Why doesn't Apple fix the ".DS_Store" bug?

If you search ".DS_Store" in the support archive you'll find the issue has been around for a long time, well over a year. The frustration expressed has been loud and emphatic. The problem? Some folks are finding their computer won't copy some folders from one drive to another. The copying process is interrupted with the following message: "The operation can't be completed because an item with the name ".DS_Store" already exists."

Folks have chosen an Apple computer and something as basic as copying a folder turns out to be a hassle. Apple haven't offered a fix. Apple are an embarrassment.

I've just moved up from Tiger to Mountain Lion. Suddenly some folders I've been copying over for years can't be done! The experts here have suggested it might be a permissions issue or a 3rd-party software issue. They're wrong. IT'S A BUG!

Identifying it took time I'd rather have spent doing something else… (The new 'Apple Experience'?)… As a non-techie who hadn't heard of ".DS_Store" before I read some of the discussions on the issue. The problem seemed to be erratic, some folders could be copied, others couldn't. Here are the steps I took to identify the bug.

1) Since ".DS_Store" files are invisible I used TinkerTool to make them visible, in order to see how they behave.

2) The ".DS_Store" files are nearly always the first item in any folder (viewed by Name or Date Modified etc). Such folders can be copied without a problem. However, where for any reason the ".DS_Store" file isn't at the top of the list (eg where there's an item whose name deliberately begins with a space) the copying of that folder will be interrupted.

3) If a folder can't be copied because the content viewed by Name means the ".DS_Store" file isn't at the top, changing it to view by Date Modified will bring the ".DS_Store" file to the top of the list and allow the folder to be copied.

4) Apple, is that arbitrary behaviour intended? Or is that A BUG?

We want to know!

iHope