The only trouble I do have is some of the short cuts. Ctl-c for windows and cmd-c for OS X
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Any LONG TIME windows/microsoft users switching to Mac/Apple
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The only trouble I do have is some of the short cuts. Ctl-c for windows and cmd-c for OS X
The only trouble I do have is some of the short cuts. Ctl-c for windows and cmd-c for OS X
Since I rarely use Windows anymore, the keyboard shortcuts aren't that much of an issue. Biggest problem for me is trying to close a window. I always go for the upper left corner.
I switched to the Mac before I retired 3 years ago. I have never regretted the decision. My MBP has been better than any Windows (or MS-DOS) machine I've had.
I realize that some users can do a more accurate thorough removal manually, but WHICH App. in your opinion would be the most effective?
None of the apps are effective. Some are more effective on certain apps and less effective on others. I wouldn't recommend any of them, since they don't fulfill the intended purpose. If you just want to remove the app, drag it to the trash. No removal app needed. If you want to maximize freeing up drive space by removing all related files, remove the app manually. None of the removal apps does that.
Okay, from reading your other posts, it seems that AppDelete was the most effective of the ones you've tested. I tried to do this manually a long time ago and found it to be the most ineffective (for me) due to the keyboard operator (me), but I'll try again using your posted instructions on search parameter settings.
This was always so much easier for me in Linux for some reason.
Would it be possible to create something in Automator that would mimic the manual search method (requiring the user to only enter the App name)?
I started computing in 2000, so I don't know if that's considered a LONG time.
Anyway, I had been on Windows only until last year when I started playing with different Linux distros. Some of the distros I liked, and some others I lost interest very quick.
Then last April my wife bought a 15" MBP. We were looking at the Dell Precision M3800 and the MBP. While the Dell had better specs and it was cheaper by $500, I told her to go with the MBP. It was time to try something different.
I started playing with it and I started to like OSX and got used to it.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I sold my two Dell Latitudes (I love business class Dell) and bought a used late 2013 rMBP 13".
I still like Windows and use it at school, and at home. My Home Theater PC runs Win 8.1. Also have an older Dell Latitude with Win 7 that I keep around just in case any of our Windows machines fail.
Anyway, I have come to like OSX a lot these two weeks. Plus the high resolution of the Retina display is very beautiful. It's hard to go back to anything less.
I wanted to experience Windows and Linux in high resolution so today I installed Win 8.1 and Linux Mint in my MBP alongside OSX in triple boot configuration.
It took a while to get it all set up but I am happy with the results.
Anyway, I had been on Windows only until last year when I started playing with different Linux distros. Some of the distros I liked, and some others I lost interest very quick.
Then last April my wife bought a 15" MBP. We were looking at the Dell Precision M3800 and the MBP. While the Dell had better specs and it was cheaper by $500, I told her to go with the MBP. It was time to try something different.
I started playing with it and I started to like OSX and got used to it.
Fast forward to two weeks ago, I sold my two Dell Latitudes (I love business class Dell) and bought a used late 2013 rMBP 13".
I still like Windows and use it at school, and at home. My Home Theater PC runs Win 8.1. Also have an older Dell Latitude with Win 7 that I keep around just in case any of our Windows machines fail.
Anyway, I have come to like OSX a lot these two weeks. Plus the high resolution of the Retina display is very beautiful. It's hard to go back to anything less.
I wanted to experience Windows and Linux in high resolution so today I installed Win 8.1 and Linux Mint in my MBP alongside OSX in triple boot configuration.
It took a while to get it all set up but I am happy with the results.
I suppose I count. I've been a Windows user for a long time.
And I tried switching to OS X plenty of times, but I always came back to Windows.
The things that bother me about OS X aren't really OS X problems, but a matter of doing things differently from Windows.
So this is a case of me just being unable to get used to how OS X works versus how Windows worked.
Anyway, a lot of oddities are easily fixed. For example, I can just switch Cmd and Ctrl keys around and not have to worry about any shortcut oddities. I can make a lock screen shortcut with Automator.
Some oddities are not that easy to fix. I don't know how to make it so that folders display first in Finder, or how to make it so that Finder always appends the file extension to the name. I also never really found a good player for random files. On Windows I use Media Player Classic, which is fast and simple, and can play anything. On OS X I tried VLC, which was slow and rather crashy.
I tried OS X plenty of times, back in 2008 I got a MacBook, which was my primary computer for the next four years. And while I originally put Windows on it with the excuse of playing games, I ended up using that as my main OS for most of the time.
Later on I put OS X on the desktop PC I had at the time and even on the ThinkPad laptop that I am typing this post on - surprisingly, OS X actually ran better than Windows on that. Still, I ended up coming back to Windows.
I think I am an exception. It's rather silly. I'm sitting here in the Bay Area, like 10 minutes away from Apple HQ, and here I am, the only person out there not using Mac OS.
And I tried switching to OS X plenty of times, but I always came back to Windows.
The things that bother me about OS X aren't really OS X problems, but a matter of doing things differently from Windows.
So this is a case of me just being unable to get used to how OS X works versus how Windows worked.
Anyway, a lot of oddities are easily fixed. For example, I can just switch Cmd and Ctrl keys around and not have to worry about any shortcut oddities. I can make a lock screen shortcut with Automator.
Some oddities are not that easy to fix. I don't know how to make it so that folders display first in Finder, or how to make it so that Finder always appends the file extension to the name. I also never really found a good player for random files. On Windows I use Media Player Classic, which is fast and simple, and can play anything. On OS X I tried VLC, which was slow and rather crashy.
I tried OS X plenty of times, back in 2008 I got a MacBook, which was my primary computer for the next four years. And while I originally put Windows on it with the excuse of playing games, I ended up using that as my main OS for most of the time.
Later on I put OS X on the desktop PC I had at the time and even on the ThinkPad laptop that I am typing this post on - surprisingly, OS X actually ran better than Windows on that. Still, I ended up coming back to Windows.
I think I am an exception. It's rather silly. I'm sitting here in the Bay Area, like 10 minutes away from Apple HQ, and here I am, the only person out there not using Mac OS.
Another very LONG TIME Windows user.
I switched from Windows to Mac permanently about 7 years ago and I have no regrets. Here is the long version of my story.
My computer experience started in 1982. I was a systems administrator of the DEC-VAX 780/730 computers installed at work. Just about the same time some of the managers in our department started to use IBM PCs as their private workstations and this has caught my attention.
I built myself a cloned PC back in 1986. Those were the days of DOS, 5-1/4 Floppy disks and very expensive hard disks. I remember spending $850 on a 20Mb (yes Mega not Giga) Seagate hard disk.
I resisted using Windows until 1995 because it was nothing more than a DOS Shell. The networking in Win95 was enough reason for me to switch to Windows and finally leave DOS behind.
I used every version of Windows afterwords. Win98, Win2000, NT, XP, Vista and finally 7.
However, I never liked Windows. It was hard to maintain, service and keep it running without a problem. I hated the concept of the Registry like big files that the entire system relied on and it could be brought to its knees if it was damaged. Outlook PST files is another example.
Out of dissatisfaction with Windows, I decided to give Mac a try in 2006. It was not love at first site. Almost all the software I used was Windows only specific programs. So, my first try was a fail, and I went back to Windows.
Then, in 2008 I gave Mac another shot. By then, things have improved in the OS X world and also Parallels / VMware came to my rescue with my Windows only specific programs. So, now the environment was good enough to make the permanent switch to OS X.
Since then, I have completely jumped into the Apple eco system. I run two Mac Mini servers at my small business, own 2 Mac Mini servers at home for MM server and file server purposes. I have a maxed out 11 Air and my wife uses a 15 rMBP. Of course various iPads, iPhones and ATVs also complete this picture.
I still use Windows XP and 7 when I have to. I downloaded the Windows 10 Preview to play with it. I also use Ubuntu 14.04 with my old Vaio to breath life into this slow machine.
I am experienced enough to dig deep and perform systems repair and maintenance in both OS X and Windows. As far as the UI is concerned, I cannot say that one is significantly better then the other, however think simple approach and drag and drop to accomplish things are much better in OS X.
Now, in my opinion, the most significant differences between a PC and a Mac are as follows:
- System wide integrated indexed search (Spotlight) It works so well that it makes Windows search a joke.
- Trackpad with gestures. Any trackpad on any PC compared to Apples trackpad is the reason why people still use a mouse with their laptops.
- Unix based OS with no Achilles heel type of an architecture aka the Registry.
- OS and hardware built for each other resulting in a lean and fast system.
- Programs are mostly contained in their own drawer (app container) and not spraying all sorts of files all over the place (like dll files in Windows).
- Almost flawless close the lid to sleep, open it to wake up instantly, making system shut downs and reboots an infrequent need.
There are various other advantages but these are the ones that I value the most.
Windows, starting with 7 and now with 10 Preview, seems to perform very well. However, Mac and OS X still appears to be few steps ahead of Windows and PCs for a seamless user experience IMHO.
I switched from Windows to Mac permanently about 7 years ago and I have no regrets. Here is the long version of my story.
My computer experience started in 1982. I was a systems administrator of the DEC-VAX 780/730 computers installed at work. Just about the same time some of the managers in our department started to use IBM PCs as their private workstations and this has caught my attention.
I built myself a cloned PC back in 1986. Those were the days of DOS, 5-1/4 Floppy disks and very expensive hard disks. I remember spending $850 on a 20Mb (yes Mega not Giga) Seagate hard disk.
I resisted using Windows until 1995 because it was nothing more than a DOS Shell. The networking in Win95 was enough reason for me to switch to Windows and finally leave DOS behind.
I used every version of Windows afterwords. Win98, Win2000, NT, XP, Vista and finally 7.
However, I never liked Windows. It was hard to maintain, service and keep it running without a problem. I hated the concept of the Registry like big files that the entire system relied on and it could be brought to its knees if it was damaged. Outlook PST files is another example.
Out of dissatisfaction with Windows, I decided to give Mac a try in 2006. It was not love at first site. Almost all the software I used was Windows only specific programs. So, my first try was a fail, and I went back to Windows.
Then, in 2008 I gave Mac another shot. By then, things have improved in the OS X world and also Parallels / VMware came to my rescue with my Windows only specific programs. So, now the environment was good enough to make the permanent switch to OS X.
Since then, I have completely jumped into the Apple eco system. I run two Mac Mini servers at my small business, own 2 Mac Mini servers at home for MM server and file server purposes. I have a maxed out 11 Air and my wife uses a 15 rMBP. Of course various iPads, iPhones and ATVs also complete this picture.
I still use Windows XP and 7 when I have to. I downloaded the Windows 10 Preview to play with it. I also use Ubuntu 14.04 with my old Vaio to breath life into this slow machine.
I am experienced enough to dig deep and perform systems repair and maintenance in both OS X and Windows. As far as the UI is concerned, I cannot say that one is significantly better then the other, however think simple approach and drag and drop to accomplish things are much better in OS X.
Now, in my opinion, the most significant differences between a PC and a Mac are as follows:
- System wide integrated indexed search (Spotlight) It works so well that it makes Windows search a joke.
- Trackpad with gestures. Any trackpad on any PC compared to Apples trackpad is the reason why people still use a mouse with their laptops.
- Unix based OS with no Achilles heel type of an architecture aka the Registry.
- OS and hardware built for each other resulting in a lean and fast system.
- Programs are mostly contained in their own drawer (app container) and not spraying all sorts of files all over the place (like dll files in Windows).
- Almost flawless close the lid to sleep, open it to wake up instantly, making system shut downs and reboots an infrequent need.
There are various other advantages but these are the ones that I value the most.
Windows, starting with 7 and now with 10 Preview, seems to perform very well. However, Mac and OS X still appears to be few steps ahead of Windows and PCs for a seamless user experience IMHO.
I switched from Windows to OS X after having horrid experiences with the PC manufacturers. Never looked back. For my Windows needs I go to the boutiques now (Maingear, Falcon Northwest, etc.) which are just system builders. Never would trust them with a notebook though and that's why I went Apple. In 5 years I've have only one problem: SATA cable for the HDD burned out. $60 and 2 hours later at the Apple store I was set to go.
For network shares connect using CIFS:// and not SMB://. I can't stress this enough. The former is faster and more stable while the latter is... painful at it's best.
Anyways, there are some things I'd advise:
Another great utility is Tuxera NTFS which allows OS X to write to NTFS volumes. However, don't have it enabled at the same time you are using Parallels. Ugly things will happen.
Finally, don't believe the non-sense that HFS+ doesn't need to be defragged. Unless you have an SSD in your Mac (all newer ones do), the file system will get very fragmented after awhile and you will notice it. Apple's solution is the "reinstall OS X and restore from Time Machine" instead of just providing a defragmentation utility. Snow Leo 911 contains a lot of useful utilities for this purpose but be wary that using it wrong will cause you a world of headaches.
Lastly, I can't stress this enough as well: create Time Machine backups too! Makes everything from disasters to upgrading to a new Mac rather painless. If only it worked with CIFS.
For network shares connect using CIFS:// and not SMB://. I can't stress this enough. The former is faster and more stable while the latter is... painful at it's best.
Anyways, there are some things I'd advise:
- Right Zoom - Makes the green button behave like the Windows maximize button (only thing I disliked about OS X)
- CleanMyMac 2 - It's good for uninstalling apps as the simple drag to the recycle bin leaves "junk" behind - just don't do those auto-clean nonsense
- Acronis True Image - Time Machine is great! It's free! But it doesn't play well when you want to use a network drive unless it supports AFP (meaning, no backing up to your RAID arrays on Windows)
- Parallels - To run Windows only apps without restarting through Bootcamp but be warned that you'll have to pay update it every 2 years
- Avoid Antivirus - I can't stress this enough. You don't need it! Yes, OS X like anything else is vulnerable to malware but unless you're browsing habits are "questionable" you won't need it. You will however need it on your Windows partition or VM should you choose to use Bootcamp or Parallels
- Total Finder - It's not free and OS X finally got tab support out of the box but Total Finder will allow you to organize the folder sort order like Windows (folders on top, files on bottom, etc.).
Another great utility is Tuxera NTFS which allows OS X to write to NTFS volumes. However, don't have it enabled at the same time you are using Parallels. Ugly things will happen.
Finally, don't believe the non-sense that HFS+ doesn't need to be defragged. Unless you have an SSD in your Mac (all newer ones do), the file system will get very fragmented after awhile and you will notice it. Apple's solution is the "reinstall OS X and restore from Time Machine" instead of just providing a defragmentation utility. Snow Leo 911 contains a lot of useful utilities for this purpose but be wary that using it wrong will cause you a world of headaches.
Lastly, I can't stress this enough as well: create Time Machine backups too! Makes everything from disasters to upgrading to a new Mac rather painless. If only it worked with CIFS.
I saw TrashMe in one of the posts linked off from #9. I used to use that a long time ago before it became semi-unreliable.
I agree, that there's likely no better way to remove the "junk" files than searching them out yourself but in my experience - the all of 3 or 4 apps I have removed since getting my Mac had their files pretty much removed by CleanMyMac 2. A fifth app did not.
SwitchResX seems to be the most difficult program to get rid of.
However, for that "quick clean" I stand by what I said. For a more definitive and permanent cleaning - do it by hand but it's usually hardly worth the effort.
Yes, you can use that method after using one of those uninstall apps and you'll usually find things they left behind.