[Gerek]

One of my annoyances, outside of those already mentioned, is that folder open/drop states are broken. If you drag a file onto a generic folder icon it changes states to show an open folder. This no longer works on custom folders, even Apple's own. I know that bug reports have been filed, but I have it from a developer that it is unlikely to be fixed until Snow Leopard comes out, which is singularly useless.

[griffman]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. I just took a file from my desktop, and dragged it onto a variety of folders, both those of my creation and those from Apple. All opened just fine, as expected. I tried folders without a custom icon, Apple's customized folders, and folders I'd created with custom icons. I also tried on both my MP and MBP, and it worked on both machines.

Are you describing something different than what I'm trying?

-rob.

[Barholder]

In addition to the difficulties of getting info (command-I) for an event on my MacBook Pro, the Event Info Window presented is Black with medium grey captions. The event itself is Dark Blue. Clicking the Edit button only makes the window larger. The information which I entered is in black lettering on a black background which make it a tad difficult to read. I have a copy of iCal on my PPC with 10.5 synched with my laptop and I do not have this problem.

[Anoop]

I would like to add one more point here.
When copying files from one folder to another, if ever there is a duplicate file then the only information displayed is the file name and wether or not we wish to replace it.
It would be a lot more helpful if we could see more details of both files like size, kind, date created, date modified & location of each file, this will help us decide which file is precisely the one to be replaced.

[Gerek]

In Tiger and before, when you dragged a file over top a folder without releasing it and before the spring-loading kicked in, there was a mini animation where it looked like the file folder icon opened. Try this link. It still works for generic folder icons but not any others. You could do all sorts of things with this animation, have eyes that opened and closed, faces that turned monstrous, starships that had battle damage, etc. I've checked both my G4 and the two Intel iMac's and it's definitely not working and it does in 10.3 and 10.4 that I have on other partitions. When I contacted the icon factory people they confirmed it was broken.

[paulseifer]

Yeah-like Windows XP does.
Seriously! Maybe instead of poking fun at MS with TV ads, Apple should pay attention what the Windows OS actually does better than Apple's OS. Removable device and application error handling are a couple areas. The Mac Finder is disappointingly short of being 'industrial strength' and flexible for the fifth generation of OS X, and the Dock often makes Windows' Taskbar seem like pure genius. The more I use XP with an open mind, the more I appreciate the rationale behind its functionality. If this mainstay 7 year old OS managed memory better, like OS X does, I would be more humbled around Windows users.
I have high hopes for Snow Leopard to transform OS X into a serious OS. It's high time they focused less on being 'different' and more on being 'better.' We'll see.

[XMattingly]

>the Dock makes Windows' Taskbar seem like pure genius.
Can't say that I understand why you would say that. The Dock is way more flexible and functional than the Taskbar, and combined with Expose Spaces, Mac OS' windowing system is a quantum leap in capability over what you get in Windows. OS X is decidedly different, and even without+ the tweaks coming in 10.6, it's also substantially better.

[XMattingly]

Oh, I've got an annoyance that just came to mind, that aggravates me to no end:

From 10.4 on, for no apparent reason other than to cheese me off, Apple decided to change the behavior of dragging proxy icons in title bars. It used to be that dragging those icons to different folders, volumes, etc. would move the physical file, and now it creates an alias instead. The only modifier key you can use is the option key, to make a copy - but there is no way to use the proxy to move a file anymore, without going up one level in the file directory. Now I have to click on the title bar, open enclosing folder for the item, drag it over, then close that window. Thanks a lot Apple, for making what used to be a pretty slick function a three step process!!!

[paulseifer]

In the spirit of fairness I added the word 'often' between 'Dock' and 'makes.'
Any perceived genius of the Taskbar, which has been around since 1995, lies in its simple usability, and stability. It's far from perfect, with tiny icons and a lack of interactivity . And don't get me wrong, I like the Dock for what it is. However, the Dock is an application (that can be relaunched) and prone to afflictions. The Dock can be intrusive when it overlaps full-screen views. I have used the auto-hide feature, but when the Finder craps out, the Dock often refuses to reveal itself. Plus, get too close to the edge of a document layout and the Dock is 'accidentally' revealed. The cursor has to touch it again to retract it. The Dock eats up screen real estate, so it has to be kept at a modest size. The Genie Effect is cool, but more often than not when I quickly go for an icon, it moves out of the way when it magnifies. How many people that work with their Mac really appreciated the 3-D effect (or the translucent Finder menu)? My Dock is on the side so that full page layouts can be viewed closer to 100%. The Dock is cool, just frustrating at times (like the Finder). Note that TinkerTool reveals valid Dock settings that the OS omits.
If you remember Classic Mac OS, there was a utility called 'GoMac' which added a Windows-like taskbar to the desktop. It took Apple over 5 years to incorporate that functionality, and they certainly did it one up in many areas. Make no mistake, I'm an Apple fan, and have used Macs since OS 7. I used to hate the way Windows apps had their own self-contained menu. Then I saw the logic. The Explorer window has recovered from a crash many times more successfully than the Mac Finder. Many times a frustrated Finder renders the Dock, and other apps, null. I want OS X to clobber Windows, like how it whipped Vista in a feature by feature comparison. But substance is more important than style (like 3-D Docks), and all guys like me ever really wanted was a stable OS so we can get our work done. I tend to be hard on Apple because I want them to be different in a 'brilliant' way, especially at this phase of the OS.
Maybe I'm just bitter over not having purchased Apple stock back when they couldn't give it away, and now I can't touch it.

[XMattingly]

paulseifer said:

In the spirit of fairness I added the word 'often' between 'Dock' and 'makes.'

That sounds like a copout qualifier, to me. It either is or isn't - given the feature set I still say it's far ahead of Windows' Taskbar and windowing system. FWIW, I added Expose/ windowing into my post, since the Taskbar is really intrinsic to how Windows handles... windows.

I think - in the case of a file/app launcher/manager, beauty lies more in versatility than simplicity. The fact that you can make it massive, miniscule, hidden, turn on/off the Genie, hiding and 3D mode is a beautiful thing. You can make it an app or file launcher with Stacks... rearrange icons as you please, drag & drop files on to app icons, etc... you know the drill. Taskbar provides none of those features (except for hiding). I know it's a weird amalgam of GUI principles and sometimes gets in the way, but in comparison with what else is out there I'm more than willing to live with some minor "character flaws". Speaking of which... I don't know if you've seen what's developing with Windows 7, but what they're trying to do w/ the Taskbar now is about the equivalent of slathering lipstick on a pig. They're oddly trying to make it more "Dock-like"; rolling your cursor over a bar brings up a mini preview of the item, which appears to be quite a bit more obtrusive than the Dock.

Anyway, I understand where you're coming from about crashes. Can't say that I agree with the frequency of Explorer vs. Finder crashes; I've seen much more action from the former than the latter, to that extent. But, the Finder does crash, and there are times when everything seems to seize up all at once. Personally, I've never had a complete system failure from one of those crashes, though. I blame most of it on memory leaks; I keep Activity Monitor running at all times so I can keep an eye on how much RAM is available. Hopefully Apple will plug those holes in 10.6.

I've been using Macs since OS 7 as well -- never heard of GoMac, though.

[paulseifer]

Leopard is 'click' happy!

[paulseifer]

The distraction was called 'iPhone.'
Between the App Store, Mobile Me [comical logo] and newly developed hardware every quarter, perhaps there are too many irons in the fire at Apple. They are redefining the phrase 'planned obsolescence.' ;-D

[XMattingly]

paulseifer said:

They are redefining the phrase 'planned obsolescence.'

Tom? ay ?to, tom? ah ?to, po? tay ?to, po? tah ?to...

Apple is doing what they have always been best at, which is keeping the hardware + software as seemless and state of the art as possible. For example... the new GPU design in the new unibody laptops. You can bet your sweet bibby that they'll be taking full advantage of OpenCL in 10.6.

I seriously doubt Apple ever had any intentions of shoehorning a version of OS X onto a Performa.

[paulseifer]

Call the word addition what you will. I do not hate the Dock, but I am not love struck either. When the Dock [& Finder] work, they work well. Do I want an XP [or Vista] Taskbar on the Mac OS? No. Do I believe that the Dock is still a work in progress? Yes. Do I believe that the geniuses at Apple can and will in some way improve it? Yes. To the degree of which someone does or doesn't like something is usually a matter of personal experience[s]. I know people that have no complaints with 10.5., the Dock, Finder or otherwise.
Typically when the Finder tanks, the system, to its credit, keeps chugging right along. There just doesn't seem to be a way to consistently resolve the app-level of OS X to working order, thus restoring overall harmony. And without a Finder, there isn't much to do with the OS [well, it still recites the time on the hour].
GoMac was part of the Action Utilities line of products, which replaced 'Now Utilities' when they were purchased by Power On Software. I personally didn't use GoMac, but knew people that did. Of course, back in those days I didn't really use Windows to have much experience with the Taskbar. I did try Apple's Launcher.
I guess you remember good ole SCSI, then. I use my old cables to pull heavy objects because the connector ends provide something to grip. There is life after death for some hardware.