Reviewing an Operating System is Impossible.
If I review the purest, out-of-the-box (the MAS, actually) form of Lion, then this review will exist in a vacuum. No one uses their OS like that.
If I review my version of it, after I've made my changes and tweaks and adjusted the seat and mirrors, then my review will be an opinion piece of the worst kind, so I'm hoping that by admitting my flawed-no-matter-what standpoint from the start, that you'll be able to actually take something from the rest.
Pretty serious shit, right?
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With the whole OS X meets iOS thing, I thought it would be interesting to review Lion in a similar way--staring and pecking away at my MacBook Air, but thinking how I tend to think on my iOS devices.
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I'm also paying homage, for no real reason, to Mary Robison's "Why Did I Ever," which you should read.
Factory Settings
Every time I do a clean install of an Operating System, I reinstall fewer and fewer applications. Imagine if this was a life option? The ability to go back to factory settings and rebuild from there?
I know more than a few people who could stand to have their indexes rebuilt.
New Features, Pt. 1
Two days into Lion and I had to keeping remembering to remember to use the features I wanted to use.
New Features, Pt. 2
By Day 5, it's as if I've been using them all along.
Change is the Only Constant, Pt. 1
We live in a beta culture. Nothing is ever finished, and it shouldn't be, because it never was.
How Far We've Come, Pt. 1
Remember when your cell phone didn't work? And you'd take it to your carrier's store and you'd explain the problem, and the person behind the counter would take it and come back and say, "Well, your phone has a software update, so we're going to do that."
How Far We've Come, Pt. 2
And you'd walk away saying to whoever you were with, "Yeah, a software update. Because that'll work."
How Far We've Come, Pt. 3
I haven't heard much chatter about the ridiculously simple Lion installation process. Sure, I made it harder on myself, but for the majority of the 1,000,000 people who bought it the first day? Scary simple.
You're Either The One Sawing People In Half, Or The One Getting Sawed (How Far We've Come, Pt. 4)
None of the bloggers and the gadget writers want to talk about it because the people who are reviewing Lion aren't too thrilled that people like you can update your system so easily.
If everyone knows how to pull a rabbit out of a hat, then the magicians are just overdressed pet owners.
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Mission Control is making me realize how much money I'm spending to basically use Email, the Web, Twitter, and as RSS reader.
All of which are free.
When You're Right, You're Right
The only time "reversed" scrolling feels wrong is when I'm on my Dell at work.
Mom, Pt. 1
Launchpad isn't for those who use Spotlight or Alfred-type application launchers. But if you already use them, you already knew that.
Mom, Pt. 2
My mom will love it though.
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Three finger swiping between desktops is my favorite feature that I didn't think I'd care about.
My suggestion: set up full screen apps, and then give your favorite apps their own desktop, and just swipe all day.
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You could swipe your life away, although being able to name my desktops would be nice.
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I mean the label of the desktop.
Of course I already named them.
The Customer is Always Right
Don't like disappearing scrollbars?
Systems preferences.
Don't like inverted scrolling?
System preferences.
It really is that simple.
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Any bugs, or slowness, or unnameable desktops?
21.5
An update's coming.
Change is the Only Constant, Pt. 2 (21.5.1)
An update is always coming in Beta Culture.
Missing What You Never Knew You Had
If you do a clean install of Lion, you lose your Snow Leopard wallpaper. Not that I would be caught dead with a stock wallpaper anyway, but for those of you who care.
Sometimes A Cigar Is A Penis
Full-screen apps are not the same as an app running in a maximized window.
The Destination, The Journey, and the Stops Along The Way
One of my favorite apps, Reeder, has already been upgraded to include support for full-screen mode. Full-screen Mode is definitely the future, and not because of the fact that it overtakes the screen--the getting there, that's the future.
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As a user of Twitter's Mac app, I'd love to see fullscreen support soon. Something similar to the iPad app.
It's funny how much time we've spent going up and down on our iPhones, and how that has translated to going from side-to-side on our iPads, and how we'll need to use both of those skills on our Macs now, almost like we've been training for this all along.
Sticking Feathers In Your Butt
I've seen a lot of comments about how to tweak Lion into acting more like Snow Leopard. If that's what you wanted, why did you upgrade?
Fables Involving Mice and Lions
Lion should come bundled with a user who comes bundled with a trackpad.
We're All Getting Old
I've seen how Versions works. I know it works. I know it will save my work, regardless of how hard I try not to. I still can't break the habit.
Yet.
The Bottom Line
For $30, Lion initially feels like a bargain. The new look, the new buttons, the new wallpaper, the new features. But considering that most of the new features still need to be built into many of the apps you use, if you stop and think about it, you're basically paying to be part of a larger beta testing group.
That's the thing, though--we don't stop and think about it, just like we spend money on tickets to magic shows, rather than on books on how to do the tricks ourselves.
And that's the beauty. That's how good Apple is. That's their trick.
Apple knows how to make $30 seems like $0.
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