What i've discovered is you really need to buy and/or install a bunch of 3rd party applications to get that horrible UI to work in any usable fashion.
But if this is the case, why do so many developers buy and enjoy macbooks? It seems ridiculous that you have to pay such a premium for a nice laptop, and then find random 3rd party applications to make it work the way you want.
If I wanted to endlessly tinker then I'd be happy with Linux. I was under the impression that macbooks would "just work". I've also been disappointed by poor UX in some cases, like randomly showing "enter your password" dialogs.
It's just a matter of redefining "just works" as "just works, as long as I adapt my workflow and UI preferences to The One True Apple Way".