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Mac Not As Easy

SevengerNC

SevengerNC

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 19, 2012
151
14
Winston Salem, NC
(Please don't jump down my throat)

I purchased my first Mac with great anticipation in June. Waited months for the new upgrades to come about and went with a Macbook Pro 13" i7. Works great - no problems with the hardware at all.
But it is not as easy as the Windows I used for 15 years.

Just little things are cumbersome like - -
renaming a bunch of files at one time - can't be done without a separate app and still not a simple process with that
iPhoto is not anywhere close to user friendly as Paint - can't add text to photo's and manipulate them nearly as easily as with Paint
Lord help me whenever I try to start using iMovie - still using Win Live Movie for now
Just simple tasks like moving and copying files seems very tedious. Creating a new Folder in my tree is a major thing.

Maybe I was expecting too much, and I admit it is a beautiful machine. If all I did was surf and email then ok, but I do like to use my machine for other things, and at this point I just can't see why people say MAC's are so easy to use.

I'll keep plodding along and hopefully all this stuff with become 2nd nature, but for now I'm somewhat second-guessing myself.
 
SevengerNC said:
If all I did was surf and email then ok, but I do like to use my machine for other things, and at this point I just can't see why people say MAC's are so easy to use.

I'll keep plodding along and hopefully all this stuff with become 2nd nature, but for now I'm somewhat second-guessing myself.
Click to expand...
There is a transition in thinking between the Windows way of doing things and the Mac way. Once you've made the transition, you won't be second-guessing your decision. It takes a little time to "unlearn" some of the Windows habits.

Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Portables Fast Start: The New User's Guide to Apple Notebooks
 
I think you just need to get to know your system better.

How do you change multiple file names in explorer? I've always used a 3rd party app regardless of the OS. Try Name Mangler in the App store..it's about as simple as it gets!

Paint and iPhoto are nothing alike. iPhoto is a organization tool, Paint is, well a paint tool. Preview is gaining more editing tools gradually. But in either OS if you want to edit photos you should be using a photo editing app like Photoshop (essentials for the hobbiest)

My mom and gf can use iMovie...so I don't really get the complaint about it being difficult in any way.

Pro-tip:
To quickly create a new folder press shift+cmd+n

to make an entire directory structure open a terminal navigate to where you want the folder (a quick way is to type cd then just drag the destination folder to the terminal window) and type mkdir -p /this/is/a/folder/structure/ and it will create the entire folder structure.
 
I remember buying a Win Dummy book way back when. Might have to do the same.

I want to be a 'Mackie" but just not sure I'm cool enough yet.
 
That's because you're used to windows, I went through the same back in January when I get my first 2011 iMac and now recently got a rMBP.

The problem is, you're comparing to different programs, iPhoto is about a virtual album, where you can enhance and manipulate photo effects while paint is a drawing application.

When I moved to OS X I guess I was expecting almost to be magical due to people saying "It's just that easy", well it is, once you get used to the environment, for example look at system preferences vs control panel. I do still love windows though.
 
gentlefury said:
I think you just need to get to know your system better.

How do you change multiple file names in explorer? I've always used a 3rd party app regardless of the OS. Try Name Mangler in the App store..it's about as simple as it gets!

Paint and iPhoto are nothing alike. iPhoto is a organization tool, Paint is, well a paint tool. Preview is gaining more editing tools gradually. But in either OS if you want to edit photos you should be using a photo editing app like Photoshop (essentials for the hobbiest)

My mom and gf can use iMovie...so I don't really get the complaint about it being difficult in any way.

Pro-tip:
To quickly create a new folder press shift+cmd+n
Click to expand...
- -

To change multiple files in Win you simply highlight them all, right click and rename them. You can change the name of 100 photos at once like that.

I have used Win Live Movie to edit movies of my band. Have not tried iMovie yet - one of these days.

I really didn't realize iPhoto is more an orginazation tool till you just said that. I've tried Preview and downloaded Pixelmator and something else that are close to Paint.

Thx
 
SevengerNC said:
(Please don't jump down my throat)

I purchased my first Mac with great anticipation in June. Waited months for the new upgrades to come about and went with a Macbook Pro 13" i7. Works great - no problems with the hardware at all.
But it is not as easy as the Windows I used for 15 years.

Just little things are cumbersome like - -
renaming a bunch of files at one time - can't be done without a separate app and still not a simple process with that
iPhoto is not anywhere close to user friendly as Paint - can't add text to photo's and manipulate them nearly as easily as with Paint
Lord help me whenever I try to start using iMovie - still using Win Live Movie for now
Just simple tasks like moving and copying files seems very tedious. Creating a new Folder in my tree is a major thing.

Maybe I was expecting too much, and I admit it is a beautiful machine. If all I did was surf and email then ok, but I do like to use my machine for other things, and at this point I just can't see why people say MAC's are so easy to use.

I'll keep plodding along and hopefully all this stuff with become 2nd nature, but for now I'm somewhat second-guessing myself.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to jump down your throat, but consider this. First Mac, right? That means you've been using PCs for at least what, 10 to 15 years of your life? If I had lived somewhere for 15 years and then moved to a different town, surely it will take some getting used to, like there's not a 7-11 across the street like in your old place. But hey, there is a pretty awesome convenience store around the block, but since you're new in town, it's going to take some time to learn. For me it took a couple weeks before I felt really secure in the environment with a lot of "what the hell, I could do this in windows!" moments, but again, just give it time, they are different systems that operate in different ways.
 
SevengerNC said:
- -

To change multiple files in Win you simply highlight them all, right click and rename them. You can change the name of 100 photos at once like that.

I have used Win Live Movie to edit movies of my band. Have not tried iMovie yet - one of these days.

I really didn't realize iPhoto is more an orginazation tool till you just said that. I've tried Preview and downloaded Pixelmator and something else that are close to Paint.

Thx
Click to expand...

How does it name them if you do this? If I were to attempt to call 100 photos "Cool_Photo" would it call them Cool_Photo1 Cool_Photo2 etc?

Name Mangler is very nice and intuitive btw, you can have it number sequences of files, add pre-fixes to an entire library of files. Very recommended.
 
Drask said:
That's because you're used to windows, I went through the same back in January when I get my first 2011 iMac and now recently got a rMBP.

The problem is, you're comparing to different programs, iPhoto is about a virtual album, where you can enhance and manipulate photo effects while paint is a drawing application.

When I moved to OS X I guess I was expecting almost to be magical due to people saying "It's just that easy", well it is, once you get used to the environment, for example look at system preferences vs control panel. I do still love windows though.
Click to expand...
- -

I've never been a Win or Mac masher. Good grief, without them very few people would be using computers. And without Netscape in the early 90's many people would not have gotten on the web.

When I first started it was DOS, and I never did grasp that very well. Thankfully for me, Win 3 came out soon, and the rest is histroy. I can definitely see how Win ripped off Mac though.
 
SevengerNC said:
- -

I've never been a Win or Mac masher. Good grief, without them very few people would be using computers. And without Netscape in the early 90's many people would not have gotten on the web.

When I first started it was DOS, and I never did grasp that very well. Thankfully for me, Win 3 came out soon, and the rest is histroy. I can definitely see how Win ripped off Mac though.
Click to expand...

Win ripped off mac, mac ripped off win, they both rip off linux....its a big endless cycle ;)

For work, I use Mac, Windows, and all flavors of Linux...so I get to see all sides of the spectrum.
 
gentlefury said:
How does it name them if you do this? If I were to attempt to call 100 photos "Cool_Photo" would it call them Cool_Photo1 Cool_Photo2 etc?

Name Mangler is very nice and intuitive btw, you can have it number sequences of files, add pre-fixes to an entire library of files. Very recommended.
Click to expand...

That's what I was trying to think of - Name Mangler is the one I DL'd, and it works. There was another app close to that name that I did not like. (I'm at work and don't have the MAC with me.

Remaning foler or file on Win - simply type what you want and it all changes and adds a # at the end of the file name 1 2 3 4 . . . like vacation(1).jpg vacation(2).jpg . . . very easy

----------

Again I say thank goodness for Gates, Jobs....and the guy that invented Netscape and gave it to the world. Heck, I would have charged at least a buck. I hear people complaing about computers and I think back to the 60's & 70's - we had NOTHING. Now I have pc, mac, iPhone, iPad and can't watch tv without one eye online.

----------

Again I say thank goodness for Gates, Jobs....and the guy that invented Netscape and gave it to the world. Heck, I would have charged at least a buck. I hear people complaing about computers and I think back to the 60's & 70's - we had NOTHING. Now I have pc, mac, iPhone, iPad and can't watch tv without one eye online.
 
I switched from Windows to OSX and I never want to go back. It's so much better than windows in a lot of ways for me. You just have to get use to it or give it some time, or maybe it's just not for you.
 
gentlefury said:
I think you just need to get to know your system better.

How do you change multiple file names in explorer? I've always used a 3rd party app regardless of the OS. Try Name Mangler in the App store..it's about as simple as it gets!

Paint and iPhoto are nothing alike. iPhoto is a organization tool, Paint is, well a paint tool. Preview is gaining more editing tools gradually. But in either OS if you want to edit photos you should be using a photo editing app like Photoshop (essentials for the hobbiest)

My mom and gf can use iMovie...so I don't really get the complaint about it being difficult in any way.

Pro-tip:
To quickly create a new folder press shift+cmd+n

to make an entire directory structure open a terminal navigate to where you want the folder (a quick way is to type cd then just drag the destination folder to the terminal window) and type mkdir -p /this/is/a/folder/structure/ and it will create the entire folder structure.
Click to expand...

sorry but if the person just wants to add text to an image, getting photoshop just for that purpose is the stupidest idea ever.

also idiotic: your suggestions of using terminal to create a folder structure is just plain ridiculous. yah that just screams user-friendliness.

OP: creating folders within trees is JUST like windows. i don't see how its different at all. you can still right click anywhere and select new folder. or just the taskbar at the top "file -> new folder" JUST like windows. or you can just use the icon shortcut at the top of the finder window.

and osx also appends a # to any duplicate file names unless you're trying to replace it. but thats just to prevent losing files like windows. frankly just adding #'s to the end isn't efficient or user-friendly at all.
 
My biggest gripe when switching to Mac was renaming files. I did it with automator for a while but then discovered "Better Rename" app. You should consider it, it is not expensive and very easy to use...
 
I would highly suggest opening system preferences and playing around in every single category so you know what all is available and then I would also right click some open space between the buttons at the top of a finder window (or any program for that matter) and take a look at the customization options. Add folder is a button I found that way that I prefer to have.
 
stevelam said:
sorry but if the person just wants to add text to an image, getting photoshop just for that purpose is the stupidest idea ever.

also idiotic: your suggestions of using terminal to create a folder structure is just plain ridiculous. yah that just screams user-friendliness.

OP: creating folders within trees is JUST like windows. i don't see how its different at all. you can still right click anywhere and select new folder. or just the taskbar at the top "file -> new folder" JUST like windows. or you can just use the icon shortcut at the top of the finder window.

and osx also appends a # to any duplicate file names unless you're trying to replace it. but thats just to prevent losing files like windows. frankly just adding #'s to the end isn't efficient or user-friendly at all.
Click to expand...
- -

Win adds (copy1) copy(2) to a file if you duplicate it in the same Folder.
Photoshop is much more than what I need. I DL'd something called Gimp that was free & similar but never did much with it. One of these days I'd like to crop my head onto Mr Bodybuilder's body but no big hurry.
I don't even know what that 'terminal' thing meant. Gave me a headache reading it and figured it was like using DOS.
 
I use both OS X and Windows every day, frequently both at once, and find them more similar than different. Where they are different I'm always preferring the OS X methods as being more straightforward.

A hint for rearranging folders and moving files -- use drag and drop.

Try "SketchBook Express" (free) in the App Store for a MS Paint substitute. As others have pointed out, iPhoto is not the same type of program.

I use iMovie to process 2-3 hours of video a week through most of the year. I'm no videographer but find it fast and easy to use.
 
Oh Yeah - something else.

When I bought MAC in the Apple Store I asked how to make a new folder in the tree like Sevengers Photos, Sevengers Movies . . . and it was hard to find someone there that new. They finally said go to your desktop, right click to make new folder, then drag to tree.
However, this leaves the new folder on the desktop too, and when I drag to Trash and Empty Trash, then it's gone from the Tree too and all the contents I put in there.
It's the little things like this I find annoying.
 
Same thing happened to a few people that i have converted to Macs, the first few weeks they struggle while learning then once they know it they say they will never go back to windows because OSX is so much easier to use lol. I went through the same learning curve many years ago.
 
Hey, just wanted to share my experiance. In Oct 2011 I bought my first mac, a 13" MBP. While I liked it, for about 6 months i wasn't fully on board with it. I actually used my old Windows PC and the MBP for that time. But after that first 6 months, I fell in love with my MBP. I don't see myself ever buying a windows PC again. Give it some time.
 
jimray said:
Hey, just wanted to share my experiance. In Oct 2011 I bought my first mac, a 13" MBP. While I liked it, for about 6 months i wasn't fully on board with it. I actually used my old Windows PC and the MBP for that time. But after that first 6 months, I fell in love with my MBP. I don't see myself ever buying a windows PC again. Give it some time.
Click to expand...
- -

I'm trying to use my MAC more & more but find it easier to use the Win lap for certain things. For example, I have a band, and I will use a band photo in Paint to add text like the name of the band, venue, dates . . . and send out in email or put on Facebook. I anticipated using MAC to do this. In fact, I was hoping I could just 'think it' and MAC would read my mind and create it. Not to be.
 
SevengerNC said:
(Please don't jump down my throat)

I purchased my first Mac with great anticipation in June. Waited months for the new upgrades to come about and went with a Macbook Pro 13" i7. Works great - no problems with the hardware at all.
But it is not as easy as the Windows I used for 15 years.

Just little things are cumbersome like - -
renaming a bunch of files at one time - can't be done without a separate app and still not a simple process with that
iPhoto is not anywhere close to user friendly as Paint - can't add text to photo's and manipulate them nearly as easily as with Paint
Lord help me whenever I try to start using iMovie - still using Win Live Movie for now
Just simple tasks like moving and copying files seems very tedious. Creating a new Folder in my tree is a major thing.

Maybe I was expecting too much, and I admit it is a beautiful machine. If all I did was surf and email then ok, but I do like to use my machine for other things, and at this point I just can't see why people say MAC's are so easy to use.

I'll keep plodding along and hopefully all this stuff with become 2nd nature, but for now I'm somewhat second-guessing myself.
Click to expand...

iPhoto has nothing to do with Paint. You are looking for Seashore as a Paint replacement, or perhaps Photoshop.

iMovie's way of doing things can be annoying, but iMovie is more powerful than anything else you can get for free.
 
There is going to be a learning curve when first switching, at least on some level. I remember when I got my first Mac, I watched the tutorials on Apple's site for days. Don't give up! Just give it some time and keep at it. I personally have found OSX to be much more of a pleasure to work with.

As for iMovie in particular, watch the tutorials on Apple's site....
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/
http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/

...and check out YouTube. iMovie is an incredibly intuitive program, and also very deep. I used iMovie to create a video for my site, and after learning the ropes, putting together a movie/video is really easy and fun.

I can't really comment much on iPhoto because I use Photoshop. Garageband is a great app if your into music. Its another program that's really deep, yet very easy to jump into and learn.
 
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