ubuntu 12.10 again briefly and was disappointed that intel HD4000 wasn't fully supported in 3D. Graphics is dog slow in Ubuntu on the same hardware.

It looks like shopping spies still on by default in 13.04. I doubt I'll ever use Ubuntu again on that principle alone. Even Apple doesn't force that on you in Spotlight. Still cannot move taskbar. Still cannot resize taskbar without 3D support.

gcv• 13 years ago

Really, FTFF is in the works? I'll believe it when I see it. (I don't know why Apple hasn't just bought Path Finder.)

pattern• 13 years ago

Since I had to look it up: FTFF = Fix The &$%#ing Finder[1], a blanket term for OS X Finder woes!

[1] http://www.applematters.com/article/ftff/

Tyrannosaurs2• 13 years ago

When I saw power user features I wondered if it might be something that might convince people that OS X isn't going further down the locked down iOS route and certainly multiple monitors and more advanced use of finder are towards the power user end of things.

On the other hand it would be fair to say that they're relatively a small investment on Apple's part and it would be possible to read too much into them.

Looking at changes like this my take is that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I don't think Apple are going to lock down OS X the way iOS is locked down but nor do I think that power users are as critical a part of their target audience as they once were.

The end result - small changes for power users, enough to give them faith that they're not being completely ignored, and more significant investments for the new breed of typical Mac user.

dljsjr4• 13 years ago

Rumors. All rumors.

Why is this here? I'm one of the biggest OS X 'fanbois' in the world, and I read the rumor mill sites every day, and I enjoy them for what they are: speculation.

But this isn't news; news is typically factual. And the Apple Rumor business is abysmal; 9to5mac, and specifically Mark Gurman, have one of the best track records in the game[1]; even then, it's a horrendous track record.

If this stuff shows up, then yay. I'll be thrilled. Especially proper multi-monitor support for full-screen apps. And I'm not saying that Mark Gurman is wrong (after all, he has "sources"). It's entirely possible that everything in this article will show up in 10.9

But it doesn't change the fact that it's still chaff, not wheat.

[1] http://www.quora.com/Who-has-been-the-most-accurate-in-predi... (sorry for the Quora link, the cited site is no longer up)

1qaz2wsx3edc• 13 years ago

It just looks like Apple integrated TotalFinder, but considering that is closed source, I imagine it will not be an integration with TotalFinder, but there own brew.

I only hope 10.9 doesn't break TotalFinder.

dljsjr4• 13 years ago

Screenshot in the source article is a screenshot of the existing TotalFinder.

We don't know if Apple has done anything at all to Finder.

lorenzfx• 13 years ago

There isn't anything in there that would get me back on board (I jumped ship about two years ago). I would consider proper multi monitor support for fullscreen "apps" a bugfix and not a feature.

Where is the proper window manager (or at least some hooks for 3rd party window managers) and the modern file system (at least give us snapshots and copy-on-write)?

TillE• 13 years ago

OS X works extremely well on a laptop, which has been Apple's primary Mac focus for a while now. Flicking between virtual desktops/fullscreen apps on a multi-touch trackpad is a wonderful way to use a 13" screen.

If you replace the awful Finder with something usable, I'd argue that it's the best OS (desktop environment) for that particular form factor. For a proper workstation...well, they haven't even bothered to update the hardware for years. No surprise that the software has been neglected as well.

andyhmltn• 13 years ago

That's a good point, although a huge part of that is how good the trackpad is and how deeply it's integrated into the OS.

doktrin• 13 years ago

>> "The new operating system includes major enhancements to the Finder application such as tags and tabbed browsing modes."

This would certainly be a welcome improvement.

However, not sure this ranks as a "power user" feature so much as a "fixing a really broken" feature. The finder in OSX ranks up there with the single-button mouse as among the most nonsensical stubborn non-features Apple has clung to over the years.

dechols• 13 years ago

Yeah, I didn't see anything I'm interested in as a "power-user".

OSX lately has decided to hide a ton of features out of the box that require changing values in Terminal before being useful. A quick list I know of: - Hiding full paths in Finder - Launchpad can't actually delete things. - Library is hidden

Other weird default settings: - Scroll with trackpad is inverted

It also doesn't have Ubuntu's nice window snapping or Windows' snap to sides feature, which is a big time saver.

Finally, I don't feel like "port iOS features to OSX" has been a win for Apple. It just seems to confuse people by adding more crap to the OS.

X-Istence• 13 years ago

Library being hidden by default makes a lot of sense. It contains user specific application configuration, it's the same as on Windows having AppData which is hidden in the users "home" directory.

There is almost no reason for a user to ever be in the Library folder, let alone why it should be visible by default.

---

As for scroll being inverted, they did this so that it matches what you do on iOS. You move up to scroll down the page since you are physically dragging the page, and you move down to scroll up.

I recently used a friends computer where the scroll was still inverted and he said it felt much more natural. To each their own, it is a non-hidden setting!

SurfScore2• 13 years ago

I'm more concerned about what large feline they will name 10.9 after. Do they even have any left?

OS X 10.9 - House Cat FTW

apendleton• 13 years ago

There hasn't been one called "cougar," which is a scary-cat name people think of, I think. Of course, "cougar" is another name for the puma, but then, so is "mountain lion," so that may not be a barrier.

Cougars(/pumas/mountain lions) are also interesting because they're not big cats, taxonomically speaking, so potentially the entire felidae family is in play, and it's pretty big. "Lynx" is a possibility... maybe also "wildcat" or "bobcat"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae

ryanpetrich• 13 years ago

Wildcat was already used as the codename for the iPad, though I suppose it's possible they could repurpose it.

b3b0p• 13 years ago

Looking at Wikipedia there is Clouded Leopard mentioned under the big cats entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouded_leopard

I'm personally waiting for Thundercat.

croddin• 13 years ago

I vote for Sabertooth.

bkeating• 13 years ago

Makes sense. Good focus. As the masses flock to pocket OSes, OS X becomes more streamlined for the audience that remains; the creators.

wsc981• 13 years ago

I can't say I agree with the many people that think the Finder is broken. For my purposes the Finder works fine, doesn't get much in my way. Might be because I've used Apple computers for around 20 years now. I can imagine people migrating from other platforms have more issues with the Finder, since it works quite differently from Windows, Linux OS-es.

Actually, I don't think I interact much with the finder directly nowadays. I start apps using Apple-Spacebar and switch between apps using Apple-Tab. Finder is pretty much only used for some file management purposes (moving files to other folders, copy files etc...) and for those purposes it seems to work fine for me.

I do really wish Apple will fix full-screen display for multiple screens. I can imagine a lot of Apple developers would like to see this changed as well. Perhaps Steve Jobs blocked this change in a previous Mac OS X release due to personal issues with it? I can't imagine any Apple developer implementing full-screen support as it stands currently, only if it was forced by management, cause it makes no sense at all with regards to multiple screens.

Apple to release OS X 10.9 with new power-user features, more from iOS

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