is Lion worth it for a Mac Pro desktop?

[hayesk]

6. No, every OS and every machine has a philosophy behind it defining who is going to use it, how are they going to use it, and for what purposes.

7. Optional yes but it's that tablet-newbie philosophy again. Really.

Who freaking cares?

So, Apple just shouldn't add features for novices, even though they're completely optional for you? Do you need to like every feature they add, no matter optional or not for you to approve of the software?

Why even waste your time and energy complaining about an optional feature? Remove it from your dock and move on.

 

[sparkie7]

If you have more than one monitor, Lion is a big no no.

why is that exactly?

 

[goMac]

why is that exactly?

I think he's referring to Lion full screen disabling any secondary displays.

Which isn't any worse than SL. I don't see what the no no is.

 

[sparkie7]

I think he's referring to Lion full screen disabling any secondary displays.

Which isn't any worse than SL. I don't see what the no no is.

ok, thanks.

you mean if you go full screen in Lion that other displays will black out? -- if so, surely this is a bug

the Lion full screen feature is BS.

does SL have an equivalent feature? - if there is i'm unaware of it

 

[BornAgainMac]

Looks like Lion isn't worth it for anyone with a Mac.

 

[highdefw]

Running 4 monitors on my octo. Unless you have the magic trackpad, I don't think you would be missing much...

 

[petvas]

I have been running Lion on my Mac Pro for a couple of months now and I can say that I am happy with it. It isn't that much of a difference compared to Snow Leopard, but there are some small enhancements that make the whole OS experience better. I also have a Macbook Air and there I see all the advantages of Lion compared to Snow Leopard, but for now I will just concentrate on the Mac Pro:

Useful features

• Spotlight previews in the results. This is really nice and has already saved me some time.
• Multitouch gestures. I have a trackpad and a magic mouse and the multitouch gestures are especially in Safari really great. Also moving between desktops and using Window Exposé is great.
• The new Safari is amazing. Multitouch gestures, double-tap to zoom in, etc.
• The new Mail.app is much better than before and it is highly recommended.
• The new iCal is also better and apart from its design, a definitive improvement.
• Resume after restart is great
• Autosave and versions for documents is good but it will become great when Microsoft Word supports it.
• The new Finder enhancements. Cut & Paste, select multiple items to create a folder, merge folders. Before we needed third party software to do that, or terminal commands. Definitely a nice improvement.
• Lookup in Dictionary by double tapping with three fingers. This is really cool and I have used it a couple of times.
• Emoji icons support. It sounds nothing important, but for me it has changed the way I use iCal! If you combine it with iOS 5 emoji support, you can have a great looking calendar
• Mission Control: I know people complain about Spaces. I also have! It takes some time to get used to it, but Mission Control is actually better than Exposé (apart from not being able to display minimized apps). Creating Spaces is much easier and more intuitive than before. My only complain here is that there is no preference pane for managing Spaces for your apps. I hope someone will develop a tool for that.
• Being able to write accented characters is so much easier now. A real time saver.

The major features of Lion are optimized towards mobile computers but that doesn't mean that a Mac Pro won't benefit from this new OS. Lion is better than Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro but on my Macbook Air is just much better. I can live with that.

 

[Zwhaler]

Lion is far more than just gestures. Its much faster too. I've noticed a descent difference from my Snow Leopard to Lion partition.

I can't entirely agree with this statement, nor can I account for your experience, however, the benchmarks say Lion isn't much faster for most tasks and for some is actually slower:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4485/back-to-the-mac-os-x-107-lion-review/23

Boot time is quicker, and newer computers fare better with Lightroom and Cinebench but FCP X took a hit (what I use most)

 

[Kissaragi]

Rock steady?
I know you don't use Apple at work do you?

Works perfectly for me as well but enjoy your eye rolling.

Lion feels quicker for me, everything just seems smoother. For £20 I personally think its a no brainer for most people.

 

[Parkin Pig]

I don't see the problem with autosave... sure, there should be a way to turn it off, but there's no great reason to not have it on by default. why should the user have to remember to save all the time when the computer can do it automatically? people forget to do things all the time. you aren't special.

the problem is many of Lion's features aren't plainly a move forward. let's start with the improvements:
- autosave and versioning are good, useful to everyone

I'm not special, you're right there. However, it's important to me to save my work at specific points, so a 'one-size fits all' solution of autosave is not for me. Your suppositions that 'there's no great reason to not have it on by default' and that 'autosave and versioning are good, useful to everyone' are incorrect. Clearly it's a good thing for you, but don't be so lofty as to assume you speak for the entire Mac-using universe. We're all different, and we have different requirements. I particularly mourn the passing of keyboard shortcuts to save my work. When it comes to speeding up workflow, the word 'shortcut' is the clue.

Like Autosave? Try this: pop an SD card from your digital camera into your Mac's SD slot. Browse your photos in Preview, maybe experiment with a few adjustments that you don't necessarily want to save - just a bit of experimenting. When you've finished, pop the card back in your camera and see how you get on. Good luck!

 

[deconstruct60]

ok, thanks.

you mean if you go full screen in Lion that other displays will black out? -- if so, surely this is a bug

Not really. For example 2 screens where the "desktop" spans both. If "full screen" corresponds to just as big as the desktop you now have the app's interface spread out over 2 screens. Again put it into a context for example of a photo editing app. Usually the "working area" is in the middle of the screen". However, in this expand to fill both screens, mode the middle of the screen is split over two monitors. That is probably not what the user wants.

The user wants to

1. Hide every else but this app. (which blanking out the other screen does)

2. fill the app to the size of a screen (probably.)

I suspect you are thinking "Oh the OS can tell the app where the screen breaks are and the app automagically flows platelets and working areas to one side or the other of the physical breaks.". I doubt this "autoflow" is going to manage to flll the area of both screens with app artifacts *and* tiptoe around the physical breaks without using lots of "blank space" just like the default does.


There is a fundamental conflict between "consume the screen" (assumes just one) and having a multiscreen set up. The latter lends its self to user managed windows. The former doesn't.

does SL have an equivalent feature? - if there is i'm unaware of it

It was apps specific ( just like in Lion since have to use new libraries. It is more question now of multiple developers not reinventing the wheel).

There approaches to full screen and two monitors. For example Lightroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKEbAkSOXXY

I just don't see Apple not doing that in version 1.0 of the library as a bug. If there are sufficient requests for it, it will come later. Even this is limited though. What if have 3 or 4 monitor... what goes in the one beyond the second ?


Frankly, every app doesn't need "full screen mode". I really think Apple is blowing it by blurring the notion between "app library" features and the OS. Lion doesn't make every app full screen any more than cover flow (in earlier releases) made every app album flipping exercises.

 

[MacSince1990]

Who freaking cares?

Well argued.

So, Apple just shouldn't add features for novices, even though they're completely optional for you? Do you need to like every feature they add, no matter optional or not for you to approve of the software?

Obviously they're not all optional, and they DO take up more space and eat up more resources... esp. when buggy.

Why even waste your time and energy complaining about an optional feature? Remove it from your dock and move on.

I dunno.. why waste your time complaining about someone complaining about optional features?

 

[Akula971]

Not for me

I bought Lion, installed it on a spare drive, rapidly got fed up with it, and went back to my SL installation. I don't like the Interface, Ical, Address book, mail, autosave, scroll bars, mission control, launch pad, I couldn't see my network drives (now resolved).I absolutely hate with a vengeance the new grey look in Finder, the missing Home folder (Library) In short it is different from SL, but in my opinion, not better. It does have a lot of under the hood changes that I'm told are better, but all I see is taking up more memory than before.

It is only £20, so try it and make your own mind up

 

[derbothaus]

You can roll your eyes all you want, but the vast majority of people are using Lion with no issues and are quite happy. I have it running on my Mac Pro and my MacBook Pro and it's great.

That's because the vast majority of users sit at home and are exited their iPod syncs correctly. "No bugs here".
Did you at all notice the "...at work" part of my comment. Are you bound to a domain? Do you use LDAP authentication? Do you need proper SAN/ DFS discoveries? Do you hate the fact that you lock a pref and when launching again it is somehow magically unlocked for the user? If you are on a local admin or local standard account I am sure the experience is basic and usable. Otherwise the eyes will continue to roll as users speak to what they do not understand.

 

[Loa]

Hello,

I've talked about my feelings towards Lion for desktops elsewhere (main feeling = despair for both the short and long term of the Mac), but this article is both funny and to the point:

http://howgoodisthat.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/os-x-lion-apples-vista-moment/

Loa

 

[varunsanthanam]



I bought a BRAND NEW MacBook Pro (15", Quad Core i7). Here my notes on Lion

Lion is FAST. Compared to Snow Leopard, its no comparison.

Lion is Super Buggy. As a long time mac user, this is not what I expected from Apple. WiFi has sporadic issues, multi monitor support sucks, Lion interacts poorly with my printer and my LaCie Blu-Ray drive.

A lot of Lion features which people think are "just for show" are actually quite useful. I use mission control on a daily basis.

Launchpad is useless

Mission Control's version of spaces has taken some getting used to. I'm not sure if its just a matter of adjusting, but I liked Snow Leopard spaces better.

 

[redarc]

mhh

i got raid 0 , and didn t made any back up.. thats the only reason that i still got this lion.. i can t even believe how they can make this so fail.. opencl implementation? i got 1 fps advantages on 3d test...what else.. i can t let parallels or wmare fusion work on lion.. so i have to use bootcamp:S yeh but! i can t use bootcamp with raid 0.. then i had to buy another hard disk , since i use windows for 3d software...if i could go behind with time.. i would surely never install it... its full of bug.. autosave is nauseating.. and scroll suck...since u can install on more then 1 mac.. i installed when it lunched on mbp 15 sandy bridge of my girlfriend.. she does t understand much of computers.. but i'm sure.. that she wanna kill me...bah... very bad -1 apple.

oh yeh i also use to share wifi connection from mac pro.. for give connection to my PS3 for play.. otherwise.. i have to use 7 feet lag cable..what news.. if i able to share connection.. mac pro lose every connection.. and anyway noone can connect to mac pro for use adsl/wifi... no problem in Sl.. really ****

 

[Loa]

Hello,

Lion is FAST. Compared to Snow Leopard, its no comparison.

I would like to know more about this, as Anandtech posted a very detailed test that showed that Lion was just about the same speed as Snow Lion.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4485/back-to-the-mac-os-x-107-lion-review/23

Can you tell us what is faster, by how much?

It is only £20, so try it and make your own mind up

Problem is not the price: losing 30$ for a trial is no big deal. But unless Apple makes some radical changes to Lion in the upcoming 10.7.x versions, it's still going to suck for a lot of people. What then? Wait for 10.8 and pray it's not even *more* iOS-like? Stick to 10.6.x and accept that more and more apps won't run on our system?

People that don't like/hate Lion are between a rock and a hard place, with no good options for the long term. The only option will be to fold and accept a lower-quality OS (form the POV of those who don't want Lion). It's also really sad that, unless Apple changes radically, we already know that people who don't like 10.7 will most likely like 10.8 even less.

Loa

 

[THX1139]

I have been a loyal Mac only user since 1996. Lion is the first time that I haven't been excited about a major release from Apple. It's too iDevice centric and is proof that they have started into their major shift to a consumer device only company. They have practically abandoned the professional crowd with their poor or non existent release of software.

There is becoming less and less reason to stay with Apple. Sure, if I were just a general consumer of devices, Apple has a lot to offer. But for professional needs, the PC is probably going to be my next major purchase.

 

[sparkie7]

Not really. For example 2 screens where the "desktop" spans both. If "full screen" corresponds to just as big as the desktop you now have the app's interface spread out over 2 screens. Again put it into a context for example of a photo editing app. Usually the "working area" is in the middle of the screen". However, in this expand to fill both screens, mode the middle of the screen is split over two monitors. That is probably not what the user wants.

thanks for the explanation. agree, heck, sounds like a big fail. i have 3 spanning displays. this 'feature' definitely counters the usefulness of multiple displays. sort if out . please.

 

[Akula971]

People that don't like/hate Lion are between a rock and a hard place, with no good options for the long term. The only option will be to fold and accept a lower-quality OS (form the POV of those who don't want Lion). It's also really sad that, unless Apple changes radically, we already know that people who don't like 10.7 will most likely like 10.8 even less.

Loa

Hi Loa, Yes this is something I have thought too. I have even considered going back to Windows. I ask myself how long will my Mac's last? and will I replace them with second hand Pre-Lion hardware? I've loved OS X and used it since Panther, but I just don't think that all the changes made in Lion are beneficial for me. I'm still using Win XP Pro in Parallels, as Vista was a disaster, and I'm not going to shell out more cash for Win 7, as Win XP runs my PCB CAD system perfectly.If something works well, why screw it up?

A lot of changes in Lion seem to be for changes sake, or to make my desk top machine look more like an IPad? WTF? It may make it easier for new converts to move to a mac computer after having bought an IPad, but I don't like Apple's attitude to its former customers, which I read as, take it or leave it. We don't need you anymore. Which considering how much cash they have is true. Such Hubris is dangerous. They seem to forget that a lot of people who buy IPads are people who like gadgets and the latest stuff, but they also ditch their gadgets once something new comes out, no product loyalty there. Rightly so too. So Apple, be nice to the people on your way up, you just might need them on the way down, and who is to say how things will progress once Steve Jobs is gone.

 

[Loa]

Hello Akula,

I agree with most of what you said (Except the "going back to Windows stuff": I was never there in the first place!), and I think you hit the nail straight on the head with:

A lot of changes in Lion seem to make my desk top machine look more like an IPad? WTF? It may make it easier for new converts to move to a mac computer after having bought an IPad

The second part is the key: they like the iPad and then buy a mac, telling Apple that they want another type of computing machine, not the same freaking thing! Apple seems to think that Macs are only just more powerful iPad without touchscreens. They're not! And they rightly deserve their own OS. Apple may reply by saying that they want to cut costs with a single OS team. Now cost cutting is always a good thing, but when you're one of the world's most profitable companies, you have some leeway.

They seem to forget that a lot of people who buy IPads are people who like gadgets and the latest stuff, but they also ditch their gadgets once something new comes out, no product loyalty there. Rightly so too. So Apple, be nice to the people on your way up, you just might need them on the way down

Yep, that's something I hadn't considered, and it's very true. Hopefully someone at Apple will see this and correct the strategies for Macs and OS X. Hopefully.

Loa

 

[disconap]

Can't speak to the above (and only skimmed the thread, so apologies if this is redundant) but I put Lion on my mini and kept Snow Leopard on my main workstation, as half my software is buggy in Lion, and most of it won't be patched, they'll just release new versions that are "Lion compatible". And since the Lion features are neat but unnecessary for me, I'll be skipping it until I need it...

Though I must say now that I'm used to the new version of Mail, I kind of love it and wish there was a version for SL.

----------

ok, thanks.

you mean if you go full screen in Lion that other displays will black out? -- if so, surely this is a bug

the Lion full screen feature is BS.

does SL have an equivalent feature? - if there is i'm unaware of it

This was already answered, but just think like setting VLC to full screen. In the preferences, you can set so that other monitors don't black out, but if you don't you get the basic idea. There's no reason I can think of to worry about it--if you need to work in both monitors, just don't set to full screen. Personally I think it's silly to work full-screen and have the other available, as if you need to switch between apps, the ability to do it by click in the screen you're actively working on is far more important than not having the background or top bar visible.

Though that is a matter of preference, of course. Full screen active in one monitor is great for playing media in one and working in the other, but that's pretty much it in my world.

 

[HHarm]

Is it "normal" for Lion that a raid0 boot drive is not visible in the left column of Finder?

 

[petvas]

Is it "normal" for Lion that a raid0 boot drive is not visible in the left column of Finder?

It is the default state, but you can change that.