3 weeks into Mac. I am missing PC.

[Taz Mangus]

I've had a mac for a while and I dont feel its OS is better than Windows. In fact, the Mac OS is no where near as productive as windows (which is why you dont find apples in use in most business settings).

I have to disagree with that statement. I write software for a living and am forced to use Windows at work and I find it no where near as productive as it should be. I also have Mac computers at home where I work on iOS apps. Using the Mac is a joy in comparison to using Windows. I have been using both the MS OS and Mac OS X for many many years. The reason why Macs aren't used in the business environment more is mostly due to peoples mind set. I know this first hand.

 

[LordVic]

As someone who's bran new to OSx, and someone who's been using Windows since 3.0, I've got some hangups and some pleasant surprises by adding OSx to my experience.

Things I love that windows could learn a thing or two from

- Efficient
OSx just seems smooth. boot is a dozen seconds at most. wake from sleep within a second or two. The OS just feels like it's designed to work. I have yet to encounter in OSx on my 2011 AIR 11" the spinning beach ball.

- Gestures
The touchpad and gestures to accomplish all sorts of navigation. I love it. No more alt tabing. just swipe.

- Verbosity (sp)
I don't need a popup lockin the computer till i aknowledge it every single time i try doing something. OSx and windows remind me of kid brothers. One just does whats asked, says nothing, and goes about his business. The other one, does what he's asked too, But needs to constantly scream "mommy! mommy! lOOK WHAT I"M DOING". Windows feels like that 2nd kid.

Things OSx could learn from Windows
- Verobisty:
Sometimes I wish there was a little more detail as to whats going on in my system. I like mousing over my wireless icon and seeing what connection speed, and info i have.

- Task Bar
Win7 Task bar has nailed the "Dock" better than the dock. OSx's dock is great looking. But it's pretty uninformative. you have an icon. a light if it's running and maybe bounces if a message. Win7's ability to mouse over and see screenshots of it, and similar other tasks, Pin stuff to them, stack them, is just more interactive.

- Compatibility
I know this is an old one. But most of the software out there, Especially gaming, is still focused around Windows. I have like 30 titles in Steam, 2 are OSx compatible.

- Keyboard strokes
Silly, But some of these are just easier. Things like Copy and paste with CTRL-C / V are easier to reach than apple's key C / V. Can't see any reason why Apple doesn't follow the CTRL standard except to be different. Those who have been typing for a decade or longer use our thumbs for space, the reaching under your hand to hit APPLE is not really a good form factor.

- Information
Apple doesn't provide the end user a lto of details over actions. Copy / moving files directories is one place OSx falls flat on it's face. There's no speed indication. Copying things around network and memory, it would be nice to see fi i'm getting good enough transfer rates to continue or move elsewhere to finish copying. "time remaining" is just not enough!

Further on the Copy and paste thing. if i'm copying directories with duplicates. OSx gives you the option to Continue and Overwrite, or stop the copy. It needs to include more, like "skip" if there's a conflict, or "skip all" to ignore multiple conflicts. if i'm trying to copy a directory of like 5gb with a few thousand files. I shoudln't have to stop the entire transfer cause 13 file are duplicate!


I'm sure there are more. But i am enjoying using both

 

[VTECaddict]

Don't get me wrong, I love some of the features on Mac and the multi-touch experience is second to none. But there are a few things on Lion that really irks me...and I think they are really easy to fix but apple for some reason, just doesn't want to support them.

1. Cut and Paste as right-click option. Not difficult to understand. Drag and drop just doesn't work as well.

2. Wireless issue. MBA has to be connected wirelessly. We know it, Apple knows it. How can Lion/safari/whatever have problem with memory leak and constant spinning ball in Safari? C'mon, get it right, OUT OF BOX!

3. Dock doesn't work as well as Win 7 taskbar. Better than Vista's but not the 7's.

4. I like file management. I like to keep and view my file in folders...in Lion, this is somewhat difficult to do. I guess the Apple design doesn't want you to work on file, but rather on tasks. They don't want you to think what file is saved in which folder....but sorry, that's how my mind works.

Maybe given another 3 weeks I will become more accustomed to Mac, but as of now, I miss PC.

1. you can right click to copy, then right click in your destination folder and press the alt/option key to get "move item here"...which is the same as cut/paste. or you can do cmd+C to copy and cmd+option+V to move.

4. I have files in folders. I have folders in folders. i dont understand your issue.

 

[G-Force]

Things OSx could learn from Windows
- Verobisty:
Sometimes I wish there was a little more detail as to whats going on in my system. I like mousing over my wireless icon and seeing what connection speed, and info i have.

Option+click the AirPort icon in the menubar.

- Keyboard strokes
Silly, But some of these are just easier. Things like Copy and paste with CTRL-C / V are easier to reach than apple's key C / V. Can't see any reason why Apple doesn't follow the CTRL standard except to be different. Those who have been typing for a decade or longer use our thumbs for space, the reaching under your hand to hit APPLE is not really a good form factor.

It's not that Apple wants to be different, it has been this way for a loooong time. And in my opinion, Cmd+C/V is much more easier to reach.

Using Ctrl is a standard on the PC, not on the Mac.

 

[ZipZap]

I have to disagree with that statement. I write software for a living and am forced to use Windows at work and I find it no where near as productive as it should be. I also have Mac computers at home where I work on iOS apps. Using the Mac is a joy in comparison to using Windows. I have been using both the MS OS and Mac OS X for many many years. The reason why Macs aren't used in the business environment more is mostly due to peoples mind set. I know this first hand.

I develop software as well and I disagree. "A Joy", come on. Windows offers a more diverse and productive development platform. Also, its not mindset its Apple. Their dare to be different mantra isolates them form the mainstream. At best I could see folks using Macs to run virtualized Windows but there is no real gain in doing so.

----------

had to laugh at this comment "The OS just feels like it's designed to work."

ahhhhh......Lion?

 

[robgendreau]

This is like arguing whether Marmaduke or the Lockhorns is the better cutting edge comic; both OS's are tired and lame. I never would have thought that decades into the GUI we'd still have the same folder/icon/desktop thing going.

The Finder and Dock are worse than W7. I like their previews as well; I shouldn't have to invoke Quick Look. The Dock and Mission Control are very MultiFinder/80's; Apple seems to have conceded they take up space uselessly but often little alternative. Even dumb ideas like trasking your volumes to eject them persists. On W7 I can tag right in a window pane; in the Mac OS tagging still isn't implemented and I need an application to do it (and I fear as I commit to tagging that Apple will one day make the whole scheme unusable).

Ars Technica had a nice slam in their review of Lion when they criticized the look and feel of Address Book and iCal. They look and act like junk freeware you get when you purchase a cheap peripheral on sale.

I still like the customization features of the Mac, and I think overall developers are doing a better job of pushing the envelope on interface. I cannot comment on this on the PC side (my IT guys don't let me change much), but things like TotalFinder, Default Folder X, etc. don't make up for Apple's lack of imagination. You get to be the biggest company in the world and thinking different gets harder, I suppose.

 

[soco]

I'd say if after 3 weeks you're not a switcher, then go back. No big deal. Windows is fine too.

It's just an OS.

 

[talmy]

Apple's OS is not key, its their approach to applications. I find it easier to use applications on the mac (and yes that is due in part to some things the OS does inheirently). But overall, the Mac OS is not that great. AND its going to get worse as Apple moves more to the iOS approach.

In my experience, I find that Apple has passed on productivity features purely because their rival Microsoft uses them. God forbid they do the same thing as Windows even though windows is the defacto standard.

Have a read of the Windows 8 reviews. Microsoft has taken cues from iOS as well and has a new UI called Metro that deserves the same criticisms as Lion. Windows 8 Application Store looks to be as closed as the iOS store (and more so than the Mac App store) as well.

I like this review:
http://lifehacker.com/5842200/windows-8s-metro-ui-isnt-very-good-without-touch-but-it-doesnt-really-matter

(A plus on the Microsoft side, It looks like they realize that some people have two or more monitors, unlike Apple.)

The problem has also hit the Linux world as users of the latest Ubuntu (or the latest Gnome GUI) attest.

 

[MadDragon1846]

I'v had my mac mini for a few weeks now (not sure how many, my memory sucks!), and so far, the only thing I miss is pc games!, I have quite a few pc games, and atm, no mac games. (I could use boot camp to play the pc games, but I only have a oem version of windows 7, so I don't think I can use that on my mac as well as my pc)

To make up for that though, I'm finding the built in sd card reader great!, nothing better than taking out my sd card from my camera and sticking it straight in the back of the mini. On my pc, I'd either have to use the usb dock thingy I have for my camera, or mess about with a usb sd card reader.

I also love not having to worry about being bombarded by viruses!.

Hmm, come to think of it, Safari can be a bit annoying at times. I aint keen on how the top menu bar dissapears on full screen mode, and I sometimes can't log in to some sites... Firefox works fine on those sites though, but I do prefer safari.

Still, I think the change from PC to Mac was a good 1!

Ooh! Just thought of a really good thing that saved me alot of trouble!

My internet died awhile back, the only thing that got it working again was to reset my router, of corse then I had to enter all the login details again. Trouble is the login details wasnt my usual email address, and I hadn't a clue what it was. Well the good old mail program on mac, had all my emails saved for viewing offline!

I did a quick search, and found the email with the info I needed!

 

[jameslmoser]

I totally disagree with this.
Not only Lion features are overall an improvement over SL (thank God!), but it's really the worst advice to give someone who does not have the SL habits to jeopardize their Lion experience to suggest them to downgrade.
Moreover, none of the quirks mentioned above are related to the changes Lion brought over SL

He specifically complained about a very well known and documented problem with Lion!

2. Wireless issue. MBA has to be connected wirelessly. We know it, Apple knows it. How can Lion/safari/whatever have problem with memory leak and constant spinning ball in Safari? C'mon, get it right, OUT OF BOX!

I think a great number of people on this forum would disagree with you that Lion is an overall improvement to Snow Leopard, its is not. Almost all of the new "features" Lion has the user can find third party software for (if they want that feature) that does the same thing on an OS that runs much more stable while using fewer resources.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Don't get me wrong, I love some of the features on Mac and the multi-touch experience is second to none. But there are a few things on Lion that really irks me...and I think they are really easy to fix but apple for some reason, just doesn't want to support them.

1. Cut and Paste as right-click option. Not difficult to understand. Drag and drop just doesn't work as well.

2. Wireless issue. MBA has to be connected wirelessly. We know it, Apple knows it. How can Lion/safari/whatever have problem with memory leak and constant spinning ball in Safari? C'mon, get it right, OUT OF BOX!

3. Dock doesn't work as well as Win 7 taskbar. Better than Vista's but not the 7's.

4. I like file management. I like to keep and view my file in folders...in Lion, this is somewhat difficult to do. I guess the Apple design doesn't want you to work on file, but rather on tasks. They don't want you to think what file is saved in which folder....but sorry, that's how my mind works.

Maybe given another 3 weeks I will become more accustomed to Mac, but as of now, I miss PC.

Drag and drop is bad for many.

 

[Flyinb]

As someone who's bran new to OSx, and someone who's been using Windows since 3.0, I've got some hangups and some pleasant surprises by adding OSx to my experience.

Things I love that windows could learn a thing or two from

- Efficient
OSx just seems smooth. boot is a dozen seconds at most. wake from sleep within a second or two. The OS just feels like it's designed to work. I have yet to encounter in OSx on my 2011 AIR 11" the spinning beach ball.

- Gestures
The touchpad and gestures to accomplish all sorts of navigation. I love it. No more alt tabing. just swipe.

- Verbosity (sp)
I don't need a popup lockin the computer till i aknowledge it every single time i try doing something. OSx and windows remind me of kid brothers. One just does whats asked, says nothing, and goes about his business. The other one, does what he's asked too, But needs to constantly scream "mommy! mommy! lOOK WHAT I"M DOING". Windows feels like that 2nd kid.

Things OSx could learn from Windows
- Verobisty:
Sometimes I wish there was a little more detail as to whats going on in my system. I like mousing over my wireless icon and seeing what connection speed, and info i have.

- Task Bar
Win7 Task bar has nailed the "Dock" better than the dock. OSx's dock is great looking. But it's pretty uninformative. you have an icon. a light if it's running and maybe bounces if a message. Win7's ability to mouse over and see screenshots of it, and similar other tasks, Pin stuff to them, stack them, is just more interactive.

- Compatibility
I know this is an old one. But most of the software out there, Especially gaming, is still focused around Windows. I have like 30 titles in Steam, 2 are OSx compatible.

- Keyboard strokes
Silly, But some of these are just easier. Things like Copy and paste with CTRL-C / V are easier to reach than apple's key C / V. Can't see any reason why Apple doesn't follow the CTRL standard except to be different. Those who have been typing for a decade or longer use our thumbs for space, the reaching under your hand to hit APPLE is not really a good form factor.

- Information
Apple doesn't provide the end user a lto of details over actions. Copy / moving files directories is one place OSx falls flat on it's face. There's no speed indication. Copying things around network and memory, it would be nice to see fi i'm getting good enough transfer rates to continue or move elsewhere to finish copying. "time remaining" is just not enough!

Further on the Copy and paste thing. if i'm copying directories with duplicates. OSx gives you the option to Continue and Overwrite, or stop the copy. It needs to include more, like "skip" if there's a conflict, or "skip all" to ignore multiple conflicts. if i'm trying to copy a directory of like 5gb with a few thousand files. I shoudln't have to stop the entire transfer cause 13 file are duplicate!


I'm sure there are more. But i am enjoying using both

Task Bar....HyperDock.

Small simple opinion...OSx doesn't load the system with a bunch of useless programs or eye candy that windows does, however most of the items everyone is complaining about can be added and achieved much easier with OSx add ons/programs....oh and removal is much easier.

 

[LeandrodaFL]

I would also like to add that the Expose, Spaces and Dashboard features on the mac are incredible, and its better to command-c, command-v on the mac then cntrl-c, ctrl-v on PC, because the key is easilly acessible with your thumb on the mac keyboard.