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Edit:
For those who would like a "Move to" feature, Automator comes in handy. With two Automator actions to you can create it.

This could be made into a Service, where it could have a command-key equivalent, completing the Windows-esque experience.

So, tell me. Why the paranoia, fear and ignorance about making this a keyboard shortcut?

I don't know that it's paranoia so much as it is exasperation. The cut/paste in the Finder (and merging files in folders) is a popular canard of Windows switchers with buyer's remorse, or possibly Steve Ballmer himself. I'm certain that part of his marketing strategy is to log on to MacRumors and come up with new ways to denigrate the competition.

While cutting and pasting files is not a _bad_ idea, it's one that most Mac users just don't think about. But because of the steady drumbeat, a lot of Mac folks (and I might be one of them) defend the lack of the function as being true to some higher purpose.

Remember, the first Macs didn't have cursor keys on the keyboard because you were supposed to use the mouse. The faithful defended the omission much like folks are defending the omission of file cut & paste. Someday, the other side will win.

mt
 
New Mac switchers opinion

Ok I understand the being mad about the cut and paste not being there. Why not just drag the file/folder to where you want it? That is essentially the same thing because the original is gone.

If the destination is in a NAS or whatever just hover the cursor over that device in the finder and it will open it up for you. Then keep hovering your cursor over the folders and subfolders until you get where you need to be then release the mouse button. I mean maybe this is common knowledge but it just doesn't seem like having to apply whole .5 lbs of pressure for a few seconds is that big of a deal.
 
Lack of cut and paste is a HUGE drag for me. Dragging lots of files is just silly. I like to select stuff and then cut it and paste it wherever. This is why I find myself doing work stuff in Windows and not on the Mac.
 
Why is this thread still getting replies?

Summary:
-You can't Cut/Paste in the standard Finder
-People have been complaining about it for years
-Apple hasn't changed it
-If you don't like the lack of Cut/Paste, use Windows

...very, very simple.
 
Lack of cut and paste is a HUGE drag for me. Dragging lots of files is just silly. I like to select stuff and then cut it and paste it wherever. This is why I find myself doing work stuff in Windows and not on the Mac.

This type of response really surprises me. What do you do, move files constantly all day? Who needs to consistently move files all day to the point that cut n paste is that necessary? What files on anyone's computer needs to be shifted to other locations all the time?
 
It sucks and I wish Apple would change it.

No need to enable it by default if Apple is paranoid about it for some reason, but it should be there as an option in services as a context menu option for those who wish to enable it.

As adults we should be able to make up our own minds about what is and isn't good for us and whether we're willing to take any (perceived) risk or not and not have some huge company act a surrogate parents for us.

In 15 years of computing (and probably 10's of thousands of cut and paste operations throughout this time), I've never come across the circumstances that Apple say this lack of a feature is intended to prevent. It sounds like some Apple engineer (or maybe Mr Jesus Jobs himself) screwed up in a major but utterly freakish accident once, and because of this they threw a fit and disabled it for everyone.

It's sometimes impossible to understand Apples logic (at least for the average user). After 14 months use I still can't predict what applications are likely to completely close down when all windows are closed and which won't. Someone once tried to explain this to me too, but the logic was so long and convoluted (and frankly without much merit too) that I pretty much lost the will to live before they had a chance to finish.

'Think different!' That's Apple, even if there's frequently no point whatsoever in doing so.
 
It sucks and I wish Apple would change it.

No need to enable it by default if Apple is paranoid about it for some reason, but it should be there as an option in services as a context menu option for those who wish to enable it.

As adults we should be able to make up our own minds about what is and isn't good for us and whether we're willing to take any (perceived) risk or not and not have some huge company act a surrogate parents for us.

In 15 years of computing (and probably 10's of thousands of cut and paste operations throughout this time), I've never come across the circumstances that Apple say this lack of a feature is intended to prevent. It sounds like some Apple engineer (or maybe Mr Jesus Jobs himself) screwed up in a major but utterly freakish accident once, and because of this they threw a fit and disabled it for everyone.

It's sometimes impossible to understand Apples logic (at least for the average user). After 14 months use I still can't predict out what applications are likely to completely close down when all windows are closed and which won't. Someone once tried to explain this to me too, but the logic was so long and convoluted (and frankly without much merit too) that I pretty much lost the will to live before they had a chance to finish.

'Think different!' That's Apple, even if there's frequently no point whatsoever in doing so.
I'd say that OS X as-is is best for most users. The downside of too many options is usability suffers.

If you want to spend a lot of time tweaking, I suggest Linux*. You can shape the UI anyway you like. Many users probably make a user experience nightmare out of it but that's what they're free to do with Linux.

Apple's philosophy is to offer you the best in class user experience based on professional, in-depth research.

*incidentally, it's possible to run Gnome or KDE on OS X either standalone or right on top of the current environment. I'm not recommending it, just pointing out that it's possible to tweak OS X in many, many ways.
 
I'm not one of the Apple faithful unfortunately. I use it because I have to for work, nothing else.

The majority of people who switch to Mac would almost undoubtedly expect such a small feature as 'cut and paste' for files to be present.
 
I'm not one of the Apple faithful (or perhaps I should say zombies) and you are, so there.

To be honest I don't get this kind of blind adherence to any huge multi-national company, so Apple is hardly an exception in my eyes in this regard.

I don't have to justify my usage habits to anyone. I said I use it for work and I do. So yes it makes total sense for me to be here.

I periodically check back now and then in a number of forums (mainly via Google) to see if anyone has come up with any solutions to the few limitations I occasionally encounter when using this OS.

Anyway, I have to admit I am not a fan of people like you at all, who view even an open discussion of a small technical limitation as a criticism of your faith in the cult religion of whatever huge corporate company you may have elected to devote your soul to.

Personally, if you don't mind, I'd rather go on just not caring.
 
Well, what's the purpose of posting here? You just like to insult people?

Blanket statement such as those have limited validity. They might apply to a small minority of people, and those folks might gladly admit it, in which case your insult has not had its intended effect.
 
I just don't have a great deal of time for pointless arguments, sorry. I don't mean to insult anyone. I posted here in the hope that someone at some point might come up with a solution to this issue. I wished to watch the topic and see if it develops over time. That's all.

In any case my going away would only serve to elucidate my argument that this is a community of people in particular who often cannot bare any form of criticism, however small or reasonable, of the object of their most ardent passions.

Dissenting voices are always useful, even in those instances where you may not like what they have to say.
 
Careful how you use the 'a' word! (Same goes for 'never'.) ;)

You don't have to follow this thread. There is no solution for something that's not built in to the OS. As others have said (maybe elsewhere, I read other forums) Apple has made a conscious decision not to provide cut and paste in the Finder. Most long time Mac users don't care. We never had it, and don't need it. Switchers hate the decision, and maybe some who are "forced" to use Windows at work, if they happen to like the feature in Windows. I'm such a hostage, and I don't use it there either.
 
Still just saying 'go away' and taking this lack of a feature as some form of personal slight, or criticism of a company that many Apple users often seem to have a bemusing degree of loyalty to is hardly a useful response.

Anyway I suspect the reason it's not there is because Microsoft invented it. Hard headed pride more than anything.

I don't want to get into a debate but there are very clear technical reasons why the circumstance that apple claims to be so paranoid about never happens on Microsoft machines.

Look up how it works in MS Windows if you want and see just how easily it could be achieved.
 
Still just saying 'go away' and taking this lack of a feature as some form of personal slight, or criticism of a company that many Apple users often seem to have a bemusing degree of loyalty to is hardly a useful response.

Anyway I suspect the reason it's not there is because Microsoft invented it. Hard headed pride more than anything.

I don't want to get into a debate but there are very clear technical reasons why the circumstance that apple claims to be so paranoid about never happens on Microsoft machines.

Look up how it works in MS Windows if you want and see just how easily it could be achieved.

Don't confuse Apple's view of how a user interface should work with a "not invented here" attitude.

It gets really old having people come in here and complain about "missing features" that they like from Windows. The feature is not here. Get over it. Apple may decide to add it at some point. But constant anti-Apple rants won't get you anywhere here or with Apple.

Mac OS X is not Windows, thank goodness! There are going to be features people like in Windows that will not be present in Mac OS X. I could spend a lot of time on Windows forums complaining about features found in Mac OS X that are not present in Windows. I would get abused there a lot worse than you have been here.

You want this feature? Buy PathFinder...

S-
 
Yeah, 'anti-apple'. Because an OS lacks a feature and people complain about it, it's 'anti-apple.' It's not Apple I dislike, it's just unreasonable fanatics.

If you had bothered to look up how this feature actually works on most PC (and Linux) platforms, you would see how it is almost never or impossible to 'abuse'.

I don't have time for this anyway. I acknowledge that Apple are unlikely to ever include it.

Pathfinder has some cool features. Unfortunately when I tried I found that it acted like most MS Windows shell additions, in that overall it was poorly integrated into the overall OS. This left some cumbersome oddities in it's use which were difficult to overcome.
 
Still just saying 'go away' and taking this lack of a feature as some form of personal slight, or criticism of a company that many Apple users often seem to have a bemusing degree of loyalty to is hardly a useful response.
I didn't do that at all. You can continue to follow this thread, but it's not going to lead to the answer you want, because no one has a workaround.

Yeah, 'anti-apple'. Because an OS lacks a feature and people complain about it, it's 'anti-apple.' It's not Apple I dislike, it's just unreasonable fanatics.
You clearly have a bias that clouds your interpretation of what some have posted here.
 
I didn't do that at all. You can continue to follow this thread, but it's not going to lead to the answer you want, because no one has a workaround.


You clearly have a bias that clouds your interpretation of what some have posted here.

What bias lol? For Windows? Again you see 'bias where there is none. I have plenty of complaints with that too.

Anyway as it happens someone has posted a fairly reasonable solution. I haven't tried it yet, but essentially it involves creating an app using Automator that will move highlighted/selected files and folders for you.

Hopefully it will check out.
 
I already beat you to it, lol. ;) However it's clear that (as a Mac user) you probably just don't get how cut works in reality. If you did, you would already know that the 'application' in question does not in fact fulfil the same function as 'cut'. (Not that I fault you for it, as many Mac users have said, cut is something they have lived without and that they don't miss it because of this).
 
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