Mavericks was tough to give up, stable, fast. No discoveryd. IMHO, its the best release of OS X. Maybe everyone has amnesia but pre 10.3, OS X wasn't really usable full time. Each 10.2.x release was a whirlwind of changes.
Very true statements. However, those were growing pains. I feel like Apple's problem now is that it has completely given up on its overarching philosophy: to make software simple.
Instead, they're just offering us their own versions of things just because they can, not because their's is any better. Maps being exhibit A, and Apple's mail client not changing in 10 years (aside from some minor adds and removes) are examples of this.
Apple used to mean software for people who were not technology savvy. Now it means phone software for people who are not technologically savvy, and computer software that's just like everyone else's. Frankly, I can never figure things out on an iPhone. They're too confusing in their interface. Especially compared to my beloved Newton 2000.
Regarding Mail, I don't really want it to change. Other than the improvements in stability and speed that I've noticed over the years, Mail.app is pretty much exactly what I want in a mail reader on OSX. Sometimes Apple's changes seem purely for the sake of change and result in reduced usability (e.g. Photos), I don't want that to happen with mail.
> Apple's mail client not changing in 10 years (aside from some minor adds and removes) are examples of this
How is Mail.app supposed to change though? It still completes the task that it was designed for. I'll agree that Mail's stability has been spotty across releases, but how are you expecting them to change such a core app?
Don't worry. I remember. cifs.kext is hella more stable nowadays than back then. I used to have the entire OS come to a grinding halt if a mounted Samba (or NFS) share disappeared (e.g. mount local share at home, put laptop to sleep, wake laptop at school).
I remember that in (I think 10.3) they "fixed" the issue by having a timeout dialog popup and ask if you wanted to disconnect... only it was too sensitive and would popup (and then go away before you could react) if there was any jitter in the network connection.
I'm so glad both my work and personal machines are still on 10.9. I've been contemplating updating, but everything I've ready continues to say I shouldn't.
Early iOS had wonky reset issues too.