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diff --git a/macos-notes.txt b/macos-notes.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 349c046..0000000 --- a/macos-notes.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,52 +0,0 @@ -After years of playing second fiddle to iOS devices and software updates, 2019 has been a year of Mac love. Apple fans have seen new Mac Pros worthy of the name, and MacOS 10.15 Catalina, the newest operating system for the Mac, has more updates and improvements than any release in recent memory. - -It's true many of the things I love in the new MacOS actually rely heavily on the iPad and iPad software, but Apple has clearly spent considerable time reflecting on, and then refining the MacOS experience. The outcome is the demise of iTunes, smoother device syncing, iPad apps on your desktop, , and you can track your screen time on your Mac just like you do on iOS devices, and plenty more in this sprawling, but worthwhile update. - -### The Best Thing in Catalina is Your iPad. - -Assuming you have an iPad, the standout feature in MacOS Catalina is the ability to use your iPad as a second monitor or, using the Apple Pencil, as a drawing tablet (much like a Wacom tablet). If you don't have an iPad Catalina might convince you to get one (see our [iPad buying guide](https://www.wired.com/gallery/the-best-ipad/)). Sidecar, as this feature is known, effectively turns your iPad into a portable dual monitor setup with a drawing tablet option to boot. - -Technically the dual monitor option has always been possible using an app like [Duet Display](https://www.duetdisplay.com://www.duetdisplay.com/), but native support offers better performance in my testing. The nice thing about Sidecar is there's no need for developers to update their apps, it just works. - -Sidecar is useful for everything from keeping your Photoshop palettes on the iPad screen while your work canvas is on your MacBook, to previewing presentation slides while you work on them. Using Sidecar in conjunction with the Apple Pencil opens up some new possibilities, like the ability to draw on the iPad while using proper desktop drawing apps like Adobe Illustrator rather than Adobe's somewhat neutered iPad drawing apps. - -In order for Sidecar to work you'll need an iPad running iPadOS 13, and a compatible Mac (see Apple's [list of compatible hardware](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210380#systemrequirements)). - -Catalina isn't just about bringing iPad hardware to MacOS, it also brings many iPad applications to MacOS as well. Thanks to some new tools, Apple has made it much easier for developers to port their iPad apps to MacOS. A few popular apps, like Twitter, are already available, and some of Apple's own apps also use this technology (notably, the new Podcasts app comes from iPadOS). - -### Musicology - -Having been on record as an [iTunes hater since 2008](https://www.wired.com/2008/11/the-top-ten-reasons-itunes-sucks/), I'd like to take this moment to do a little dance on its grave. Except for one thing: iTunes is not really dead. It's just back to doing what it was once really good at, managing your music. Oh, and it's been renamed, Music. - -Apple has pulled apart iTunes and assigned all its former functions to different apps: Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts. All iDevice syncing now happens in Finder and, in perhaps my favorite MacOS change in years, when you plug in an iPad or iPhone... nothing happens. Sweet, sweet nothing. Your device will charge and show up the Finder sidebar if you want to interact with it, but no app launches. - -Apple Music is tightly focused on your music and nothing else. It looks like iTunes once did before Apple started bolting all kinds of odds and ends onto it. That said, it's still the most complex of the three new apps, handling your local music library, a music store (which is still called the "iTunes Store"), and Apple Music, Apple's streaming music service. Each section gets its own place in the sidebar, which means there's still a lot going on for a music app, but at least it's all music related and no music features have been removed. - -I no longer have a huge iTunes library to run through the upgrade process, but I did do an in-place upgrade with a small library and ran into no problems at all. One important thing to note, iTunes might be gone, but the monolithic iTunes library in the file system is not. Make sure you don't delete or move that file because all the new apps use it (see Apple's [help page](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210200) for details). The other slightly confusing thing is that you have to open Music to get the library converted. Until you do that, none of your content will show up in Podcasts or TV. - -If you've ever used the Podcasts app on iPad, you'll recognize the new MacOS version. Not only is it a nicely done podcasts app, it makes a good showcase of how apps from the iPad can be translated to MacOS. The best feature in Podcasts is the search tool, which will now search not just the metadata and descriptions that your favorite podcasters write for each episode, but also Siri-transcribed transcripts of the actual audio. This means if you search for "Gadget Lab" not only will you find the podcast, but also any podcasts that might talk about Gadget Lab, or use the phrase "Gadget Lab". - -The new TV app is where you'll go to view your purchased items, access any third-party streaming services you've paid for, like HBO or Hulu, and find recommendations on what to watch. The app itself looks like it does on Apple TV and iDevices, but the way it handles outside content is different, frustratingly so in some cases. - -If you subscribe to a streaming service, say PBS Kids, you might see a PBS Kids channel in the Apple TV channels app offering a subscription as well. These subscription services have some great features.They don't require additional apps or logins, you can share subscriptions between devices, and you can download episodes for offline viewing (something many of these services do not allow in their own apps). But, and this is a big but, you'll need to unsubscribe and re-subscribe within in the TV app for this to work. It's awkward and honestly I'm not sure I would have figured it out were it not for our friends at [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/10/macos-10-15-catalina-the-ars-technica-review/7/#h1) pointing it out. It is a very confusing and un-Apple-like experience. - -While iTunes is gone, it's features live on in separate apps, the same is not true of Dashboard, once Apple's way of giving quick access to widgets like notes, clocks, weather and so on. Dashboard was disabled by default in MacOS 10.10 Yosemite, and now it's gone. Most of the functionaity, like widgets, is still available through the Today tab in Notification Center, but [TK link to Lily's piece](link). - - -### Sweating the Small Stuff - -Apple has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to accessibility. Catalina continues that trend with a new voice-control feature makes it possible to completely control your Mac (or Pad, or iPhone) with spoken commands. It's partly driven by improved Siri speech recognition features (English only for now) and partly by using a very clever system of grids and numbers that overlay your screen. To navigate around you first activate the grid, then call out the part of grid you want to access, and then you can trigger mouse clicks or press buttons using your voice -- no mouse or trackpad necessary. - -Catalina is packed with other small, but useful improvements. The Notes app gains a gallery view, and the ability to share and collaborate on folders instead of just notes. The iOS app Screen Time comes to MacOS to let you know all the ways you're wasting time on the web. Other new apps include News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos, which all come from iOS, as well as Apple Arcade which makes games available across all your devices. If you own an Apple Watch, you can use it to authenticate on your Mac. Instead of typing your password to confirm a payment, unlock a note, or approve a download, you can use your Apple Watch. - -If that sounds like a frivolous thing, it is, but it's one you might come to appreciate because Catalina is going to ask you to approve more things. Like Mojave before it, Catalina introduces even more security restrictions to control which apps can access which files and folders on your system. While many of these security enhancements really are just that, they do create additional approval dialog boxes to wade through when all you want to do is download a file or open a new application. - -### Should You Upgrade? - -Absolutely. Though maybe not right this second. My approach has always been to wait a few weeks, let the early adopters find and report all the problems, let Apple release updates to address them and then upgrade. - -The good news is that updating your old Mac probably won't slow you down as has occasionally been my experience with past MacOS updates. You can check to make sure your Mac is compatible here (if it's not, have a look at our guide to [which MacBook you should get](https://www.wired.com/story/which-macbook-should-you-buy/)). I tested Catalina on a brand new MacBook Pro, a 2017 MacBook, and a 2016 iMac, and neither of the older machines felt any slower after the upgrade - -I haven't had any significant issues running Catalina since the GM release, but some users have reported problems, mainly with third-party apps (Adobe Creative Suite especially has had some hiccups). Additionally Catalina drops support for 32-bit apps. - -For most people this probably won't matter, but if you rely on software that hasn't or won't be updating to 64-bit, you won't be able to run it once you upgrade. |