Software quality in macOS was important back when they were trying to get people to switch from Windows-based PCs to Macs. Nowadays, most people who were going to switch have already switched, so Apple has no incentive to keep up the same level of software quality anymore. They just have to keep people locked into their ecosystem (with iPhone etc.) enough that the barrier to switch out again is high enough.
There is no reason for Apple to improve macOS, since doing so won’t make anyone switch to Macs who hasn’t already switched, and not improving macOS won’t make anyone upset enough to switch back. Ergo, Apple leaves macOS to stagnate, and they will keep macOS at this bad-but-not-horrible-enough-to-switch level for the foreseeable future.
That’s my theory, anyway.
The core applications that I use (Firefox, Docker, VSCode, vim, ...) all work just as well on Linux, MacOS and Windows.
I have a Mac, because it's (at least previously) been pretty secure by default, doesn't require me to invest a lot of time sysadmining my own box, and lets me dip into a healthy ecosystem of commercial software useful to my hobbies (like photography.)
The software has definitely declined in quality, but not enough to massively annoy me.
If there is lock-in, it's on the hardware side. I've got an early 2013 MBP, still going strong, a bit dented but it's been around the world with me a few times, so that's understandable.
My workplace uses Dell XPS hardware, and that's good, but it still doesn't feel as solid to me. It's good, but it's not as good.
I think the hardware is the laurel Apple has really been resting on.
I could meet my main use cases on Linux quite happily, and dual-boot Windows for the rest. Right now the premium on Mac hardware, which only happily runs an increasingly decrepit operating system, isn't looking worth it. Previously, it was.
Most people don't realize but the vast majority of Video Editing was Windows based till about 2010 when Final Cut was considered best in class (I can't stand Final Cut myself but to each their own...) The vast majority of video editing is now Premier due to Apple's handling of Final Cut Pro and the lack of support for the Mac Pro (They usually sit in back rooms as expensive file servers) Also most people mentally think that somehow Apple is better for design but the software runs just as well on Windows.
The iPhone and the money spent on software is what is keeping people these days. But whenever I talk with my friends they are certainly not thrilled and zealots of Macs anymore. The vast majority of my video editing friends are getting really frustrated with what they call the ceiling. Do you really want to be editing full time on a lap top? The Mac Pro isn't a real solution for full time editors.
I believe not only that for the majority of users there is a level of software lock-in, but further there is a high level of psychological lock-in, where users get used to and comfortable with Apple's design strength, which is Apple's main offering.
As people get more comfortable and more older it is easy to say that people get more resistant to change.
Photos, apps purchased, and iMessage are overwhelmingly the reasons I don't see people switch. All their kids photos, etc, are stored away and they'd have to figure out how to nicely export them. iMessage is seemless for them across devices while an alternative like Hangouts doesn't have the market penetration—it isn't ubiquitously used even among just Android users. Apps purchased I added to the list because often people don't think about it, but if you mention "re-buying all your apps" you see the frown appear on their face.
I personally prefer Windows, but as a software developer I had to buy a Mac, I grew tired of having to always power-on a Mac OS X virtual machine. My job is so much easier now then it was on windows.
I have the macbook pro, iphone, watch, airpods, and they all work pretty great together. It's a cohesive experience that is going to be really hard for me to break out of it.
But you're right, I could probably switch to Linux and be fairly happy.
- Large iPhoto library - Easy syncing with multiple iPhones (notes, photos etc) - Xcode for iOS development
Edit: By the way, regarding the vulnerability, ANY password you use when you first attempt to login as root BECOMES root's new password. (Blank is a red herring.)
So if you're going to test this, maybe use something non-obvious. In a terminal, setting a strong password for root with "sudo passwd" is the quickest mitigation.
Ill-advised, but in a pinch, you can apparently 'secure' a machine you don't otherwise have access to by attempting to log in as root with a long random password you fail to remember. An admin on that machine can later change root's password with a "sudo passwd".
Also, it appears the "dseneableroot -d" command suggested elsewhere here fails in preventing root login.
Try it and post a top level comment now. I'm pretty sure it won't be at the top initially because you don't have enough karma for that.
That said, between this, the disk encryption bug, not being able to type "I" on an iphone you have to wonder what is going on. I recently upgrade my MacBook Pro to High Sierra and it's been plagued with problems (Weird red flash when displaying menus, hangs/crashes with external monitors etc.)
Then I look at switching away, and I lose all the OSX software I own, all the easy iOS integration, all those Pages documents etc.
Maybe I just need to build a cheap but upgradable Linux box and start trying to switch.
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2016/10/29/2240
I have to use Windows for work, though (I'm at a Microsoft subsidiary, and all we get are Windows machines), and I can live OK inside WSL.
A lot of macOS users would actually prefer Apple to do less with it than what they are currently doing.
I don't know much about this bug but I have seen several reports that the bug has actually existed quite some time and is not new, only the publicity surrounding it is now shining a bright light on it.
I’m not so sure about this — although it may be due more to the hardware side of their business: after the recent, disappointing iteration of their MacBook Pros I’ve heard a lot of people considering to switch (and actually switching).
Taken together with software quality issues, I wouldn’t be surprised if at least a subgroup of users are leaving Apple gradually. That subgroup being professional users, of course: Apple is still unassailed as a status symbol, and casual (+ mobile) users seem more than happy.
Remember that back when Apple made only computers, right before the iPod, they were on the verge of bankruptcy and barely profitable.
Since then their laptops have taken off, of course, and I have no idea how much money they make off them. But compared to the huge torrent of cash Apple makes off iPhones I can't imagine the beancounters see a huge amount of value in investing heavily in the parts of OS X that aren't shared with iOS.
Much like the importance of feeling safe in our own house, if the computer that houses our information suddenly makes us feel unsafe or exposed, we'll naturally seek other options unless the issue is, shall I say, swiftly fixed or easily fixable.
They can't afford to wait 2 years (or whatever) to update the phones, and Mac OS gets pulled along for the ride.
Of course all that changed when its only priority became to shift more iPhones, and everything became secondary to that.
So it’s not that there aren’t still people who could conceivably switch to Macs, it’s that Apple decided they didn’t need more converts quite as badly anymore.
Still, only my theory of course.
For some examples, look at the impression of Microsoft and Windows when it comes to quality. It is only now starting to improve, with gigantic efforts from Microsofts side. Another example is Linux and usability, which have constantly gotten better (maybe still not good enough, but that's better left for another thread) but still many see Linux as "advanced" and only for power users. These are not perfect examples, of course.
What I mean is that I think it's bad strategy on Apple's part (if they're doing this deliberately), especially considering the resources they have at their hands. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple could increase it's desktop market share further by positioning themselves as high quality. However, it's a reputation they are losing fast.
Is it? They axed their internal QA and definitely aren't catching all the bugs with the "Insiders Program."
After the Fall Creator's Update I've had to log in twice (after the first one I just get sent back to the login screen).
The workaround is disabling a setting: "Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart."
I'm also getting repeated alerts that a restart is required to complete installing an audio driver, but restarting doesn't finish it. I probably need to track down the responsible driver, uninstall it, and reinstall manually or hope Windows does it.
Obviously that's not as serious an issue as unauthenticated root access, but in day-to-day use of my Windows computer I don't have a very positive impression of their software quality.
I've heard of a lot of people switching away from Macs to Linux and Windows, especially with Windows building up their own official Linux subsystem now.
PC hardware is cheaper than Apple's, and hardware (even the "good stuff") becomes obsolete after 5 years anyway. Besides, most software is cross platform these days.
The only real good retention plan Apple has is that we can't release iOS apps without owning Apple hardware; there's a few Mac-specific software titles that certain professionals rely on; and a little bit of "it's overall higher quality than PCs" mindshare that some people still have either from the 80s and early 2000s, but that can't last long if Apple keeps this up.
The new MBP isn't attractive anymore. The software stagnates. The only reason I keep using Mac for usual use cases is just its wonderful collection of dictionaries (I like to constantly learn new languages). I wonder why no publisher ever bothered coming up with a decent dictionary software on Windows/Linux yet instead of making do with crappy online versions. If they did I'd happily just use a Windows + Linux dual boot machine.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. There are a lot of "about to switch" people out there, in both directions, who are just waiting for either the extra nudge or the extra reason to not switch.
At the logon screen, just pressing ESC got you to the desktop.
Incompetence seems to be a more likely fit here than that.
Now that Google Docs and Office 365 are "good enough" for most things, I would probably be happy to go back to Linux if there was a Linux machine that had comparable build quality yet was a bit cheaper than a Mac.
I'd mention aesthetics, but the current Linux distros look quite good, plus they're customisable.
