Regarding the iOS-ification of OS X
Some have argued that in Lion we saw the beginnings of an “iOS-ification” of OS X, which Apple now appears to be continuing with in Mountain Lion. I have seen a lot of arguing back and forth whether this is or isn’t the case and many good points have been made from both camps. Since I’m an Internet trouble-maker, I thought I would give my humble opinion on the topic.
Yes, there are a lot of features that are coming to OS X from iOS, but I wouldn’t quite go so far as to say that OS X itself is turning into iOS. I think the term “iOS-ification” implies that OS X is turning into iOS, rather than staying the way it is. What started in Lion, I think, was Apple starting to streamline the general user experience for all people, although mostly for those who get a Mac after they get an iOS device. The differences between how they do a great deal of their tasks are pretty big and I think it is more fair to say that Apple is applying features to OS X where they make sense, and those features appeared on iOS first. The look the same and work in a similar way as they do on iOS in order to enable as smooth and non-confusing user experience as possible.
Changes as big as the ones Apple are implementing right now are undoubtedly quite scary for a lot of people, simply because it is different from what they are used to. I don’t think this means Apple is “dumbing down” OS X or turning it into iOS, but more along the lines of making the first threshold smaller for most people. Sure, experienced users and professionals will most likely find themselves a little put to the side since Apple doesn’t cater to their needs specifically. But as stated in Star Trek; The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
In the grand scheme of things I imagine that nothing will really change and we will continue having the two separate systems chugging along next to each other. One designed for the conventional personal computers like desktops and laptops and the other for the tablet computers and smartphones. This is not a mutually exclusive concept and the two can very much co-exist fine right next to each other without merging or leaving only one standing, thunderdome-style.
Give yourself some time to adjust to the changes, or just turn off the new and unwanted features completely. You will still be able to work with files and do all that kind of stuff as you please for some time to come. Just because Apple has added a lot of features doesn’t mean the old ones go away completely or that OS X will be revamped over night and you no longer have access to all the things that make OS X great.
Besides, there are other operating systems out there and nobody is forcing you to use OS X, except perhaps if you are forcing yourself, but that’s a different story.
