Finder is (in my opinion) one of Macs worst apps in terms of usability. But lets start with simple example: there is no visual way to cut and paste files and usual key-shortcut (cmd+x) does nothing.
However, you can move items by copying and when in destination folder right-click while option-key pressed. Then “paste item” becomes “Move item here”:
But why is this hidden behind “option”-key? There is plenty of space to show both menu-items without any key-shortcuts.
And why is not cmd+x shortcut working? Apple uses that same shortcut for cut&paste in other apps, like Apple Mail. Why not in Finder?
Mac Problems 
Yes, Finder works the way that you essentially don’t have a “cut”. You have move and copy. You can copy a file with Cmd-C and paste it with Cmd-V. Or you can move it with Cmd-Alt-V. I think that this is more consistent than having two different shortcuts for copying while having one for pasting. On the Mac, you have ONE shortcut for putting something in your clipboard (Cmd-C) – and then you have one shortcut to paste it (Cmd-V), which you can modify to work as a move tool too. I think this concept is way easier to grasp than having two different ways of putting something in the clipboard.
It seems to me that most of the problems you list on this blog are not actual usability problems of macOS, but they are problems of what you are *used to*. You are used to Windows, and you expect macOS to behave the same as Windows. That’s what many of your complaints seem to be based on.
I switched from Windows to Mac, too. (I had also tried Linux for quite a while, but the fiddling and the amount of software that was just not available annoyed me.) I was irritated by the changes too, in the beginning, but then I realized that I had to approach macOS as something entirely new and different and not expect it to be similar to Windows. Because Windows is very common and something that we all get used to, we think that the way Windows works is “right” and everything else confuses us. However, Windows has a lot of pitfalls and issues, too, and once I realized that you had to actually “learn” macOS for a few days and approach it as something new, I noticed that there are lots and lots of things that macOS does way better. The concepts are simpler and more straightforward.
For example: The context menu of Windows shows you everything, all the time. That’s nice because nothing is “hidden” as you put it. However, it comes at the cost of the context menu being very large and sometimes quite confusing. Because it’s bigger, you need more time to find what you are looking for, especially when you have programs installed that add to the context menu.
The approach of macOS confuses and frustrates you when you are used to the Windows way, because you expect everything to be visible all the time. But if you think about it, why would you even want that? You don’t use 80% of the options in the context menu most of the time – but on Windows, you still have to sift through ALL the options ALL of the time. On MacOS, it’s way less cluttered. It looks prettier and options are easier to find. The cost of this is that some options aren’t always visible. However, the approach is pretty straightforward and actually makes a lot of sense. It’s very easy to grasp if you don’t expect it to behave like windows: There’s an “alt/option” key on your keyboard. What does this key do? Exactly, it shows you ALTernative OPTIONs. All the time, everywhere! You only need to hear this once, and now you will always know: If you don’t find what you’re looking for at the first glance at the short menu, you can press this very logically named button to look at the alternative options.
It’s just a different way of thinking that you have to get used to. That works best if you don’t cling onto your old Windows ways. Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages.
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This is what i often come across on these issues, that they are “Mac way of doing things”. Yes they are, but my main focus here is factual usability, like how many clicks or key presses does action need. If there is quicker or more obvious way to do something, i will report it here 🙂 So if “move” option needs a extra keypress, like Option-key, and then it is a factual usability problem.
I do not count hiding items to make menus prettier or less cluttered as good usability. If there would be some visual indication and mouse-only way to show hidden options, then it would make sense. But relying to “you need to know this hidden-key” just is not good usability in any way.
But I do not take sides with operating systems. Windows has it own problems in usability but they are not the focus of this blog, because there is somewhat lack of sites that address these Mac-usability problems. And if there is not discussion about them, Apple will not ever fix them.
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