OS X: The Psychology of Early Adoption

I am writing this article for two kinds of Mac users: (1) those who are thinking about the early adoption of OS X, and (2) those who have adopted early and are finding the transition difficult and frustrating. I have adopted early, despite warnings from various users and articles I have read about the perils of early adoption. The day it came out and I went to take a live look at it. I was immediately hit with a volcanic rush of Applelust and I wanted to see it on my machines at home. I couldn't resist. Besides, being an Editor I thought I needed to use it if I was going to be publishing articles by others who have used it. So the day it came out I ordered from the Apple Store at education price. It arrived two days later. Since then (see fuller story below), I have now migrated over to OS X full time — and I love it!

My battles since have proved most helpful to me, and I hope they prove helpful to you. I have learned the lesson well (I hope!): If you are going to adopt OS X early, then the only way to do it is with a "I'm not looking back, full steam ahead, to infinity and beyond!!" attitude. You have to clearly make the decision that you are jumping in no matter how deep the water; you have to determine not to look in the rear view mirror ever again. This is the only way you will stick with it long enough, with all the frustrations and hassles, for this OS's beauty and grace to come to the surface. And once you hit that, or rather once it hits you, there really is no looking back, for you will find it hard to be content with anything else. But unless you make a brute and sheer commitment to stick with it, you may never see its elegance. In other words, if you are thinking about early adoption, then you must gauge whether you have the will-power to do so: It's going to take a lot.

My set up is as follows: G4 450/AGP/384RAM/Radeon with two drives. I have several Firewire external drives ready for back up, as well as a QPS CD-RW (for using under 9.1). So as you can see, I am not desperate waiting for a lot of drivers for older devices right now. (And for those who are waiting for drivers, and depend on the devices driven, then it may be best to wait. I leave that up to you. I assume that if you are thinking about early adoption then you have thought through your hardware configuration and whether you can support OS X and whether OS X can support you.)

When OS X arrived I simply installed it on the same disk that 9.1 was on. It didn't go very well. No kernel panics or anything, but very slow and a bit unstable at times (and a lot of cursor-spinning). So I erased the drive, set up two partitions, installed 9.1 on one, and then installed OS X on the other. My old set up under 9.1 was moved to the other drive so I could boot back into it anytime. I then installed my necessary software onto the 9.1 partition. Things have gone much smoother.

Now let me say this: The first days were a pain. Big time! I had to learn how to navigate the new system. I had to set up the Dock the way I wanted it. I had to set up the desktop the way I wanted it. I had to set up the Toolbar in my windows the way I wanted it. I had to change the icons on apps so they were OS X compliant (and they look better). I had to set up my View of Windows (background image and so forth). I had to figure out where it was putting things. I had to learn some new extension names. I had rehabituate myself away from the Apple Menu and learn how to get more out of the Dock. I had to figure out how to get the Trash on the Desktop. I lost my beloved Software Base Station for AirPort; even though there are hacks out there, they did not work on my machine (even after checking my work). But a boot back into 9.1 gets it up again. I had to learn that I was not just a user but an "Administrator." Unless you have the sheer will-power to make it through this you might not make it at all.

And then there is Classic. Actually, I for one have had few problems with it. I find it fast (or fast enough for my purposes). I had to learn to figure out when Classic was running in the background. I solved this very simply: I have it start up on boot and not go to sleep. It makes a difference. The reason it seems slow is that if you set it to Sleep (under the advanced options in the Classic Start Up preference), it will have to wake up in order to launch a Classic application. I then had to resign myself to the fact that many of my apps are still "Classic" apps! But I went through this with the move to PowerPC native apps, so I understand how it works. I had to resign myself to the fact that many of my "crucial" apps will not be Carbonized for a while. This was easier because Classic has been so stable for me. And let me emphasize: I have not found one single application, which I consider "crucial," that I have lost the ability to use just because I adopted OS X early. Not a one! (At least for me.) And isn't that the point of Classic? Waiting to adopt because one will lose old favorites doesn't make a lot of sense to me. And believe me, I have many, many old favorites. But unless you have the intestinal fortitude to put up with some waiting, and don't mind jumping back onto a 9.1 disk from time to time, then forget about it. Resign yourself to the fact that you can't resign yourself to these things and walk away.

And then Carbonized applications starting coming out from developers. The best to date for me has been GraphicConverter 4.06 and iView Media Pro, but I will be talking about these in a review later. Then there are beta releases. Understand - they ARE BETA releases! They can get chunky and odd at times. Yet development on some is moving so fast it is hard to keep up. But for the most part I have enjoyed the beta versions I have used, and found them well-suited to my needs. The list includes AOL Instant Messenger, osxsettings, iRecall 1.3, and TinkerTool. But using a beta, even ones as stable as these, takes a certain level of courage some may lack. So again, unless you make the decision to go full steam ahead, you might not make it.

The Promised Land

But make it to what? I have been saying that you must have courage, fortitude, will-power, and strength, or you won't make it. What I mean is this: The inherent beauty, stability, ease, and sheer joy of OS X does not hit you at first. Sure, there is physical attraction right away. But getting to the soul of this OS takes time and effort. Superficial lust will turn into a loving commitment if you stick with it long enough, and are willing to put up with a few inconveniences along the way. But the more you use it, in my experience anyway, the more you'll simply fall completely head over heels for what is arguably the most beautiful and powerful OS on the planet (all hype aside, really!). Folks, this is one monster of an OS. Since I installed the second time I have played around in the terminal (foolish me!), and have learned that many of the GUI elements are merely .tiff and .pdf files that I can get to from within 9.1 (at least for Resource folders), open in Photoshop or Acrobat, and hack away. I have set up my own log-in panels and boot panels. My own! It's all so easy.

So my simple words of advice for potential and frustrated early adopters are these: Do not ask whether OS X is right for you, but ask whether you are right for OS X. Take an introspective inventory of your ability to stick with something, your patience, your fortitude, your "will to power," and your ability to put up with the loss of what have become "necessities" in your Mac experience. It takes some level of problem solving skills to adopt this OS early. It takes a fair amount of flexibility on your part. If you have the right stuff, then the only way you can make it as an early adopter, retain your sanity, and peace of mind, is to jump in and do not look back. Otherwise, you might become a "OS X basher," as they are being called in some forums at some sites. That won't help anyone.

My only complaint so far is this: This OS is so beautiful that I find it hard to work. I keep catching myself just sitting here admiring the looks of the thing. It is gorgeous.

So take the plunge, if you think you can ...

David Schultz

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