The thing that makes me crazy about obvious ports is all the hidden features built into Cocoa (and most Carbon) apps that stop working. Simple example: in a text box with only one line, hit the down arrow. In any well-done, Mac-conistent app, the cursor will go to the end of the line. This has been the case for about 2 decades. Not so with Windows (and Linux, which seems to mimic many bad choices of Windows) - the down arrow does nothing. The Mac seems to say, "Well, I cannot go down, so I might as well get as close to that as I can." Windows says "Duh. Cannot perform that function" and ignores what you probably want.
Firefox uses the Windows/Linux behavior, on a Mac. Of course, Microsoft Office for Mac does, too.
This is just one simple example, but every time I use a non-Mac-like piece of software, I find myself being held back by all the little behaviors that just don't work. Then again, iTunes and other Apple programs sometimes run into similar problems. Even more disconcerting when that happens.
by Dan Shockley — Mar 22
Firefox uses the Windows/Linux behavior, on a Mac. Of course, Microsoft Office for Mac does, too.
This is just one simple example, but every time I use a non-Mac-like piece of software, I find myself being held back by all the little behaviors that just don't work. Then again, iTunes and other Apple programs sometimes run into similar problems. Even more disconcerting when that happens.