Every guru tells you to be positive. But there's too much frustration in my body. I'm gonna write about software that sucks. I'll be fair and balanced. Like Fox News!
First off; Let me tell you I am not entrenched in any camp. I am not a fanboy. All things combined, I think Windows 7 is the best OS ever released.
Now, let me tell you about software that sucks. Let's start with Windows 10. It's a pretty good user experience, but there are so many other problems. I don't have to go further into this because we all know about those problems.
Then Linux. Linux is the kernel and probably the best part about “Linux”. Linux on the desktop has great package management, but is far behind in all other areas. Pulseaudio is a bad joke. Graphics drivers are so-so. And worst of all; The Linux desktop(s) is a playground for devs introducing constant changes.
Enter the Linux “beast” implant: systemd. Systemd controls initialization, processes and services. Some say it's good. Others say it's bad. Linux on the desktop used to be a modular set of software that ran on the Linux kernel. Systemd puts an end to that. Now everything is controlled by the “beast”. And it's not a stable beast either. Random freezes and lock-ups are here to stay.
OSX is a weird platform and deserves a fair amount of criticism. OSX is tied to Apple hardware and that will always dampen adoption. But this is Apple's business model and it works for them.
But no matter what Microsoft does I don't think OSX will reach true mass adoption. The reason is simple. The UI sucks.
You are presented with a dock. It takes up a lot of space. It's hard to identify your running applications at a glance. You can auto-hide the dock but then your workflow will slow down.
I am not a big fan of docks. They look amazing, but a taskbar gives you all the info you need at a glance.
Next big problem: Global menu. A menu belongs INSIDE the application. Just looking at the global menu (does Apple call it that?) gives me a serious case of mouse-arm disease. I have absolutely no need for that extra wear and tear on my limbs.
Next thing: Fonts and font-rendering. Well, I have only looked at screenshots recently, but font-rendering looks horrible. Maybe it's a Retina thing, I don't know. And the window buttons are on the left side because.... well because....it's a Mac!
Next big problem: You can't change any of the above. Yes, that's right; you are forever stuck with a lousy UI. No skinning, no nothing. In fact you should praise Apple for presenting you an inferior UI. That is what is expected of you.
The OS itself seems to be well built and enjoys good third party support. Except for games it can replace Windows on the desktop.
Unfortunately graphics drivers are stuck at 60 hz so it's not possible to experience real smoothness in animations and games on OSX. Which is kind of odd, because OSX wants to be a premium desktop. The filesystem HFS+ is old and way past its prime, but that's not a real problem for a home user.
No, the real problem is the UI and lack of customization. I am thinking how awesome this OS could be if Apple allowed UI customization. Taskbar, integrated menus, different skins. I think they could double their market share, easily. There will soon be a ton of Win 7 users that have to move somewhere. Some are using Windows-specific applications. But most of them could use a Mac instead.
But Apple is Apple. They are perfectly happy with 8 % market share. After all they make money, so maybe they should be.
Windows 7 is dying. Systemd is killing Linux. OSX was always a freak OS. Forgive me if I am pessimistic but things don't look good. Where did sanity go?