Q: Open and Save dialogue boxes are useless
I have recently moved from Windows to Mac after being told I would never look back and I am already 'looking back' somewhat in terms of the OS. I work with photos and graphics and I'm on the move a lot so went for a Mac Book Pro Retina with SSD and I am not going to lie it is lightning quick and the display is beautiful. But when it comes to saving and opening workflow it does not work how I expected it would.
It seems such a simple thing but you cannot rename files from within mac open and save dialogue boxes. I'm so used to right clicking on a PC to create a new folder, hit F2 or right click and hit rename to rename to what I want then save the file into that new folder. You can also directly edit the name of the files and folders from within the open save dialogue box. If you right click on a mac you can create a new folder but it defaults to the name 'untitled folder' and you then can't change it's name. It find it unbelievable that you can not do this on a MacOS! So unbelievable that I went into an Apple store and spoke with someone there. When I showed them the problem they weren't even aware of it and pointed out I should just use finder. But that is not convenient if if you want to rename a new folder to then have to come out of the open save relocate in finder and change from there.
I know there is the new folder button down to the left hand side and you can rename the folder as soon as you create it using that but sometimes you may make a mistake and want to change it. Same with file names.
Why can't you do this on a Mac? It's crazy. After searching about, I came across the Default Folder X app which appears to fix this issue which isn't really that cheap for something I consider should be 100% native in any OS.
There are other issues that frustrate me from moving over from Windows to Mac (like the ability to snap windows to screen edges, Better Snap Tool fixed that for me at a much more reasonable price but still would have expected this to be native), which I know I will just have to get used to but this one really surprised me.
Considering I was promised so much in terms of better efficiency with work flow and ease of use overall there is still a lot that's left to be desired.
Posted on Jan 26, 2015 5:25 AM
I think some of you are misunderstanding what otmaxo is saying. When you are in the save file dialogue box, you can press the "new folder" button, and then create a new folder which you can name whatever you want. No problem with that.
However, when right clicking in the save dialogue box and choosing "new folder" from the menu that pops out, a new folder is created, but you are not able to name it! That is very frustrating, and it must be a mistake in the OS. Either you should be able to name your folder when you create it, or the option to create a folder through the right click menu should not be there.
I think that suggesting "you're doing it wrong" is quite arrogant, when he is actually using a function built into the OS. Mac is said to be efficient, but when you use the built-in function to make a folder in the save dialogue, and then have to navigate through Finder to name it afterwards, that is about as non-efficient as it gets.
Posted on Feb 10, 2015 6:12 AM


