Drags & Drops at the Heart of a Mac

There’s a beauty in how the Mac commits to “the desktop and files” metaphor. I think it’s admirable how ever since the earliest days of the Human Interface Guidelines, direct manipulation has been a core benefit of the operating systems: You Can Just Move Things Around. I want to explore how its been a phenomenal success, and where it has drifted off course. A familiar idea. There’s some aspects of this direct manipulation mentality that throw people off: The lack of snapping to grid on the desktop can feel chaotic if you’re new to the OS and are used to anywhere from 2-5 columns of icons1. But there’s also a beauty in comparing the install process on Windows, in which you must Consult The Install Wizard, and Mac, where you take the Application and put it in your Applications folder. And it’s there. Nice, right2? One might hope the dragging to install would serve as a tutorial, but not often do I see new Mac users struggle to understand the power of it. I prompt them to drag icons off…