One of the great things about paradigm shifts is we can throw out the old and start from scratch, getting rid of all the old cruft that’s built up over time. Computers are no different, and the tablet revolution has allowed us to rethink a few things. It looks like Apple is finally converging some of the lessons learned with iOS and OS X. So, let’s take a look at some of these ideas:
The App Store as a sole source of software
I’ve heard a lot of complaints about this. The fact of the matter is that for the average user, this makes sense. It limits the exposure due to malware. For users who need expanded privileges, it is extremely easy to do. This follows a principle of secure by default and requiring a decision on the user’s part to open up their system. Does Apple benefit? Surely. However, in this case the decision also benefits users.
Messages
We are surrounded by a variety of chat systems. On mobile phones, SMS reigns supreme; while on the desktop, there are more chat protocols than you can shake a stick at. Bringing Messages onto the desktop starts to unify the two systems. While Jabber and AIM / OSCAR are two very common protocols, it would be good to see Twitter and perhaps even IRC. (While I would love to see SILC supported, I don’t expect to see that anytime soon). One other thing missing is OTR support. While the iMessage compatibility is interesting, lack of Twitter and OTR support make it not compelling enough for me to switch over as my chat client*.
XCode
Apple is now providing a much smaller download with just the compiler and commandline tools needed to use Homebrew or other package management systems.
Conclusion
We’re starting to see some of the benefits of tablet revolution folded back into the desktop and laptop realm. For normal users, these changes create a more streamlined experience and improve the overall security of the system. For developers, there are some changes to simplify non-iOS / Cocoa developers’ setups. I think this is a step in the right direction.
Except that it’s called “Mountain Lion.”
Footnotes
- I currently use Adium for my chat and twitter client.