MacOS Design Misses

This post has been making its rounds throughout the Mac and Apple blogosphere over the last few weeks, and has rallied criticisms of macOS 26 Tahoe. The criticism in the post regarding icons in the menu bar is really quite fair. The examples showing the same icons being used in the same menu for different items is just bad. Along with the all the various corner radii throughout the OS, I think Apple really just needs to focus on standardizing the OS in MacOS 27. They need to take the lead and follow their own examples.

In general though, I like the release; it just needs some standardization and discipline. The icons in the menu are fun – it’s just a little bit of whimsy. I think a lot of the criticism is missing that. Yes, the corner rounding needs to be uniform app-to-app, but in general, I like it. It makes the whole OS feel airy and welcoming. Keep in mind I’m a Windows user at my day job. My Mac really is like a cold glass of water in Hell.

Folder Quick Look

This is a really great Mac utility that I’ve seen making the rounds through several other blogs. It allows you to quick peek inside compressed folders using Quick Look. What a great idea.

RIP LaunchPad

I know LaunchPad has been the bud of many jokes ever since it was introduced in OSX 10.7 Lion, but I have been an avid user for years, meticulously organizing the pages and pages of apps. LaunchPad is gone in macOS Tahoe, which releases today. Clearly, Apple was trying to make the Mac more accessible to its larger, and growing (at the time) iPhone user base. Evidently, it never quite caught on. I found it to just be easy to use. Sometimes I use my Mac one-handed with a trackpad in my lap, and I could four finger pinch to access any app I want to launch. In the end, I had two pages: my most-used applications for personal use, and those for more professional use.