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Windows withdrawal

D

dayloon

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 19, 2005
309
50
Stafford, UK
Hi All,

Is it quite normal to experience windows withdrawal symptoms after first switching to a mac and OSX ? ;)

I recently took delivery of my first ever mac, an 27" imac. It's a beautiful machine but i sometimes miss windows. Probably because i knew it so well. I feel kind of restricted in osx but i have no idea why. Weird really.
 
Relax, it will pass
It's like stopping smoking
You will crave it for a while, but it is really the best thing for you

If you need "the patch" you can Bootcamp
Of if you need "the gum" you can run Fusion or Parallels

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Anything specific you're missing? There are lots of third party apps, many free, that can make some things you may be missing work...

B
 
MacDawg said:
Relax, it will pass
It's like stopping smoking
You will crave it for a while, but it is really the best thing for you
Click to expand...


Yes, it's exactly like that. I've still got my windows machine but it's unplugged. I keep having to resist temptation to power it back on. I'm almost craving windows
 
balamw said:
Anything specific you're missing? There are lots of third party apps, many free, that can make some things you may be missing work...

B
Click to expand...

Nothing specific to be honest. I think i just miss the variety of apps and having to fix my pc on a daily basis because something went wrong lol
 
To get more acquainted with Mac OS X have a look at the following links, as the information presented there might be helpful in your future endeavours into Mac OS X and could clear up initial confusion and may even prevent harm to your system or your files.

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

PS: When I bought my iBook with Mac OS X 10.3.x I had a Windows machine with double the GHz, two monitors, one hell of a graphics card and what not. I only turned it on (as it did not me) to download all those files one has to download as a student while I was away at lectures.
I never used it again and sold it.
 
Just don't try to cut/paste files in the finder, or try to delete selected files in the trash, and don't try to resize windows from anywhere but the bottom right corner. Oh, and don't try to understand why some apps quit when you close the window and others don't... you will learn to appreciate that later.

Welcome to the cult
We will teach you the handshake later

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
dayloon said:
Yes, it's exactly like that. I've still got my windows machine but it's unplugged. I keep having to resist temptation to power it back on. I'm almost craving windows
Click to expand...

So no specifics, huh? Just close your eyes and the feeling will pass

MacDawg said:
If you need "the patch" you can Bootcamp
Of if you need "the gum" you can run Fusion or Parallels
Click to expand...

Don't hit the patch or the gum for at least a month. It's better to learn new ways to do things in OS X now than to condemn yourself to a lifetime of dual-booting.
 
balamw said:
Anything specific you're missing? There are lots of third party apps, many free, that can make some things you may be missing work...

B
Click to expand...

I miss clicking on the "Show Desktop" icon to show my desktop. I try to stay away from the keyboard as much as possible, but find my MBP requires it for a lot of things.

I also miss opening a pic and automatically being able to slide show through all the pics in a certain folder or on the desktop. I can't stand Preview for that reason, since all it allows is looking at one pic. I can load them up in iPhoto to get a slide show, but it's an extra step.

I miss being able to easily delete one item in the trash or multiple items that I choose. I have to use Terminal, which again requires me to type and also can only be used to delete one item (if there's a way to delete multiple items I don't know that either).

And finally, I really miss system restore. Time Machine requires an external HD. I'd rather backup to an external, but don't want to restore the whole hard drive just to get back to a previous state on my Mac.

So, if there's stuff that can enable those four things, I don't know about it. Don't get me wrong, Mac does a lot of things right, but I still miss Windows for some things.
 
I can only vouch for myself but i was in the same frame of mind! i was Windows through and through for the last 20 years and i too knew the operating system inside out and i never saw myself using any other operating system other than windows! i am sure it was some kind of subliminal message imprinted in our brains :D

That is until i threw caution to the wind and bought my first Mac! and i can personally say it was the best thing i did!

Yes! at first there were a few things i missed but that was inevitable! all i did was like other ops have quoted find an App that suits your needs! one program that i could not do without because i used it every day in the windows days was Adobe Photoshop and i find this program a much better user experience on the Mac!

All in all it is down to the individual but i personally find it a far superior user interface/experience :apple:

Hope this helps expel your concerns and now when i use my sons Vista laptop i ask myself how did i cope with it for so long :apple:
 
sounds like user error to me:D

dayloon said:
Nothing specific to be honest. I think i just miss the variety of apps and having to fix my pc on a daily basis because something went wrong lol
Click to expand...

i have W7 on my work machine and love it. Blows XP out of the water. I jump on my wife's laptop for some of the software, but honestly, my next laptop purchase is going to be determined by the best hardware available as W7 has already demonstrated to meet my needs. Enough talk of having to fix something daily. As a power user, i can't recall other than defrag, of running any utlities for any of my windows boxes. And since W7 has improved sleep, i regularly leave my W7 box on just like my wife does with her MB.
 
-aggie- said:
I miss clicking on the "Show Desktop" icon to show my desktop.
Click to expand...

Use Exposé for that; F8 by default I think, but you can do what I do and use a hot-corner instead.

I also miss opening a pic and automatically being able to slide show through all the pics in a certain folder or on the desktop.
Click to expand...

Use an app like JView.

--Eric
 
Eric5h5 said:
Use Exposé for that; F8 by default I think, but you can do what I do and use a hot-corner instead.

Use an app like JView.

--Eric
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll look into JView. From what I understand, show desktop is Command+Exposé (F3). Clicking on Exposé just brings up all your windows and clicking it again returns you back to the original screen you had IIRC. I've tried using hot-corners, but I must not understand it, because it didn't work when I did it.
 
To be honest, as far as the apps are concerned it took me about 6-8 months to get totally free of Windows apps so I would go back to my Windows machine to do certain things until I found all the apps I needed to do everything I needed to do. Now the old machine may get started once ever 3 or 4 months--just to see if it still boots--lol
 
When I first switched to Mac it did take me awhile to get used to it but that happens with a lot things. Don't underestimate people's desire for familiarity. It's part of the reason why many Windows users still use IE. This is why I started my Dad on Firefox so now he's used to it and doesn't even touch IE. ;)... making him switch to Mac would be a harder issue even though it would save him all the Windows headaches that he asks me to solve.

I actually use both Mac and Windows fairly regularly because part of my job still uses Windows and because I use both regularly I've noticed there are things missing from both OS that I wish the other had. What it comes down to for me is that overall which one has the better experience and for me Mac wins. I find that I get frustrated with Windows more often than with Macs. Give it some time to get familiar with Macs and see how you feel then.
 
dayloon said:
Hi All,

Is it quite normal to experience windows withdrawal symptoms after first switching to a mac and OSX ? ;)

I recently took delivery of my first ever mac, an 27" imac. It's a beautiful machine but i sometimes miss windows. Probably because i knew it so well. I feel kind of restricted in osx but i have no idea why. Weird really.
Click to expand...

i converted almost 3 years ago and i get sick every time i have to use my windows at work.
oh and the show desktop on a mbp i can't remember if its up or down but 4 fingers swipe will also show desktop
 
MacDawg said:
Just don't try to cut/paste files in the finder, or try to delete selected files in the trash, and don't try to resize windows from anywhere but the bottom right corner. Oh, and don't try to understand why some apps quit when you close the window and others don't... you will learn to appreciate that later.

Welcome to the cult
We will teach you the handshake later

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
Click to expand...

This is why Mac OS X GUI is ********. Windows has always been more intuitive UI and remains so. You literally HAVE to be a Mac cultist to enjoy that inferior user experience.
 
macinhand said:
I can only vouch for myself but i was in the same frame of mind! i was Windows through and through for the last 20 years and i too knew the operating system inside out and i never saw myself using any other operating system other than windows! i am sure it was some kind of subliminal message imprinted in our brains :D

That is until i threw caution to the wind and bought my first Mac! and i can personally say it was the best thing i did!

Yes! at first there were a few things i missed but that was inevitable! all i did was like other ops have quoted find an App that suits your needs! one program that i could not do without because i used it every day in the windows days was Adobe Photoshop and i find this program a much better user experience on the Mac!

All in all it is down to the individual but i personally find it a far superior user interface/experience :apple:

Hope this helps expel your concerns and now when i use my sons Vista laptop i ask myself how did i cope with it for so long :apple:
Click to expand...

Notice another cultist who doesn't give any concrete WHY OSX is a far superior user interface/experience then Windows. There is nothing innovative about having a different shortcut-combination to getting the same task done. The only advantage OSX has in in the guts(kernel, file system) over Windows. On a UI level it strictly comes down to preference/cultism.
 
MacDawg said:
Just don't try to cut/paste files in the finder, or try to delete selected files in the trash, and don't try to resize windows from anywhere but the bottom right corner. Oh, and don't try to understand why some apps quit when you close the window and others don't... you will learn to appreciate that later.

Welcome to the cult
We will teach you the handshake later

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
Click to expand...


Great post. :). I missed this earlier.

Oh, and welcome back MacDawg.
 
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