QotD: Mac OS X 10.5 Wishlist
Posted May 22nd, 2006 @ 08:11pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: What features would you like to see in Mac OS X 10.5?
My Answer: I'd like to see Boot Camp turned into a pure virtual environment that doesn't require logging in and out. Basically, what Virtual PC had - Windows in a window. Outside of that, I don't have many requests. Mac OS X 10.4 does what I need and does it well. Though, when I do think of things, I'll add them as comments. 😀
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Posted 22 May 2006 at 8:23pm #
I'd like to see OpenVPN integrated into Internet Connect.app. From the writers of Poptop: "PPTP is known to be a faulty protocol. The designers of the protocol, Microsoft, recommend not to use it due to the inherent risks." L2TP over IPSec is okay, but getting a server correctly configured is difficult. OpenVPN is widely supported and has lots of nice functionality. As part of adding OpenVPN, Apple would have to official support a tun/tap device (right now there is just a third party one supported in people's spare time).
I'd also like to see the ability to use multiple network interfaces at the same time again. For example, in previous versions of Mac OS X, I could be using iChat over the wireless. If I needed to quickly move a large file, I could just plug into the ethernet, transfer the file (which would go over the ethernet since it's a higher priority interface) and then disconnect and iChat would be unaffected. In 10.4, this functionality broke and when you plug in a higher priority interface, all current connections are interrupted.
Add support to iSync for sending names in the format "Lastname, Firstname" to Motorola phones (or at least the v550).
Replace the older ipfw with OpenBSD's PF firewall (which is now in FreeBSD, NetBSD and DragonFly BSD).
Import OpenBSD's improvements to malloc/free.
Update ssh to version 4.3. Yea, I know I can do this myself, but it's nice to not have to do this and anyway version 3.8 is getting kinda old.
Support for multi-seat. One Mac + multiple displays + multiple keyboards/mice + multiple USB speakers = Multi-Seat. I know this is kind of a long-shot as Apple wants people to buy more Macs, but it would be neat.
Support single-system image or some type of tightly couple clustering with NUMA. The high-end modeling and simulation (my line of work) would really appreciate it. 🙂
Posted 22 May 2006 at 8:38pm #
FTFF.
Spotlight should be faster.
Mail is crazy.
Exposé could use a lot of little tweaks. For example, it'd be nice if you could right click on a window and close it. (Or hold option and get Xes like in Dashboard.)
Tabs should be made into a standard UI element and made Exposé-able.
Spring loaded folders in the dock: How does this not exist yet?
Posted 22 May 2006 at 9:39pm #
I'd like to see a better threading environment. And I'd like to see them ditch Mach. It's nice in theory, but in reality it just leads to a slow OS.
Also, have you seen Parallels Desktop? I have it on my Core Duo mini and use it to run Windows 2000 - it runs very, very well.
Posted 22 May 2006 at 10:31pm #
i still think it would be kinda cool if Apple bought up Quicksilver and built it into the OS.
🙂
Posted 22 May 2006 at 11:44pm #
I don't forsee any particular need for Windows desktop, although it may be more necessary if using windows apps. I would prefer virtualization be more like Classic-- this may interfere with the way some people use the OS X dock however (my dock is on the side). I'd prefer access to files and accessories and printers to be via OS X.
What I expect is... Boot camp. Which we already have. And perhaps more resolution independent interface elements, so folks can run OS X on their HDTVs. And perhaps a nudge back towards 64 bit abilities, which were totally abandoned for the move to intel.
Posted 23 May 2006 at 12:39am #
I want to see better performance on x86, resolution independent display, MathML, and a great solution to 32 and 64bit compatibility on x86 cpus. I also want to see Merom in the 13" macbook by christmas, so I won't have to think too hard about what gift to give my wifre.
Posted 23 May 2006 at 5:05am #
Support for PowerPC !
LAN agrégation.
Posted 23 May 2006 at 7:08am #
Ludovic, do you mean Link Aggregation? Apple added it in Tiger (the link references Mac OS X Server but it works in Client too).
Posted 23 May 2006 at 10:27am #
I don't care about boot camp, since I don't want to have to reboot to use Windows. On the other hand, I love Parallels Desktop and would like to see that kind of virtualization support built into the OS. The OS should run on top of a hypervisor layer that will let other operating systems run with the same hardware support.
Posted 23 May 2006 at 3:42pm #
Not userland, but a few things I'd love to see for CoreData are remote data stores, cross store relationships, and stores for different OS items (like the Address book)that reference (needs #2 to happen).
I'd also like to see everything move to a standard unified look (bring mail, itunes, etc. into the same unified) with the UI elements provided. Right now everone is rolling their own unified backgrounds and junk with none of them being exactly the same. We need to get everyone back on the same page and consistent.
Posted 23 May 2006 at 3:43pm #
I'd like to see Mac OS X support multiple logged-in users via the network, a la Microsoft Remote Desktop. I'd love to be able to log in to our iMac from a laptop upstairs without clobbering the session of the person sitting in front of the machine.
I'd also like to see more metadata exposed in the Finder for media types, so that Finder windows with media files in them can sort/filter on that data.
BSD's PF firewall would be glorious.
Posted 25 May 2006 at 10:36am #
Matt, you can already have multiple desktops in Tiger with OSXvnc. It works very well, the only catch is that you can only resume a Fast-User Switching session remotely--you can't login to a brand new session.
Posted 26 May 2006 at 1:35pm #
someone wanted hot-link-swapping. I do it right now, and it's a hack, but it's a really good hack. If you are living on a flat network behind NAT like most cable-modem, airport, etc users are, then you have the same IP range going to both your wired and wireless networks. You can still have DHCP going on and serving everyone as normal as needed, but you need more power ... so here's what you do:
Enable the wired and wireless interfaces with the wired interface having a higher priority, which you've likely already done. Next, manually assign the SAME ip address to the wired and wireless interfaces. This way IP sessions don't get clobbered by a changing IP when you swap network interfaces. I use it all the time, and have been since 10.3. 🙂
on Boot Camp: it serves a different purpose than parallels. Comparing them will get you nowhere. You're saying you'd like both. I think Apple will let the 3rd party market handle virtual machines, as they seem to be doing already with Parallels and VirtualPC, etc.
What I'd like to see in 10.5 is network copy and paste integrated with rendezvous. I select text, I hit copy, you hit paste. C'mon, tell me that's not awesome. I dare you.