Mac Not As Easy

[z06gal]

Windows Vista sent me packing and I chose Linux. I had not clue one what I was doing but I was so tired of Windows and all the issues with Vista that I didn't care. Well, it was a real learning experience but I learned more about using my computer than I could ever imagine. This is my first experience with a Mac [have had it one week] but I am extremely impressed at this point. It does take some time to find your way around but once you do you'll love it

 

[vladster]

(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.

If major problem for you is file manipulations, install muCommander - that one does things in platform independent way and close to windows way.

iPhoto and iMovie - those are just applications... if you don't like them - find something else... like Picasa for photos, for example.

 

[talmy]

6. I'm ignorant about how long file names can be and don't want to risk it being worse that the limits Windows already has. Ideally I'd love to be able to have a 200 character filename under a 500 character folder path (e.g., a 100 char folder under a 100 char folder under a 100 char folder . . . and finally a 200 char filename). What's the limit? That's how I like to organize citations references heirarchically (with the title including a short reminder of the content).

The limit is 255 bytes for a file name and 1023 bytes for a pathname. I believe the names are encoded UTF8 so as long as the characters are ASCII characters in the name, it 1 byte = 1 character.

Oh, and 3 -- resource forks, are not really used anymore. I've never had a compatibility problem.

 

[terraphantm]

I wish Windows 8 had a start menu. They're eliminating that in favor of a tablet-friendly/PC-unfriendly tile-based GUI (formerly known as Metro). It'll probably make a few people change to Mac OS X just because it might look more familiar than Windows 8.

I will probably not switch to Windows 8 for a while. But to be fair, the Metro UI is sort of a giant start menu. Not ideal... but still better than no centralized menu for accessing everything.

----------

Think that's the only time I've heard of switching to macs for hardware, considering it's the same hardware as in Windows machines.

I consider the materials, fit and finish, and screen quality to all be a part of hardware quality. With little exception, Apple's the best there. Apple also makes the best trackpads.

I'm not a fan of their keyboards though. I can type much faster on a thinkpad's keyboard. And for the longest time IBM/Lenovo did offer IPS displays, so they had Apple beat there too (until rmbp anyway)

 

[Prime85]

Took me 1-2 weeks to get used to it. Six months later i am still learning (mostly because of the 10.8) but now when i run windows in bootcamp it reminds me why i switched. Once you get used to it you will never want to go back.

 

[Caromsoft]

I missed Paint as well when I switched over a year ago after 20+ years with Windows. I found Paintbrush for Mac to be a good substitute.

 

[terraphantm]

Took me 1-2 weeks to get used to it. Six months later i am still learning (mostly because of the 10.8) but now when i run windows in bootcamp it reminds me why i switched. Once you get used to it you will never want to go back.

I don't know. I find I'm much more productive in a Windows environment, and I've been using OSX in some form or another since the Intel transition. For non-productivity tasks, OSX can be easier though.

 

[yaymath]

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

Renaming a bunch of files is extremely fast with Automator. It's preinstalled. Search it in the Launchpad.

 

[macimby]

The limit is 255 bytes for a file name and 1023 bytes for a pathname. I believe the names are encoded UTF8 so as long as the characters are ASCII characters in the name, it 1 byte = 1 character.

Oh, and 3 -- resource forks, are not really used anymore. I've never had a compatibility problem.

Thank you, talmy. That is very encouraging and should suffice if it works out that way. I think Windows makes similar claims but there are layers to it and the Windows Explorer (file manager) tool can't handle as long a total path.

--------------------------

But to be fair, the Metro UI is sort of a giant start menu.

Not really. The Win7 (an prior) Start Menu stays out of the way until you call it up. The formerly-known-as-Metro GUI *is* your desktop until you click into something to get to your desktop. When you start Windows, the tiles are in your way and the current rumor is that you cannot bypass it on bootup even if you try to run a startup program to jump to the desktop. (And a file folder structure of the Start Menu seems easier and more efficient to use than tiles, at least when you've got lots & lots of applications like I do.)

It would be like putting an iPad's home screen on a Mac and then the only way to get to your desktop would be to click into a "Desktop" app. If you reboot, you're back out at the home screen instead of your desktop. Maybe a good idea for tablets & smartTV's, but for a PC????

macimby

 

[haruhiko]

I ran Windows via Boot Camp on an iMac for 2 years before deciding that I was ready to fully switch to OS X. It was a long time because I had been a long time Windows geek since mid 1990s. And now I can't see myself switching back to Windows - especially after seeing that messy "Windows 8 new UI that shall not be named". Couldn't be happier with ML.

 

[terraphantm]

Thank you, talmy. That is very encouraging and should suffice if it works out that way. I think Windows makes similar claims but there are layers to it and the Windows Explorer (file manager) tool can't handle as long a total path.

--------------------------



Not really. The Win7 (an prior) Start Menu stays out of the way until you call it up. The formerly-known-as-Metro GUI *is* your desktop until you click into something to get to your desktop. When you start Windows, the tiles are in your way and the current rumor is that you cannot bypass it on bootup even if you try to run a startup program to jump to the desktop. (And a file folder structure of the Start Menu seems easier and more efficient to use than tiles, at least when you've got lots & lots of applications like I do.)

It would be like putting an iPad's home screen on a Mac and then the only way to get to your desktop would be to click into a "Desktop" app. If you reboot, you're back out at the home screen instead of your desktop. Maybe a good idea for tablets & smartTV's, but for a PC????

macimby

Right, but as soon as you exit to the desktop, it's not really necessary to go back to it except for emulating the start menu of old

And while the current thought is that it cannot be set to go directly to the desktop, I'm not sure how true that is. The server variant goes directly to the desktop, and it also goes directly to the desktop when you boot into safe mode (but the metro start is still available in safe mode - it's not like it's completely disabled). So obviously the OS supports it. I suspect a hack will show up soon enough.

 

[gokart mozart]

(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.

A suggestion if I may. If there is an Apple store in your town, schedule a class. They have classes for people switching from Windows to Mac. I don't recall it being expensive. Personally, I think it is way more fun to explore and learn on your own. There are also plenty of tutorials to be found online.

Here's one from Apple. It's pretty basic but it may clear some things up for you.
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

Google is also your friend. http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=o...p.r_qf.&fp=44f4b48d0858f0ba&biw=1440&bih=1099

It took my pops awhile to make the switch too. He'd been on Windows since the early 90s. He loves it now, but every once in awhile something will come up and he'll seek out help from me or the internet. It is part of the transition. They're different OSs with different philosophies.

And as others have said, Paint is nothing like iPhoto.

 

[jterp7]

It took me a solid month before I felt really at home with OSX. The apple classes may be useful, but the MR guides and tips I learned from searching the forum were much more helpful....and free.

A suggestion if I may. If there is an Apple store in your town, schedule a class. They have classes for people switching from Windows to Mac. I don't recall it being expensive. Personally, I think it is way more fun to explore and learn on your own. There are also plenty of tutorials to be found online.

Here's one from Apple. It's pretty basic but it may clear some things up for you.
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

Google is also your friend. http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=o...p.r_qf.&fp=44f4b48d0858f0ba&biw=1440&bih=1099

It took my pops awhile to make the switch too. He'd been on Windows since the early 90s. He loves it now, but every once in awhile something will come up and he'll seek out help from me or the internet. It is part of the transition. They're different OSs with different philosophies.

And as others have said, Paint is nothing like iPhoto.

 

[gokart mozart]

It took me a solid month before I felt really at home with OSX. The apple classes may be useful, but the MR guides and tips I learned from searching the forum were much more helpful....and free.

Well that's why I mentioned google and online research. Quite free. And it comes without the potentially condescending tone of a bored Apple genius.

 

[psykick5]

I switched, too, and nothing bothered me more than cut and paste, but there are always solutions to make everything better

 

[gokart mozart]

I switched, too, and nothing bothered me more than cut and paste, but there are always solutions to make everything better

Really? Just highlight and two-finger (secondary) click (most Window-like way of alt/right clicking) or command + c > command + v.

Secondary/two-finger click is active by default now, but if not, just go in to the preferences pane for the track pad and check the "secondary click" box. Now you just click with two fingers touching the trackpad, and a menu will pop up with option such as copy and past, just like right clicking in Windows.

 

[talmy]

I switched, too, and nothing bothered me more than cut and paste, but there are always solutions to make everything better

Really? Just highlight and two-finger (secondary) click (most Window-like way of alt/right clicking) or command + c > command + v.

Psykick5 said "cut and paste" which isn't Windows-like. There is no Cut operation in Finder. You do a copy (command-C) and then a Move Item Here (option-command-V) at the destination. With the mouse it is Option right click.

 

[SevengerNC]

I switched, too, and nothing bothered me more than cut and paste, but there are always solutions to make everything better

- -

I've had occasions where I try to cut & paste an email address intot he To box, bu it won't paste anything so I have to paste the address into the body of the letter so I can read it and then type it on the To line.
This is such a simple thing, but I can't do it.

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This is not related to the discussion but I'd like to ask - -

On most Forums I can set my preferences to always receive email notifications when a reply is made. On this one I have to manually do it every time I start a thread. Is there a way to make the email notif my default? Thx

 

[biskit96]

- -

I've had occasions where I try to cut & paste an email address intot he To box, bu it won't paste anything so I have to paste the address into the body of the letter so I can read it and then type it on the To line.
This is such a simple thing, but I can't do it.

That is one of my pet peaves in OSx as well. It is really annoying as it seems so simple. All in all I am happy with OSx - but there are few simple things like this that are hard to understand.

 

[matrix07]

Wow! Reading this thread I feel like I'm a genius. It took me only a couple of weeks to understand OSX and I never look back since.

 

[flipnap]

the true power of osx is in the shell. especially for stuff like mass file management.

 

[talmy]

- -

I've had occasions where I try to cut & paste an email address intot he To box, bu it won't paste anything so I have to paste the address into the body of the letter so I can read it and then type it on the To line.
This is such a simple thing, but I can't do it.

I'd like to know exactly what you are doing. Paste works fine in the To box in Mail for me (as does drag and drop).

This is not related to the discussion but I'd like to ask - -

On most Forums I can set my preferences to always receive email notifications when a reply is made. On this one I have to manually do it every time I start a thread. Is there a way to make the email notif my default? Thx

Go to your Control Panel page, Settings&Options-->Edit Options, and set the way you want to get email notifications under "Default Thread Subscription Mode".

 

[dusk007]

CUT&PASTE solved by using Pathfinder or Totalfinder.
I think drag and drop horribly slow so I wouldn't know what is so problematic about giving a cut&paste option.

How would one use the Spacebar to do a PgUp while editing a document? Doesn't OS X treat use the spacebar to insert a space character? ;-) How would page-up or page-dn be a single-handed keystroke? OS X swipe touch motions seem a more comparable subtitute, though not as efficient.

Sure it doesn't work while typing.
It works very well though when reading pdfs and web pages. I personally use page up/down most often in these situations.
Not so much in Word.

Space is just one key and space-shift is two yet still single handed.
ctrl+space also works if you are typing something.

If you want more there is a solution though. Install better touch tool.
Pick something like three finger tip/tab left for ctrl+down, right for up.
Or something else. It is one hand and very comfortable.
You can also remap the shortcuts.

I have CMD+Alt left right for moving Windows between monitors and up for maximizing (non full screen way). It is easy to trigger with one hand and can work for page up/down too.

 

[psykick5]

I just installed TotalFinder and now enjoy my cut and paste

 

[terraphantm]

the true power of osx is in the shell. especially for stuff like mass file management.

The shell can be very powerful, but it should not be required to do some relatively simple tasks