You don’t understand what I mean.

Well, you haven't been very specific with your language.

All configuration is abstracted away in a forest of xml files (i.e. /Library/Preferences) that’s as opaque and undocumented as the Windows registry and which you’re not supposed to touch other than with the approved GUI tools.

It's been some time since I touched MacOS, but there is a CLI tool for editing those preferences. Not unlike gconf. Actually gconf is apparently inspired by that and the Windows registry you so conveniently mentioned.

Not that I'm a fan, quite the opposite.

MacOS applications never follow Unix principles either regarding file placement.

"Unix principles" is the same as "Unix philosophy", while you apparently mean Linux FHS. Yes, it's understandably ignored. Yes, maybe it shouldn't be.

So yeah while MacOS technically still is “Unix”, it really is a giant monolithic blob of shite built on top of the skeleton of what once was a decent Unix.

Well, see, comparing FreeBSD to Linux with its development path, for example, you might feel as if Linux was slowly moving in that direction as well. Linux users usually laugh at that sentiment and say that it's evolution. So - MacOS too has what its developers considered evolution from what Linux/FreeBSD/... have.

Ah, also X11 is not that integral and traditional for Unix, if you imply that as well. Sun had its SunView in the olden days. There were other windowing systems.