I'm Not Using the Major macOS Mojave Features

I’ve been running the Mojave beta of macOS since it was released. Two of the most touted features, Dark Mode and Desktop Stacks, are interesting but I’m not using them.

I didn’t expect to love Dark Mode, as I’m not a fan of dark themes in general. At first it was fun, but the novelty wore off and I switched back to Light. I may try it again once more apps are fully compatible with it. It’s a fun, low impact way to shake things up a bit, but not for my everyday use.

I truly dislike the “Stacks” feature for files on the Desktop. I don’t use the desktop as a dumping ground for files. I use it as a temporary landing place for things I need to access quickly. I cluster files visually, and manually. With Stacks enabled, my files are moved automatically into stacks based on file type (by default). I’m not sure how automatically organizing things by file type would ever be useful. I never think, “Hmm, now where did I put that PDF file?” Files can also be organized by dates and also tags. Stacking by tags would be most likely to work for me, but I’m not going to tag files just so they can be swept up into a pile of documents I can’t see without clicking on first.

What’s worse is when clicking a Stack, the stack expands and moves everything around so I have to then try to find the file I’m looking for. I don’t like things being moved around like that. It’s like having the rug pulled out from under me. I find it disconcerting and not useful.

I look forward to hearing what people think of these features once in widespread use. My hunch is that many people will love Dark Mode but fewer will like Stacks.