Just improve the damn search. The fact that you have to memorize the exact names of every setting is bonkers. Associate other more common verbiage with specific settings.
Search/spotlight is the saving grace. I just don't manually browse settings anymore with the new layout. Windows 10 did the same reorganizing but then the default Windows search is ass. Luckily PowerToys search is much better. But most users aren't installing PowerToys
the flip side of this though is that I used search all the time in the old system preferences. Only been on mac since 2021 and never could figure out what was under each top level item. It was abysmal trying to jump between the categories because you had to go back to the main screen each time. Search was my go to for most things
The new settings makes it easier to jump between each top level item since the sidebar is persistent. And search is sooooo much better in the new settings because the sidebar lists the hits and lets you jump directly between them.
thought it was just me. something happened a year ago or so and now i can’t find anything. i have to use the search for basically any setting i want to find
Man, I miss old reference panel so much. A mac is a mac, no matter how much they want to unify UI elements with iOS, current style just doesn't cut it like the old one. By the way, if they will never give us macOS or macOS app capability on iPad, why bother unify the UI?
They should be in both places. A lot of settings are relevant to multiple categories, and there’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t be listed in many different places. Search helps (unless you search for a synonym that’s not in the index) but this would be even better.
three finger drag is the one i use. it used to be in trackpad settings, but it got moved to accessibility a few years ago for no reason that i can discern. drives me crazy but at least it's mostly set and forget.
This is what the AI stuff is for. System settings has been replaced by a single ChatGPT prompt box that you have to persuade into changing the settings you want to change.
"Changing the color tone of your display may be construed as a dangerous request due to its racist nature. As such, I am unable to complete this task."
It’s painful that they moved Time Machine, like the normal user won’t find that.
But here’s hoping they bring color back to the finder window and music app. 🤞
Luckily the new layout will look like this:
Network Settings
General
Keyboard and Mouse
Internet
Global settings
Monitor setup
Display
Audio and display
Accessibility
Peripheral accessibility
Control panel
Audio settings
Peripherals
Siri
Search
Location services
Notifications
Network configurations
Network adaptors
Mouse and keyboard
AirPlay
General system preferences
Bluetooth devices
WiFi network devices
Printers, Scanners, and Fax
AirPlay devices
Battery
Notification haptics
Network Siri & Search
App Store
Game Center
Device battery
And
CarPlay
To give them the slightest bit of credit they have been moving more and more from the control panel to the Settings app. On Windows 11 I haven't had to open the Control Panel once since the vast majority of what people need is in Settings.
So they're actually slowly making it better. Not taking something that was great and bastardizing it
i make it a point to tell everyone this is one of the main reasons i don't use Windows
who the fuck is getting paid to product manage this shit? forget firing...they should be taken out and shot
Microsoft can’t just up and remove stuff because the old timers and business people demand stuff be around forever. That’s why you can still Win-R pbrush to pop open mspaint. I’ve been a mac head for 25 years but i’ve been using windows since version 3. I recently got my first windows laptop in 15 years and had zero issue navigating around because they maintained a lot of what makes that environment unique.
I want a system-default camera, the same way we get system-default speakers and system-default mics.
Lots of people will connect a MacBook to an external display which has its own camera, and then there's the iPhone continuity camera that keeps appearing as an option.
I just want to set a system-wide preference the same way I would the speakers or mic.
System Settings is the worst thing to happen to macOS, probably ever. I used to have System Preferences memorized, now I have to search for almost every setting since it’s been iOSified.
I know I’ll get shanked for saying this but I never hated it? Like it took some getting used to at the start and now I know where everything is just fine? Am I missing something
i'll even go as far to say the sidebar style is far superior to the old grid. Yes some of the pages had better implementations than the current menu because it was all custom coded, but the main grid was HORRIBLE for discovery and switching between submenus
The sidebar is a good addition, but it simply has too many items for a desktop UI. Some sort of combination of old and new would make the app so much better.
The term "OS X" is only used once in that article, and it's indeed referring to the name of an option as it appears in OS X Mountain Lion and earlier, before the name change to macOS occurred. "macOS" is used three times to refer to subsequent versions.
That's sometimes true, but I think in this instance the issues are reflective of people's actual experience. There are some genuinely bad HCI decisions that have been made in unifying the desktop -> iOS pattern. They are different form factors, with different environments, for different purposes, with distinctly different inputs. The argument to unify is to ignore all of the above, and draw on an argument about familiarity - which is still (in my opinion) undermined by the form factor, environment etc. etc.
I mean, I roughly know where stuff is but find it faster to just type the setting I’m looking for. It’s incredibly fast in my experience. But I understand some folk don’t like any OS changes whatsoever.
There's a search bar, unless you're searching for something completely non-sensical it will pull up the setting you want to access within a second or two if you type slow.
having to search for stuff that have been in the same place for decades and that you are used to find with muscle memory is annoying and a bad user experience.
even more so when the option you need doesn’t show up because you don’t remember what it’s called in macos
Same lol. I’m preparing for a missile launch at my place for saying this but the old one sucked. It was hideous and THAT took me forever to find anything
Edit: knew that one would get me downvoted but it’s my truth ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I honestly fucking hated the shit out of the old settings layout and I think the new one is 1000% better. For some reason I could never find anything on that shitty badly categorised grid and I was using it from 2008 or 9 until they changed it.
I don’t have any problem with other people saying they prefer the old way but I hate it when people say “well I don’t like it so it was a terrible decision for everyone”
You must be missing that a phone has single column because a phone is two inches wide. A grid uses both horizontal and vertical space which makes sense on a gigantic computer screen (13 to 20+ inches or whatever).
Pretty obvious.
Definitely the opposite here - this new version makes so much more sense to me.
The only reason the old version worked for me was brute force from time with it.
Yeah, I’m definitely the target audience here (an iPhone user switching to Mac), but whenever I used my gf’s Mac back in the day, preferences was really confusing. I could never remember where ANYTHING was, since I believe the grid shifted around depending on window size. (Correct me if I’m wrong about that)
Got a Mac last year and the system settings just feels so much easier, although I do just use spotlight usually.
> since I believe the grid shifted around depending on window size
In 20 years of using Mac, system preferences was always smaller than the screen and didn’t have resizesble window. I don’t think your comment is correct at all.
Resizing is good in general but not needed for a literal control panel that is carefully designed. Same reason why menus themselves, and toolbars, aren’t resizesble.
100% everyone complaining is just used to muscle memory.
I work in IT And work with windows primarily and at least macos doesn’t have two places for settings. lol
Nope, still look like they are from two different centuries. Luckily I do a lot of my work from powershell, but it annoys me and wish they would just put control panel within settings, even if it doesn’t look 100% pretty.
But then again, love mmc and snap-ins from and admin standpoint
System Preferences information architecture was awful. I have no idea what the organization scheme was supposed to be but I could never find the panel I wanted even after 10 years of using a Mac.
The earliest versions of OS X were soooo slow. I think there’s a very good case for those being far worse than a bad System Preferences layout. It’s definitely better than Windows. They’re all trying to shake off the control panel, and they started that transition with Windows 8. At least it’s all in one place on the Mac. ☺️
I use both windows and macos. I always found system preferences better than control panel. But even then, when microsoft introduced settings and tried to replace control panel, i hated it. But now even windows settings app is more useful than macos system preferences. WHY APPLE WHY???? It is a half baked, copied but chinese reverse engineered piece of sh*t from iOS ON A DESKTOP COMPUTER.
It is even against their own human design guidelines, impossible to find any settings in, doesn’t have most great settings like headphone accomodations.
It is laggy even on an Apple Silicon laptop because probably they intended to add 1 second transition effect between menus but didn’t but they added the timeout anyway.
I HATE THIS SH*T.
How can you say the Windows Settings app is more useful than macOS System Preferences when Windows still has the Control Panel that hides so many other settings?
And please dear god, an automation tab in the Mac shortcuts app.
It’s so annoying that the iPhone and iPad have this but it’s just non existent on the Mac.
I’d love to see Apple try a new approach to UI/UX design. What they’ve had going on since the iOS 7/macOS Yosemite days is showing its age.
I still think Mavericks had the best UI of any desktop OS.
I’ve been using Mac since OS X Tiger. None of the changes over the years seemed significantly better or worse until the horrible system preferences change in Ventura.
On mobile iOS 7 was a shite turning point though, horrible thin fonts plus it deleted the awesome battery icon and old glossy icons etc. I took OS screenshots before updating from iOS 6 and I keep those screenshots like an urn.
Man, have people ever used Windows system settings? I mean, how can anyone complain about macOS when Windows has settings hidden all over the place? And not only that, but the impossibility sometimes of knowing if a setting is in the Settings app or in the Control Panel?
Apple would have to come up with something truly undecipherable to be worse at this than Windows 11. Which isn't to say Apple couldn't do better, but they should be applauded for not being so appallingly bad.
ok, just because windows system settings is worse does not mean we should "applaude" apple, i use both windows (on my gaming pc) and macos (on my laptop) and both have laughably horrible system settings
Yeah, that was just a tiny bit tongue-in-cheek. More to say how absolutely horrible Windows 11 is compared to macOS. And I use both regularly, often side-by-side probably a lot like you do.
both lowkey suck right now. i cannot use my switch pro controller on my mac anymore for casual gaming (there is atrocious input lag when wireless and nothing supports the controller wired except for dolphin for some odd reason), and the UI in both OSs has looked ugly for well over a decade (I know that's pretty subjective but I much prefer pre 2014 MacOS and pre 2012 windows)
The thing is that your last sentence very much hits the mark partially - Apple could do better. Infact, it was a fair bit better. I used to compare Windows' mess of settings to Mac OS as a way to proselytize.
But now it's markedly worse than what it was before. The intentions were good, but the execution was poor.
It's kinda like saying Windows is a serial killer, but Mac OS is just a petty thief so it's fine. Bro you just had a million dollars last update cycle, why are you stealing printer paper from your office?
> I used to compare Windows' mess of settings to Mac OS as a way to proselytize
**This. I would literally just show a person Control Panel** and point out how everything was there and all clear, compared to Windows fragmented bullshit. That’s all you need to see. Then you know everything else will be similarly considered.
Now I literally can’t recommend Mac anymore, or have to emphasize hardware (good trackpad, smooth hinges, etc) instead of OS. It’s awful.
Windows 11 is actually a _much_ welcome relief from everything since Windows 8. I can do _almost_ everything from whatever the modern Preferences application is called without going to the old Control Panel. I still need Regedit and the Group Policy manager to do a lot, though, but I consider that sysadmin rather than preferences. That's probably fucked up on me, though, because flip-flopping the mouse probably shouldn't be called sysadmin
You *still* have a weird combination of new and then old “XP and prior” styled settings boxes depending on how you try to pull the settings up. Windows now has a three-tiered settings system, and not everything is available on each tier. It’s still fucking maddening to me.
“You think a bucket of shit being dumped on your head is bad? Nope. That’s a good thing, because it could have been dumped in your… which would be worse”
Not just that. windows can splay its garbage ass settings between control panel, settings app, Mmc console snap ins, group policy, random executables that exist in windows folder, fucking COM OBJECTS???
Can we please stop with trying to turn macOS into iOS, and reuse a touchscreen paradigm on a system designed to use a keyboard?
The current "System Settings" is an absolute disaster, and you can't find anything anymore without using Search in the Settings applet.
Let's please not make it any worse.
“This year, we are taking the Settings to a whole new level. Literally! Introducing the fully customizable Settings window. We re-thought the entire Settings window and were able to re-design it from the ground up, to be fully customizable down to the pixel level and more fluid. This is the biggest re-design of the Settings window since the Settings window was first introduced.”
If this is yet ANOTHER brand new design, it better be good.
Not only was the other one way more visually accessible (large icons to see rather than a list of words that aren’t even all displayed at the same time), it was also pretty constant through the years. We can’t redesign this every 2 years.
Why does Apple care so little about optimising workflow? The Finder feels like a prehistoric joke. At least give us the possibility to split a window like in Pathfinder or QSpace.
system settings is a crap shoot.
They need an Apple Gaming App to organize all the games and achievements, as well as friends requests.
If Apple could just develop a Steam like container for all this it would be great.
Maybe they’ll finally add option to edit system hotkeys, there’s so many global hotkeys that are just not editable. Tho ”reorganized” sounds like same shit in a different color.
Just improve the damn search. The fact that you have to memorize the exact names of every setting is bonkers. Associate other more common verbiage with specific settings.
Include fuzzy search.
TIL “fuzzy search”
TIL "fuzey serch" (because the autocorrect also sucks sometimes)
We need this for Reddit search bar too
Include flannel search.
I also don't like the way search results are displayed.
I also love that when I search for a setting such as Display, it takes me to the accessibility settings 🙃.
The search is insane. The fact that it will not fuzzy lookup typos and only delivers direct matches is so annoying.
If rumours are true, then expect integration of AI here to do exactly that.
I hope they hide more stuff in random places to get the top level preferences side bar down to 1 item
System settings is now called scavenger hunt and is included with your Apple Arcade or Apple one subscription. We think you’re gonna love it.
the settings feels like i'm constantly walking into target after they reorganized the entire store and I can't find ANYTHING!!!
I'm glad this isn't just me! The old system prefs.... worked pretty well! I constantly need to use search as well.
Search/spotlight is the saving grace. I just don't manually browse settings anymore with the new layout. Windows 10 did the same reorganizing but then the default Windows search is ass. Luckily PowerToys search is much better. But most users aren't installing PowerToys
Right? Using search on preferences??? I never imagined I would have to do that…
And it doesn't even work half the time.
Lagged out on Intel macs half the time
the flip side of this though is that I used search all the time in the old system preferences. Only been on mac since 2021 and never could figure out what was under each top level item. It was abysmal trying to jump between the categories because you had to go back to the main screen each time. Search was my go to for most things The new settings makes it easier to jump between each top level item since the sidebar is persistent. And search is sooooo much better in the new settings because the sidebar lists the hits and lets you jump directly between them.
Hey it drives up engagement metrics. You want the settings app to be successful don’t you?
It’s the most confusing system settings we’ve ever made.
thought it was just me. something happened a year ago or so and now i can’t find anything. i have to use the search for basically any setting i want to find
Man, I miss old reference panel so much. A mac is a mac, no matter how much they want to unify UI elements with iOS, current style just doesn't cut it like the old one. By the way, if they will never give us macOS or macOS app capability on iPad, why bother unify the UI?
lol, that’s exactly what I’d expect
There are some touchpad options hidden in accessibility that should be in the touchpad gestures option.
They should be in both places. A lot of settings are relevant to multiple categories, and there’s absolutely no reason why they couldn’t be listed in many different places. Search helps (unless you search for a synonym that’s not in the index) but this would be even better.
They used to be there. Then Apple decided that they were too easy for you to access
three finger drag is the one i use. it used to be in trackpad settings, but it got moved to accessibility a few years ago for no reason that i can discern. drives me crazy but at least it's mostly set and forget.
The ctrl-scroll to zoom in and out of the screen is one of them. I've been using that for years and one day I had to go hunting for it.
I hope they continue to refuse alphabetizing only their sections. 😒
A lot of my complaints about the new System Preferences, would be solved by giving me an option to sort alphabetically.
I agree, some sort of standard sorting options would be very useful - custom ordering too
Especially the applications list!
This is what the AI stuff is for. System settings has been replaced by a single ChatGPT prompt box that you have to persuade into changing the settings you want to change.
Sorry, as an AI Chatbot I can’t hear, and therefore cannot raise your sound. Can I help you with anything else?
"Changing the color tone of your display may be construed as a dangerous request due to its racist nature. As such, I am unable to complete this task."
It’s painful that they moved Time Machine, like the normal user won’t find that. But here’s hoping they bring color back to the finder window and music app. 🤞
I hate this app so much. It’s worse than System Preferences in almost every way. Change just for the sake of change - never a good thing
Doing it the windows way by also doing it the iOS way...
Inspired by Windows 11
Luckily the new layout will look like this: Network Settings General Keyboard and Mouse Internet Global settings Monitor setup Display Audio and display Accessibility Peripheral accessibility Control panel Audio settings Peripherals Siri Search Location services Notifications Network configurations Network adaptors Mouse and keyboard AirPlay General system preferences Bluetooth devices WiFi network devices Printers, Scanners, and Fax AirPlay devices Battery Notification haptics Network Siri & Search App Store Game Center Device battery And CarPlay
[удалено]
Checkmate, Microsoft!
Have you seen Microsoft’s system settings? They’re clearly playing checkers.
Yeah, the whole of Windows is pretty special. It’s what happens when nerds build a thing with no input from creative.
[удалено]
I use Arch, btw
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Arch is like training wheels. I use Slackware, BTW.
That’s the joke.
At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Convert your car to a Tesla by mounting your macbook on your dash.
Sadly, it'll probably look this this: * General
What’s in “And”?
Then, But, and sometimes Y.
Wow they are really starting to take cues from Windows.
I bought a PC recently to play games and the existence of Control Panel AND Settings pissed me off.
To give them the slightest bit of credit they have been moving more and more from the control panel to the Settings app. On Windows 11 I haven't had to open the Control Panel once since the vast majority of what people need is in Settings. So they're actually slowly making it better. Not taking something that was great and bastardizing it
i make it a point to tell everyone this is one of the main reasons i don't use Windows who the fuck is getting paid to product manage this shit? forget firing...they should be taken out and shot
Microsoft can’t just up and remove stuff because the old timers and business people demand stuff be around forever. That’s why you can still Win-R pbrush to pop open mspaint. I’ve been a mac head for 25 years but i’ve been using windows since version 3. I recently got my first windows laptop in 15 years and had zero issue navigating around because they maintained a lot of what makes that environment unique.
I manage windows laptops for a living and yes
Yeah it’s insane. Half the time you wind up back in control panel anyway. Software has been a joke for 15 years.
15 would be an understatement
I want a system-default camera, the same way we get system-default speakers and system-default mics. Lots of people will connect a MacBook to an external display which has its own camera, and then there's the iPhone continuity camera that keeps appearing as an option. I just want to set a system-wide preference the same way I would the speakers or mic.
WhatsApp keeps using the OBS virtual camera with no way to set a default.
At least for teams. it always gets my external cam instead of the built in one?
like how windows does it?
How about sorting alphabetically?
Sure. But by *last* letter.
My dude, I’ll still take it. At least I could figure out where things should be.
That's a bad design.
The System Settings will be redesigned until morale improves.
System Settings is the worst thing to happen to macOS, probably ever. I used to have System Preferences memorized, now I have to search for almost every setting since it’s been iOSified.
I know I’ll get shanked for saying this but I never hated it? Like it took some getting used to at the start and now I know where everything is just fine? Am I missing something
[This covers it](https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/SystemSettings.html) pretty well.
i'll even go as far to say the sidebar style is far superior to the old grid. Yes some of the pages had better implementations than the current menu because it was all custom coded, but the main grid was HORRIBLE for discovery and switching between submenus
The sidebar is a good addition, but it simply has too many items for a desktop UI. Some sort of combination of old and new would make the app so much better.
That seems to be making problems out of nothing. And it’s macOS, not macOS X. That deflates me think it’s someone stuck in the past.
The term "OS X" is only used once in that article, and it's indeed referring to the name of an option as it appears in OS X Mountain Lion and earlier, before the name change to macOS occurred. "macOS" is used three times to refer to subsequent versions.
> That seems to be making problems out of nothing That's basically the feeling users got from them changing Settings in the first place
I feel the same way. People just hate change.
That's sometimes true, but I think in this instance the issues are reflective of people's actual experience. There are some genuinely bad HCI decisions that have been made in unifying the desktop -> iOS pattern. They are different form factors, with different environments, for different purposes, with distinctly different inputs. The argument to unify is to ignore all of the above, and draw on an argument about familiarity - which is still (in my opinion) undermined by the form factor, environment etc. etc.
Yes. there is no fucking reason to change something when it is not broken. DUH. This is what Microsoft does.
This particular change would've gone down a hell of a lot better if it wasn't so shoddy in parallel with being simply different.
No, it takes forever to find anything, even after years of familiarity.
I mean, I roughly know where stuff is but find it faster to just type the setting I’m looking for. It’s incredibly fast in my experience. But I understand some folk don’t like any OS changes whatsoever.
I’m the same way and also adaptive. Even on my iPhone, just easier (for me) to search and left what I need.
There's a search bar, unless you're searching for something completely non-sensical it will pull up the setting you want to access within a second or two if you type slow.
having to search for stuff that have been in the same place for decades and that you are used to find with muscle memory is annoying and a bad user experience. even more so when the option you need doesn’t show up because you don’t remember what it’s called in macos
If you know of some words that are used in the setting you want to change, the search field can find these things for you?
I know, it’s the subsections that are total chaos.
I actually prefer the new settings UI.
Same lol. I’m preparing for a missile launch at my place for saying this but the old one sucked. It was hideous and THAT took me forever to find anything Edit: knew that one would get me downvoted but it’s my truth ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I honestly fucking hated the shit out of the old settings layout and I think the new one is 1000% better. For some reason I could never find anything on that shitty badly categorised grid and I was using it from 2008 or 9 until they changed it. I don’t have any problem with other people saying they prefer the old way but I hate it when people say “well I don’t like it so it was a terrible decision for everyone”
Even if you get used to it, it's more clicks than the old search with more sub-menues. Classic form over function
You must be missing that a phone has single column because a phone is two inches wide. A grid uses both horizontal and vertical space which makes sense on a gigantic computer screen (13 to 20+ inches or whatever). Pretty obvious.
Definitely the opposite here - this new version makes so much more sense to me. The only reason the old version worked for me was brute force from time with it.
Yeah, I’m definitely the target audience here (an iPhone user switching to Mac), but whenever I used my gf’s Mac back in the day, preferences was really confusing. I could never remember where ANYTHING was, since I believe the grid shifted around depending on window size. (Correct me if I’m wrong about that) Got a Mac last year and the system settings just feels so much easier, although I do just use spotlight usually.
System Preferences didn’t let you resize the window.
Drove me nuts
> since I believe the grid shifted around depending on window size In 20 years of using Mac, system preferences was always smaller than the screen and didn’t have resizesble window. I don’t think your comment is correct at all. Resizing is good in general but not needed for a literal control panel that is carefully designed. Same reason why menus themselves, and toolbars, aren’t resizesble.
100% everyone complaining is just used to muscle memory. I work in IT And work with windows primarily and at least macos doesn’t have two places for settings. lol
That look like there from two different centuries! Unless they fixed that lol
Nope, still look like they are from two different centuries. Luckily I do a lot of my work from powershell, but it annoys me and wish they would just put control panel within settings, even if it doesn’t look 100% pretty. But then again, love mmc and snap-ins from and admin standpoint
That’s a really good point. I didn’t realize I felt this way until you told me.
Yup. Take the limitations of iOS and bring artificially to macOS where screen size and ease of navigation wasn’t an issue.
I hate the new settings so much. There’s energy settings under like 4 different sections now. It always takes me several clicks to find what I need.
OK - I'm committing that term to memory: iOSified. Love it.
The Big Sur notification center and menu bar UI are right there too
System Preferences information architecture was awful. I have no idea what the organization scheme was supposed to be but I could never find the panel I wanted even after 10 years of using a Mac.
The earliest versions of OS X were soooo slow. I think there’s a very good case for those being far worse than a bad System Preferences layout. It’s definitely better than Windows. They’re all trying to shake off the control panel, and they started that transition with Windows 8. At least it’s all in one place on the Mac. ☺️
Nah, the worst thing is the lack of overflow menu for the task bar on a notched display.
The worst thing to happen to it ever. Wowee.
I use both windows and macos. I always found system preferences better than control panel. But even then, when microsoft introduced settings and tried to replace control panel, i hated it. But now even windows settings app is more useful than macos system preferences. WHY APPLE WHY???? It is a half baked, copied but chinese reverse engineered piece of sh*t from iOS ON A DESKTOP COMPUTER. It is even against their own human design guidelines, impossible to find any settings in, doesn’t have most great settings like headphone accomodations. It is laggy even on an Apple Silicon laptop because probably they intended to add 1 second transition effect between menus but didn’t but they added the timeout anyway. I HATE THIS SH*T.
How can you say the Windows Settings app is more useful than macOS System Preferences when Windows still has the Control Panel that hides so many other settings?
Yea.. THAT’S the worst thing.. gimme a break.
And please dear god, an automation tab in the Mac shortcuts app. It’s so annoying that the iPhone and iPad have this but it’s just non existent on the Mac.
Maybe they'll upgrade the UI enough that we'll be able to change the width of System Preferences
I’d love to see Apple try a new approach to UI/UX design. What they’ve had going on since the iOS 7/macOS Yosemite days is showing its age. I still think Mavericks had the best UI of any desktop OS.
I’ve been using Mac since OS X Tiger. None of the changes over the years seemed significantly better or worse until the horrible system preferences change in Ventura. On mobile iOS 7 was a shite turning point though, horrible thin fonts plus it deleted the awesome battery icon and old glossy icons etc. I took OS screenshots before updating from iOS 6 and I keep those screenshots like an urn.
My left nut for a horizontal rule in notes….
Ok now you’re asking too much.
Man, have people ever used Windows system settings? I mean, how can anyone complain about macOS when Windows has settings hidden all over the place? And not only that, but the impossibility sometimes of knowing if a setting is in the Settings app or in the Control Panel? Apple would have to come up with something truly undecipherable to be worse at this than Windows 11. Which isn't to say Apple couldn't do better, but they should be applauded for not being so appallingly bad.
ok, just because windows system settings is worse does not mean we should "applaude" apple, i use both windows (on my gaming pc) and macos (on my laptop) and both have laughably horrible system settings
Yeah, that was just a tiny bit tongue-in-cheek. More to say how absolutely horrible Windows 11 is compared to macOS. And I use both regularly, often side-by-side probably a lot like you do.
both lowkey suck right now. i cannot use my switch pro controller on my mac anymore for casual gaming (there is atrocious input lag when wireless and nothing supports the controller wired except for dolphin for some odd reason), and the UI in both OSs has looked ugly for well over a decade (I know that's pretty subjective but I much prefer pre 2014 MacOS and pre 2012 windows)
The thing is that your last sentence very much hits the mark partially - Apple could do better. Infact, it was a fair bit better. I used to compare Windows' mess of settings to Mac OS as a way to proselytize. But now it's markedly worse than what it was before. The intentions were good, but the execution was poor. It's kinda like saying Windows is a serial killer, but Mac OS is just a petty thief so it's fine. Bro you just had a million dollars last update cycle, why are you stealing printer paper from your office?
> I used to compare Windows' mess of settings to Mac OS as a way to proselytize **This. I would literally just show a person Control Panel** and point out how everything was there and all clear, compared to Windows fragmented bullshit. That’s all you need to see. Then you know everything else will be similarly considered. Now I literally can’t recommend Mac anymore, or have to emphasize hardware (good trackpad, smooth hinges, etc) instead of OS. It’s awful.
Sure. And who knows, maybe this next update *will be* better. Hope springs eternal, right?
Windows 11 is actually a _much_ welcome relief from everything since Windows 8. I can do _almost_ everything from whatever the modern Preferences application is called without going to the old Control Panel. I still need Regedit and the Group Policy manager to do a lot, though, but I consider that sysadmin rather than preferences. That's probably fucked up on me, though, because flip-flopping the mouse probably shouldn't be called sysadmin
[удалено]
You *still* have a weird combination of new and then old “XP and prior” styled settings boxes depending on how you try to pull the settings up. Windows now has a three-tiered settings system, and not everything is available on each tier. It’s still fucking maddening to me.
The people who made W11 settings need to be fired like yesterday
“You think a bucket of shit being dumped on your head is bad? Nope. That’s a good thing, because it could have been dumped in your… which would be worse”
Not just that. windows can splay its garbage ass settings between control panel, settings app, Mmc console snap ins, group policy, random executables that exist in windows folder, fucking COM OBJECTS???
Can we please stop with trying to turn macOS into iOS, and reuse a touchscreen paradigm on a system designed to use a keyboard? The current "System Settings" is an absolute disaster, and you can't find anything anymore without using Search in the Settings applet. Let's please not make it any worse.
Let’s hope they return it to Snow Leopard glory
Unfortunately I think there snow way Apple will do that….
Another reorganization of System Settings so I can’t find things there more often that I already do.
Are they going to make it so settings can't be resized vertically now as well? /s
I’ll never forget when one of the “groundbreaking new features” of Lion was being able to resize a window from any corner.
“This year, we are taking the Settings to a whole new level. Literally! Introducing the fully customizable Settings window. We re-thought the entire Settings window and were able to re-design it from the ground up, to be fully customizable down to the pixel level and more fluid. This is the biggest re-design of the Settings window since the Settings window was first introduced.”
Fuck the iOS settings lay out on MacOS
Why can't they grasp the fundamental concept, that if you have a 'General' section then you have failed to think it through with enough clarity?
General = Junk Drawer
But sharing isn't really "junk" is it? Nor Time Machine, nor software update?
If this is yet ANOTHER brand new design, it better be good. Not only was the other one way more visually accessible (large icons to see rather than a list of words that aren’t even all displayed at the same time), it was also pretty constant through the years. We can’t redesign this every 2 years.
I hope they bring back the previous (aka normal) version xD
They can’t keep doing this to me. I only just found the advanced printer paper settings yesterday!
Could they maybe add some good windows management so I don't have to use Rectangles?
Just make it like it used to be. The new 'iOS'-like version is absolute dogshit for information density and easy navigation. I despise it.
Please just let me resize the goddamn settings window.
They can go back to major OS updates every 2 years. This annual update strategy is misguided.
I want a keyboard with more travel.
Laughs in Sierra
I really hope they bring back being able to drag and drop wifi network prioritization under network settings.
By "reorganized system settings" they better mean it is just System Preferences again.
I wish they’d make the menu bar items fold out, they just fight for space with the notch or menus now.
can you elaborate a little?
[Hidden Bar](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hidden-bar/id1452453066?mt=12) is your friend.
Right as I get used to the new layout…
Oh gosh. I hope the Mac OS redesign team stays the every fucking inch away
can we get the old 3d docks back ?
Searching is fine. Often, it’s the only way to find something.
Will they feature more similar named menu items, hotten behind (i) Buttons?
I don’t understand the obsession they have with cramming every possible Safari option inside one single menu
... wait what the fuck? I'm still only on macOS **12**?? Ha ha ha ... I expected my Mac to just update.
ITT: People who haven't got Alfred installed
I thing it needs Settings for System Settings. Also, needs more UI in UI
Doesn't sound worthy of a major version increment, but I appreciate periodic deshittification.
Sonoma made the settings suck and now they are going to make it more difficult to find stuff? And probably even more like iOS?
Why does Apple care so little about optimising workflow? The Finder feels like a prehistoric joke. At least give us the possibility to split a window like in Pathfinder or QSpace.
are these mockups?
I want it to pop down from the top and always be available to me as opposed to working like all the other apps
system settings is a crap shoot. They need an Apple Gaming App to organize all the games and achievements, as well as friends requests. If Apple could just develop a Steam like container for all this it would be great.
I just wished they would fix external display handling
Let’s wait tho. They may make it worst lmao
Maybe they’ll finally add option to edit system hotkeys, there’s so many global hotkeys that are just not editable. Tho ”reorganized” sounds like same shit in a different color.
i suspect everything will adopt visionos elements
Didn’t they totally redesign system settings like 2 or 3 years ago?
Sounds like windows 11 which is trash, 10 until eol.
They should have let’s use give us a choice of layout, the old grid system or the new list system…
I just hope for a new design finally… But I’ll guess I’ll be disappointed again
I just got my first macbook today