I'm surprised by the strong negative feelings some have. I've been through three OS X updates now. The Yosemite update was smooth on both my 2010 MacBook and 2011 iMac, and I immediately liked the dark look. Been productive on it ever since. It is a bit laggy switching desktops, but I have no desire at all to roll back to a previous OS. Pretty much a shrug from me.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Yosemite looks terrible!
- Thread starter OldGuyTom
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
I agree with with you 100%. Well put, plastically, showing the core of the probelm. # # #
Valid observation. Still, quite a lot of those topics have been generated in the first few month after Maverick's release. Also, Yosemite was widely available as public beta long time before the release. And finally, the speed of topic creation is certainly not linear. I wanted to point out that no OS X version is issue-free.
People here like to claim that Yosemite has been less positively received than any other OS X version before it. I don't see any evidence for this claim whatsoever. The polls etc. paint a completely different picture.
I don't see it as a problem, simply because I don't see Yosemite as less usable than Mavericks. Or better put — its not Yosemite's problem, its your problem. As said before: can't please them all.
And btw., we are not 'defending' Yosemite, because again, there is nothing to defend. The overall picture is fairly clear: Yosemite has been favourably received by the vast majority of users, its adoption rate is though the roof (it has caught up to Mavericks in under 2 month after release!), and its visuals are praised by overwhelming majority of both professional and private reviewers. This thread might give you a different idea, but then again, it has stayed active because of dedicated activity of two-three very passionate users. I rather see my role here as keeping the things sane by offering an opposite point of view. Which is ultimately a very silly thing to do. Then again, I haven't been giving much attention to this thread lately — everything what could be said has already been said and now its just recycling and venting.
Your point is very clear and reflects your objective approach to the "Yosemite-gate".
And most probably you are right stating that Yosemite does not differ from other, earlier upgrades in respect of public reception.
Nevertheless, I am more than convinced that many of the "revolutionary" design changes were not taken positively. This thread may not give an objective picture, but - amongst other things - the numbers cited above show a trend. I have already expressed my views concerning the minimalist Bauhaus design of Yosemite in this Forum and my personal view remains rock solid, i.e. in the 21st century, in the world of multiple dimensions, IMAX movies, 3D TVs etc., the nostalgy for naiv/"primitive" art embodied in a high-tech equipment might not be the right choice.
Last edited:
And yet minimalist UI is the latest trend of fashion. Everybody is doing it. In the end, that's what it's about: fashion, not more, not less.
Fashion has many faces. If it loses practicality, is in contradiction with the micro and macro environment and does not reflect the general human development, then it is nothing but the game of a minority forced on the majority.
So we're into Fashion now. Whatever happened with Think Different??
And why is minimalism automatically linked to flat??
----------
I share your sentiment, but honestly I don't like the alternative either (Windows).
To me, Windows UI looks a whole lot better than Yosemite - but there's so many other issues with that OS.
Do you really consider to switch?
Windows 8 is like the Windows classic of Windows 95/98 just with colour. Yosemite still looks better. Still, it's a low standard when one is less worse than the other when everything is worse off.
Attachments
Last edited:
I'm certain of internal issues at Apple as I believe that they are substantial at that. This lack of cohesion is likely due to not enough staff for any of the divisions as well as being over worked. Tim Cook is no visionary as Steve was.
As far as I am concerned, this whole discussion has been about fashion from the beginning. And - Apple was never about 'think different'. More like 'doing things properly' (and at this point I must say that I also think that their QA department and the overall management has a lot of issues).
Yeah, people like that term for some reason. I have no idea what it means, to be honest. Android Material Design is said to be 'flat', Windows 8 is said to be 'flat', Yosemite is said to be 'flat'. And yet Yosemite has much more depth (as in '3d') than Windows 8, because of its translucency. Material Design is great and shares a lot of traits with Yosemite. Bottomline: I have no clue what are the criteria to classify something as 'flat'. I have better idea what 'minimalist' means, and Yosemite certainly walks down that road.
I fully agree with your statement. However, I don't see how this even remotely applies to Yosemite. Its interface is coherent, practical and functional. If we just ignore the UI reskin for a second, its just like Mavericks, but with less clutter and more focus on user content.
Let's quit beating around the bush, guys. The thing just looks stupid. it was a bad design and a bad implementation. The 1 star ratings exceed the 5 star ratings at the App Store by a significant percentage.
I'm not sure why people are getting on this thread trying to convince people it's really good/great/wonderful/whatever UI. It's a matter of taste and personal preference, and statistically a large number of people don't like Yosemite. This hasn't been said to this degree on any other OS X release. I've never seen the degree of negativity displayed on any version, ever.
I'm not sure why people are getting on this thread trying to convince people it's really good/great/wonderful/whatever UI. It's a matter of taste and personal preference, and statistically a large number of people don't like Yosemite. This hasn't been said to this degree on any other OS X release. I've never seen the degree of negativity displayed on any version, ever.
Aww, so now we are doing "let's stop talking, its clear that I'm right" thing
Yosemite is used on daily basis by over 20 million people. Several thousands have had issues with installation/whatever and a bunch of those users have left a negative review. Clearly Apple is doomed
I'm not sure why people are getting on this thread trying to convince people it's really bad/ugly/awful/whatever UI. It's a matter of taste and personal preference, and statistically an overwhelming number of people like Yosemite.
Last OS X that did not start a major discussion of this kind was Snow Leopard (and that was shadowed by the install corruption bug). I remember exactly the same kind of discussion when Mavericks came out. Or Lion. And the overwhelming body of negativity comes from a small bunch of users that keep this thread alive.
On a more serious note. Sure, Yosemite's design is controversial. Except that its not. Its simply the most dramatic paintjob change OS X has ever seen within a single update (they used to be more gradual). Obviously some people will react strongly. After all, no discussions are as heated than when it comes to taste. I the end, the only thing it means is that Apple is not losing its touch — despite ons of internal problems — and that they are still willing to take risks and do what they want to do. That's what Apple has always been about and I can't see anything negative in it. Your attempts to downplay Yosemite's success (which is the most successful OS X release so far) in spite of the clear evidence are laughable.
Last edited:
More to come
I don't think so; Rodster's comments make sense.
Loyalty.
I know what you mean. But the discussions feel less repetitive now than they did pre-release. Maybe thanks to the pinning by moderators; most things that should be separated are reasonably well separated.
Do you have any links handy? Thanks.
It's rarely a problem with the user's perception. More on this later, maybe tomorrow (Sunday).
I said months ago that Yosemite would succeed. Neither its success, nor its relatively high adoption rate, can be taken as proof that the one-size-fits-all redesign was appropriate.
Non-professional reviews can be surprisingly enlightening and from what I have seen, the majority of comments may be not favourable. More on this maybe tomorrow.
Thinking beyond majorities-vs-minorities: Apple should be concerned about the nature of people's criticisms. Some of what I read recently makes me believe that Apple is quietly concerned by the unexpectedly negative reactions.
That's not silly. In other situations, I play devil's advocate.
I'm not sure that it's necessary for a CEO of Apple to also be a visionary.
I'm certain that the problems within and around OS X Yosemite are mostly not a result of organisational problems I'm certain that they could have been avoided (probably before the first seeded pre-release) if those organisational problems had not been brought to the surface.
Per-division staffing levels? I wouldn't like to guess. Greater problems probably involve scale and velocity within the company, and it's not enough to simply increase levels of staffing. Overworked? In some areas, almost certainly.
I strongly suspect that some of the QA advice is ignored by management at some level. That's not necessarily a failing of that level of management
The interface is far less coherent than Mavericks. To discuss this in detail might be 'recycling'
It's extreme.
I might have screenshots somewhere. Not a priority though.
Loyalty.
I don't think so; Rodster's comments make sense.
Loyalty.
I know what you mean. But the discussions feel less repetitive now than they did pre-release. Maybe thanks to the pinning by moderators; most things that should be separated are reasonably well separated.
Do you have any links handy? Thanks.
It's rarely a problem with the user's perception. More on this later, maybe tomorrow (Sunday).
I said months ago that Yosemite would succeed. Neither its success, nor its relatively high adoption rate, can be taken as proof that the one-size-fits-all redesign was appropriate.
Non-professional reviews can be surprisingly enlightening and from what I have seen, the majority of comments may be not favourable. More on this maybe tomorrow.
Thinking beyond majorities-vs-minorities: Apple should be concerned about the nature of people's criticisms. Some of what I read recently makes me believe that Apple is quietly concerned by the unexpectedly negative reactions.
That's not silly. In other situations, I play devil's advocate.
I'm not sure that it's necessary for a CEO of Apple to also be a visionary.
I'm certain that the problems within and around OS X Yosemite are mostly not a result of organisational problems I'm certain that they could have been avoided (probably before the first seeded pre-release) if those organisational problems had not been brought to the surface.
Per-division staffing levels? I wouldn't like to guess. Greater problems probably involve scale and velocity within the company, and it's not enough to simply increase levels of staffing. Overworked? In some areas, almost certainly.
I strongly suspect that some of the QA advice is ignored by management at some level. That's not necessarily a failing of that level of management
The interface is far less coherent than Mavericks. To discuss this in detail might be 'recycling'
It's extreme.
I might have screenshots somewhere. Not a priority though.
Loyalty.
Hum? What are you referring to?
You seem to be the intended public for this upgrade: recent switchers. They like it. They get attracted to it. The novelty effect still hasn't worn off.
But it's certainly the first Mac OS X version to receive such an extended and widely open public beta period compared to previous versions. Developers and common users alike all had the opportunity to send feedback about the OS, and most certainly did.
There is absolutely no reason for Apple to dismiss the nature of some widely-reported concerns and to rush into production without correcting major ones, without even going through a Golden Master stage as they had before. It just seems they opened this beta test period as a way to test the waters, without any intention to correct any issue.
As was said before: I thought Apple was all about "Think different".
Aww, so now we are doing "let's stop talking, its clear that I'm right" thing
That's correct. It's my opinion and the name of the thread is "Yosemite looks terrible!" which is itself an opinion.
Yosemite is used on daily basis by over 20 million people. Several thousands have had issues with installation/whatever and a bunch of those users have left a negative review. Clearly Apple is doomed
Just because there are over 20 million people using it (according to you) doesn't mean they like it.
To vent frustration perhaps? Possibly to find some workarounds like cDock? Possibly to find polls and propagate petitions for Apple? Possibly to encourage people dissatisfied with the product to contact Apple and complain about it rather than just accepting something we (us complainers) don't like?
This thread has a view count of nearly 200,000. I've never seen anything like that from any other OS release. I've seen complaints about the minor appearance changes that have occurred in the past, and the problems (bugs) that always occur when a new release comes out, but never anything like this. There is no comparison.
Would you care to prove that comment? I've never seen so many 1 star ratings of any OS in the App Store. I've never seen threads with 200K level counts dedicated to complaining about the OSes appearance. The graph at GoSquared now appears to be leveling off at about 30%.
Prove your comments with some real data.
It actually did level off. The initial rate for Yosemite was very fast. If you drew a line from the base of the graph to about the middle of the break point, it would be about 45 degrees. That period ends at about Oct. 24. Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 22 the rate is about 10 degrees and usage increases from approximately 20% to 30%. After that, it looks, on the average, pretty flat to me. It's too early to tell, but if the Yosemite adoption curve starts going down, which I would think is unlikely, it would indicate that Yosemite is a flop, IMHO.
Meh, this is somewhat related I suppose. It's more about iOS and my feelings about Apple in general right now which spills over into their current design. I doubt anyone cares, but aww well.
Post
It makes me sad because Apple was the only company I ever felt that I related too. Now I feel that the Apple I loved is gone. It's sad, because it's a real loss. It was a hobby, interest, and enjoyment.
Post
It makes me sad because Apple was the only company I ever felt that I related too. Now I feel that the Apple I loved is gone. It's sad, because it's a real loss. It was a hobby, interest, and enjoyment.
Last edited:
Thanks, that actually means a lot because it's the first time I've really tried to explain my feelings to that depth online.
___________________________
Like I said (and don't judge me
) I really did love Apple - in a business, entity, technology way. Their systems felt so unique. It all seems generic now. There are cool things; Continuity is a huge step towards a unifying ecosystem, but I'm still sad at the direction. Look at Windows 8 and the Surface. Sure, it hasn't been a blockbuster, but at least they did something fundamental. All Apple does now is minor conservative tweaks. That's not to say I'm discounting their blockbuster past, but I mean LOOK AT THIS THREAD! Here we are discussing Apple's design failure. Apple used to be all about design.I use both Mac and Windows. I HATE Windows but I will do the what I have to do. The only way to make Apple notice the dissatisfaction is to take my business elsewhere and replace my Mac with Windows and replace my iPhone with a Droid when it's time to replace them. They will get no more of my money until they change.
I've given them 3 decades of loyalty though many good and many bad times. I hate to do it but the garbage they are putting out in iOS 7/8 and Yosemite is the end for me.
I'm also not sure why people are getting on this thread trying to convince US that Yosemite should just blindly be accepted as great when we don't like it. I guess we all just need to line up in Ive and Cook's office and get our lobotomy. I hope they give me a drool bib covered with the "great looking" pastely flat Yosemite icons to drool on after they do mine.
If we all hate it and think it looks terrible no amount of telling us to change our minds will work. We still think it's terrible.
Everybody has a right to express his/her views. Everybody has a right to be (blindly) loyal w/o personal originality and being influenced.
Everybody has a right to follow trends accepting them because they are to be liked and worshiped.
And all have the right to accept what is really good for them. It just takes a little bit of personal integrity and independance.
And yes, Yosemite looks terrible!
- Status