TechComputers & PCsApple’s taking the Mac back to 2005, and i couldn’t be happierApple’s 2023 version of macOS looks awfully like something much older, and I’m absolutely delightedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechComputers & PCsApple’s taking the Mac back to 2005, and i couldn’t be happierApple’s 2023 version of macOS looks awfully like something much older, and I’m absolutely delightedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Apple’s 2023 version of macOS looks awfully like something much older, and I’m absolutely delighted
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
If you live long enough you get to see history repeating: what’s old to you is shiny and new to people much younger. And the shiniest, newest thing aboutmacOS Sonomathis year is something that was shiny and new for me 18 years ago: desktop widgets.
The desktop widgetsAppleis so proud of in macOS Sonoma are really, really old. I don’t want to sound like an ancient Mac user but I am, so that’s how it comes out: what you’re seeing in macOS Sonoma is what we had on macOS Tiger.
That was in 2005.
(Image credit: Brian Sawyer / Flickr)
(Image credit: Brian Sawyer / Flickr)
Why widgets went away, and why they’re back
I miss widgets. I miss them so much that I bought a third party app, WidgetWall, to bring them back to my Mac.
The widgets Apple delivered back in 2005 were part of a feature called Dashboard, and it was my very favourite thing about that version of the OS. But Apple never seemed to really care much about the widgets, and over time they were given less and less attention; today they live in the Notifications area of macOS on myM2 Mac mini Pro, where they’re rarely seen because I forget they’re there.
And widgets have an even longer lineage. The first version of Stickies, which put little Post-It style notes on your desktop, was written in 1994 and included in System 7.5 (and it’s been in macOS ever since).
The reason Widgets are back is primarily because the lines between theiPhone,iPadand Mac continue to blur. Widgets are a big part of the currentiOSoniPhone, and on iPadOS too; theiPadsupport is getting better with the arrival of lock screen widgets iniPadOS 17later this year; and the widgets in Sonoma will include iPhone ones if your iPhone is in range. So each of your devices will feel more and more like a different window on the same stuff. And of course widgets are going to be great on theVision Pro.
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History isn’t really repeating here. It’s more that Apple has found a new approach to an old idea. And that old idea was a really good one, so I’m glad it’s coming back.
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