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Things about the Mac that annoy new users from PC-land

31 points by sendos 16y ago

chaosmachine 16y ago
I don't miss pgup/pgdn so much, due to the excellent scrollabiity of the trackpad. The big one for me was no home/end keys (unless you buy the extended keyboard, and even then they don't work in some applications). I ended up remapping "right command" to home and "right option" to end.
- DougBTX 16y ago
  Still not a single key, but the emacs style shortcuts work in most inputs: Control+E and Control+A. Especially fine if you have CapsLock remapped to Control.
  - parenthesis 16y ago
    Or cmd+left / cmd+right. (Relatedly: cmd+up/down; alt+left/right.)
  - sendos 16y ago
    If you just map the CapsLock key to Control, that means that in regular Mac apps you need to type things like Command-C and Command-V, which is not as convenient as CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V. So, I have CapsLock mapped to Command (so that CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V are copy and paste, for example, in Mac apps) and to make sure I'm happy in emacs, I have the following in my .emacs (setq mac-command-modifier 'control) which means, I can type all control-using commands (like C-x C-f, C-g, etc) by using the CapsLock button.
    - SnowLprd 16y ago
      I'm not sure what your keyboard looks like, but on my keyboard the Cmd-C and Cmd-V key combinations are far, far closer together (and thus more convenient) than the CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V combinations you suggest.
      - DougBTX 16y ago
        On my keyboard, the command keys are right next to the space bar, one at each end. Initially, they were quite hard to press, but I've since learnt to use my thumbs to hold them down, and it's working out fine. (I also have Control mapped to Command, and CapsLock mapped to Control, but I rarely press the Control key.)
  - chaosmachine 16y ago
    The problem with this is it becomes 3 keys when you want to select (part of) a line of text. I very often use shift+home or shift+end while coding. Remapping right control and right option works well because they're right next to the shift key.
- kingofspain 16y ago
  Home/End is the killer for me too. iPhone dev is 3-4x slower down to this alone. I guess I might get used to if I worked primarily on Macs, but I don't. Of course it also doesn't help that I'm running OS X in a VM and need to Windows-C/V to cut & paste!
  - generalk 16y ago
    Macs are awesome: you can hit up the Keyboard System Preferences pane and hit the "Modifier Keys..." button to change that. Make Command into Control and Control into Command and you're back to your comfortable keys.
    - kingofspain 16y ago
      Interesting. I'll give that a try thanks. Still OS X noob so it's good to know these things.
- eddieplan9 16y ago
  move to the beginning of line = command + left-arrow move to the end of line = command + right-arrow move to the top of page = command + up move to the bottom of the page = command + down As expected, holding shift at the same time allows you to select the text from the current cursor position to wherever you are jumping to. One of things I love about Mac is the consistency of shortcut key. Command+w always close a window or a tab. Command+, always gets me to preferences. No command+control+D to get to dictionary for the highlighted word? No Google Chrome for me.
martythemaniak 16y ago
I don't think I'll ever adjust to how terrible window management is in OS X. - one menu bar for active applications: if you have many windows/applications open side-by-side you can't access (or even see) their menus until you switch to them. It's bad on a MacBook, I can't image the pain it is on a 27" or 30". If you're using Adium on a 30" monitor and you have it in the lower right-hand corner, the app's menu is 2 freaking feet away from the app! -cmd+tab switches apps, not windows. you have to either use expose (slow) or cmd+tab, cmd+~. Minimized windows also don't cycle, so you can alt-tab to an app and still not get any windows, just the menu bar. Getting to a particular window shouldn't be so damned hard. The windows/linux way - where each window is independent, equal and self-contained is much better IMO.
- generalk 16y ago
  one menu bar for active applications Honestly, I find menu bars that don't respond to Fitt's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law) to be almost unusable. Two feet away isn't so much when you can blindly shove towards the top of the screen and have your mouse hit the menu. (edit: fixed URL)
  - Pheter 16y ago
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law
- bradleyland 16y ago
  Emphasis on the IMO. The experience is unique for every individual. I switched to a Mac about four years ago, and I can't stand task switching in Windows/GNOME/KDE. - Menu location: Having the menu at the top of the screen actually makes it easier/quicker to click (see Fitts' Law). - Context switching: Context switching on OS X has more granularity. The up-sides of this are similar to the up-sides of tabbed browsing. Think about it for a moment. What's so great about tabbed-browsing? You can group windows and switch between tabs with ctrl-tab. On OS X, you have even more granularity: App switching: cmd+tab Window switching: cmd+~ Tab switching: app-context dependent cmd+<shift/opt>+arrow or ctrl+tab My biggest complaint is that there is no consistency to the tab switching shortcut. When trying to find a window in an environment where there are lots of windows, Expose is one of the rare times I find the mouse faster than the keyboard. I have key bindings for app and system-wide Expose, so depending upon my needs, I'll switch to the app containing the document and app-Expose, or I'll just use system-wide Expose. It's more complicated, but when I use my computer, I feel like I'm playing an instrument. My muscles know where to go for any given task, and I can move around very quickly. Much better, IMO.
slammdunc23 16y ago
I might be misunderstanding this complaint-- The way Finder is designed, you often can't simply drag some files from one location to another (e.g. moving to the subdirectory of another directory). You need two Finder windows open in order to accomplish this, whereas Windows Explorer, whose left pane has the directory structure and right pane has the contents of the currently selected directory, lets you do this effortlessly using only one window. --but I think that it is possible to do this on a Mac by opening Finder, clicking to the file you want to move, and then making sure that the third of the four display modes available (it looks like three vertical bars) is chosen. (These icons are right of the forward/backward buttons on the left of a Finder window.) This changes the display to a directory mode and allows you to drag and drop files from any subfolder to any other. Hovering over a folder's name while dragging a file will open that folder in the rightmost column and allow you to move the file to any subfolder.
adolph 16y ago
The way Finder is designed, you often can't simply drag some files from one location to another (e.g. moving to the subdirectory of another directory) There are some things that are just different. The folder tree in an exploring window is a semi-separate display from the objects within the current directory. There isn't a direct Mac OS X equivalent, but the same use is supported with one window using "spring-loaded folders." Dragging a file over the icons in the left-hand toolbar temporarily opens them and you can open any sub-directory by hovering similarly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finder_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finder_(software)
- elblanco 16y ago
  This is one of the few interface niceties I miss when I go from OSX to Windows. The action of springing through a file structure while holding onto a bunch of stuff is really great.
bradleyland 16y ago
Cmd+delete is not the equivalent of shift+delete on Windows. On Windows, that key combination permanently deletes an item. In OS X, this key combination moves the item to the trash. This seems like a silly gripe. The cmd+delete sequence is operable with a single hand. In Windows, the operation requires either the use of the keyboard, then the mouse, or two keyboard operations: delete, click yes or delete, enter Both serve the purpose of preventing you from accidentally deleting the file. In OS X, this is accomplished by requiring a key combination, rather than a single key. Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying".
- gaiusparx 16y ago
  > Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying". Agreed. It would be silly if Mac OS X allows you to configure it to behave like Windows. I think cmd+delete is a better design than just delete key to delete. It makes you more aware of your delete action.
- sendos 16y ago
  Cmd+delete is not the equivalent of shift+delete on Windows. On Windows, that key combination permanently deletes an item. In OS X, this key combination moves the item to the trash. Good point Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying" Strawman. There are lots of things that are different about a Mac that I either like or feel neutral about. I just listed the ones that annoy many PC users who make the switch. Things like having a window on the right side of the screen that I want to widen, and being required to move it to the left and then resize it, instead of just resizing it by dragging the left edge of the window is not just different, it's a pain in the ass.
generalk 16y ago
Good list. Some of it's true, although I now cannot live in Windows because of the same keyboard issues: I'm so used to Control+A and E for home/end that I don't know what to do without it. Here's some awesome things that make up for the switch: * If you have a File dialog open (file upload to a website, open file in any application, etc.) you can drag a file icon into it. The dialog will switch to the folder that file lives in, and highlight it. * The little File icon at the top of file windows (say, TextEdit)? Those are so-called "proxy" file icons. Take that icon and drag it to an email to attach it, to the desktop to copy/move it, etc. Or drag it into a File dialog as described above! * Command+Space opens Spotlight. Launch programs, search for documents, or do simple calculations. (quick, what's 2567/180 ?) * Easily rebind your Caps Lock key to something useful from the Keyboard System Preferences pane. Lots of old UNIX geeks like to make it Control. It makes the Control+A/E exceedingly easy. * Growl. It's not a Mac OS X builtin, but it's a must-install. I describe it to PC users this way: "Those little popups that Outlook does when you get new mail? Growl is a system-wide service that gives those to any application that wants them. Those are the easy ones I can think of off the top of my head. After the initial transition period was over, I found I couldn't go back to using Windows.
- elblanco 16y ago
  > Growl. It's not a Mac OS X builtin, but it's a must-install. I describe it to PC users this way: "Those little popups that Outlook does when you get new mail? Growl is a system-wide service that gives those to any application that wants them. I wish Apple would just buy Growl or something and just build it in, the lack of a notification system in a modern OS was bizarre to me when I first realized it was missing. It's something that's missing in both OSX and iOS.
djhworld 16y ago
I think the biggest crime of them all is how there is no where on the keyboard that displays the # symbol, which is commonplace on most standard PC keyboards. To get the symbol to appear you need to hit alt+3. I only found this after a quick journey to google.
- lallysingh 16y ago
  What language are you in? The US-english one is shift-3: http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery2-20090828.png http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery2-...
  - barrkel 16y ago
    Judging by his profile (UK), Shift-3 for him is probably Pound. Unfortunately, that means something different in the UK than it does in the US, though for reasons not unrelated. UK keyboards have a separate key for #.
    - elblanco 16y ago
      "Pound" as in "Pounds Sterling" not "Pound" as in "Oglethorpe" I take it?
    - djhworld 16y ago
      Ah I didn't realise it was region specific. Yeah the alternative item underneath the 3 button is the symbol for pound sterling (£), the # symbol is a hidden extra.
yayitswei 16y ago
A lot of the Finder annoyances that he points out were alleviated for me when I started using QuickSilver.app. IMO it's a great utility for file management, launching programs, etc.
warfangle 16y ago
Biggest gripe about OSX window management is that you can only resize a window if you can grab the lower right hand corner. If, for some reason, a window opens that is taller than you screen resolution, it is impossible to resize it.
makeramen 16y ago
i find many of these to be features of Mac that are painfully missing on windows, especially: * enter to rename files, best keyboard shortcut ever. someone please enlighten me on an easy way to rename in windows. * closing last window doesn't quit application. the decluttering effect of this is amazing. * if i press a modifier key and delete, i'm pretty positive that i want to delete something, no need to confirm. that's what the trash can is for. add shift and i empty the trash. * windows NEEDs maximize designed the way it is because all those fancy borders and menus are so full of CLUTTER. macs are more true to the "windows" philosophy, windows should be called "screens" from how i've seen people abuse maximize. * as a follow up, people maximize on windows in order for the menus to comply with Fitt's Law. as noted, not necessary on mac. I do agree with finder being finicky though, but again, macs work well with multiple windows.
- modality 16y ago
  F2 renames in Windows, if I recall correctly.
- BerislavLopac 16y ago
  someone please enlighten me on an easy way to rename in windows F2
- jparise 16y ago
  It's been a while since I regularly used Windows, but F2 generally triggers the rename behavior (for filenames and most other editable labels).
- sendos 16y ago
  enter to rename files, best keyboard shortcut ever If enter-to-rename is so great why does Apple violate it in iTunes? In iTunes, when a song is selected and you press Enter, it doesn't ask you to rename it, but "opens" it, i.e. starts playing it.
  - qwzybug 16y ago
    Pedantry: in iTunes the song plays when you hit Return; Enter will rename. Still different from the Finder (where Return renames), but not quite the same thing.
elblanco 16y ago
Oh my...this is just the preamble from my own list. I just never understand some of the age old interface issues that still linger on in OSX...small things that a bit of attention to detail would resolve in a patch release. Ugh. So pretty, such a PIA to use.
- SnowLprd 16y ago
  While we're on the topic of attention to detail, the name of the operating system is "OS X" -- not "OSX".
  - elblanco 16y ago
    Actually, it's "Mac OS X".
    - SnowLprd 16y ago
      You're missing the point. The full name of the operating system (Mac OS X) is often shortened to "OS X", whereas OSX is just plain wrong.
      - elblanco 16y ago
        You're cute. It's also commonly shortened to "Mac OS" and "MacOS". Extant examples of "OSX" (sometimes mixed with OS X) http://osx.hyperjeff.net/ http://code.google.com/p/git-osx-installer/ http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:OSX http://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/ http://mac.rhino3d.com/ http://web.mac.com/npirzkal/Scisoft/Scisoft.html http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/keyboards/mackey.html http://rubyosx.rubyforge.org/ http://help.github.com/mac-git-installation/ http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23 http://wiki.winehq.org/MacOSX http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/Download.html Would you like more? Hmm...I wonder if there's any examples like this from Apple? http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/osximageresizer.html http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/blogs_forums/osxtutorials.html http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/email_chat/mdemailhostingosx.html http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wifi-touchpad-for-windows/id291212802?mt=8 (actually Google reports over a million and a half pages with instances of "OSX" used on pages hosted from *.apple.com) Please know what you are talking about before you bring proscriptive snark to HN in the future please.
jcl 16y ago
I've recently started using a Mac laptop, and one thing that I've found frustrating is how much harder it is to access menu items from the keyboard. In Windows, you can just press the alt key -- either one, and you don't even need to release it -- and then each menu/item is (usually) a single keystroke. For instance, alt-e-a-s is firmly in my muscle memory... a quick four-key sequence on the right hand to activate Photoshop's Edit | Transform | Scale menu item. There's probably about a dozen menu items in Photoshop that I access regularly this way. These keystroke combos are sometimes even easier than the menu item's hot keys; for example, I find alt-f-x (File | Exit) a less-contorting sequence to hit with one hand than alt-F4, the standard application-closing shortcut. On the Mac laptop, by default you need to hit Ctrl-Fn-F2 to access the menus by keyboard -- an awkward three-key combination that takes two hands, and moves at least one hand off the home row. And from there the navigation is lexographic, which means multiple keystrokes per navigation step. Does anyone know if there is a better way to navigate via keyboard that I'm missing?
- kranner 16y ago
  I can hit Ctrl-Fn-F2 with one hand, using the thumb to cover Ctrl and Fn, and the index finger to reach F2. Just a suggestion.
riobard 16y ago
The biggest thing I still cannot get over with in OS X: THERE IS NO CUT!!! If you want to move a file to somewhere else, you have to either copy&paste, or use mouse to drag (which sometimes is really difficult if the two locations are not reachable in one window/screen).
- SnowLprd 16y ago
  Two solutions: 1. Spring-loaded folders. Drag the item to the left-hand pane (e.g., Places > Home) and hover over your home folder. After a moment, the folder will pop open. Continue this until you find where you want the file to go. 2. Use Path Finder (http://www.cocoatech.com/ http://www.cocoatech.com/) and drag the item to the Drop Stack. Navigate where you want the file to go, and then drag the item from the Drop Stack.

31 points by sendos 16y ago

I don't miss pgup/pgdn so much, due to the excellent scrollabiity of the trackpad. The big one for me was no home/end keys (unless you buy the extended keyboard, and even then they don't work in some applications). I ended up remapping "right command" to home and "right option" to end.

DougBTX 16y ago
Still not a single key, but the emacs style shortcuts work in most inputs: Control+E and Control+A. Especially fine if you have CapsLock remapped to Control.
- parenthesis 16y ago
  Or cmd+left / cmd+right. (Relatedly: cmd+up/down; alt+left/right.)
- sendos 16y ago
  If you just map the CapsLock key to Control, that means that in regular Mac apps you need to type things like Command-C and Command-V, which is not as convenient as CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V. So, I have CapsLock mapped to Command (so that CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V are copy and paste, for example, in Mac apps) and to make sure I'm happy in emacs, I have the following in my .emacs (setq mac-command-modifier 'control) which means, I can type all control-using commands (like C-x C-f, C-g, etc) by using the CapsLock button.
  - SnowLprd 16y ago
    I'm not sure what your keyboard looks like, but on my keyboard the Cmd-C and Cmd-V key combinations are far, far closer together (and thus more convenient) than the CapsLock-C and CapsLock-V combinations you suggest.
    - DougBTX 16y ago
      On my keyboard, the command keys are right next to the space bar, one at each end. Initially, they were quite hard to press, but I've since learnt to use my thumbs to hold them down, and it's working out fine. (I also have Control mapped to Command, and CapsLock mapped to Control, but I rarely press the Control key.)
- chaosmachine 16y ago
  The problem with this is it becomes 3 keys when you want to select (part of) a line of text. I very often use shift+home or shift+end while coding. Remapping right control and right option works well because they're right next to the shift key.
kingofspain 16y ago
Home/End is the killer for me too. iPhone dev is 3-4x slower down to this alone. I guess I might get used to if I worked primarily on Macs, but I don't. Of course it also doesn't help that I'm running OS X in a VM and need to Windows-C/V to cut & paste!
- generalk 16y ago
  Macs are awesome: you can hit up the Keyboard System Preferences pane and hit the "Modifier Keys..." button to change that. Make Command into Control and Control into Command and you're back to your comfortable keys.
  - kingofspain 16y ago
    Interesting. I'll give that a try thanks. Still OS X noob so it's good to know these things.
eddieplan9 16y ago
move to the beginning of line = command + left-arrow move to the end of line = command + right-arrow move to the top of page = command + up move to the bottom of the page = command + down As expected, holding shift at the same time allows you to select the text from the current cursor position to wherever you are jumping to. One of things I love about Mac is the consistency of shortcut key. Command+w always close a window or a tab. Command+, always gets me to preferences. No command+control+D to get to dictionary for the highlighted word? No Google Chrome for me.

martythemaniak 16y ago

I don't think I'll ever adjust to how terrible window management is in OS X. - one menu bar for active applications: if you have many windows/applications open side-by-side you can't access (or even see) their menus until you switch to them. It's bad on a MacBook, I can't image the pain it is on a 27" or 30". If you're using Adium on a 30" monitor and you have it in the lower right-hand corner, the app's menu is 2 freaking feet away from the app! -cmd+tab switches apps, not windows. you have to either use expose (slow) or cmd+tab, cmd+~. Minimized windows also don't cycle, so you can alt-tab to an app and still not get any windows, just the menu bar. Getting to a particular window shouldn't be so damned hard. The windows/linux way - where each window is independent, equal and self-contained is much better IMO.

generalk 16y ago
one menu bar for active applications Honestly, I find menu bars that don't respond to Fitt's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law) to be almost unusable. Two feet away isn't so much when you can blindly shove towards the top of the screen and have your mouse hit the menu. (edit: fixed URL)
- Pheter 16y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts_Law
bradleyland 16y ago
Emphasis on the IMO. The experience is unique for every individual. I switched to a Mac about four years ago, and I can't stand task switching in Windows/GNOME/KDE. - Menu location: Having the menu at the top of the screen actually makes it easier/quicker to click (see Fitts' Law). - Context switching: Context switching on OS X has more granularity. The up-sides of this are similar to the up-sides of tabbed browsing. Think about it for a moment. What's so great about tabbed-browsing? You can group windows and switch between tabs with ctrl-tab. On OS X, you have even more granularity: App switching: cmd+tab Window switching: cmd+~ Tab switching: app-context dependent cmd+<shift/opt>+arrow or ctrl+tab My biggest complaint is that there is no consistency to the tab switching shortcut. When trying to find a window in an environment where there are lots of windows, Expose is one of the rare times I find the mouse faster than the keyboard. I have key bindings for app and system-wide Expose, so depending upon my needs, I'll switch to the app containing the document and app-Expose, or I'll just use system-wide Expose. It's more complicated, but when I use my computer, I feel like I'm playing an instrument. My muscles know where to go for any given task, and I can move around very quickly. Much better, IMO.

slammdunc23 16y ago

I might be misunderstanding this complaint-- The way Finder is designed, you often can't simply drag some files from one location to another (e.g. moving to the subdirectory of another directory). You need two Finder windows open in order to accomplish this, whereas Windows Explorer, whose left pane has the directory structure and right pane has the contents of the currently selected directory, lets you do this effortlessly using only one window. --but I think that it is possible to do this on a Mac by opening Finder, clicking to the file you want to move, and then making sure that the third of the four display modes available (it looks like three vertical bars) is chosen. (These icons are right of the forward/backward buttons on the left of a Finder window.) This changes the display to a directory mode and allows you to drag and drop files from any subfolder to any other. Hovering over a folder's name while dragging a file will open that folder in the rightmost column and allow you to move the file to any subfolder.

adolph 16y ago

The way Finder is designed, you often can't simply drag some files from one location to another (e.g. moving to the subdirectory of another directory) There are some things that are just different. The folder tree in an exploring window is a semi-separate display from the objects within the current directory. There isn't a direct Mac OS X equivalent, but the same use is supported with one window using "spring-loaded folders." Dragging a file over the icons in the left-hand toolbar temporarily opens them and you can open any sub-directory by hovering similarly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finder_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finder_(software)

elblanco 16y ago
This is one of the few interface niceties I miss when I go from OSX to Windows. The action of springing through a file structure while holding onto a bunch of stuff is really great.

bradleyland 16y ago

Cmd+delete is not the equivalent of shift+delete on Windows. On Windows, that key combination permanently deletes an item. In OS X, this key combination moves the item to the trash. This seems like a silly gripe. The cmd+delete sequence is operable with a single hand. In Windows, the operation requires either the use of the keyboard, then the mouse, or two keyboard operations: delete, click yes or delete, enter Both serve the purpose of preventing you from accidentally deleting the file. In OS X, this is accomplished by requiring a key combination, rather than a single key. Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying".

gaiusparx 16y ago
> Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying". Agreed. It would be silly if Mac OS X allows you to configure it to behave like Windows. I think cmd+delete is a better design than just delete key to delete. It makes you more aware of your delete action.
sendos 16y ago
Cmd+delete is not the equivalent of shift+delete on Windows. On Windows, that key combination permanently deletes an item. In OS X, this key combination moves the item to the trash. Good point Based on the authors perspective, anything that is different is "annoying" Strawman. There are lots of things that are different about a Mac that I either like or feel neutral about. I just listed the ones that annoy many PC users who make the switch. Things like having a window on the right side of the screen that I want to widen, and being required to move it to the left and then resize it, instead of just resizing it by dragging the left edge of the window is not just different, it's a pain in the ass.

generalk 16y ago

Good list. Some of it's true, although I now cannot live in Windows because of the same keyboard issues: I'm so used to Control+A and E for home/end that I don't know what to do without it. Here's some awesome things that make up for the switch: * If you have a File dialog open (file upload to a website, open file in any application, etc.) you can drag a file icon into it. The dialog will switch to the folder that file lives in, and highlight it. * The little File icon at the top of file windows (say, TextEdit)? Those are so-called "proxy" file icons. Take that icon and drag it to an email to attach it, to the desktop to copy/move it, etc. Or drag it into a File dialog as described above! * Command+Space opens Spotlight. Launch programs, search for documents, or do simple calculations. (quick, what's 2567/180 ?) * Easily rebind your Caps Lock key to something useful from the Keyboard System Preferences pane. Lots of old UNIX geeks like to make it Control. It makes the Control+A/E exceedingly easy. * Growl. It's not a Mac OS X builtin, but it's a must-install. I describe it to PC users this way: "Those little popups that Outlook does when you get new mail? Growl is a system-wide service that gives those to any application that wants them. Those are the easy ones I can think of off the top of my head. After the initial transition period was over, I found I couldn't go back to using Windows.

elblanco 16y ago
> Growl. It's not a Mac OS X builtin, but it's a must-install. I describe it to PC users this way: "Those little popups that Outlook does when you get new mail? Growl is a system-wide service that gives those to any application that wants them. I wish Apple would just buy Growl or something and just build it in, the lack of a notification system in a modern OS was bizarre to me when I first realized it was missing. It's something that's missing in both OSX and iOS.

djhworld 16y ago

I think the biggest crime of them all is how there is no where on the keyboard that displays the # symbol, which is commonplace on most standard PC keyboards. To get the symbol to appear you need to hit alt+3. I only found this after a quick journey to google.

lallysingh 16y ago
What language are you in? The US-english one is shift-3: http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery2-20090828.png http://images.apple.com/macbookpro/images/overview-gallery2-...
- barrkel 16y ago
  Judging by his profile (UK), Shift-3 for him is probably Pound. Unfortunately, that means something different in the UK than it does in the US, though for reasons not unrelated. UK keyboards have a separate key for #.
  - elblanco 16y ago
    "Pound" as in "Pounds Sterling" not "Pound" as in "Oglethorpe" I take it?
  - djhworld 16y ago
    Ah I didn't realise it was region specific. Yeah the alternative item underneath the 3 button is the symbol for pound sterling (£), the # symbol is a hidden extra.

yayitswei 16y ago

A lot of the Finder annoyances that he points out were alleviated for me when I started using QuickSilver.app. IMO it's a great utility for file management, launching programs, etc.

warfangle 16y ago

Biggest gripe about OSX window management is that you can only resize a window if you can grab the lower right hand corner. If, for some reason, a window opens that is taller than you screen resolution, it is impossible to resize it.

makeramen 16y ago

i find many of these to be features of Mac that are painfully missing on windows, especially: * enter to rename files, best keyboard shortcut ever. someone please enlighten me on an easy way to rename in windows. * closing last window doesn't quit application. the decluttering effect of this is amazing. * if i press a modifier key and delete, i'm pretty positive that i want to delete something, no need to confirm. that's what the trash can is for. add shift and i empty the trash. * windows NEEDs maximize designed the way it is because all those fancy borders and menus are so full of CLUTTER. macs are more true to the "windows" philosophy, windows should be called "screens" from how i've seen people abuse maximize. * as a follow up, people maximize on windows in order for the menus to comply with Fitt's Law. as noted, not necessary on mac. I do agree with finder being finicky though, but again, macs work well with multiple windows.

modality 16y ago
F2 renames in Windows, if I recall correctly.
BerislavLopac 16y ago
someone please enlighten me on an easy way to rename in windows F2
jparise 16y ago
It's been a while since I regularly used Windows, but F2 generally triggers the rename behavior (for filenames and most other editable labels).
sendos 16y ago
enter to rename files, best keyboard shortcut ever If enter-to-rename is so great why does Apple violate it in iTunes? In iTunes, when a song is selected and you press Enter, it doesn't ask you to rename it, but "opens" it, i.e. starts playing it.
- qwzybug 16y ago
  Pedantry: in iTunes the song plays when you hit Return; Enter will rename. Still different from the Finder (where Return renames), but not quite the same thing.

elblanco 16y ago

Oh my...this is just the preamble from my own list. I just never understand some of the age old interface issues that still linger on in OSX...small things that a bit of attention to detail would resolve in a patch release. Ugh. So pretty, such a PIA to use.

SnowLprd 16y ago
While we're on the topic of attention to detail, the name of the operating system is "OS X" -- not "OSX".
- elblanco 16y ago
  Actually, it's "Mac OS X".
  - SnowLprd 16y ago
    You're missing the point. The full name of the operating system (Mac OS X) is often shortened to "OS X", whereas OSX is just plain wrong.
    - elblanco 16y ago
      You're cute. It's also commonly shortened to "Mac OS" and "MacOS". Extant examples of "OSX" (sometimes mixed with OS X) http://osx.hyperjeff.net/ http://code.google.com/p/git-osx-installer/ http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:OSX http://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/ http://mac.rhino3d.com/ http://web.mac.com/npirzkal/Scisoft/Scisoft.html http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/keyboards/mackey.html http://rubyosx.rubyforge.org/ http://help.github.com/mac-git-installation/ http://maketecheasier.com/turn-your-ubuntu-hardy-to-mac-osx-leopard/2008/07/23 http://wiki.winehq.org/MacOSX http://gimp.lisanet.de/Website/Download.html Would you like more? Hmm...I wonder if there's any examples like this from Apple? http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/osximageresizer.html http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/blogs_forums/osxtutorials.html http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/email_chat/mdemailhostingosx.html http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wifi-touchpad-for-windows/id291212802?mt=8 (actually Google reports over a million and a half pages with instances of "OSX" used on pages hosted from *.apple.com) Please know what you are talking about before you bring proscriptive snark to HN in the future please.

jcl 16y ago

I've recently started using a Mac laptop, and one thing that I've found frustrating is how much harder it is to access menu items from the keyboard. In Windows, you can just press the alt key -- either one, and you don't even need to release it -- and then each menu/item is (usually) a single keystroke. For instance, alt-e-a-s is firmly in my muscle memory... a quick four-key sequence on the right hand to activate Photoshop's Edit | Transform | Scale menu item. There's probably about a dozen menu items in Photoshop that I access regularly this way. These keystroke combos are sometimes even easier than the menu item's hot keys; for example, I find alt-f-x (File | Exit) a less-contorting sequence to hit with one hand than alt-F4, the standard application-closing shortcut. On the Mac laptop, by default you need to hit Ctrl-Fn-F2 to access the menus by keyboard -- an awkward three-key combination that takes two hands, and moves at least one hand off the home row. And from there the navigation is lexographic, which means multiple keystrokes per navigation step. Does anyone know if there is a better way to navigate via keyboard that I'm missing?

kranner 16y ago
I can hit Ctrl-Fn-F2 with one hand, using the thumb to cover Ctrl and Fn, and the index finger to reach F2. Just a suggestion.

riobard 16y ago

The biggest thing I still cannot get over with in OS X: THERE IS NO CUT!!! If you want to move a file to somewhere else, you have to either copy&paste, or use mouse to drag (which sometimes is really difficult if the two locations are not reachable in one window/screen).

SnowLprd 16y ago
Two solutions: 1. Spring-loaded folders. Drag the item to the left-hand pane (e.g., Places > Home) and hover over your home folder. After a moment, the folder will pop open. Continue this until you find where you want the file to go. 2. Use Path Finder (http://www.cocoatech.com/ http://www.cocoatech.com/) and drag the item to the Drop Stack. Navigate where you want the file to go, and then drag the item from the Drop Stack.