OS X Lion arrived; here’s how to fix it

Seems OSX is going the direction of iOS - users will be hidden from the operational side e.g. hard drives, system folders etc

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Seems OSX is going the direction of iOS - users will be hidden from the operational side e.g. hard drives, system folders etc

Yes, all a little too Windows like for me, they've been hiding their system folders for ages but at least they tell you about it in Explorer and let you easily turn it back on. Not go in to a DOS prompt or Registry edit to enable it.

I think their logic in this case is if you're not tech savvy enough to enable the view in terminal, you probably shouldn't be playing in there to start with.

Originally Posted by MissionMan

I think their logic in this case is if you're not tech savvy enough to enable the view in terminal, you probably shouldn't be playing in there to start with.

I think you're right - if you're a ludite don't play.

Originally Posted by MissionMan

I think their logic in this case is if you're not tech savvy enough to enable the view in terminal, you probably shouldn't be playing in there to start with.

Exactly.

Its going to mean that support is going to be 100x easier if they can't delete the evidence of doing something they shouldn't have done.

The only real issue i can see with this is with programmes like Adobe's CS suite that require access to files there. But then again isn't it time for a re-write by now, I'm sure they could eventually add a native system preferences tab that can deal with these issues like lots of others have done.

Well that's interesting. I persevered with the natural scrolling yesterday because I believe it is more natural and I'm an heavy iOS user.

After reading all the hate I swapped it back just now and guess what - I just can't do it the old way anymore. I'm going back to natural scroll.

i think natural scroll works well with touch pad or magic mouse but no good with a scroll wheel

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Seems OSX is going the direction of iOS - users will be hidden from the operational side e.g. hard drives, system folders etc

After seeing users on this very forum mucking about in those folders then wondering why their Mac won't work anymore, I'm of the opinion that this is an incredibly smart move.

After getting over the discomfort of change I'm personally loving most of the default behaviours. The only things I've changed back from this list are the visibility of Library and the showing of System drive in the Finder sidebar (so I can hide it from desktop —*I love a zero-icon desktop!)

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

I find the "natural" scrolling direction really nice after acclimatising too, for more subtle reasons. I've posted some thoughts on this and other Lion stuff on my blog:
OS X Lion

Seriously, how often do any of us nerds go into the Library folder on a daily or even semi- regular basis?

Sure every now and then, so why is this a big deal?

As for scrolling, it frustrates me that is hasn't been an option in OS X since iOS came out. Upgrading home machine tonight. Can't wait!

Thanks for the list of tweaks. I don't know that I ever went into Finder Preferences before, but I'm loving being able to search within a folder by default :P

I'm still testing a few things, but it seems that all my hardware is working and so far I haven't hit any software issues... *Fingers crossed* this is looking like the smoothest upgrade I have done so far

The whole idea of natural scroll is that, like iOS, you are interacting with the page, not the interface, which is how we did it before. Apple is about removing the interface from the interface and bringing content to the forefront.

“So. You spend 27 years teaching people how to scroll. Then you turn it upside down just for fun. I think Steve is laughing at us.”

27 years teaching us to scroll the wrong way, more like. Roll the scroll-wheel back/down to make the page move up? That's what's backwards.

I've been running that little reverse scroll app on SL (the one that replicates how Lion works) for a few months. Having to scroll the other way on my PC at work just seems weird now.

My housemate last night asked what you're all talking about by 'natural scrolling'. I said that it's basically how the iPhone works. Her response: "FINALLY!"

Originally Posted by Flywheel

I think you're right - if you're a ludite don't play.

Except you don't need to go to the Terminal at all. You can press option before or after clicking the Go menu in the Finder to reveal the home library folder, or you can still choose "Go to Folder" and enter ~/Library.

So it's not that hidden, just hidden enough so that most people who don't know what they're doing can go in there and delete or move stuff and then wonder why doesn't work anymore. You can even still add the home Library to the Finder side bar.

Yes the root Library folder isn't hidden, but Apple seems to have taken steps to make that harder to get to as well (removing boot disk from the side bar) by default.

Scrolling most people still use a Windows machine somewhere. So be interesting how many will leave it.
How soon before we just have ipads in 13", 15", 17" ,21.5" or 27" sizes and no OSX.

Originally Posted by simonm

You can press option before or after clicking the Go menu in the Finder to reveal the home library folder, or you can still choose "Go to Folder" and enter ~/Library.

What I find weird is that Apple had decided to hide ~/Users/Library but not /Library or /System/Library. Surely the latter two are much more important to keep away from people who don't know what they're doing?

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Seems OSX is going the direction of iOS - users will be hidden from the operational side e.g. hard drives, system folders etc

I'm not sure I see that as a bad thing.

How many people who use a microwave want to be able to gain more control over the power settings? How many people who use a DVD player want to tweak the menu structure or whatever?

In reality, if a computer can accept new installed software and make it easy to run that software, can offer you a cogent/organised place to store your data, and works when you want it to work, why do you need to access the root of the hard drive? Why do you need to manually tweak all the configurations?

Doing these things is what gets people into trouble. I'm fine with it being made more difficult.

If you're qualified/experienced enough/willing to accept consequences and want to have a play, go for it. But at least be willing to accept that you stuffed it up all by yourself and it's up to you to fix it again - or be willing to pay someone with the expertise to fix it for you.

To some extent, any online forum is NOT your typical user base for anything. Yesterday and today I've been talking to people around my town who own Macs about Lion and, in general, the reaction goes something like:

"What's Lion? Do I need it?"

"What do you mean by operating system?"

The majority of casual computer users, and that's really what many computers users are, will just use the computer and then walk away. Making it more appliance-like for these people is a good thing.

If you're a super-user and you want to tweak settings that aren't enabled in a GUI then by all means do so but accept the possibility that things will break because you shouldn't really be in there in the first place.

David

You spend 27 years teaching people how to scroll

First scroll wheel mouse was released in the late 90s.

Games have had "reverse y-axis" for years, e.g. Halo, flight simulators etc. What's natural to some, isn't to others, and there is a setting. This is very small deal; Lion has bigger problems.

The one main thing I want, my hard drives at the top of finder... That's where they belong, hopefully someone will find a way. As for the colour, sure it'll be nice but I can live with it like with iTunes

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Seems OSX is going the direction of iOS - users will be hidden from the operational side e.g. hard drives, system folders etc

Agreed and it's a necessary transition.

A few people have said the abstraction away from the file system is necessary because 'average joe user' doesn't know how to use it properly. While I agree that an abstracted file system is good for average joe user, I disagree that this is the primary reason why the file system is being abstracted.

The concept of files, directories and volumes was a concept invented in the 1960s. It was invented for a time when computers were the size of rooms and people would log into the one mainframe via terminals. It was a suitable paradigm for the environment.

This paradigm was carried over to the personal computer as it was still suitable. A computer was a single device and you organised and accessed your data on that device. If you wanted a particular piece of data you would go to that machine, navigate to the appropriate directory and retrieve it.

Even with the rise of the internet, the www and home networking, this model was suitable. When viewing this page, you are telling your browser to goto the computer at the location specified by the 'mactalk.com.au' address, navigate to the 'content' directory and retrieve the file called 'os-x-lion-arrived-here-s-how-fix-1702' (it's more complex than that in practice, but that essentially is what a URL is saying).

The computer paradigm has historically been 'device centric'.

The thing is, we are now entering an age of data ubiquity. We are entering an age where people own multiple devices. We are entering an age where the amount of devices using the internet is greater than the amount of people and the gap is widening.

Maintaining all these devices and keeping their file system structured and organised is approaching the point where it will become impossible. Knowing which machine to navigate to and where that data is located on that machine is approaching the point of becoming impossible.

Imagine if the WWW didn't have hyperlinks and instead you had to manually type in the URL for each page. That is what navigating file sytems will soon become like. Especially with the large volume of data that is spread out across multiple machines. The fact that Google exists and is so utilised for simple tasks like finding the Facebook login page is a testament that most people are incapable of navigating a structured environment, yet alone maintaining one.

This is the reason why companies are turning to cloud based solutions, such as iCloud. With iCloud data will be ubiquitous, but more importantly your computing experience will change from a 'device centric' paradigm to a 'data centric' one. People will no longer be accessing devices, they'll be accessing their data.

This is the beginning of the 'data centric' age. The device is irrelevant. The device is just simply a tool used to access your data. Data that is always accessible regardless of the device or your location.

Want to listen to a song, open up the music player on your device and the song is there. Want to edit a text document, open up a document editor on your iPad and start editing it. Go home, jump on your Mac, open your document editor and the document appears on your screen, exactly as you left it on the iPad.

This model of computing does not need a user organised directory structure to operate. If anything it would probably inhibit it.

So, IMHO, the abstraction away from the file system is a 'good thing.' It's an important and necessary step to changing how we interact with our data. It's more than just Apple's attempt to make the Mac idiot proof. It's a deliberate restructuring of current computer paradigms. It's a push towards the data centric age. It's something that will benefit all users, amateur and pro. I for one welcome it.

/end idealistic lecture :P

EDIT: Obviously it hasn't happened yet. But it is becoming apparent Apple is taking steps towards it and is implementing the technology so that they'll be able to one day make the transition. Like everything with Apple, it's a multi-step process.