http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/20/what-do-you-want-to-see-in-mac-os-x-10-7/
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It’s time again for another Dear, Apple letter from the readers of TUAW. In our first series (part one, part two, part three) you told us what you want to see in the next iPhone OS. Now we need your help again to tell Apple what you want to see in the next version of Mac OS X.
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I’m a newbie MacBookAir who left windoze behind. I’m pleased but not ecstatic.
(1) MobileMe “backup” of contacts hasn’t worked in a year. A long series of Genius Bars and chat sessions (that mysteriously drop after we run through their script) hasn’t made it work.
(2) Mail sucks. It’s not as good as Outlook, or LookOut as I grumbled when it did something strange. It should handle private key encryption. And, better “smartboxes”.
(3) Time Machine backup is ALWAYS backing up and slowing the pig down.
(4) Airport is always scanning for a wap, even when it has MINE, and slows stuff down. And, for some reason, it ignores all of them, so I have to select MINE! Argh! Of course, while this is happening, performance goes to hell.
(5) iWeb is good for beginners who want to do a simple complete website. Publisher on Windoze is better. But no one does a great job.
(6) iWork reminds me of Window’s Word a while ago.
(7) iTunes is a performance and a functional disaster. Have nothing to compare it to, but it could be useful if it didn’t perform like a pig. A pig that needs a support staff to understand it’s uses.
(8) The helps on the Apple provided software are limited and lame. Like an intern threw up some initial stuff and that was good enough.
(9) Windoze is notorious for the way it “sludges” up over time. My macbookair is beginning to feel the same way. Could it be the same need to be “reborn” from scratch?
Needless to say, I’m not a fan of Apple. But then, I’m not a fan of Windoze either.
# # # # #
Reinke Faces Life 
How about some simple things:
Make ALL windows expandable, e.g. System Preferences force you to scroll.
How about TextEdit handling tables without slowing to molasses.
Consistent “Upgrade” menu items. Why hunt and peck to find them (this is a GUI issue for vendors, but Apple should lead.)
Apple should test its upgrades to preclude so many disasters for users who make the jump. Users should NOT Guinea Pigs
Make all text selectable and copyable, e.g. text in various info boxes.
Why can’t I drag text into the search box in Safari?
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My Macs don’t have these problems. Mobile Me Sync always works. Mail handles thousands of messages without a hiccup. Time Machine only kicks in on schedule, does exactly what it’s supposed to do, and exits. Airport locks on quickly & doesn’t scan endlessly. iTunes handles all my music, and my iPod & iPhone. And millions upon millions of Mac users have the same experience. So chances are you got a lemon, or don’t know how to manage a Mac. I would bet on the latter. Oh, and Forget iWeb. Just use an ISP that installs WordPress for you, and get some skills. There is no short cut to a real web site.
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I’ve used Word since version 4.0 when it was the best thing in town. After 5.1, it started to go to la la land. Currently Word is lost, it’s weighed down with all kinds of functions you don’t need and it’s about as “simple to use” as photoshop. Pages is brilliant. The learning curve is very short, it does a lot more than you think at first glance – especially for graphics – and it makes it very easy to turn out a really good looking document. I’m not talking about the templates either. And now that Pages does “Track Changes” and opens and saves in a variety of MS formats, I have finally expunged Office from my Mac. And saved a lot of space too.
RIP Office!
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I doubt you need to rebuild your system
Check that you have a decent amount of free disk space all the time. !0% free should do. If the drive is too full OSX will bog down.
Also, boot off a system disk and run a disk utility, repair privileges and check the drive and see if that helps first.
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1. Update the MacBook Air. It is the SLOWEST of all Macs (hence the first guy’s post). Or eliminate it. It is no longer a hot commodity, if it ever really was. Speed is more important than weight as it turns out. Also, let this guy know that he’s probably NOT got his system formatted as journaled and so it’s not auto-cleaning itself for optimization. (Dude, do a backup, wipe your system and reformat, then reload, it WILL get better).
2. The question was what can Apple do for OS X, so let’s get to that.
a. Fully flesh out Quicktime. It still doesn’t have an Mpeg2 decoder that’s native
b. Lean on Microsoft to finish Outlook OR make Mail.app equal to it so that it works with Exchange 2003 and 2007. Not just ’07. Many, many businesses and universities didn’t upgrade to ’07 because of the cost. Microsoft’s CAL fees are outrageous. I prefer Mail anyway. i remember Outlook for Mac. It was worse than Word 6.0. ‘Nuff said.
c. Clean up iTunes is a valid point. It does TOO much now. If it needs to, segment the support for devices into modules that we can turn on and off in Preferences so that if we don’t have a device, it hides that form of content.
d. Ok, I’m breaking my own rule here and going for something out of OSX. Just buy Adobe already and put us all out of our misery by cleaning up that company. AAAACK!!!
e. Add file exchange support between OSX and the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad via data cable and/or Bluetooth. We all know it’s there, just disabled, and it is truly ridiculous. OSX is 9 years old, the iPhone original is now going on 3. What’s the big holdup?
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