* * * * *

 I think the problem is that without Steve Jobs, there's no one at Apple that
                   can say “No, we aren't releasing this.”

A few months ago, I think back in late September or early October, I needed
to reinstall Linux on my work laptop due to a hard drive failure. Over the
following week or so, I came to the conclusion that Ubuntu [1] had jumped the
shark [2] and that whatever they were trying to pass as a “Linux Laptop
Distribution” (Ubuntu's Ulcerating Unicorn [3]) was probably a secret plot by
Microsoft to discredit Linux.

The upshot was that I got a new laptop a few weeks later—a shiny new Macbook
Pro with all the bells and whistles. It took a few days to get the then-
latest version of Mac OS-X, Mavericks, configured to my liking (and really,
Apple? Near arbitrary names for versions? I could never remember if
Jaguarundi was newer than Ocelot or was it Puma, Ocelot and then Jaguarundi).

There was only one problem—it couldn't log onto The Ft. Lauderdale Office of
The Corporation's local wireless network. The wireless adaptor works (I was
able to hook up to the local wireless network at Chez Boca) but for some
reason, it just refuses to join The Ft. Lauderdale Office of the
Corporations's local wireless network. In my opinion, it's not that big of a
deal as I've always been able to use Ethernet. But it was an issue to my
manager, S, so it came to pass that today was The Day to fix it by installing
the latest version of Mac OS-X, [DELETED-Rabid Wombat-DELETED] Yosemite.

It's a testament to Apple that I spent more time trying to live with Ubuntu's
Ulcerating Unicorn than I did with Apple's [DELETED-Rabid Wombat-DELETED]
Yosemite. Not only did this not fix the wireless network issue, but part of
the menu bar was constantly flashing for no apparent reason; I had to
constantly reinstall DoubleCommand [4] (I need DoubleCommand [5] so I can use
my preferred keyboard [6]) but the final straw was maximizing a window.
Previously, when you maximize the window, it takes up the whole screen, minus
the menu bar at the top. But under Yosemite, the now flat, dull green button
(I guess to harmonize with the new trendly look of Apple's iOS 8 [7] for the
iPhone/iPad) the window took up the entire screen, obscuring the menu bar!

At that point, I pulled all the cables out of the laptop and unceremoniously
handed it to the IT (Information Technology) person, demanding it be put back
to Mavericks. I hate to say it, but I think Yosemite is worse than Windows.
Apple Mac OS-X has not only jumped the shark, it has jumped the Discovery
Channel's Shark Week [8].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system)
[2] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases#Ubuntu_14.10_.28Utopic_Unicorn.29
[4] https://github.com/mbaltaks/doublecommand/issues/23
[5] http://doublecommand.sourceforge.net/
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_8
[8] http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2014/08/18/340630812/broken-teeth-and-fake-umentaries-another-shark-week-gone-by

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