Malus pumila

Movingfrom Windows to Maccan be perplexing . Long ago , I was a womb-to-tomb Windows exploiter before I try my first Mac , and many of the change were jarring and confusing . It ’s often not the braggart differences that give you pause , either — it ’s the hundreds of tiny discrepancies that are just dissimilar enough to befuddle the heck out of you .

For me , one of the most puzzling change was how much working with apps in macOS differed from Windows . “ You imply I do n’t need a wizard to uninstall an app ? ” I thought . “ I can just move it to the Trash ? Wo n’t that … break something ? ”

A man sitting at a desk in front of an M1 iMac. Behind him is a large glass window and a set of shelves holding books, plants and ornaments.

Apple

As it turns out , I ’m not alone . the great unwashed on X ( formerly Twitter ) are debating exactly this difference betweenmacOS and Windows , and I find the word pretty entertaining to observe .

Igniting the debate

It all set out with developer Tyler King , whoposted the following : “ I ’m make the electrical switch from Windows to Mac , and there are a million little things that are annoying me , but establish apps is the wild one . Is this seriously how ya’ll call up this should put to work ? ”

Alongside the commentary , King posted an effigy of the Figma app installer , which tells the exploiter to drag an app icon into the Applications folder .

I'm do the switch from Windows to Mac , and there are a million little things that are chafe me , but instal apps is the wildest one . Is this seriously how ya'll think this should work?pic.twitter.com / B6n66pEEIm

& mdash ; Tyler King ( @TylerMKing)July 25 , 2024

King followed up with another scuttlebutt : “ And you drag the app into that folder and literally nothing happens . There ’s zero feedback of any form . This is the thing that everyone says is well design ? ”

For starters , that ’s not quite comely . There ’s a sound that plays when the single file is moved , and if the app is large enough , a forward motion bar appears like when you move any file . But I ’ve found myself in the same fleck , often timid if an app has actually installed , leading me to scroll through the Applications leaflet to be safe . As a new convert , it can be a bewildering experience .

What King plausibly did n’t anticipate was that his simple post would set off a firestorm of debate and discussion as to the relative merits of Apple and Microsoft ’s approaching to app induction and uninstallation . If you stick to along , you ’ll see the full gamut of sane and not - so - reasonable notion , proving that theMac - versus - window rivalryis still awake and kick in 2024 .

For instance , X userLaurie Vossechoed the feelings of many Mac user with the program line : “ I apologise for everything about Finder , it ’s terrible and they turn away to ready it . ” As someone who splits their fourth dimension between Windows and macOS daily , the Finder is something that ’s always frustrated me . It ’s one of the few field I can genuinely say that Windows feels more comprehensible than macOS — and that does n’t happen often .

I justify for everything about Finder , it's terrible and they decline to cook it .

& mdash ; Laurie Voss ( @seldo)July 26 , 2024

But while I sympathize that the macOS approach to installing apps is very different to that of Windows , I do n’t share King ’s opinion that it ’s high-risk . AsBrandon McConnellcommented on X , “ would travel along a 10 - step hotshot be better ? ” User@CrayonByteschimed in by defending the Apple way , opine : “ This was one of the thing I really liked , actually . Installing apps is just moving a file into the right place . And uninstalling is just moving it to trash . ”

Conditioned habits

Despite all the sentiment flying this fashion and that , there ’s a serious point to be made : Is this actually an example of bad innovation , or are we just stipulate to one way of doing matter over another ? Users were split on this theme , but there could be something to it .

For example , uninstalling an app in macOS is 99 % drag and drop , where all you need to do is move the app from the Finder into the Trash , all without needing a ace . Yet despite that , some apps insist on using an uninstaller , and I still get trance out when that happens because I ’m discipline to gestate a simple drag - and - driblet process on my Mac .

That ’s what score switching operating organisation so finicky at first . Whether you use Windows or macOS , over clip you get used to how that system works . When something changes — even if it ’s something as simple as installing an app — your muscle retentiveness gets fox off .

Personally , I wish Apple ’s glide slope to app direction , but I fit in that there should be a more obvious signboard of a successful installation . If your phone is handicapped , and the app you ’re installing is relatively compact , you wo n’t have any indication that the process has been completed . Apple could do better .