Moving from Windows to Mac can be confusing. Long ago, I was a lifelong Windows user before I tried my first Mac, and many of the changes were jarring and confusing. It’s often not the biggest 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 perplexing changes was how much working with apps in macOS differed from Windows. “You mean I don’t need a wizard to uninstall an app?” I thought. “I can just move it to the Trash? Won’t that … break something?”
As it turns out, I’m not alone. People on X (formerly Twitter) are debating exactly this difference between macOS and Windows, and I found the discussion pretty entertaining to observe.
It all started with developer Tyler King, who posted the following: “I’m making the switch from Windows to Mac, and there are a million little things that are annoying me, but installing apps is the wildest one. Is this seriously how ya’ll think this should work?”
Alongside the comment, King posted an image of the Figma app installer, which tells the user to drag an app icon into the Applications folder.
I'm making the switch from Windows to Mac, and there are a million little things that are annoying me, but installing apps is the wildest one. Is this seriously how ya'll think this should work? pic.twitter.com/B6n66pEEIm
— Tyler King (@TylerMKing) July 25, 2024
King followed up with another comment: “And you drag the app into that folder and literally nothing happens. There’s zero feedback of any kind. This is the thing that everyone says is well designed?”
For starters, that’s not quite fair. There’s a sound that plays when the file is moved, and if the app is large enough, a progress bar appears like when you move any file. But I’ve found myself in the same spot, often unsure if an app has actually installed, leading me to scroll through the Applications folder to be safe. As a new convert, it can be a bewildering experience.
What King probably didn’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 approaches to app installation and uninstallation. If you follow along, you’ll see the full gamut of reasonable and not-so-reasonable opinions, proving that the Mac-versus-Windows rivalry is still alive and kicking in 2024.
For instance, X user Laurie Voss echoed the feelings of many Mac users with the statement: “I apologize for everything about Finder, it’s terrible and they refuse to fix it.” As someone who splits their time between Windows and macOS daily, the Finder is something that’s always frustrated me. It’s one of the few areas I can genuinely say that Windows feels more comprehensible than macOS — and that doesn’t happen often.
I apologize for everything about Finder, it's terrible and they refuse to fix it.
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) July 26, 2024
But while I understand that the macOS approach to installing apps is very different to that of Windows, I don’t share King’s opinion that it’s worse. As Brandon McConnell commented on X, “would following a 10-step wizard be better?” User @CrayonBytes chimed in by defending the Apple way, opining: “This was one of the things I really liked, actually. Installing apps is just moving a file into the correct place. And uninstalling is just moving it to trash.”
Of course, this being X, there was a whole heaping of strange, mean, and petty comments. A discussion between several users devolved into an argument over the benefits and drawbacks of NFTs. “I see you don’t like simple,” Alex Raihelgaus pithily observed. Mocking, laughing emojis proliferated from every direction and standpoint. In other words, it was just another day on X.
Despite all the opinions flying this way and that, there’s a serious point to be made: Is this actually an example of bad design, or are we just conditioned to one way of doing things over another? Users were split on this topic, 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 wizard. Yet despite that, some apps insist on using an uninstaller, and I still get caught out when that happens because I’m conditioned to expect a simple drag-and-drop process on my Mac.
That’s what makes switching operating systems so finicky at first. Whether you use Windows or macOS, over time you get used to how that system works. When something changes — even if it’s something as simple as installing an app — your muscle memory gets thrown off.
Personally, I like Apple’s approach to app management, but I agree that there should be a more obvious sign of a successful installation. If your sound is disabled, and the app you’re installing is relatively compact, you won’t have any indication that the process has been completed. Apple could do better.
But that’s a far cry from some of the amusing — and concerning — comments posted on X. When a conversation about installing apps on your computer devolves into a heated dispute over the pros and cons of NFTs, it might be time to step away from the keyboard and get some fresh air.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.