Mac really so straight forward and simple?

[kristenp]

Thanks to the guys above for the tips. I'll stick to using the trackpad for opening up mission control.

Also, I'm kinda embarrassed but I've actually never noticed this before. There are little indicators on the dock below the icons of the apps you currently have running.

As you can see here, I have Finder and Safari running. wow

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Thanks, will try this later. Is there anywhere a nice summary of all shortcuts out there?

http://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/

Install this App and when you long-press the command key, all the short cuts for the app pop up in a floating window. I found this to be a good way to learn.

 

[priitv8]

I'll stick to using the trackpad for opening up mission control.

If you just want to see running app's open windows, there's a shortcut for that too!
Just do a 2-finger double-tap on app's icon in Dock. You must have multi-finger gestures enabled in Trackpad Preferences.

 

[yinz]

Hi,

I am still fairly new to the Macworld (or back - I had my first Mac Classic experience some 20 years ago and absolutely hated the first iMac when I had to use it for one semester some 15 years ago...) and although there are many things I like, I stumble across some things I find less intuitive or even more complicated than on a Windows machine. Am I just missing a trick or are many things 'easier' after all in Win7?

Some examples:
1. I had some friends visiting who wanted to show me the pictures they had taken. So I put the SD card into my MBPro. The SD appears, no problem so far. I click on the first picture and then try with the arrow keys to go to the next one. Doesn't work. Try to find some icons to click to go back and forwards. Again nothing. Fortunately with a quick google search I found that you can only go back and forth if you first select all the pictures, than open one... is there really no more straight forward way?

2. Still on the pictures: My friend wanted me to delete some of the not so good ones. In Windows the operation would be: browsing through them (as per 1.), when I don't like one, hit the delete button - done. In the mac, no luck with the delete button, only way to get rid of them is by dragging them into the bin.

3. I wanted to format an SD card. Click on it, try to find some option menu to do so ... nothing. In the end I did it in my work Windows machine.

I could find quite some more examples, but these here just from the last 24 hours.

As said I admit that I am new to IOS and maybe after 25 years of DOS/Windows experience I might have adapted my way of thinking and working, but somehow I am struggling. Is there any only tutorial or advice that can be given to a 'switcher'?
I really like the hardware but I might end up putting Windows on my Macbook after all...

Hey Marvin,

As a long time Windows user myself, I totally understand how you feel. I've run into the exact same issues and have found ways to work around them. It's a matter of ridding old habits and creating new ones. Of course, since THAT is the way we use photos, that is the way we would prefer to use them. Anyway, here is my attempt at addressing your questions:

1. In list view, you can press space bar to preview the pictures. In this way, you can press the down button and scroll through all of the pictures in that folder without first opening all of the photos in preview.

2. In the manner mentioned above, you can also delete photos. You do this by pressing cmd + del. You just need to learn the new short cuts.

3. To format, you have to open an app called disk utility. You can find this by first pressing cmd + space bar to open a search, and then type in 'disk utility'. You can also find it in your apps folder. From there, you can format anything. Beware, do not format your Macintosh HD.

Explore a bit, and learn the hot keys. You'll soon realise how much more enjoyable it is to use a mac than it is to use windows. It certainly is a weird feeling to feel like a computer newb after 20 something odd years of being the 'go-to-IT-guy' of the family.

Because of the latest wave of Mac adopters, troubleshooting and learning how to use a Mac has been easier than ever!

 

[gregornz]

http://www.mediaatelier.com/CheatSheet/

Install this App and when you long-press the command key, all the short cuts for the app pop up in a floating window. I found this to be a good way to learn.

Nice, I'm going to install that, thanks! [update: works great!] I'm learning heaps from this thread, and whenever I can't do something I google it and learn how.

One thing that I feel resistance towards on OSX is the paradigm of loading files 'into' apps to use them. The classic example is itunes, where you have to 'put your music into' the app. I did it this way in windows, begrudgingly, but I can't bring myself to setup iphoto that way. It seems like a pain-in-the-arse step, and what am I going to do? Keep manually adding photos every time?

I suppose that windows has biased me to managing things through file structures and not apps. Now is a good time to learn to use apps rather than file structures, as increasingly in the mobile paradigm that is the way file management is heading, especially on iOS devices.

 

[simonsi]

It seems like a pain-in-the-arse step, and what am I going to do? Keep manually adding photos every time?

Plug in a camera or memory card, bring up iPhoto and import any number of photos....pretty automated, not sure it could be any more painless....library management gets pretty important when you have several thousand digital photo's....iPhoto makes it pretty easy, especially to search (and find) afterwards.

 

[gregornz]

Plug in a camera or memory card, bring up iPhoto and import any number of photos....pretty automated, not sure it could be any more painless....library management gets pretty important when you have several thousand digital photo's....iPhoto makes it pretty easy, especially to search (and find) afterwards.

Yes, You're right! It's just a illogical emotional block I have!

 

[Baunkjaer]

An alternative to cover flow is to open the desired image folder and keyboard Command+A (same as choosing "Select All") and then simply hit the space bar. It takes less than a second once you get to the point that you don't have to think about it (which is really the issue after 25 years on other operating systems). From there you can use the arrow keys to move through your images or you're a mouse-click away from an index sheet to scroll through thumbnails. You're also a mouse-click away from full-screen mode if desired. All of this without even launching an application.

Edit: If you're more of a mousy person, you can add Preview to your Dock if it's not there already (go to your applications folder and drag the Preview icon to the dock) and then you'll be able to simply drag an entire folder of images to the Preview icon in your Dock. One step. From there you can use the arrow keys as desired. You can also right-click to move selected items to trash.

Awesome. I didn´t know that
Thanks...

 

[brdeveloper]

Hi,

I am still fairly new to the Macworld (or back - I had my first Mac Classic experience some 20 years ago and absolutely hated the first iMac when I had to use it for one semester some 15 years ago...) and although there are many things I like, I stumble across some things I find less intuitive or even more complicated than on a Windows machine. Am I just missing a trick or are many things 'easier' after all in Win7?

Some examples:
1. I had some friends visiting who wanted to show me the pictures they had taken. So I put the SD card into my MBPro. The SD appears, no problem so far. I click on the first picture and then try with the arrow keys to go to the next one. Doesn't work. Try to find some icons to click to go back and forwards. Again nothing. Fortunately with a quick google search I found that you can only go back and forth if you first select all the pictures, than open one... is there really no more straight forward way?

2. Still on the pictures: My friend wanted me to delete some of the not so good ones. In Windows the operation would be: browsing through them (as per 1.), when I don't like one, hit the delete button - done. In the mac, no luck with the delete button, only way to get rid of them is by dragging them into the bin.

3. I wanted to format an SD card. Click on it, try to find some option menu to do so ... nothing. In the end I did it in my work Windows machine.

I could find quite some more examples, but these here just from the last 24 hours.

As said I admit that I am new to IOS and maybe after 25 years of DOS/Windows experience I might have adapted my way of thinking and working, but somehow I am struggling. Is there any only tutorial or advice that can be given to a 'switcher'?
I really like the hardware but I might end up putting Windows on my Macbook after all...

This is all true. Advocating blindly in favor of OSX is pure fanboyism. Actually, Windows 8.x and OSX 10.9 are pretty decent operating systems that have advantages in distinct areas. I like the OSX because it looks like a Linux, it has all that useful posix and gpl tools and also a well-made GUI that Linux will never have because it must be compatible with multiple PC models. Otherwise, I'd be pretty comfortable on Windows. It also has Cygwin, a package of utilities that makes Windows command-line look like an unix -- basically a MacPorts, but with pre-compiled packages.

 

[thundersteele]

Its a far quicker to use implementation of "are you sure". OSX assumes you might have valuable images, hence makes accidental deletion that bit harder, but with a minimum overhead. Kinda sums up the ethos really.

Yes I guess in the end it is good that one can not just "delete" files with an accidental key press. I say "delete" because stuff is just being moved to the trash, so there is already some protection, but at least it saves the hassle of digging stuff back out of the trash can.

Well, OS X is usually quite particular about its conventions (which makes it more systematic IMO) - and by the convention the UI keyboard actions are usually invoked with the help of the command key. This way, 'CMD+delete' instead of just 'delete' actually makes a lot of sense.

That's a good point.


I came to OSX from Linux. I remember being confused because there used to be a shortcut for "move to trash" and one for delete (as in "rm"), and it was probably "delete" that would move things to the trash and "ctrl + delete" that would delete stuff. So I was a bit uncomfortable at first with pressing "cmd+delete" because it always felt very final.

Is there actually a convenient way of deleting stuff without moving it through the trash first?

 

[kristenp]

If you just want to see running app's open windows, there's a shortcut for that too!
Just do a 2-finger double-tap on app's icon in Dock. You must have multi-finger gestures enabled in Trackpad Preferences.

Thanks! This makes things even easier

 

[talmy]

Also, I'm kinda embarrassed but I've actually never noticed this before. There are little indicators on the dock below the icons of the apps you currently have running.

It doesn't really matter if you have applications running. If they aren't doing anything and aren't visible they will get swapped out of memory if the memory is needed for another application. I never quit an application, just close windows with Command-W, that way they are available immediately (my Macs mostly have hard disk drives, so this eliminates start up delays).

You can even turn off the indicators in the Control Panel.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Is there actually a convenient way of deleting stuff without moving it through the trash first?

This can be done from the terminal.

 

[kristenp]

It doesn't really matter if you have applications running. If they aren't doing anything and aren't visible they will get swapped out of memory if the memory is needed for another application. I never quit an application, just close windows with Command-W, that way they are available immediately (my Macs mostly have hard disk drives, so this eliminates start up delays).

You can even turn off the indicators in the Control Panel.

Thanks. I should learn to use Command-W then. As for the indicators, I just meant that sometimes I forgot I even had a certain program running. This way, I can look at the dock at find out otherwise

 

[disasterdrone]

Is there actually a convenient way of deleting stuff without moving it through the trash first?

No. I don't think you should worry about it - having it go to the trash isn't a problem is it?

 

[thundersteele]

This can be done from the terminal.

Yes I know. I was just wondering if there is an UI option I didn't know about.

No. I don't think you should worry about it - having it go to the trash isn't a problem is it?

OSX is sometimes behaving funny when I delete stuff on an external disc. Guess I will use rm for that in the future.

 

[disasterdrone]

OSX is sometimes behaving funny when I delete stuff on an external disc. Guess I will use rm for that in the future.

Can you be more specific?

 

[gregornz]

It doesn't really matter if you have applications running. If they aren't doing anything and aren't visible they will get swapped out of memory if the memory is needed for another application.

This is interesting, is this what is called app nap? I'm not so worried about memory , what about power? They go into a low power state too, right? Is it possible to configure this so that they nap faster and harder?

I was quite disappointed with the battery life I was seeing on my haswell MBP in the first week. Yesterday I saw literally all day battery life, which I attribute to having the screen as very dim as I could tolerate, and only running the apps I actually needed, not just opening them up for fun.

So, my experience there makes it seem like app nap isn't doing much for energy conservation and quitting apps is much more effective.

The other factor is that now my battery has had a couple of cycles, I think it is starting to 'come good'.

 

[priitv8]

This is interesting, is this what is called app nap? I'm not so worried about memory , what about power? They go into a low power state too, right?

That kind of behavior was actually introduced already in Lion: Lion Process Model
(Yet another example how Apple quietly but steadily introduces new features into the software. Eventually they grow into marketable features.)

 

[simon48]

It doesn't really matter if you have applications running. If they aren't doing anything and aren't visible they will get swapped out of memory if the memory is needed for another application. I never quit an application, just close windows with Command-W, that way they are available immediately (my Macs mostly have hard disk drives, so this eliminates start up delays).

You can even turn off the indicators in the Control Panel.

Thanks. I should learn to use Command-W then. As for the indicators, I just meant that sometimes I forgot I even had a certain program running. This way, I can look at the dock at find out otherwise

I wouldn't make using command + W instead of command + Q a habit, it doesn't work the same with all apps and can get you into some confusing situations. Make a habit of using command + Q, you can't go wrong with it.

 

[talmy]

I wouldn't make using command + W instead of command + Q a habit, it doesn't work the same with all apps and can get you into some confusing situations. Make a habit of using command + Q, you can't go wrong with it.

Frankly IMHO it solves confusing situations since closing a window prevents it resuming on startup because it is closed. Cmd-Q quits the app but doesn't close the window. Of course if you turn off resume (giving up on that feature) this wouldn't be an issue.

----------

I wouldn't make using command + W instead of command + Q a habit, it doesn't work the same with all apps and can get you into some confusing situations. Make a habit of using command + Q, you can't go wrong with it.

Frankly IMHO it solves confusing situations since closing a window prevents it resuming on startup because it is closed. Cmd-Q quits the app but doesn't close the window. Of course if you turn off resume (giving up on that feature) this wouldn't be an issue. And there are many 3rd party apps that never implemented autosave/resume which was added back in Lion. But even in these it doesn't hurt to use Cmd-W.

 

[VI™]

True, Windows 8 has included much of the functionality of OS X like file versions, cloud storage etc. However, in my opinion it still lacks important features like quick look and automator, not to mention the extremely messy UI (IMO of course) and settings access.

So Scheduled Tasks won't let you automate things?

 

[leman]

So Scheduled Tasks won't let you automate things?

Are you really comparing the Windows Task Sheduler to Automator and launchd? I mean, its good to have at least something... but in comparison to what Mac has to offer in this area Window looks like a toy. How about OS-wide scriptability with Apple Script? Application Services? System-wide customisable spellcheck server?

 

[simon48]

Frankly IMHO it solves confusing situations since closing a window prevents it resuming on startup because it is closed. Cmd-Q quits the app but doesn't close the window. Of course if you turn off resume (giving up on that feature) this wouldn't be an issue. And there are many 3rd party apps that never implemented autosave/resume which was added back in Lion. But even in these it doesn't hurt to use Cmd-W.

Oh, with resume windows on reopen it sucks. I'm not a fan of resume at all, if it could be per app I might use it, but right now I always true it off within minutes of of using a fresh install.

I still think Cmd + Q is definitely the way to go, but for sure with resume windows off.

 

[gslrider]

OS X is no more user friendly than Windows. The difference is that if there's an issue you can take it to an apple store where a "genius" will tell you how to do something, or if there's a major issue they will wipe your OS for you and fix any hardware.

On a PC, you have to do all of that yourself.

As a user of a Mac for 20+ years (switched from a Windows box), I can tell you that the Mac OS is much more user friendly than Windows (any version). As an example, the 5 steps you take to do something in Windows, only takes 2-3 on a Mac.

Also, in the 20 years I've been using a Mac, I've never once brought my system to the Apple Store. When it comes to software issues (usually 90% of issues), I've learned to diagnose and fix all on my own. Hardware, well, they are rare with Macs. But when you do get a hardware issue, you can either swap out the part, or get it repaired through Apple. Which is less often than PCs.

The problem I had, and many others (who chimed in over the years), is exactly what the OP said. They are so used to doing certain things on Windows, that it has become second nature to them. That the more user friendly and simplicity of the Mac OS, actually seems more difficult for them to grasp. Because they are looking for those extra steps, that they don't really need to do. Just like when I hope on a Windows machine, and realize I have to do more steps than I would on my Mac, it gets frustrating.

It's not to say though, that the Mac doesn't have it's issues. They are all computers, and subject to technical issues. Whether it's a PC or a Mac. But less is always best in my view. Which is the Mac for me.