Mac suggestions / feedback (Switcher perspective)

[GulGnu]

Having just performed "the switch", I'd like to share some of my initial impressions of the Mac. If I've missed something - feel free to tell me =)

1. Aqua rocks. Really. Gorgeous to look at, and is very zippy and responsive on my iBook. After all the complaining I had expected some "sluggishness", but it feels just as responsive as XP. And of course, it's much prettier to look at, plus it feels more consistent.

2. Tabbed browsing in Safari rocks too.

3. Networking it with windows comps using Samba was pretty easy - still, could have been a tad more slick, but still very good overall.

4. OS X has been stable so far.

Lots of other little things I like about it too - I can understand why Mac partisans are always going on about the greatness of Apple.

Some things that could be more switcher-friendly:

1. More "power" in File dialog screens - i.e. add an add directory key. Perhaps a windows style "up" key too to navigate the file structure easier.

2. Losing the all-powerful right mouse button feels hard. I'm getting one for the Mac of course, but some more pervasive right-click menus wouldn't hurt.

3. Having 4 kick-butt iApps, but only delivering a crippled media player in the shape of QuickTime? What's up with that? Not a biggie - got VLC which works great =P

Well, just some initial ramblings =P very pleased overall though =)

/GulGnu

[pEZ]

1. The file structure has never been more like Windows than in OS X - Just change the view of the windows to the column mode, and you can use the left and right arrow keys to navigate through the Finder.

2. The Right Mouse button in Windows is equivalent to a Control-Click in all of the Mac OS systems, including OS X. When you buy a two-or-more button mouse, the right button will automatically be a Control-Click, which will function just like Windows always had.

3. Quicktime has been crippled since the beginnings of Quicktime, however, there are a few free utilities that "enhance" Quicktime to make it work more like Quicktime Pro (which you can always buy from Apple, of course, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because you end up dropping 30 bucks for each version they release, and there is no upgrade pricing).

These utilities are Xinema (http://lighthead.sytes.net), which allows you to loop the movie and play it in full screen mode, and SoundConverter (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18047), if you need to use the export command in Quicktime Pro to export sound into different formats (like I do).

And speaking of VLC, also try the new versions of MPlayer (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16623), and be sure to get the new Divx (http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/) codec, if you're into that kind of thing.

Hope this helps.

[GulGnu]

"hope this helps"

Sure does - thanks =)

/GulGnu

[mischief]

some things you may find useful on the keyboard:

The key with the squiggle and Apple Logo is called, for the sake of simplicity the "Apple" Key.

Finder Commands:

Get Info: Apple- I

Create new folder within present directory: Apple- Shift- N

Shut down (Desktop): Apple- Option- Control- Eject

Restart (Portable): Apple- Control- Power Key

Open LAN connect screen: Apple- K

Open selected item: Apple- O

Open new Finder Window or create new document/window/playlist/project in any other program: Apple- N

Likewise these others are universal:

Save: Apple- S

Select All: Apple- A

Copy: Apple- C

Paste: Apple- V

Cut: Apple- X

Undo: Apple- Z

Close Window: Apple- W

Quit Program: Apple- Q

Cycle between active programs (including Finder): Apple- Tab

[jelloshotsrule]

apple- delete: to put selected files in the trash

apple- shift- delete: to empty the trash.

[cc bcc]

1. More "power" in File dialog screens - i.e. add an add directory key. Perhaps a windows style "up" key too to navigate the file structure easier.

You can customize the finder toolsbar and add an "New Folder" button.
- Open a Finder window
- Choose View -> Customize Toolbar from the Finder menu (on top of the screen)

You can also put shortcuts (to files, folders and apps) into the toolsbar, just drag an icon onto the toolbar, hold it there for a second and you'll see other buttons moving out of their way, drop the icon on the toolbar.

A windows style "up" key can be achieved in a couple of ways:
- Apple click on the finder title bar, you'll see a hierarchie of folders all the way back to the root of the drive
- You find an button doing that in the customize toolbar option
- Apple-Up (cursor up) moves you up one step in folder hierarchie, it's a handy shortcut
- Column view is also good