Q: after installing maverick power button does not provide options to sleep, shut-down

Mavericks changed the power button behaviour:

"Press the power button for less than a half a second to sleep or wake your Mac. This duration is similar to pressing the Space bar or Return key to wake your Mac. The power button works this way across all Macs using OS X Mavericks, including both notebook and desktop computers.

Press and hold the power button for 1.5 seconds, to bring up additional options."

OS X Mavericks: Using the power button

Thanks for the response - straight out of the internal help files...

this is really poor on apple's part... it should be a preference what the button does... i used to use it everytime to shutdown the machine...

Really don't like this at all.

http://apple.com/feedback

Is it really that big of a deal though? An extra 1.5 seconds?

yes it is...

its a huge PITA - its not the 1.5 seconds... its the personal habit that has built up around it, end of the day go to shutdown, power, enter oh wait its gone to sleep... wake up, shutdown again...

i have to shutdown as i keep too much on an external hdd, and i can't disconnect the hdd in sleep, so the best way to keep it running happily is to shutdown...

and thank you evan for your incredibly helpful post.

I'm not sure how much more helpful I, or anyone else, could be. So you're very welcome.

There is no changing it. You can either use the button with its changed functionality, or use the Apple menu to shut down.

I've given you the link where you can submit feedback on your issue. That is all there is to be done.

Just as an FYI.

You can also use bring up the original power button menu for "restart, sleep, cancel and shut down" by holding down ctrl when pressing the power button.

I know how Alex feels with quickly pressing the power button being habitual, as mildly annoying as it has become, I've found that having to hold control and pressing power is easier in changing my pattern than having to hold down the power button.

I do understand Alex.hg. It is not 1.5s, it is functionality. Why they have changed to sleep function??? they would add that function when you hold 1.5s, if it is needed!!! So it would be

press power button: Power management menu could appear

hold power button 1.5s: Sleep

Hold 5-9 second: Force shut down

wouldn't be much better.

and I did not like it like Alex.hg!!!

by the way Evan W, thanks for the link, I was looking for that link since many years!!!

     I DO think this is a Big problem, because I accidentally Hit my power button a lot, because apple thought it was a Brilliant Idea to make the power button part of the keyboard, exactly above the delete key. It messes me up all the time, I will be playing a game, typing a paper or just surfing the web, and I type a word wrong, and I try to delete it, but accidentally hit the power button and the computer instantly goes to sleep. It is a huge inconvenience, It would help to have an option in settings to turn "instant sleep" off, or to disable it, a box you can check off, in the general settings. Its not removing the feature, but disabling it for people who don't like it. Rather then them hating the entire operating system for that one reason. A button.

I accidentally Hit the Power button 2 times while I was typing this message. It is an inconvenience that does bother people, that can be solved with a simple solution. Think about it,

                             Thanks

Couldn't agree more, it should be an option as i also get highly fustrated when i hit the button and it sleeps not bring up my power options !!

The problem with the change is that the common use case for the button is to bring up the menu and click either shutdown or restart and not sleep. Most people that I know put their laptops to sleep by closing the lid. I doubt anyone will push the power then close the lid, espically since you don't need to push power.....

Like some other users this is driving me nuts.  When I try to hit the backspace key I often accidently put my computer to sleep.  I've just been looking in system preferences to see if there is a setting that'll make the button less sensitive to accidental keystrokes.  There isn't.

Hope this affects enough other users for apple to consider it a bug and offer a fix.

The point is not 1.5 seconds.  The point is the location of the power button next to the delete key.  Some number of times a day, I accidentially hit the power button when I mean to hit the delete key.  When the dialogue came up with previous versions of the OS, I could cancel it, leaving all running processes running.

When you put the machine asleep, a number of things happen with a wide array of applications, especially those that have active network links. Putting the machine to sleep terminates a Skype video conversation and waking up the machine does not automatically re-establish the call.  iTunes is stopped and does not automatically resume.  I do not have an exhaustive list for you.

Please provide a preference so those of use with the power button next to the delete key can avoid considerable wasted effort!

I'll tell you why is it such a big deal.

My son is 1.5 years old. And apparently I look very fascinating while I work on my mac. He comes close, and love hitting keys. Earlier, if he hit the power button, I could simply cancel the sleep/shutdown. Now the screen is black! It is annoying. My husband faced this issue, his laptop's power button was causing a shutdown, but he could configure it, so now it confirms before blacking out. But I hate not having that option. Now if he is sitting on my lap talking to his Grandmother on video chat, I have to manually cover the power button! Gosh I hate it.

OMG is this annoying.  I wondered why it hadn't been a problem before and now I know:  I no longer have a cat in my Mac, but an old Ford.  Booo.

This is another example of someone changing something that needs no changing (in the opinion of many) and not even having the decency to make it optional.

For the record, we now have the "accidental sleepers" (me included) and the  "shutdown not sleepers" ****** off.  So, two groups annoyed because someone's "brilliant idea" made it through to production. 

This is the kind of thing I expect in Linux land (KDE 4.0, anyone?) not from OS X.