In Windows from even an early age, we’ve been able to cut files (move them instead of copy them). But in OS X, you have to drag them, while holding down Command.
I’ve just noticed that there is sort of support for cutting, if you look under Edit in the Menu Bar, you’ll see that Cut (Command+X) is greyed out… WHY?!
Anyone got some ideas on this?
Traditionally, the edit menu is present in Mac applications, whether the application supports cut, copy and paste or not. If it is not supported, the commands are just greyed out, not removed.
So – there’s no support for cutting of files.
From an interface perspective, the lack of support for cutting files can be a Good Thing™. If you cut and don’t paste in most applications you will loose the information, so it can be argued that cut could be used for deletion. Using cut on a file potentially raises issues of data loss, or a conflict with the cut/copy/paste paradigm.
Windows sucks, which is why Microsoft choose to ignore this.
But in Windows™ when you cut a file, it’s still there, if you dont paste it somewhere else.
I think i understand what you’re trying to say… it just doesn’t really cut it though. lol?
Yes this is correct, in Windows, it doesn’t cause data loss.
This does, however, conflict with the cut/copy/paste paradigm as, traditionally, cut should cause data loss.
How would a user know that cutting their files will not cause data loss, unless they have been told otherwise? What if they started using cut to delete files, assuming that this would work?
In Windows, you’re not really cutting the files, but Microsoft have gone with this idea anyway as it’s a concept that people will understand, even though it’s not properly implemented.
Apple are the kind of company that would rather not do something if it conflicts the basic concepts of a user interface. Microsoft don’t care.