You're using your computer WRONG, if you think the Control key is too far

[whocares]

Well to be fair, the OP does have a point: the option button beholds mighty powers. But these powers are best harnessed when combinded with a 1-button mouse

I'm a strong believer in the 1-button mouse and only have a multi-button mouse so I can use a scroll-wheel (a godsend to lazy web browsing).
I'm a strong believer in the "no maximized window" style GUI, and hate it when an application hides everything underneath.
And finally I'm a strong believer in choice. I like being able to do stuff in many different ways: drag and drop, keyboard short cuts, keys+mouse, menus, etc... but I prefer doing stuff with keyboard + mouse.

Did I say I love the option key?

[Edit:]
To add to the aforementioned mighty powers of the option keys, I like the extensive character sets it gives with your keyboard (stuff like ©, etc.).

 

[Chef Medeski]

The fact of the matter is that you don't be the best by having the best idea such as keyboard shortcuts up the wazoo. You are the best because you have options. That is why Mac is so great. I mean when I use my Powerbook, keyboard shortcuts are what it is all about. Yet with my wireless mouse it is so much easier to maneuveur that I don't use them as much, especiallys icne my MacMice isn't one-button. Its the fact that I can hav the option of clicking on an apllication in the dock, CTRL + tab, Expose and click, or clicking the windows with mmy mouse that makes Expose and frankly Mac wonderful. In a windows, I only have three of those options. And since you usually are in full screen, it is only two. I mean having nearly double the options for such a small yet largely used task between the two operating systems shows the superiority of the Mac. He might like keyboard shortcuts, but I can tell you my grandmother takes three hours to find a key, so keyboard shortcuts aren't the way to go for her. I mean even the fact that you multiple options for one keyboard shortcut is astounding. Thus, I would like to append to the above rant, with the fact that while he is right to say Keyboard Shortcuts should be utilized and the control key not complained about, he isn't right to say that the other options are any worse or the OS has become any worse for adding them. Rather, it has allowed the system to blossom into a more user friendly program that doesn't force you to choose, but beckons you to pick!

 

[Coheebuzz]

Great post pizzach!!

I've wanted to start a similar thread but i didn't know how to put it so people understand what i am talking about. I can see Apple moving away from the traditional pre-OSX hierarchy-style browsing with each release - and if you read any thread regarding Leopard features the no 1 request (from switchers) is a file manager similar to windows. I think that this is something Apple had to do so that it would make the switch easier to people. Honestly, if some day i start my mac and see anything similar to the ugly, beurocratic, uninspiring etc etc Windows File Manager as my only option, am throwing my mac out of the window and start a rival company to kill Apple the next day!! .

But furtunately i can see that OSX still gives you the options to use the Mac as a Mac. No crowded toolbars, no columns and no search fields on every bulky metal window for me! Just the sheer power of digging in folders (that open in a new window - not the same!! !) and the beauty of drag & drop. Am still using Tiger as i used System 6. Am i not looking in the future and should give up computers and start knitting??? Well you ex-windowz guys have been brainwashed by the continuous use of Win and until the MacOS is built in to every single molecule in your body you can't really understand what pizzach is talking about. So just be open on this and try to learn from people who've used the thing more than you - learning a couple of new things is not a bad thing.

 

[Coheebuzz]

Another thing that came in my mind - does anyone remember that demo floppy you got with System 6 and 7 where it introduced you to the mac environment? It was an interactive animation that associated the computer desktop with a real office environment. You had to first do something in the 'real' office like grab a piece of paper and throw it in the trash when you don't want it. Then you did that in OS by dragging a file to the trash. It all made sense and from that point on there wasn't any guessing. When you use a computer for the FIRST TIME and you watch something like that its like the lady with the hammer comes in a hits you in the head! I think thats what is missing from OSX - a first run demo that will do a complete erase and install on your brain and give you some first wisdom of how to be a mac Jedi!

 

[Will Cheyney]

*yawn*

 

[superfunkomatic]

i have absolutely no point, only that i'm interested in typing really, really, really long self-interested posts. that's all.

have you seen "trains, planes and automobiles"?

steve martin quote - "And by the way, you know, when you're telling these little stories? Here's a good idea - have a POINT. It makes it SO much more interesting for the listener!"

 

[belvdr]

*yawn*

Yawn once for me too please.

 

[Sdashiki]

When playing FPS and using the arrow keys (i cant stand AWSD, puhlease) and i use control as a jump button. shift is duck. perfect placement for me.

 

[aloofman]

Setting aside whether one can really use a computer "wrong," his rant seems like an answer to a question no one asked.

 

[James Philp]

Is spacial something to do with the flippy arrows?

 

[James Philp]

When playing FPS and using the arrow keys (i cant stand AWSD, puhlease) and i use control as a jump button. shift is duck. perfect placement for me.

I used to agree, but in hindsight WASD is a much better system. R to reload E for use and a whole bunch of other keys a lot nearer your fingers. /off topic, sorry

 

[mpw]

It's been a while since we had one of these threads so I don't mind chipping in again.

I don't mind people using their computer how they feel most comfortable but to tell me I'm using mine WRONG because I don't tremble at the power of the command key irks me.

Some people eulogize at how user friendly and intuitive the Mac OS is, and bemoan any move to add buttons to their mouse, but what is so user friendly about a ‘command’ key that doesn’t have ‘command’ written on it or having an Apple logo on a key that doesn’t access the menu with the same logo?

What’s easier about needing two hands to accomplish what a simple right-click can?

Keyboard short-cuts, why are they ‘hidden’ under Mac but obvious to XP users?

When I tab through a webpage in IE for Windows I don’t randomly skip boxes (OK that’s probably not an OS thing)?

Why are there key combos listed at short-cuts that have keys that aren’t on my Apple keyboard?

Use you computer however you like but please don’t try and tell me how to use mine.

I prefer to use my Apple at home and do so by choice but during the day at work I use XP and am quicker and more productive.

Oh, and Blue Velvet I’d hate to lose my left hand too, how would I hold my toast while surfing with my multi-button mouse in my right-hand, and how would I hold the magazine while I had a …..well you get the idea with the toast I’m sure.

 

[pizzach]

I think I talked over the heads of a lot of people. It was a strong article made to catch some attention; especially that of the newbies who thing there is only one way. My father uses his computer is browser mode and that works for him. It would take too much work to explain the intricacies of Mac spatial to make him use it well.

I actually am already using Linux on a computer. The spatial is HORIBBLE from my experience so far, but still better than Windows 95 spatial. So I'm just going to the terminal on it. On Linux, that is where most of the power is anyway. Also, keyboard shortcuts are also unbelievably spotty on Linux.

To the people advocating choice, you're being hypotactic. If you check, obviously, Apple is working to destroy spatial therefore destroying choice (through laziness.) To do spatial you have to click EVERY window's upper right hand button. Even then, whenever you insert a CD, or Click Go>Computer (Command-Shift-C) browser view comes back to haunt you. Is that choice? It has been that way at least until 10.3 if not 10.4 also. That is a long time to fix a bug.

Warning! Word Definition: Depreciated = no longer supported and will eventually disappear in computer terms.

My friends, I use a Mac's basic features and I use them well. I don't need Expose, I don't need quicksilver I don't even need a mouse scroll wheel to use a computer well either. They are nice, but aren't life changing to me as a feature like most people. This doesn't mean that I never use any of them either. A lot of people only use a scroll wheel, I go back and forth between the wheel and a keyboard depending on mood and the type of document I am viewing. Being the way I am also has the cool side effect of being a backwards compatible human to 7.5.5 . It helps having nimble fingers for those 4 button keyboard shortcuts too.

Sorry on the talking about everything and anything post peoples. I had to give up revising it to run to my Japanese class. In the end I think it's a "you get it, or you don't" kind of thing. In the end, Mac OS X has and is gaining a lot of Windows-ish features. You'll have to use torture to get me to say that it is because they are all better.

Warning! Word Definition: spatial = spatial contain the word space. Thought being, it conserves size shape etc. Therefor, opening a folder opens a new window representing different folders. Also, where ever the window along with the shape or size is conserved. Thus, you mind relates to to physical space supposedly making it easier to understand and use. spatial is hidden in modern Windows Mac operating systems and is used in the GNOME window manager by default.

Edit: Spell checked this post in OpenOffice.org 2 and then changed spacial to spatial

 

[vniow]

I will use my computer how I please, I will press what buttons I please, I will use however many mouse buttons as I please, I will customise my computer to be as productive as it can for me and I will be the only person who can tell me the right way to use my computer.

 

[thequicksilver]

Exactly which bit of surfing the internet on a 12" ibook without having safari in full screen is easy?

Every part: there aren't actually that many sites that need the full 1024 pixel width. Most decent web designers still design for a 800x600 screen (as some 25% of people still use it, believe it or not) so unless you have specific sites on your bookmarks list which gobble up all 1024 pixels, then it's by no means necessary to have your browser full screen.

Currently, my Camino is at about 900 pixels wide, and could be quite a bit narrower for all of the tabs I have open.

 

[pizzach]

Exactly which bit of surfing the internet on a 12" ibook without having safari in full screen is easy?

I said zoom might equal full screen. But it shouldn't BE full screen. It should fit to the content. I hear safari does good zoom though compaired to Camino and Firefox.

 

[dejo]

Warning! Word Definition: Depreciated = no longer supported and will eventually disappear in computer terms.

I think you mean "deprecated".

My friends, I use a Mac's basical features and I use them well. I don't need Expose, I don't need quicksilver I don't even need a mouse scroll wheel to use a computer well either.

But you might want to look into using a spell-checker. "basical"?

Warning! Word Definition: Spacial = Spacial contain the word space. Thought being, it conserves size shape etc. Therefor, opening a folder opens a new window representing different folders. Also, where ever the window along with the shape or size is conserved. Thus, you mind relates to to physical space supposedly making it easier to understand and use. Spacial is hidden in modern Windows Mac operating systems and is used in the GNOME window manager by default.

Do you mean "spatial"? Even if so, I still don't understand what you're trying to say. Sorry.

 

[stevep]

Sorry, but when people invent their own words and then try and hijack meanings for them I have to think 'botty-waffle' (not my invention by the way, its a well-known UK euphemism).
Depreciation = A financial term, the difference between the purchase price and the current value.
"Depreciated" is a common misspelling for "deprecated"; deprecation is the gradual phasing-out of a software or programming language feature.
Spacial = No such word. Do you mean 'spatial'?
I recommend the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Its quite heavy, so it can be used to permanently hold down a Control key, for instance.

 

[mpw]

I think I talked over the heads of a lot of people...

Too right. You're obviously talking to just the top 2% who are at your level of knowledge and expertise. I'm sorry if I came out as hypocritical or basic, but to my dim, ignorant mind you just sounded like a pompous arse spouting off about how good you were from your high horse. I apologize and cower in your presence.

 

[pizzach]

In rely to: But you might want to look into using a spell-checker. "basical"?


I'm on linux right now and Mac Forums has no built in spell checker and open office 2 takes a while to load and I tried eying it as best as I could and the text was kinda small to read and I did reread it at least 10 times and OpenOffice.org didn't show that spacial was wrong so I mad a bad assumption and I didn't expect anyone to actually read it etc etc etc...... In the end, complaining about spelling is jumping around the topic.

::still blinking at deprecated:: I probably would have gotten that right if I had ever heard the word outside of computer programming land. Meaning is a bit similar...

I'm young and I have a lot of ideas on my mind. Let me see if I can piece together the major topics:

1. People complain about the control key but it comes from a lack of love for the keyboard. Key combinations, option, command and control are so much better set up than other OSes it's a shame they aren't used more often by people...

2. Apple really is ignoring it's spacial roots. It's clear it's not on their priority list. And that makes me sad. Making the transition as easy as possible for windows users does seem to be way up there though.

In any case. I do feel better getting that off my mind. Don't take things personally people, and enjoy the read please. Flame if you want, that's up to you. Just keep it clean please.

 

[James Philp]

I recommend the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Its quite heavy, so it can be used to permanently hold down a Control key, for instance.

LMAO
Basical is no where near a word,
Spacial is not a word. (Do you mean the GUI?)
Depreciated is not the word you want- I love that you gave a wrong definition.
And

complaining about spelling is jumping around the topic

is not avoiding the point when you are using these words to define your entire point!

And choice is key for any computer product.
Next time you get on a Mac with 10.4 you may want to check out my Top Tiger Tip (link below).

 

[dops7107]

I think you mean "deprecated".

But you might want to look into using a spell-checker. "basical"?

Do you mean "spatial"? Even if so, I still don't understand what you're trying to say. Sorry.

That's nothing. I like his use of the word "hypocratic"

In fact, I see it has now been edited to "Hippocratic". Now either I'm making a fool of myself here (and I do not know an alternative use of "Hippocratic" besides that of Oath fame), or he means hypocritical.

 

[Coheebuzz]

I will use my computer how I please, I will press what buttons I please, I will use however many mouse buttons as I please, I will customise my computer to be as productive as it can for me and I will be the only person who can tell me the right way to use my computer.

Right on the spot! This is exactly the point of this thread - if you don't have choice you can't use your computer as you want and thats why some of us have expressed a concern that OSX is slowly killing the 'spacial' way of browsing as pizzach called it.

Most of you didn't get anything he said other than the "You are using your computer wrong", which is a wrong way to put it but thats not the point of the post nor i think he was implying that you are dumb or anything. People are always complaining about they Finder and they are right - if you try to use it like Windows then you are gonna hit alot of bumps. It wasn't designed to be like that. And what i think Apple is now trying to do, is 'merge' the best of both worlds and its doing good so far - the question is which environment will prevail?

 

[pizzach]

Depreciated is not the word you want- I love that you gave a wrong definition.
And is not avoiding the point when you are using these words to define your entire point!

In this world of LOL's and WTF's one of the most beautiful things about English is that even with misspelling a word, people usually get your point and can figure out the word. In Japanese if you misstype a letter the whole sentence just became unreadable mush. I can only smile.

 

[James Philp]

In this world of LOL's and WTF's one of the most beautiful things about English is that even with misspelling, people usually get your point and can figure out the word. In Japanese if you misstype a letter the whole sentence just became unreadable mush. I can only smile.

However, very minor errors and misspellings within words can make the meanings, sometimes of complete paragraphs, entirely different.
It is just difficult to "get the point" when the word people are unsure of is the point!

Please define what you mean exactly by "spacial". What is "Spacial"?