A great tip! and a question! :)

Aloha mgsarch,

I'll attempt to give your questions a shot.

1. Your desired action is one thing I use constantly. Simply go to System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts. Once there, look at the bottom section of the window and select the All controls button. What you've just done is allow the Tab button to move between the controls of each applicable window (one thing I did as well in Windows and Linux). What it does NOT tell you is that once the non-default button is highlighted (with a blue border), use the Space Bar to action that control. In other words, if Yes is the default, use the Tab key to move the focus to the No button (the Yes button will still be highlighted, but the No button will have a blue border), then press the Space Bar to action the No response. As the Yes button is still highlighted in the default fashion, the Enter button will still provide the default action. This is much better than either the Windows or Linux alternatives, as the user can still take either the default or alternate action, the alternate being the action for any of the other available buttons.

2. I have never experienced the result you mention here. I am still in the Windows frame of mind a bit (although I'm attempting to wipe all vestiges of same from my memory ), and have gone to the "oh well, I'll just wipe it out and load it back from scratch" method on two occasions. Yes, I backed everything up, but after one such reload, I merged a couple of folders together and wanted to add some files from the backup. Instead of just picking the missing files, I highlighted the entire folder in the backup and copied it over to the destination folder. I got a pop-up window that stated a duplicate existed in the destination. It prompted me for my next action - don't replace, stop, or replace - and it also provided a checkbox to allow that same action to be applied to all future duplicates. You have experienced an "other than expected" response, so I can not answer your question.

Also, what is your desired end result when you attempt to "append one folder to another"? I'm not sure I even know what you're trying to do here. Do you mean simply copying the files from one folder to another, or copying one folder into another? I understand the definition of the words "append", "into", and "folder", but can not decipher your desired course of action.

3. Are the user account names on your MBP and your MP the same? If not, you're running into the same issue I have had. The permissions copied over are from the original account and you'll have to do a "Get Info" in the individual files to change ownership. At least, that's what I ended up doing. If I'm incorrect in my assertion with respect to the permissions, or if anyone has an easier way to sort this out, please let us know. You can also Repair Disk Permissions on your hard drive - that may help to reset the permissions.

4. Have you set up Spaces correctly? I have my web browsers and email in space 1, my iLife apps in space 2, my DVD apps (MacTheRipper, DVD player, Handbrake, etc...) in space 3, and CS3 apps in space 4. Go to System Preferences -> Expose & Spaces, then click the Spaces button. You've already enabled Spaces, but it sounds like you haven't assigned any apps to any specific space. In other words, until you assign an app to a particular space, the app (or any subordinate windows of said app), will open in the currently-opened space. Of course, if you've already assigned apps to spaces, my answer is moot.

I hope I've assisted you a bit. I'm a recent switcher as well, and I know it's easy to pick on the OS when you don't understand the behavior, but don't be quick to place the blame there - instead, try to learn the normal behavior of the OS/app first instead of attempting to force previous, non-Mac, practices to work.

HawaiiMacAddict