5 ms·

Mashing two buttons that are literally side by side vs. pressing one button is not really a huge usability boost. Having a key like Option which allows you to

Mashing two buttons that are literally side by side vs. pressing one button is not really a huge usability boost. Having a key like Option which allows you to easily type accented characters and other things quickly is a big deal.

givehimagun 10y ago
As someone who works on both a Windows + Mac environment day to day...I find myself accidentally hitting the option key expecting the spotlight a lot. I don't know if others feel this, but moving between IntelliJ on MacOS to Windows and back is a nightmare. I stick to the defaults as much as I can and it's still memorization hell.
Symbiote 10y ago
For occasional accented characters, the Compose key is pretty good. € is Compose, C, =. Æ is Compose, A, E. Ë is Compose, ", E.
kps 10y ago
> Having a key like Option which allows you to easily type > accented characters and other things quickly is a big deal. On ⁎nix (ie X11 or Wayland) the functional equivalent of Option is ISO_Level3_Shift, aka AltGraph or AltGr. If you use one of the common Linux desktop environments, there should be something in the desktop settings that allows you to make one or both PC Alt keys act as ISO_Level3_Shift, as well as a keyboard layout variant with Mac-like mappings. In KDE (which I think is the current best choice for Mac refugees because you can rebind shortcuts to use Command), look in System Settings under Input Devices → Keyboard → Layouts → 3rd Level Shortcuts. If you don't use one of the common Linux desktop environments, you want something along these lines as part of your startup: setxkbmap 'us(mac)+level3(alt_switch)' -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY
vijucat 10y ago
> Mashing two buttons that are literally side by side vs. pressing one button is not really a huge usability boost. I have a feeling you're saying that while being a Mac user 99% of the time, and using Windows 10 1% of the time. Correct me if you actually used Windows 10 for a serious length of time. IMHO, once you get used to the convenience of Windows 10, you can't go back. Not having installers, clunkiness of Spotlight, the outdated sheer unfriendliness of Finder...I found the one year I used a Macbook Air with OS X Mavericks an unpleasant experience. The accents: I would have no idea. Even in the corner case that Microsoft has not thought about Europe at all, I bet you can find a Windows utility (most probably free) that would replicate exactly what you need. Edit: "The AltGr key functionally resembles the Option key", apparently: http://superuser.com/questions/814843/mac-style-option-key-for-special-characters-in-windows http://superuser.com/questions/814843/mac-style-option-key-f...

givehimagun 10y ago

As someone who works on both a Windows + Mac environment day to day...I find myself accidentally hitting the option key expecting the spotlight a lot. I don't know if others feel this, but moving between IntelliJ on MacOS to Windows and back is a nightmare. I stick to the defaults as much as I can and it's still memorization hell.

Symbiote 10y ago

For occasional accented characters, the Compose key is pretty good. € is Compose, C, =. Æ is Compose, A, E. Ë is Compose, ", E.

kps 10y ago

> Having a key like Option which allows you to easily type > accented characters and other things quickly is a big deal. On ⁎nix (ie X11 or Wayland) the functional equivalent of Option is ISO_Level3_Shift, aka AltGraph or AltGr. If you use one of the common Linux desktop environments, there should be something in the desktop settings that allows you to make one or both PC Alt keys act as ISO_Level3_Shift, as well as a keyboard layout variant with Mac-like mappings. In KDE (which I think is the current best choice for Mac refugees because you can rebind shortcuts to use Command), look in System Settings under Input Devices → Keyboard → Layouts → 3rd Level Shortcuts. If you don't use one of the common Linux desktop environments, you want something along these lines as part of your startup: setxkbmap 'us(mac)+level3(alt_switch)' -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY

vijucat 10y ago

> Mashing two buttons that are literally side by side vs. pressing one button is not really a huge usability boost. I have a feeling you're saying that while being a Mac user 99% of the time, and using Windows 10 1% of the time. Correct me if you actually used Windows 10 for a serious length of time. IMHO, once you get used to the convenience of Windows 10, you can't go back. Not having installers, clunkiness of Spotlight, the outdated sheer unfriendliness of Finder...I found the one year I used a Macbook Air with OS X Mavericks an unpleasant experience. The accents: I would have no idea. Even in the corner case that Microsoft has not thought about Europe at all, I bet you can find a Windows utility (most probably free) that would replicate exactly what you need. Edit: "The AltGr key functionally resembles the Option key", apparently: http://superuser.com/questions/814843/mac-style-option-key-for-special-characters-in-windows http://superuser.com/questions/814843/mac-style-option-key-f...