The Paradox of Apple Simplicity
Usually, I find Apple’s applications, services and devices simple enough to use, but coming from decades of DOS, Windows and ChromeOS, I am sometimes surprised at how hard Apple has made some simple things. But does Apple have a good reason, and are these differences actually improvements?
Let me offer some examples . . .
Moving a File
A case in point is moving a file in MacOS. As any Apple veteran is very much aware, unlike other operating systems, Finder doesn’t have a “cut” feature with which to move a file. Instead, you copy the file to the destination location, and then go back and delete the original file. Why? Is this to protect the user from accidentally cutting a file and forgetting to paste it to the destination? Your guess is as good as mine.
What is even more puzzling is that if you select a file in Finder, and then access the Finder’s Edit menu, you will see “Cut” and even the expected keyboard shortcut. However, this doesn’t work with files and is apparently only intended for cutting text.
🍎 Actually, you can use the mouse or trackpad to simply drag the file to the destination in the same or another Finder window to move it. And Apple has a keyboard shortcut (Cmd+Option+V) for use in the destination folder that will both paste the file just copied, and delete it from the original folder.
In both of these cases, this functionality assures that the file is still available, lending credence to user protection as the reason for the difference from other OS’s.
Deleting a File
A simple file delete operation in most operating systems allows the user to select a file and tap the Delete key on the keyboard. In MacOS, tapping Delete does nothing to the selected file.
🍎 If you right-click, there is no Delete either, however, there is “Move to Trash” which completes the desired operation. In addition, the “Move to Trash” command has a quick key, Cmd+Delete.
Again, it looks like Apple is protecting its users from an accidental deletion by enforcing a more deliberate action to delete files.
Deleting Text to the Right
Here’s one I bet more than a few new Apple users have struggled with. Apple devices have but one Delete key. This key removes text to the left of the cursor. Other OS’s have a key labeled Backspace for this action, and a separate Delete key to remove characters to the right of the cursor.
For this one, it appears to work this way simply to save keyboard space by omitting one key, so I guess you could label that simplicity.
🍎 Actually, there is one exception for Apple, and that is on the external Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad as pictured below. On this keyboard there are in fact two keys, one for Backspace and the other for Delete which mimic Windows and other operating systems. And when using a MacBook there are a couple keyboard shortcuts. FN+Delete or CTRL+d can both be used to delete characters to the right.
Close Button or Is It?
As in other operating systems, Apple has controls for each window open on a screen via its “traffic light” controls. However, in many cases the red close button doesn’t close the application like the X does with other OS’s. If the application is capable of presenting more than one window for the application, as in multiple documents open in Word or Pages, then the red button will just close the document window. And even after closing all document windows, the application remains open.
Comments I have read from others over time, indicate that this has greatly puzzled most Apple users at one time or another. However, I’ve come to realize that this is a feature that actually saves me all the time.
I’ll give you one example. I use SnagIt to take and annotate screenshots. When I finish with the editor window I close it, but this action only closes the window and not the application, leaving it at the ready for the next time I need a screenshot. If closing the window were to close the application, I would have to restart the app each time I needed it.
🍎 To close an application there are actually several options.
- Select the Quit command on the application’s main menu.
- Use the quick key Cmd+Q to quit the active application.
- Right-Click on the application icon in the Dock and select Quit.
The Paradox
So there you have it, some of the “features” of the Apple environment that are so different from other operating systems that they seem to be mistakes, or at least missteps by Apple. But after looking more closely, you may find that there are some very good reasons for Apple to design in this way, be it for simplicity or user-protection.
Have you puzzled with any of these or other Apple dilemmas? If so, I’d greatly appreciate you pointing them out in the comments to add to the usefulness of this post for others. And if I’ve got something wrong here let me know that as well.
As always, thanks so much for reading. J
