I am currently on a journey to optimize my workflow, which includes using as many application and system shortcuts as possible. But boy, it is extra hard on Mac device.
About six months ago, I switched from Linux/Windows to the macOS ecosystem. I knew the system was flawed, but the appeal of ARM chips in Apple’s new hardware lineup was too strong. Needless to say, I now wish Qualcomm had more success with the Snapdragon Elite.
So here I am, stuck on macOS, discovering just how frustrating this operating system can be.
While I have countless gripes, one particularly stupid and obnoxious issue stands out: macOS’s refusal to provide a single, global way to maximize—and restore—a window. Some apps respond to Command + Control + F, but most don’t. Want to maximize IntelliJ IDEA? Sure, that’ll be Command + W + 3. Obviously. And, of course, every other application has its own unique shortcut.
Why?
Yet, despite this inconsistency, all applications have a top-left button that behaves the same way. If those buttons exist and function uniformly, it defies logic why they wouldn’t respond to the same global shortcuts.
And don’t get me started of finger and mental gymnastics required to restore minimized window. What an actual fuck!
The ergonomics of macOS (even if we ignore the dumpster fire that is Finder and a few other native apps) are so poor that even Windows is starting to look like a good enough option.
