Make macOS consistently bad unironically

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Mac users are reacting strongly to macOS “Tahoe,” where newly exaggerated and inconsistent rounded window corners highlight deeper frustrations with Apple’s recent UI and window management choices. Commenters debate whether these visual regressions and interaction issues—harder window resizing, awkward full-screen behavior, sluggish notifications, and performance quirks—are minor cosmetic annoyances or symptoms of a broader decline in Apple’s design discipline and attention to detail. Some point to Linux and tiling window managers as increasingly attractive alternatives, especially for users who value control and consistency over Apple’s tightly opinionated defaults.

Rounded corners & visual consistency

  • Many notice inconsistent corner radii between apps and window states; some find it visually unbearable, others literally never noticed.
  • Critics see it as a sign of deeper design/engineering sloppiness and poor separation of concerns, not just a cosmetic nit.
  • Defenders argue the radii are intentional (different window types) and that focusing on corners is bikeshedding given larger OS issues.
  • Several point out practical regressions: cut‑off content (scrollbars, text) and harder resize handles at rounded corners.

Window management workflows

  • Huge split: some almost never maximize windows, preferring overlapping “spatial” layouts; others maximize or tile everything, especially on large/4K/ultrawide displays.
  • macOS’s full‑screen mode (green button) is widely disliked: hides the menu bar, moves windows to separate spaces, and breaks some window-switching expectations.
  • Built‑in tiling (hover/option‑drag on green button, drag to edges, keyboard shortcuts) exists but is seen as hidden and weaker than Windows or Linux tiling WMs.
  • Some rely on third‑party tools (e.g., Rectangle, Magnet, yabai, KDE+i3‑style extensions) to get sane tiling/keyboard‑driven workflows.

Broader UX regressions in Tahoe

  • Complaints go well beyond corners: “Liquid Glass” transparency, pill‑shaped tabs, and sluggish notification buttons are common targets.
  • Window resizing in Tahoe is widely reported as frustrating and less reliable than previous versions.
  • Some feel macOS window management has been “death by a thousand cuts” over many releases, with Finder often cited as persistently bad.

Performance & stability concerns

  • Multiple users observe WindowServer and kernel_task spiking CPU after upgrades, causing laggy UI, slow app switching, and multi‑second delays.
  • There’s debate whether WindowServer high CPU is cause or symptom of misbehaving apps, and frustration at poor tooling to diagnose it.
  • Some report having to disable transparency, tweak spaces behavior, or use CPU-throttling utilities to keep systems usable.

Security, SIP, and corner fixes

  • The corner‑fix technique requires disabling System Integrity Protection and patching system libraries.
  • One side: if malware already has root, SIP doesn’t matter much; others counter SIP is still valuable for protecting OS integrity and recovery.
  • Several argue real risk often comes more from package managers and unvetted code than from toggling SIP alone.

Comparisons, alternatives & Apple’s direction

  • Linux (especially KDE/tiling WMs) is praised for configurable, discoverable window management and UI; some recent macOS converts feel Tahoe is a regression.
  • Windows is criticized for ads and bloat, but its snapping/tiling is often held up as better than macOS.
  • Some see the details regression (corners, input lag, hidden behaviors) as evidence Apple no longer has a strong, Jobs‑style perfectionist vision; others caution against overreacting and view these as annoying but survivable design swings.