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I love my mac but these things annoy me..

N

NewMacGirl

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 8, 2007
160
0
Hi I am a fairly new mac user.
Overall I love using my imac, its a pleasure to use and HAS NEVER CRASHED. My PC would crash/Locks Up/slow to a snails pace I'd say twice a week.

However there are some annoying things which dare I say are better on the PC.

1) File navigation. Going back is a nightmare. Also why are the windows always too small and you have to drag them to make them a useable size. With windows the +/- and custom buttons work well. The red green and yellow buttons don't works as well I think.

2) Thumbnail preview of photos. You have to drag the window bigger to see the preview of the selected photo in the left hand column. What??? This is a bit stupid compared to windows filmstrip or display as thumnail options. A big weakness I think as I work with photos a lot.

3) Window sizes- why are they always an annoying size with sometimes the bottom bar covers the window you are looking at. Why don't they just fit the screen when they are opened.

4) The mouse. Still haven't figured out how to use all the buttons. the middle ball wheelie thingy is too sensitive and before I know it I have pressed it and my widgets on display ( I love the widget things though)

5) downlaoding files. I still haven't figured out wher ethings go when you downlaod files/programmes. Very confusing.


Overall I love it though but I hope the next version of this ***** cat has improvements
 
you will pick up the feel for it some more as you go along -

you can use expose to make the windows show more on screen - Apple Key+Tab to shift between programs and in Safari you can change your download path from the desktop to any other fiolder you want.

with the mouse keys all can be changed within the Prefs icon and mouse/keyboard settings

the system is set as default but all can be customized around you. soon you will be breezing along in it in your sleep:)
 
Thanks I am getting used to it but they should sort the window sizing out I think.

Also forgot iphoto-its brilliant how it just starts downloading but renaming photos and its indexing is poor.

Without critisism one can never improve...
 
5) go with firefox
2) agree

others, there are always differences between different OSes, sometimes, when switching between them, we just need to get used to the differences.
 
hi, safai and the mac in general is designed to allow multitasking, unlike windows, this is why safari sizes to a website size and not full screen, its also handy for those nice drag and drop facilities, if you want full screen link in your bookmark bar in safari use a script like this: http://www.jydesign.com/safari/

otherwise make the windows the screen you like it as (i cover just over half the screen this allows me to drag and drop and accomadates most websites) and every new window you open will size the same.
 
My take on most of these is simply differences between the way OS X and Windows.

Being a Mac user for the past 4 years, the way Windows handles maximize and the like are very obnoxious to me. Use the OS a little longer and try to realize that you're in a different environment and it won't be the same as Windows.

When you go to France, you don't expect everyone to speak English just because that's what you're used to. It's the same thing here. Things are similar, but still notably different.

I think if you just try to figure out where they differ and understand *why* the Mac does it differently. I did, and I honestly think the Mac got it correct. I must prefer window handling on OS X than Windows now.


As for #4, check around the Mouse pane within your System Preferences and you can change the behavior of all the buttons. That might help some.
 
Just like Windows, there is always the little things that will annoy people. I think every OS has their ups and downs, if everything were perfect.. then there would be no new technology. Cheers!
 
I don't think the OP was complaining about not being able to open safari to full screen. The complaint was opening a folder with photos and the window not automatically accommodating (or having a button to accommodate) the size of those photos, but rather having to drag the window to a correct size.

The other is a common complaint among switchers and the "just get used to it" answers are fine, but this seems to be a valid complaint.
 
The fullscreen/maximise thing gets asked many times by recent switchers. Once you get used to it it is a much better way to work. You have instant access to other windows and the desktop so productivity is greatly increased. I hate it when my family use my macs then moan that they dont know where stuff has gone and how to find it.

"stop maximising the window, mum. Its right behind it" :rolleyes:

Also maximising the window prevents use of 'drag and drop'. Which is a major benefit of the UI/OS.
 
MacboobsPro said:
The fullscreen/maximise thing gets asked many times by recent switchers. Once you get used to it it is a much better way to work. You have instant access to other windows and the desktop so productivity is greatly increased. I hate it when my family use my macs then moan that they dont know where stuff has gone and how to find it.

"stop maximising the window, mum. Its right behind it" :rolleyes:

Also maximising the window prevents use of 'drag and drop'. Which is a major benefit of the UI/OS.
Click to expand...

Being a "switcher" for almost a year now, I can remember that being my peeve. I've learned that it's much more convenient. The way it was explained to me is that if you use windows, yes you can maximize, but it just fills the area not being used with grey. I thought "How does that end up helping me?" Then I realized it really doesn't. It got me thinking that Safari didn't have a bad idea.

If you really miss the maximize, you may want to try using the Camino browser. I believe it has that feature, if my memory serves me right.

Either way, welcome to the world of Macs!
 
As for file downloads.

If you're using Safari the default download location is your desktop unless you change it in your Safari preferences.
Expose' can be your best friend for windows.Explore the different settings until you find a setting you like.
 
You can view previews of pictures by going to Show View Options.

Preview1.png


And click the Show Icon Preview

Preview2.png
 
epochblue said:
When you go to France, you don't expect everyone to speak English just because that's what you're used to. It's the same thing here. Things are similar, but still notably different.
Click to expand...

Why shouldnt they? Immigrants (illegal and otherwise) come to the USA and expect to have things in their language (mostly spanish) :rolleyes:

/sarcasm
 
Point taken about being used to windows-which I am. I have used windows since Windows 95. I am used to the maximising buttons and can resize them if I want to drag and drop using the middle icon between - and x.

As I said I love my experience with the imac and I could list lots of things I hate about windows to balance it up-ok I will-here's my top 10.

1) It takes forever to load up and start compared to my imac (at least three times as long)

1b) It takes forever to shut down and sometimes it doesn't shut down at all and then you have to press the on/off button. Then you get windows didn't shut down properly message which slows starting up next time even more

2) All these programmes I don't want to run start automatically and I guess slow it down.

3) Viruses and Trojan Horses. Nightmare when you have to run an antivirus thing just to work. We have had to reinstall everything three times in the last 4 years because of a virus.

4) Crashes/Go Slows and Freezes. Don't know why it does this but it keeps doing it.

5) Getting speakers and microphones to work. We use skype and figuring out which plugs to plug in the speaker and microphone and webcam in is a a pain. There seems to be two sets of sockets plus the one on the front or our dell. Just can't make Skype work. We installed skype on the imac and hey presto it all works, I don't even know where the microphone is but I don't care as I can use skype again.

6) Changin the screen settings-far easier on the imac I reckon.

7) I don't like the USB ports being on the back of the computer or on the tower block- on my mac they are on on the keyboard so handy for plugging in my shuffle.

8) All the urgent security updates it needs and then it automatically restarts the computer-very frustrating. How come they got it so wrong they constantly need to fix up security issues??

9) It looks hideous compared with my imac.

10) It seems so loud comapred to thew imac- the fan is always going and the hard drive is always making that I'm busy crunching stuff sound.
 
NewMacGirl said:
4) The mouse. Still haven't figured out how to use all the buttons. the middle ball wheelie thingy is too sensitive and before I know it I have pressed it and my widgets on display ( I love the widget things though)

5) downlaoding files. I still haven't figured out wher ethings go when you downlaod files/programmes. Very confusing.
Click to expand...

First thing I chucked out was the mouse. Its garbage in my opinion. I use my old Microsoft (oh no!) mouse and its great.

In regards to the downloads I didnt like the way it defaults to desktop (accumulated so much junk) so I made a "Downloads" folder in my home directory and pointed it all there.
 
Just realized: Not sure if anyone answered you question about downloads. The default location for downloads is the desktop. You can change where files in safari download in the safari preferences (in safari, press "Cmd+,")
 
NewMacGirl said:
1) File navigation. Going back is a nightmare. Also why are the windows always too small and you have to drag them to make them a useable size. With windows the +/- and custom buttons work well. The red green and yellow buttons don't works as well I think.
Click to expand...

you can change the size of each window in mac os x. open a window you want to change and resize it to your liking. then close the window; the window size and location will be remembered, and the window will open up to that size and place whenever you open it from then. i hope this helps.

NewMacGirl said:
7) I don't like the USB ports being on the back of the computer or on the tower block- on my mac they are on on the keyboard so handy for plugging in my shuffle.
Click to expand...

the usb ports on the keyboard are usb 1.1 and not usb 2, so you won't transfer songs very fast plugging your shuffle into your keyboard. if you don't change your songs very often, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. but if you notice it being slow, try plugging it into your imac directly. it'll be much faster.
 
It occurs to me that most Windows users are probably used to being able to resize a window by dragging any border of the window.

That's not the case with OS X. Most windows are resizeable, but only from the bottom-right corner of the window. Hope that helps (if that was the problem).
 
NewMacGirl said:
1) File navigation. Going back is a nightmare.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if it's seeing the path of the folder or going to the enclosing folder (not necessarily the one you were last in) then those can be done. To see the path of a folder command click (hold the apple key) the top err...not sure what it's called, but refer to pics
picture1tl9.jpg




picture3hs6.jpg


and to go to the enclosing folder, press command up (arrow keys). Command down does the opposite:)
 
Yes being only able to drag a window at one corner is a weakness I think.

I know I have usd windows for 10 plus years but I think the windows windows are easy to handle.

By going back I meant going back up to ahigher level folder when you go to teh next one in.

The desktop being the default download isn't the best option as if your'e not careful the lovely desktop gets covered with files.

If apple improved some of these it would improve it I think
 
1) You can press :apple: + up if you want to navigate up a level. If you really don't like Finder there are other options you can replace it with.

2) You can view thumbnail previews of photos just like windows - just make sure you have it enabled in view options.

3) Window sizes are remembered. When you open a program it will open in the last place at the same size as when you shut it down - if it opens in a funny place it's because that's where you left it. I tend to just drag things to full screen and exposé between them - if I need the window smaller I'll just hit zoom. Funnily enough at work where I use windows I hardly ever 'maximise'. I guess because at home I use a 12" iBook and at work I've got a 19" monitor. Ironically, with exposé I think OS X handles full screen windows better than Windows.


4) Yeah the mouse is a bit rubbish. A great example of form over function. You can use any USB mouse remember. I keep meaning to get a new one.


5) It makes sense to default to the desktop for downloading as at least you can see where they are. If it squirreled them away in the folder structure somewhere they'd be trickier to find - especially the first time you downloaded something. I think most browsers do this. It's easy to change where they go though.


These things won't change in Leopard as they aren't flaws - OS X was specifically designed to work this way. People may see them as problematic because Windows is perceived as the de facto standard. Which is understandable if you've used it exclusively for so long.

Were things the other way around Windows boards would be full of questions like 'why isn't the zoom button working right?' or ' help, something's wrong - The app keeps quitting when I close the window!'

I really don't think either GUI philosophy is better. I'm quicker with Windows but that's only because that's what I use at work where I'm trying to do thing's quickly - messing about on the internet at home I'm not so pressed for time. To be honest when you can do everything with keyboard shortcuts much of the whole GUI debate is moot anyway.
 
Thanks for the keyboard tips. But it's not obvious why not have asimple back arrow like on windows.

I honestly think windows is better at these things and I am more productive with it BUT all the crashes, viruses and freezes as made me loose all faith in windows which is why I switched to apple. However even though I think apple has these flaws it looks better and still is a pleasure to use so will overlook these shortcomings.

Windows is always very intuitive I never asked anyone how to do things as its so obvious. Having to look for an option or a keyboard combination is not very good.

One other thing which is very annoying is when it can't open an web page and you can't do anything because of the spinning wheel-how can I stop this happening??

In my opinion, in many ways windows is better but it is now too unrelible.

Apple is great but it's not all black and white..

Sorry but computers are computers who ever makes them and I try to use them as little as I can
 
Yeah, there's really no such thing as the perfect UI or perfect OS. You will find out the more you use OS X the more natural things will seem. When I went back to Windows for my new job after using my iBook at home for 6 months I was pressing alt and up to try and navigate up a level. Then I remembered it was the backspace key, which seems a bit weird to me as I usually associate it with deleting things. Then, after a while I found I was pressing enter on my Mac to open files in the finder instead of :apple: +O.

Now I swap between the two, and I'm used to both, I can appreciate where the strengths and weaknesses of each system lie. I much prefer the handling of windows in OS X rather than the awkward task bar in Windows, and I like the fact absolutely everything doesn't have a menu bar attached; I don't really see why I need more than one for an app. On the other hand I think the keyboard navigation in Windows is better developed and the whole OS is extremely responsive.

For the same reasons as you I probably wouldn't go back to having a Windows PC at home though.
 
I wish I had a dollar for every newbie thread that started "I love my new mac but...........

Then it becomes a crusade to criticize everything about it. Give it a rest.
 
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