cross-posted from: https://discuss.online/post/34255100

Thought I’d create a distinct thread from the previous one asking about daily use, because I really do want to hear more on people’s pain points. Great to know people are generally sounding pretty positive in those posts who recently switched, but want to know your difficulties as well! This way old and new users can share their thoughts, hopefully to inspire a respectful discussion.

  • BromSwolligans@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 days ago

    My concerns are mostly all unfair. Just want to acknowledge that right up front. Compared with macOS:

    • Cider is an admirable but buggy solution for Apple Music (whose own web player is barely usable)
    • I wish Alt+Tabbing had the option to bring to the fore all window instances for a given app like macOS’s Cmd+Tab; as it is I am always having to hunt down stray Firefox or Files windows, which get further buried down the Alt+Tab bar(in Cinnamon) when you minimize them.
    • no OS does common alternate characters (dash and em-dash, accented characters, etc. all accessible with variations on the Alt key) or Japanese language input (Ctrl+space and then just start typing phonetically) as well as macOS does. The composition key is useful to a degree but it feels like second class citizen shit compared to the macOS implementations that make some typing and much language learning basically useless for me on my Linux devices.

    Compared to Windows:

    • pretty basic (and again Cinnamon centric) but Files / the file browser in other apps could use some love. Typing the first few letters of a file name in Files takes me there and highlights it which is great but if memory serves (not near machine now), I can’t just hit Enter from that point to open the thing. Equally annoying is when browsing for a file to open or save, there is often not a create folder option or button, and when there is, it isn’t tied to a keyboard shortcut like Ctrl+Shift+N or F12. I sincerely hate switching input methods when it isn’t called for, so having to grab my mouse just to click the new folder button and return to typing or worse, to leave that browser altogether to go to Files and create the folder because the button or command to do so didn’t exist in the browser window is a real drag.

    In general:

    • the least fair complaint of all because it seems especially like the answer is “well then why don’t you pitch in and help?” (The answer to which is, “I don’t have the skills, I’m sorry, I’ll be quiet”), is trying to replicate workflows in off-brand software. I love LibreOffice spiritually but trying to do some basic PowerPoint stuff recently, it really let me down. ONLYOFFICE was much more usable but it still has a lot of jank and, I suspect, a memory leak because the longer I use it, the slower and less stable it becomes. Krita seems more usable than GIMP, but neither is as usable as Affinity Photo, let alone Photoshop. Put another way, it’s tough to be constantly reminded you’re compromising in order to live a largely faster, stabler, freer computing experience. MacOS is a pile of shit these days but when compared to Windows (since I’m not gaming with it) I never feel like I’m compromising. It can do everything Windows can, and often better. If there isn’t Windows specific software, macOS may have competitive indie darling software to fill the void. Pixelmator for example (before being gobbled up) didn’t feel like it was a somewhat rudderless, good faith effort by a tired gaggle of volunteers…it felt premium. I’m still waiting for that experience on Linux.