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Comment by josteink | Hacker News Reader

> It is up to the maintainers of those tools to keep up with new macOS releases.

Why should stable tools which has been working for decades constantly have to change their source-code to keep working on Apple's OS, a piece of software whose primary task is running software the user wants to run no less?

Apple should make sure the user's software runs on its OS, not the other way around. Stop apologizing for what is essentially the world's wealthiest corporation being lazy and putting the maintenance cost of its own OS on everyone else.

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backwards compatibility has a high cost over the long term - if you're not supporting it, you're free to make your software better at your own whim. That's a strong postition to be in.

I would say the primary purpose of macos isn't to cater for everyone, it's to make using a computer a pleasurable experience for the non technical. It's about bringing computing to the masses.

If you're in a mahochist niche, good for you but you're better off on linux.

For me, macOs is pleasurable for the most part, and i'm technical enough to work around any problems I face. On windows/linux I have to do that for features that aren't even nearly advanced.

EDIT: It would be great if downvoters took the time to indicate which part specifically they think is wrong. I've edited the post to remove unnecessary antagonizing parts. Remember that this is merely my opinion.

> features that aren't even nearly advanced

Windows, while not a UNIX basis (which can be an actual problem for technically-inclined users, eg developers) is vastly more advanced that macOS, especially for business users. Generally for maintream users, Windows or macOS are both intuitive after enough time spent using them; what's putting off is to switch from one to the other (eg shortcuts, etc.) Windows management (I mean the app's windows, not the OS) is notoriously bad on OSX these days compared to most other Desktop Environments.

Likewise for Linux, certainly the least user-friendly but second to none to perform advanced stuff (eg Deep Learning, or 'edgy' virtualization for instance involving GPU pass-through).

Don't get this the wrong way, macOS is OK for the masses, but on par with Windows 10 nowadays.

This is a personal opinion based on using all three OS daily, and from observing friends/family using any of them. As long as you make the right choice, there's no 'better' OS, just different pros and cons that suit each user more or less.

Most notably, I now have to troubleshoot my mother's workflow on OSX/iOS (simple stuff, mostly related to printing and sharing pictures/scans), it wasn't so a few years ago. As of 2017 I personally have a much simpler experience out of the box on Android+Windows.

You’re getting downvotes because you’re making statements that

a) show complete ignorance about modern OS design & technology and

b) conflating how “advanced” an OS is with you & your mother’s UI preferences.

c) complaining about downvotes

It never helps does it?

Ha, obviously. : ) I know that. But I think I was careful enough to word my edit as "please explain"; nowhere do I complain about the downvoting itself. I accept it, period. I an genuinely interested to know which part is flawed in my opinion.

I am sorry but I fail to understand your arguments. I assure you that I am humbly trying to understand and would like this digression to move past sarcasm. I'm guilty of the first strike in that regard, but I feel it's getting in the way of the discussion at this point.

a) I am willing to accept your statement (I am no OS expert, I have no formal CS training; I'm just a developer of rather high-level software and I've only been tinkering at home with computers for a short couple of decades); however please note that I was merely opposing the parent post's implication that macOS is the most advanced OS.

I suppose this is perhaps a matter of perspective: I define and judge "advanced" here not from a CS standpoint but rather from a real-world pragmatic standpoint: does it do the job, for whom, and how well? I observe that macOS isn't dominant in business nor in server rooms of any kind, and that Linux is pretty much the only relevant solution for most cutting-edge computing projects. Please help me understand how macOS has more "advanced features", as stated by the poster I was replying to. I sincerely fail to see what macOS has on Linux or Windows nowadays. I, for one, can't do anything better on it.

b) I see your argument as slightly derogatory, but let's move past that. Surely you understood that using anecdotal arguments, implying my mother of all users (!), had the evident purpose of downplaying my opinion to just that: an opinion, not a scientific judgment about the advancement of an OS; thereby implying that the parent post I was replying to had no more grounds than mere subjective opinions to make its statements. At least, none that I could find. There is no conflating of anything, but perhaps that was due to bad wording on my part, in which case I understand the negative reaction (but stand by my opinions, I vastly prefer Windows 10 UX to macOS as of 2017, and I should perhaps add that I was a 100% mac user from 2008 to 2016, at the notable exception of casual gaming which I've quit since then and does not even factor in my current opinion).

I'd gladly hear answers about the respective advancement of each major desktop OS because I'm truly interested in the matter, if only from a dev perspective (and obviously as a consumer/user).

> I define and judge "advanced" here not from a CS standpoint but rather from a real-world pragmatic standpoint

Which is completely subjective and also not what “advanced” is usually used in reference to when it comes to OSes. Perhaps you meant “intuitive”?

Either way it’s subjective so you could have just distilled both your posts (and points) to this:

“Personally, I don’t like it.”

That’s fine. You do you. No harm no foul. Would have saved everyone the essays & you typing them.

Related: you... overwrite. You’re incredible verbose for the amount of data you’re delivering. That can come across as patronizing or condescending. To use a $5 word: you bloviate.

I don’t say this to belittle; it’s merely feedback & trying to help. Tone can be hard in text.

I upvoted you for pointing out a relevant problem in my communication. I agree and do/will try to improve. Thanks for the feedback.

(In this case I wanted to be as formal as possible to convey respect. English isn't my mother tongue so I may tend to overdo it).

When shit breaks in the new version, people should stop upgrading to the latest macos!

Apple has found that they don't need to put effort into api backwards compatibility because people are still freaking upgrading. It costs money to ensure backwards compatibility, so not doing it is desirable. The end user has to put pressure on Apple to do is.

You missed the fact that fixing problems and not stacking technical debt for the sake of "backwards compatibility" is also desirable.

Any particular reason you decided to quote backwards compatibility, as if it's not a real thing?

Quotes are not only used to denote non-real things -- if anything that's a quite recent (couple decades) trend.

"recent"

Well, with the advent of irony it really took off.

Developers need to support Apple as much as they deserve, and really do they deserve much?

From Hardware i.e. the Mac Pro (Not innovative? How about just make one workstation for Video Production that is valuable) and the Touch Bar. Software, Final Cut Pro the past 4 years and the crashes I see in my apps. Then Mac OS' move to iOS touch gestures on touch pad but I use it in dock mode drive me crazy. Mac OS and OS X thing that was just incredible is the OPTIONAL case sensitivity. If you haven't had to work with Adobe products on Mac this might not be such a big deal but ugh.

My mind blows every time I have to use MacOS for some job. Sure they have a optional case sensitive command line that works almost like a Unix (See optional case sensitive in 2017), but it really just is a mess unless your workflow is like everyone else's. No flexibility if your working with a team.

You have to break things occasionally or you end up in backwards-compatibility hell where every bug is a feature that is absolutely essential to somebody's workflow.

https://xkcd.com/1172/

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