Seriously thinking of jumping over to OS X from Windows. Few Questions Inside

[Fancuku]

Negatives:
Finder sux. Cannot maintain the column width you want
Windows: Why do my windows occasionally change size or not fill the screens I need to manually correct that.
Wifi to SMB: Long standing issue. I fixed by BUYING an Airport and cabling where I can

I agree about Finder on all three points. It's awkward and can be painfully slow opening folder from a NAS whereas with the Windows Explorer it happens almost instantly. I've only started using Macs since February but I despise Finder. It's the worst thing in OS X.

Positives:
Gestures. get a handle on those, awesome.
Shortcuts, many.
Prettier than W10, although you can customise W10 to a degree for the UI
Most apps are self contained, no crud going everywhere in the registry/HDD

Again, agree with all your positives. Touchpad and gestures are amazing. By far my favorite thing in OS X.

 

[bent christian]

Thanks BC.

I press alt spacebar nothing happens.

"Alt" is the generic key that gives access to the top menu bar in any window or application. For example, Alt-f gives you access to the File menu in any window or application. Alt-e, Alt-v, etc. You will see underlined letters for further commands. Keep following until you get where you want to go.

In earlier versions of Win you would hit Alt and then spacebar. I just tested it in Windows 10. You need to hold Alt as you hit the spacebar. m=Move, s=Size window, n=Minimize, x=Maximize, c=Close

 

[tdale]

"Alt" is the generic key that gives access to the top menu bar in any window or application. For example, Alt-f gives you access to the File menu in any window or application. Alt-e, Alt-v, etc. You will see underlined letters for further commands. Keep following until you get where you want to go.

In earlier versions of Win you would hit Alt and then spacebar. I just tested it in Windows 10. You need to hold Alt as you hit the spacebar. m=Move, s=Size window, n=Minimize, x=Maximize, c=Close

LOL, sorry I mean OSX!

 

[bent christian]

OSX has something similar. It is called "Move focus to the menu bar". I have it set up as F

LOL, sorry I mean OSX!

Oh, OK.

Yes, that is one of the downsides to OSX. Limited keyboard shortcuts. Almost any command can be done in Windows through the keyboard.

You can get a consistent window size in OSX by opening a Finder window, manually re-sizing, then closing it immediately. It should open to the previous size next time. I think this only works for locations on the local drive. It does not work for me with SD cards.

 

[satcomer]

Thanks BC.

I press alt spacebar nothing happens.

You change it on your account if you want by go to System Preferences->Keyboards, Shortcuts mini tab!

 

[glenthompson]

Thats not correct. You are comparing a high end Mac with a generic PC that could be anywhere from cheap and nasty to high end. Compare like with like.

Those studies were based on business class PCs like Lenovo or similar. Specs were close. No low end consumer computer were compared.

 

[AFEPPL]

Lenovo are really low end IMO. The business laptops are generally worse spec'd than home laptops.

 

[Beachguy]

Macs are not the dream machine, ultra reliable that the fans say.

Actually, they are.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-ar...=nl.e539&s_cid=e539&ttag=e539&ftag=TRE17cfd61

 

[vkd]

Why? I feel an emotive support for Apple is clouding you. Thee forums will inform the many issues that die hard Apple users have with OSX and iOS as well as the iPhone and Macs. They all have issues. Rushed out too fast etc is arguably the cause.

I extensively replied to this once but my comment has been removed, for some vexing reason. Anyway, to answer your good self, the question here is Macs, not phones, nor their OS. I agree, Apple has problems, I too am not a phone fan nor an iOS fan, I prefer Mac OS over all other OS's available today. If you look in the sig. of the person I quoted, you will see he has 5 iPads, 5 Macs and various other Apple and other kit. If he has so many massive crashing problems, what on earth drives him to own so many Apple products? At end of day, my exp. w/ Apple is much better than with Winsh1t comps. What to speak of that nasty abortion MS sells.

 

[bent christian]

Lenovo are really low end IMO. The business laptops are generally worse spec'd than home laptops.

The Thinkapd T61 was among the highest quality notebooks released in 2007. With its interior "roll cage", these machines are tanks. They have a great cooling system. 7200rpm interior drives. Mine is still going strong. Keyboard feels like day one. Hard drive, everything is still original. This machine will likely last two to three years more.

 

[AFEPPL]

Dude - 2007 is like forever ago....!
Plus the 2007 models were IBM think pads with another name before they were raped and cheapened..

 

[sofdog]

Long time windows user here, I made the jump to a rMBP last month. My biggest reason was the hardware. The rMBP has a better keyboard and trackpad than any windows machine out there. I can not tell you how frustrated I was with my HP notebook. In 5 years I never quite mastered that damn trackpad.

To me, OS X & Windows are 99% similar for copying, pasting, saving & storing files & folders, etc. The transition is easy.

 

[martinjm]

This paragraph leaves me in a state of serious disbelief and doubt.

I moved from cheap Win laptops to a £2k Macbook. The Macbook is nowhere near as stable as Windows I'm surprised to say.

 

[geokarbou]

I moved from cheap Win laptops to a £2k Macbook. The Macbook is nowhere near as stable as Windows I'm surprised to say.

Really? Personally I am not disappointed with Windows stability but I would hope for at least an equally good OS if not better experience with OSX.

At the moment I am holding for the new MPB retina early 2016 series so that I can pull the trigger.

 

[martinjm]

Really? Personally I am not disappointed with Windows stability but I would hope for at least an equally good OS if not better experience with OSX.

At the moment I am holding for the new MPB retina early 2016 series so that I can pull the trigger.

Yep - and I did a lot more on Windows. Software dev and stuff. Just browsing/email etc. on the Mac really.

 

[r.harris1]

You will always find people who have negative experiences on any platform and it gets amplified on the various fora. I was a Windows to Mac convert at home in 2008 (at work, in the 90s) and couldn't be happier. I used to care a great deal about fiddling with machines until I realized that what I really wanted was a tool that didn't really get in the way. I drive the machines very, very hard as a software developer/ data engineer by trade and photographer by hobby and generally don't see too many problems on my late 2008, mid 2009, mid 2013 MBPs. I also found that my time being the resident IT guy in the family dropped to near zero, which was awesome for everyone. And really, for my work life, which is spent on Linux boxes while simultaneously dealing with people on Outlook and other office products, this is a great more frictionless way for me to do that. The fact that it blends with my ecosystem of iPhones, iPads, Apple TV is great, but that obviously depends on the system you have of course.

Yep, Windows has come a long way and I really like what Microsoft is doing in certain areas since they chucked out Balmer, but I can't see a real reason to move back, all things being equal. The great thing is that Office on the Mac works great these days so if you need that aspect of Windows, you can have it, for the most part. If you are a fiddler with machines, or maybe you think iOS is for toy computers (there's a convergence of some components of iOS and Mac OS X that some people don't care for), probably Windows is what you want.

OP, I think you will like working in OS X. While entirely personal and subjective, I find the industrial design of the Macs to be second to none and I think OS X is generally really elegant. From your other concerns, I like OmniPlan and OmniGraffle much better than I like working in Project and Visio. I say give it a go!

 

[geokarbou]

You will always find people who have negative experiences on any platform and it gets amplified on the various fora. I was a Windows to Mac convert at home in 2008 (at work, in the 90s) and couldn't be happier. I used to care a great deal about fiddling with machines until I realized that what I really wanted was a tool that didn't really get in the way. I drive the machines very, very hard as a software developer/ data engineer by trade and photographer by hobby and generally don't see too many problems on my late 2008, mid 2009, mid 2013 MBPs. I also found that my time being the resident IT guy in the family dropped to near zero, which was awesome for everyone. And really, for my work life, which is spent on Linux boxes while simultaneously dealing with people on Outlook and other office products, this is a great more frictionless way for me to do that. The fact that it blends with my ecosystem of iPhones, iPads, Apple TV is great, but that obviously depends on the system you have of course.

Yep, Windows has come a long way and I really like what Microsoft is doing in certain areas since they chucked out Balmer, but I can't see a real reason to move back, all things being equal. The great thing is that Office on the Mac works great these days so if you need that aspect of Windows, you can have it, for the most part. If you are a fiddler with machines, or maybe you think iOS is for toy computers (there's a convergence of some components of iOS and Mac OS X that some people don't care for), probably Windows is what you want.

OP, I think you will like working in OS X. While entirely personal and subjective, I find the industrial design of the Macs to be second to none and I think OS X is generally really elegant. From your other concerns, I like OmniPlan and OmniGraffle much better than I like working in Project and Visio. I say give it a go!

I guess you are right. I don't expect to get a unanimous answer and experience from everyone. Thank you for the detailed reply, you've been very helpful.

I am convinced of getting into OS X (plus it's really cheap to keep a Windows machine laying around). Only thing is that I want to wait 1-2 months to grab an early 2016 MBP...

 

[vkd]

Software dev and stuff.

Hm. I am sure we all know the inner meaning of this hifalutin statement. If the truth be told...

 

[satcomer]

Really? Personally I am not disappointed with Windows stability but I would hope for at least an equally good OS if not better experience with OSX.

At the moment I am holding for the new MPB retina early 2016 series so that I can pull the trigger.

Once you get the 2016 Mac model get the book Switching to the Mac: El Captain by David Pogue. It's funny, informative and will make you Mac user easily!