I'll check it out, but in his past reviews, I've had the impression that the author really likes showing off his background knowledge of all things Apple. A lot of the text is irrelevant to the review, and therefore shouldn't be there. Also, the endless, endless links. He really needs to learn when something should be linked and when it shouldn't -- it really affects the reading experience on the web. You're constantly alternating between black and orange text, and being tempted to hover over them to see "what does this one go to?"
His attention to detail is great, though, no doubt about that.
The background knowledge of things Apple is one of the selling points of these reviews. Siracusa writes for people who really want to nerd out on arcana. My impression is that he sees these reviews as documenting Apple design history, and not just "should I upgrade" guides. It's fine not to like it, but it's a weird thing to criticize him for doing.
He stated in the past that you shouldn't care about the links except if you don't understand something. I've been reading his reviews for the fourth or fifth time now, and skipping the links never bothered me.
Also, there's other very good straight to the point reviews. John Siracusa's review is not supposed to be a TLDR laundry list of changes, there's no point in being trapped in the reviewed product and forget the things that led to it.
The links are rather the points, as is the background info. If that’s not for you that’s great, no problem, but really, you seem to fundamentally misunderstand why people like this.
You comment made me laugh and 'ahhhhh!' at the same time. It now makes sense. He's totally into Apple and hasn't been elsewhere.
A few of the things he talks about regarding the UI changes are already on Windows, but he talks as if they're a new invention. While he might be talking to a 100% Apple audience, I think it makes him look silly that he doesn't mention they're not Apple-original features.
Eg. windows that are semi translucent with the background blurred came with either Vista or 7. That annoying animated focus circle is in Office 2013.
John Siracusa is certainly aware of Windows, at least visually. The only reason for you to suggest pointing out any little thing that's not "Apple-original" is out of some sort of pointless OS defensiveness. Aero Glass was a simple blurred translucency, while the translucency in Yosemite is a more complex filter and has two content modes, behind-window and within-window. But I don't see what comparing the two accomplishes, honestly.
the orange links are irritating and distracting (back to old-fashioned footnotes?). But you can read this in Safari's Reader mode, which sets the links to a moderate blue. Or you can download the book in iBooks - the links start off in orange but then are quickly switched to very dark blue. The orange is presumably just the ArsTechnica branding.
His attention to detail is great, though, no doubt about that.