Home Forums FineTunedMac Community Lounge Backward steps moan

I don't know where to put this, so I'll put it here.

I've just discovered an annoying difference between an OS9 word processing application (ClarisWorks) and an OSX one (Pages).

On OS9, still in use on old Macs, if you highlight some text you can move it with the mouse to somewhere else in the paragraph. This is extremely useful when proofreading.

On OSX highlighted text will not move with the mouse. You have to copy+paste it, or delete+paste it.

This is a backward step.

Additionally, on OS9 spreadsheets (ClarisWorks), when you edit a cell, the original number stays in the cell until you press enter. On OSX spreadsheets (Numbers), when you edit a cell the original number immediately disappears. This can be a disaster if you are not very careful.

This is also a backward step.

Don't programmers actually use their creations?

For Pages.... hold down the Option key and the cursor changes to a +. Start to drag the selection and if you keep the Option key down it will copy it. Release the Option key while dragging before releasing and it will move the text.

Blimey that works. Thanks, Kevin !

I also have Pages (V3.0.3) but mine does move the text. I just did a test, and when the cursor was over the highlighted text, the appearance of the cursor did not change.

However, if I clicked and held anywhere in the highlighted text, the cursor changed to a black arrow and I could move the text.

OS is 10.6.2

ryck

Again, my Pages works slightly differently. Clicking anywhere in the text, and pressing Option, didn't change the black arrow cursor. However, at the point I started to move the text, while pressing Option, a green plus sign appeared - attached to the bottom of the cursor.

ryck

You may be referring to a particular text handling property under OS X's referred to by Ryck, one that differs from the way this works in Mac OS 9: after making your text selection in Mac OS X you have to click and hold it before you can drag the selection. If you drag too soon, you'll change the selection rather than drag. In fact, this difference is due to the way text dragging is handled under Carbon vs Cocoa apps.

Many former Mac OS 9 users have complained about this, like in this 4 year old Mac Geekery blog entry.

Here's another thing about OSX (Numbers) spreadsheets, which I'm working on right now in another window.

The default size is 10. I've set the entire 4pp spreadsheet to be size 12 everywhere.

I've learned the hard way that if I highlight a 5x10 cell square and AppleX then AppleV it to somewhere else, the original cell square then goes back to default size 10. I have to redefine that 5x10 cell square and tell it, again, to be size 12 to match everything else.

So, I don't do that. I AppleC and AppleV and then go back to the (still-there) original entries and re-define that square again and BACK DELETE (the key above the return key) to blank them.

I reported this one to Apple, btw.

My understanding is that the text handling was changed in OS X because many OS 9 users found themselves accidentally dragging text when they had intended to cancel the text selection.

I've actually done this myself; had situations in OS 9 apps where my goal is to cancel a selection, but because I'm still moving the mouse slightly when I click, I end up moving the selected text over one letter instead of canceling it.

OS X implemented a slight pause--you have to hold the mouse button down for a moment before you start to drag, and you'll move the text. I actually prefer this, and find that it solves the problem of unintended text drag.

But as with anything, if you have millions of people using a system and you make any change to the system, however slight, some of those people will complain about the change--even if the reasons for the change are sound.