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I can't seem to warm up to OS X
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I'm really not sure why you switched from windows. If windows worked for me I would have kept it. But over time the computers I had just slowed to a hault, even with avg and defrags. I also got viruses, but how you use the computerobviously differs from how I do. It's just crazy that you bought a mac for the heck of it. If you take the time, however, you'll see it can be very effecient but obviously nothing like windows. It's not like you just changed the theme of the desktop. I personally will never look back, but if I could make windows work like you can, I'd definitely have no problem with it.
The advice that was posted earlier on how to run it better and more efficiently is good and really solves all your problems, but if you still miss it you can always install windows or sell the thing. It's definitely held it's value more than a Dell.
The advice that was posted earlier on how to run it better and more efficiently is good and really solves all your problems, but if you still miss it you can always install windows or sell the thing. It's definitely held it's value more than a Dell.
For all those who don't like Finder (and yeah it does suck really really bad), check out path finder. Path Finder is awesome. It can do way more than the Finder, and it is much snappier. How Apple gets slaughtered by a third party on something like the Finder, I just won't understand.
Also, a small point to someone else in this thread, Dock Expose was revealed long after Windows 7's live preview was known about. Most think it was a direct response. It's also not nearly as good as Window's version (it's kind of slow and a pain to use compared), but those are just small points.
Also, a small point to someone else in this thread, Dock Expose was revealed long after Windows 7's live preview was known about. Most think it was a direct response. It's also not nearly as good as Window's version (it's kind of slow and a pain to use compared), but those are just small points.
I'm the exact opposite. I've never been able to get completely comfortable with Windows. I like having the menu bar on top of the screen instead of on the windows (one of the primary reasons why I have never warmed up to Linux, as well). I like launching applications from folders of my choice rather than going to the Start button.
Most of all, I hated the way so many Windows applications install tons of files all over the place and I had no idea where or what they were doing. To a degree, some Mac apps do that, too, but, most of the time, I know where the files are going. It also bothered me that Windows' "add/remove applications" failed so often, often leaving remnants of apps that neither functioned nor existed on that list.
I guess it all boils down to comfort level and how well one knows their OS of choice...
Most of all, I hated the way so many Windows applications install tons of files all over the place and I had no idea where or what they were doing. To a degree, some Mac apps do that, too, but, most of the time, I know where the files are going. It also bothered me that Windows' "add/remove applications" failed so often, often leaving remnants of apps that neither functioned nor existed on that list.
I guess it all boils down to comfort level and how well one knows their OS of choice...
Meh. This thread has no value.
What are you using the mini for? I switched in 2006, and as far as work productivity goes, Macs are through the roof compared with Windows.
Command + Q. App closed.
What are you using the mini for? I switched in 2006, and as far as work productivity goes, Macs are through the roof compared with Windows.
Command + Q. App closed.
Return it or install Windows over OS X. If you don't like the way your computer is working then install a more suitable OS. There's no point in being less productive. A computer is nothing more than a tool.
As others have said- What's the point of this thread?
I guess you're just trying to share an opinion?
A lot of the things you say you don't like, are things that I *do* like.
I hate having a menu on each app... what a waste of space, and you're never quite sure where the menu is going to be so your muscle memory can't learn as well. In OSX I know exactly where the File menu will be, exactly where the Edit menu is... I don't have to look, my cursor goes right there because it's the same in every app no matter how I've moved the windows in said app around.
I hate having an apps take my whole screen, limiting my multitasking capabilities.
Etc. etc. etc.
You haven't really pointed out any faults of OSX, simply features you don't like. Sounds like you just prefer Windows. No big deal, I'm glad you at least gave OSX a try.
I guess you're just trying to share an opinion?
A lot of the things you say you don't like, are things that I *do* like.
I hate having a menu on each app... what a waste of space, and you're never quite sure where the menu is going to be so your muscle memory can't learn as well. In OSX I know exactly where the File menu will be, exactly where the Edit menu is... I don't have to look, my cursor goes right there because it's the same in every app no matter how I've moved the windows in said app around.
I hate having an apps take my whole screen, limiting my multitasking capabilities.
Etc. etc. etc.
You haven't really pointed out any faults of OSX, simply features you don't like. Sounds like you just prefer Windows. No big deal, I'm glad you at least gave OSX a try.
I just wrote a report on my conversion to Apple computers since my college gave me a MBP. It's on my site in my signature. It was just something I wrote really quick to show some basic Word and Excel Skills (with implementing a chart). It is just a basic report on my experience on switching to Apple. I too like the OP have only been using OSX for a short time, however my experience is more positive. If going to view my school assignment on my site, I would recommend getting the *.docx Word 08 formatted version of it. The PDF file also available for download just doesn't have all the theme colors formatted in it.
Ooops, forgot to mention they are in the "files" section.
Ooops, forgot to mention they are in the "files" section.
I agree about Finder. It annoys me.
Another thing that annoys me is I can't "alt-tab" between windows (only applications)
Another thing that annoys me is I can't "alt-tab" between windows (only applications)
I also just switched from PC to Mac, and so far I'm liking it a lot. I won't say "LOVING it!" since it sounds a bit fanatic - but I like it more than windows 
Let me explain why.
First of all, the OS is very well thought through. As an example, a few weeks ago I was at my summerhouse with my laptop (macbook) and my girlfriends laptop (pc), and a mobile internet dongle. I thought that it would be nice to share the mobile internet over WiFi to the mac, my phone and other toys, so I plugged it into the PC. After some clicking (right click networks, right click modem, properties, advanced, check sharing, exit, right click wifi, create ad-hoc, select modem etc etc) I was going mad. I read tutorials on how to do it, tried, failed. 2-3 restarts later it just started working without really changing anything. Yay! Only took 1-2 hours to get working. I unplugged it later to use normal wifi - didn't work ofc. Had to revert every change / checkbox and restart again to make it behave normally. Phew!
As an experiment I wanted to try the same thing on my Mac the next day. Without really knowing how to do it, I checked the system prefs. Ooh, "sharing", sounds about right. Click it, clicked ON for "internet sharing", and had two dropdowns - "Share connection from" (selected modem), and "To computers using:" (selected airport). Done! And reverting was just as simple, just uncheck the sharing.
This is just an isolated incident, but decribes pretty well why I swapped. Everything is really thought through and well designed. Most things can be done with a single button press in a simple GUI, whereas windows requires a lot more fiddling, registry hacking or whatever it may be. Since all the programs I work with on PC exist for Mac, or at least good replacements, I felt more productive on a Mac since the OS itself it so much smoother to work with.
There are some things that annoy me though. Finder is one thing, I do miss some functionality there. I solved that by using Path Finder, an extension that supplies everything I was missing. The menus at the top and the fact that programs don't close when you close the window is a bit confusing, but no biggie. I don't really see the point with it though.
All in all I'm very happy with my mac, very excited to see what future OS X versions will bring
Let me explain why.First of all, the OS is very well thought through. As an example, a few weeks ago I was at my summerhouse with my laptop (macbook) and my girlfriends laptop (pc), and a mobile internet dongle. I thought that it would be nice to share the mobile internet over WiFi to the mac, my phone and other toys, so I plugged it into the PC. After some clicking (right click networks, right click modem, properties, advanced, check sharing, exit, right click wifi, create ad-hoc, select modem etc etc) I was going mad. I read tutorials on how to do it, tried, failed. 2-3 restarts later it just started working without really changing anything. Yay! Only took 1-2 hours to get working. I unplugged it later to use normal wifi - didn't work ofc. Had to revert every change / checkbox and restart again to make it behave normally. Phew!
As an experiment I wanted to try the same thing on my Mac the next day. Without really knowing how to do it, I checked the system prefs. Ooh, "sharing", sounds about right. Click it, clicked ON for "internet sharing", and had two dropdowns - "Share connection from" (selected modem), and "To computers using:" (selected airport). Done! And reverting was just as simple, just uncheck the sharing.
This is just an isolated incident, but decribes pretty well why I swapped. Everything is really thought through and well designed. Most things can be done with a single button press in a simple GUI, whereas windows requires a lot more fiddling, registry hacking or whatever it may be. Since all the programs I work with on PC exist for Mac, or at least good replacements, I felt more productive on a Mac since the OS itself it so much smoother to work with.
There are some things that annoy me though. Finder is one thing, I do miss some functionality there. I solved that by using Path Finder, an extension that supplies everything I was missing. The menus at the top and the fact that programs don't close when you close the window is a bit confusing, but no biggie. I don't really see the point with it though.
All in all I'm very happy with my mac, very excited to see what future OS X versions will bring
I also just switched from PC to Mac, and so far I'm liking it a lot. I won't say "LOVING it!" since it sounds a bit fanatic - but I like it more than windows
First of all, the OS is very well thought through. As an example, a few weeks ago I was at my summerhouse with my laptop (macbook) and my girlfriends laptop (pc), and a mobile internet dongle. I thought that it would be nice to share the mobile internet over WiFi to the mac, my phone and other toys, so I plugged it into the PC. After some clicking (right click networks, right click modem, properties, advanced, check sharing, exit, right click wifi, create ad-hoc, select modem etc etc) I was going mad. I read tutorials on how to do it, tried, failed. 2-3 restarts later it just started working without really changing anything. Yay! Only took 1-2 hours to get working. I unplugged it later to use normal wifi - didn't work ofc. Had to revert every change / checkbox and restart again to make it behave normally. Phew!
As an experiment I wanted to try the same thing on my Mac the next day. Without really knowing how to do it, I checked the system prefs. Ooh, "sharing", sounds about right. Click it, clicked ON for "internet sharing", and had two dropdowns - "Share connection from" (selected modem), and "To computers using:" (selected airport). Done! And reverting was just as simple, just uncheck the sharing.
This is just an isolated incident, but decribes pretty well why I swapped. Everything is really thought through and well designed. Most things can be done with a single button press in a simple GUI, whereas windows requires a lot more fiddling, registry hacking or whatever it may be. Since all the programs I work with on PC exist for Mac, or at least good replacements, I felt more productive on a Mac since the OS itself it so much smoother to work with.
There are some things that annoy me though. Finder is one thing, I do miss some functionality there. I solved that by using Path Finder, an extension that supplies everything I was missing. The menus at the top and the fact that programs don't close when you close the window is a bit confusing, but no biggie. I don't really see the point with it though.
All in all I'm very happy with my mac, very excited to see what future OS X versions will bring
OSX is very intuitive in that respect.
I'm new to Mac and I will give it more time, but so far I agree 110% with the thread starter. I hate Finder, I hate the Dock and I hate how windows are handled in Mac OS.
On top of that at least my Mac has been a lot more unstable compared to my Windows machines. Most of the applications I've tried have crashed (including Finder, Safari etc) and I have even had a few kernel panics - All this in a few weeks usage. Maybe I stress my computers a bit too much, it's not due to faulty hardware.
Also, the range of software is naturally a fraction of what you find for MS Windows and finding good software that suites your need perfectly is nearly impossible (I use computers both at work and private).
Still there is something about Mac OS that attracts me, though my productivity drops several hundred percents. And I even ordered a iMac i7 at black friday But I will give Mac OS more time and I wish I will someday like it better than Windows or at least that much. For now I'm forced to run Windows on my iMac for professional work, and Mac OS for my private stuff on the Mini.
The good part and the main reason to my "switch" is that I like the design and the second hand value. Those are pretty much the only benefits I can see today, I hope that will change
On top of that at least my Mac has been a lot more unstable compared to my Windows machines. Most of the applications I've tried have crashed (including Finder, Safari etc) and I have even had a few kernel panics - All this in a few weeks usage. Maybe I stress my computers a bit too much, it's not due to faulty hardware.
Also, the range of software is naturally a fraction of what you find for MS Windows and finding good software that suites your need perfectly is nearly impossible (I use computers both at work and private).
Still there is something about Mac OS that attracts me, though my productivity drops several hundred percents. And I even ordered a iMac i7 at black friday
But I will give Mac OS more time and I wish I will someday like it better than Windows or at least that much. For now I'm forced to run Windows on my iMac for professional work, and Mac OS for my private stuff on the Mini.The good part and the main reason to my "switch" is that I like the design and the second hand value. Those are pretty much the only benefits I can see today, I hope that will change
If apps are crashing and you're getting more than the odd KP then something isn't right with either your install or your hardware.
That's exactly what I don't like about the Windows world. Finding a quality program is like finding a needle in a haystack. There are 100's of garbage programs making it hard to find a decent one. In the Mac world you have a few different choices and each one is generally of high quality.
Personally my favorite part of OS X is shortcuts (hotkeys). ⌘+, almost always opens an apps preferences. ⌘+Q closes an app (Windows Alt+F4 is AWFUL ergonomically), ⌘+W closes the focused window. They stay the same and can be easily changed in System Preferences to meet the users needs. OS X slaughters Windows (even 7) in this regard.
True. Also it gets pretty scary/shady downloading apps and installing them in the Windows world. Freaking scammers. You download and install something you think is legit to find it is a gateway to Online Poker or some crap.
I dont have a tilde ~ above the tab button, I have a dollar sign / paragraph sign button.
Tried clicking it with cmd, didnt work.
Yes it does - just drag a file onto the folder / drive name on the left hand side and hold it there for half a sec to open the drive then just use the standard Mac OS spring loaded folder feature to put it in the correct place. Been in the Mac OS for years and years.
Honestly it's all about personal preference. For instance it annoys you that the application menu is on the menu bar, I can't stand it the other way around. I don't like having an application window open unless I have an open project. The biggest advantage to this is when you close an application window (say firefox) it only closes the window and does not shut down the program. Makes things run smoother IMO.
Again it's all really personal preference. Most of the X is better then Y for Z is BS. If you have a hard time working with a machine, it does not matter how good that machine is.
I find myself kind of the opposite of you. I have used the Macs my whole life. Then my last job required me to work quite a bit in a windows environment. I felt like I was from the 1700's or something. "What a strange 'contraption' this is"!
I am comfortable with OS X, and UNIX to boot, so for me OS X is the right choice, for you it seems that a Windows based system is better.
If you don't experience problems, then it is kind of silly to switch.
A lot of the rave is just hype. Macs are great for some people, and others just got caught up in the hype.
Again it's all really personal preference. Most of the X is better then Y for Z is BS. If you have a hard time working with a machine, it does not matter how good that machine is.
I find myself kind of the opposite of you. I have used the Macs my whole life. Then my last job required me to work quite a bit in a windows environment. I felt like I was from the 1700's or something. "What a strange 'contraption' this is"!
I am comfortable with OS X, and UNIX to boot, so for me OS X is the right choice, for you it seems that a Windows based system is better.
If you don't experience problems, then it is kind of silly to switch.
A lot of the rave is just hype. Macs are great for some people, and others just got caught up in the hype.
I, too, was a Microsoft user for ages, but I started back even further in DOS 3.3. I've now been a Mac user coming up on 2 years (January 2010), and I couldn't imagine switching back at this point.
I do run Windows 7 under VMWare Fusion, but only once in awhile. I just don't NEED Windows anymore - OS X does everything I could want it to do. Is it perfect? Of course not - I really don't like the Finder, but have found a workaround in PathFinder (a superior replacement...I just wish I could get the Finder icon off my Dock without weird things happening.)
While you may not have stability issues with Windows, there really is no denying that OS X tends to be much more stable. It's based on a muti-user system (UNIX), which has been around since 1969 - That's a 40 year history of reliability, stability and experience that Apple is working off of.
That's also much of the reason why viruses and spyware are nearly non-existent on OS X. I've heard long-time Mac users say that OS 9 and before had plenty of viruses and malware, so it's not that "Macs" don't get viruses, it's that the underlying SYSTEM in OS X makes it hard for viruses to get into the system to begin with.
The first time you download anything from the Internet (or the first time you download an update to an existing program), you're required to enter your password in order to run the software. That alone is worth peace of mind that a program can't just silently download and install without you knowing about it (which is how a LOT of the current crop of nasty malware on Windows tends to work - we service a LOT of computers in a month where a virus has basically cut off 'net access or keeps you from accessing any administrative tools/control panel.)
These do take some getting used to, but I've found that having a single menu at the top is a much better method of working - you always know exactly where your menu is at all times. As someone else mentioned, it's like muscle memory, you move your mouse to the top of the screen in *whatever* app you're in, and you find what you need.
About the red X and green "maximizing issues...
The only major keyboard command I use in OS X *is* Command-Q to quit an app. It's easy to remember, and it's a lot faster than moving back to the top of the screen. This is just one that you're going to have to start doing more, and I think you'll come to appreciate how quick and easy it is.
When I was in Windows, I used to keep ALL of my apps maximized, no matter how little space they were using. It was just easier to ALT-TAB through them as a way to choose which app I wanted to use next. Compared to OS X, this is an extremely inefficient way to do things.
OS X uses the idea (in *most* cases...a few apps here and there don't follow this so closely) that "maximize" should make the app big enough to show everything it needs to show on screen. When you have multiple apps open on the same screen, you can quickly choose another app. It's WAY more productive, particularly if you combine it with Spaces (virtual desktops) - I can't get by without Spaces anymore, that's how much more productive I've become with it.
I was a little irked at the resizing issue when I started, but with some experience using it, I find that I don't even *need* to resize nearly as often as I did in Windows, so it's not really an issue for me anymore.
Quick Launch was my favorite way to run programs in Windows, and to me, the Dock is just a big Quick Launch "bar" - Just as with QL, I keep my most used programs there, and click to launch. For anything else I need to run, I just use Spotlight (Command-Space) and start typing the name. (For programs I don't remember the name of, I have an Applications stack in the Dock as well...I obviously don't run these programs all that often...)
If you think it takes too much space, you can set it to hide, the same way as you can hide the taskbar in Windows.
A lot of longtime Mac users may suggest (and a few already have) that you just go back to Windows, but I'd recommend to keep using it, check out some of the programs that have been suggested (PathFinder), and I think you'll eventually find that it's a good system overall - at least worthy of spending your time in without worrying so much about malware or having to drill down so many layers to do things that are easily accessible from System Preferences.
Good luck!
Try looking next to Z for the tilde (assuming you don't have an AZERTY keyboard). Unfortunately people forget that the keyboard layout is different from country to country
I dont have a tilde button there either, I dont have one at all.
I'm on a danish keyboard, looks like this:
I tried the >< button as well, no worky. The button combo to make a tilde is alt-^ , but cmd-alt-^ doesnt work either.