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Whenever I see tools like this for Mac I can't help but wonder if I am seriously missing something. Unlike when I use Windows, I just don't use command (alt) t

Whenever I see tools like this for Mac I can't help but wonder if I am seriously missing something. Unlike when I use Windows, I just don't use command (alt) tab on Mac. I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). With the added benefit of that allowing me to drag those windows to other screens/desktops right from that UI. Is there some power user advantage I am missing out on here or is this sort of making Mac work more like Windows? On Windows I use alt tab all the time just because... I find its windows management sucks compared to Mac.

dantehemerson 3y ago
I found it useful because I try to avoid using mouse as much as possible.
dieulot 3y ago
Alt+Tab lets you switch to a previous window instantly. MacOS’s UI sluggishness is jarring when you’re a power user from another platform.
- behnamoh 3y ago
  I wish we could remove the animation between spaces on macos. there’s always a delay before you get to use the space you switched to.
- yboris 3y ago
  Unsure if you mean AltTab - https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ -- it's my favorite
  - brimstedt 3y ago
    AltTab and Rectangle is what makes Mac DE usable.
    - ostenning 3y ago
      Yep, I recommend these both, a lot.
- vehemenz 3y ago
  When is the last time you used macOS? Command+Tab also switches to the previous window instantly. It only brings up the switcher when you hold it longer.
  - nick_ 3y ago
    It switches to the previous _app_, not window. It will bring all of that app's windows to the front. A core feature a lot of folks want is fast, window-oriented focus switching.
    - lelandfe 3y ago
      Cmd-`, and Cmd-Shift-`, switches between the current app's windows. Using a combination of Cmd-Tab and Cmd-`, I've never had a problem. I think people just like what they're used to, ultimately.
      - spiffytech 3y ago
        Cmd-` is pretty inelegant. It disturbs your workspace, bringing all the windows you cycle through to the foreground and leaving them there. You have to play spot-the-difference looking for which window just popped up, then evaluate whether it's the one you want. Other desktop environments put the window switcher in the center of the screen (so your eyes can unthinkingly jump straight to it), you can quickly tell "hit <tab> four times to get the window I want", and your workspace wasn't disturbed with other windows you aren't interested in.
        rhaway84773 3y ago
        Also CMD-~ doesn’t have a preview mode does it? It simply cycles through windows without showing all of them listed in a grid or list, unlike Windows Alt + Tab.
      - kristiandupont 3y ago
        I've been using MacOS for over 10 years by now and I still consider it vastly inferior in this regard. I recently started using alt-tab which does a pretty good job at mimicking Windows but it's slightly buggy and introduces a tiny but noticeable delay which is a constant source of frustration to me.
nbar1 3y ago
Same for me. Trackpad is my best friend for productivity. 4-fingers up (and also bottom-left hot corner) for Mission Control, top-left hot corner for desktop, 4-finger swipe left/right between spaces. I don't need anything more than that, and any app that offers more just becomes noise.
- nerdjon 3y ago
  The trackpad gestures is a major reason that Mac is my primary OS while Windows is there when I have to use it. Even on my "desktop" Mac setup (which is really just my laptop in a dock) I have a full keyboard and the Magic Trackpad joined together with that tool from twelve south. Thinking about it more I feel like I just use Windows and Mac differently. Most of the time I am in full screen mode (so any windows is just a quick swipe to the left or right) and when I am not I have multiple desktops or I have split full screen mode. Plus using 3 monitors I really just don't find myself switching all that often. For me Windows feels like the worse management when I get used to what Mac has to offer.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    KDE is so close to getting the best of both worlds out-of-box for Linux users. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a Magic Trackpad-heavy workflow (and it's probably why KDE is the default on Asahi). - 4 finger swipe up is an overview for all desktops - 4 finger swipe down is an overview for all windows - 3 finger pinch does the MacOS-style desktop overview with your other desktops at the top All of the gestures are 1:1 with the trackpad, and are functionally very useful. It feels a little cobbled together in current builds, but I'm hoping it gets extra attention with KDE6: https://youtu.be/aBEsxTVRsEo?t=100 https://youtu.be/aBEsxTVRsEo?t=100
    - sylens 3y ago
      I have been incredibly impressed by KDE in my recent uses of various Linux distros
    - brimstedt 3y ago
      The nice thing about kde's version of "showing all window thumbnails" is that it's also searchable by typing
forgotmypw17 3y ago
Some people are unable to (or prefer not to) use the touchpad or pointing devices.
- chii 3y ago
  such as having the mac docked and connected to an external screen with the original screen closed. There are of course keyboard shortcuts to access expose or spaces, but then what's the difference between alt-tab and that?
  - Veen 3y ago
    You can also use hot corners.
    - apocalyptic0n3 3y ago
      Which are often annoying if you are using multiple displays because the interior corners aren't used (or at least aren't in my configuration)
    - forgotmypw17 3y ago
      How do you use those with the keyboard?
  - tsuujin 3y ago
    This is how I use my MacBook, but I still use a wireless touchpad just fine.
mrbabbage 3y ago
No, the joke is on us MacOS users who insist on its terrible Alt-Tab behavior instead of leaning into the gesture support. But I do believe the gesture support has fundamental limitations: 1) you have to take your keys off the home row to render gestures. Not good! 2) gesture window switching / Exposé breaks down when you have too many windows open: the thumbnails become unrecognizably small. 3) to solve the above problem, perhaps you suggest using spaces. Well, MacOS's spaces support is also frustrating. It's impossible to turn off the animation and time lag switching between spaces! Sure, it's only a half-second, but a half-second repeated hundreds of times adds up. And spaces's interaction with alt-tab is totally broken: if you're using a given app (say Chrome), switch to another space where Chrome is also open, and then try to alt-tab back, it doesn't take you back to the last window you had open. Sad!
- nerdjon 3y ago
  As far as those limitations go. 1) That would also be true if you are switching to nearly any GUI based app that you need the mouse except for maybe if you are switching to a text editor but I doubt every time you switch apps you are immediately typing something, so not really sure I see the problem there. 2) True, maybe I just don't tend to have a ton of windows open at the same time. 3) I can't really speak on how it behaves with alt-tab however with the track pad it is as fast as you swipe and tied to that swipe. I can slow it down or speed it up.
- cmiller1 3y ago
  I love the mac alt-tab behavior, you just move your finger up one key to switch between windows in the current app grouping them nicely unlike Windows where they're all a big mishmash.
  - kristiandupont 3y ago
    Hah, my perspective is the exact opposite! On Windows, there is a nicely and predictably maintained Z-order, whereas MacOS insists that if I want to switch focus, surely I want all the windows that the other app has to offer, which feels like a big "mishmash" to me.
kitsunesoba 3y ago
I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of Winlike alt-tab myself. Its usability rapidly degrades with the number of windows open, with the downward slope beginning at ~5 windows and curving down exponentially from there. Being that I’ve always got 10+ windows open at any given time it’s almost useless for me. I could see some utility in a keystroke that only toggles between the two last used windows, but full-on alt-tab just doesn’t work for me.
- eviks 3y ago
  You can for smaller visible thumbnails of much more than 5 windows in the switcher, or even use a list of icons, or just the fact that most recent windows are shown (and older 20+ is not) is already very useful
- zanellato19 3y ago
  That's exactly what alt-tab is when used without holding.
  - kitsunesoba 3y ago
    Yep, but I think that little bit of functionality alone is enough to be given its own separate shortcut that doesn't summon UI or switch to some other window if accidentally held a bit too long.
    - eviks 3y ago
      Alt tab mac switcher app allows you to set the delay, so you can set it high and only use for invisible app switching (apparition delay) it's still not prefect as it's not forced to consider only two windows (that would require a separate hack)
vehemenz 3y ago
The nice thing about macOS is that there are several equally effective paradigms for window management. For example, you use trackpad gestures for Mission Control as your primary switcher, whereas I use Command+Tab and only use Mission Control sparingly with mouse5 (no trackpad). Likewise, some people use a visible Dock, but I've never seen the point of it.
tssva 3y ago
What exactly am I missing with gestures on Windows vs macOS for this purpose? 3 finger gesture brings up my windows and allows me to drag windows to different workspaces. 4 finger swipes left and right allows me to switch workspaces.
rzwitserloot 3y ago
I use CMD+TAB prodigiously, but only to switch to the previously open thing or the second-previously open thing. If I'm looking for a certain window I use the three-finger-swipe-up, or, if using the mouse, it has a few extra programmable buttons and one of them is programmed to do that. It feels like CMD+TAB was designed to be used for this purpose and not for the more general ersatz 'open an application I know is currently running' mode. But, hey, if you _do_ use it for that, this Witch window switcher seems like a great idea. More power to you!
tracker1 3y ago
I'm usually docked and using a model-m style keyboard and a standard two button + scroll-wheel mouse. So such gestures aren't really convenient for me. Switching apps is really painful, as I tend to have a few browser windows with different profiles, as well as a couple projects on VS Code open. It's kind of ugly imo. I wouldn't mind if I could trigger the same gesture (as three finger swipe) with cmd or cmd+ctrl with the scroll wheel.
- darkteflon 3y ago
  I use Hyper (Caps) + Space for the 3-fingers up gesture, plus Hyper + q / e for switching desktops and Hyper + w for 3-fingers down. Works very well.
pleb_nz 3y ago
That is making the assumption every user uses the Mac keyboard for typing, I for one don't when I am at my desks.
ant6n 3y ago
The problem is MacOs’ window switching behavior when using alt-tab and alt-`. The one switches to the most recently used other software, the other cycles through the windows of the same software. Now imagine u have 10 terminal windows and 3 chrome windows open. And you switch back and forth between two or three of these windows. In Mac Os you cant really do that, because u have to cycle through all the windows of the same software to get back to the other terminal window youre working on. And thats why people use non keyboard methods for switching windows, which sux, I hate Windows, but I also hate Mac Os for its dumb opiniated design choices that after 20 years theres still no option for fixing, so u need to pay 20$ for some tools that give you sane usability (also the the need for better touch tool to get proper tap to drag without a release delay). And the worst is the fanboys that act like Mac Os’ wonky choices are a necessity because I’m holding wrong and they never had a problem with it.
- brimstedt 3y ago
  You might like kde. Imo it's superior to both windows and Mac and it's adaptable so you can have an efficient workflow.
- eviks 3y ago
  Alt tab for Mac is a free app
qxxx 3y ago
personally I don't use the magic mouse or the touch pad (only if I work remotely and i have the macbook with me) but the magic mouse is terrible compared to normal mouse. I use a gaming mouse with a ton of macro keys. These keys do various things, most important keys are keys for switching desktops.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  The appeal of the Magic Mouse is that it allows gestures like a trackpad. If you are not a gesture person, then it’s just a funny-shaped mouse with a kinky charging method.
  - thiht 3y ago
    That was the appeal for me to try it but it just doesn’t work well. The Magic Mouse is almost unusable to me. It’s shape is so bad for the hand even when using it normally, and it instantly hurt me whenever I tried to do gestures.
spurgu 3y ago
> I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). Swiping alone is unnecessarily slow so I don't do it unless I need visual assistance. I do them all though, in this order of frequency: - Cmd+Tab for switching apps (most frequent action) - Option+Tab (remapped) for switching windows of active app - Three-fingers down to see all windows of current app - Three-fingers up to see all windows (rarely used because I have too many windows open for this to be useful) In addition I use Ctrl+{1,4} to move between different workspaces (although I sometimes use three-finger swipe left/right for this but too often I want to skip one (like going from 1 to 3) in which case swiping is annoying. Moving windows to a different desktop/workspace I do by clicking titlebar and pressing Ctrl+{1,4}. Relying on the "overview" (or whatever it's called) sounds convenient, but slower than what I do.
- codybontecou 3y ago
  How do you get the three-fingers down behavior?
  - kps 3y ago
    Your OS version may vary (I'm not up to date) but look for ‘App Exposé’ in the Trackpad settings.
  - spurgu 3y ago
    Trackpad -> More gestures -> App Exposé https://i.imgur.com/u9BRDU8.png https://i.imgur.com/u9BRDU8.png (Big Sur, YMMV)
deathanatos 3y ago
> Unlike when I use Windows, I just don't use command (alt) tab on Mac. I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). First, ⌘+Tab & Alt+Tab do different things; the latter is far superior in doing The Right Thing. But me too, but I use the gestures because I lack Alt+Tab, not because they're better. I do like the gesture feature, and I think, even if I had Alt+Tab, gestures would have its own place. I also wish the catchment for resize wasn't a single pixel in macOS. In Linux, with the shortcuts, it's 1/8th the entire window. Resizing in Linux is the entire window, which is nice now that applications feel the need to invade the title bar. (I'm looking at you, browsers.)
yakk0 3y ago
There are Mac users like myself that don't have a trackpad or touchpad. After trying the Magic Mouse when I got my Mini I reverted back to my 20 year old Microsoft optical mouse. I long for the Windows style of app switching where you can go through each window instead of the Mac style where you go through each app.
- wbobeirne 3y ago
  Cmd+~ switches between windows of the same application
  - mikebenfield 3y ago
    That's not what your parent comment asked for.
- CitrusFruits 3y ago
  You should try contexts! It also has a bunch of other features and is highly configurable. I'm not one to normally pay for software, but this is probably up there with some of the best $10 I ever spent. https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/
franciscop 3y ago
While I agree, there's some few cases where I find Alt+Tab to be superior. A small example, you are writing a PR and want to peek at the code, you can cmd+tab, look, cmd+tab again and keep typing without moving your hands from the position. So for that "peeking" it's very useful while keeping focus. I find grander gestures like three fingers up to be a lot better when I want to "context switch" though. Now the only/big annoyance in macOS is that "closed" windows don't close the app, so you are back from a zoom meeting trying to get into the zone and you cmd+tab from code to terminal and back expecting that to work and suddenly you are greeted tabbing into Zoom, but it is closed, but it still gets in the way.
adamredwoods 3y ago
I re-code the 3-fingers movement to drag with mouse, similar to the middle-mouse button. Saves on wrist/finger pressure.
notatoad 3y ago
my mac doesn't have a touchpad, so the gestures are a little difficult.
lolinder 3y ago
> I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). Is a docked setup just not a thing for most Mac users? I almost never want to use my laptop as a laptop—the keyboard is too small, looking down at the screen is bad for my neck, and multiple monitors is addictive. But as soon as I set the laptop aside and break out the external keyboard and mouse, Mac's window manager becomes completely unusable. I'm finding that the magic mouse doesn't help much because it's crippled compared to the trackpad and is horribly unergonomic. Hence the external tools to make the keyboard actually useful.
- thiht 3y ago
  > Is a docked setup just not a thing for most Mac users? Can’t tell for others, but the trackpad is central on how I use my Mac. I can’t imagine using an external mouse/keyboard because it would completely break my workflow. Gestures are extremely convenient when you get used to them. So yeah, no docking. I also don’t agree that the keyboard is too small or that multiple monitors is addictive (it’s just convenient). The neck thing is true, which is why I try to keep my main windows on the second monitor, at eye level and bigger

dantehemerson 3y ago

I found it useful because I try to avoid using mouse as much as possible.

dieulot 3y ago

Alt+Tab lets you switch to a previous window instantly. MacOS’s UI sluggishness is jarring when you’re a power user from another platform.

behnamoh 3y ago
I wish we could remove the animation between spaces on macos. there’s always a delay before you get to use the space you switched to.
yboris 3y ago
Unsure if you mean AltTab - https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ -- it's my favorite
- brimstedt 3y ago
  AltTab and Rectangle is what makes Mac DE usable.
  - ostenning 3y ago
    Yep, I recommend these both, a lot.
vehemenz 3y ago
When is the last time you used macOS? Command+Tab also switches to the previous window instantly. It only brings up the switcher when you hold it longer.
- nick_ 3y ago
  It switches to the previous _app_, not window. It will bring all of that app's windows to the front. A core feature a lot of folks want is fast, window-oriented focus switching.
  - lelandfe 3y ago
    Cmd-`, and Cmd-Shift-`, switches between the current app's windows. Using a combination of Cmd-Tab and Cmd-`, I've never had a problem. I think people just like what they're used to, ultimately.
    - spiffytech 3y ago
      Cmd-` is pretty inelegant. It disturbs your workspace, bringing all the windows you cycle through to the foreground and leaving them there. You have to play spot-the-difference looking for which window just popped up, then evaluate whether it's the one you want. Other desktop environments put the window switcher in the center of the screen (so your eyes can unthinkingly jump straight to it), you can quickly tell "hit <tab> four times to get the window I want", and your workspace wasn't disturbed with other windows you aren't interested in.
      - rhaway84773 3y ago
        Also CMD-~ doesn’t have a preview mode does it? It simply cycles through windows without showing all of them listed in a grid or list, unlike Windows Alt + Tab.
    - kristiandupont 3y ago
      I've been using MacOS for over 10 years by now and I still consider it vastly inferior in this regard. I recently started using alt-tab which does a pretty good job at mimicking Windows but it's slightly buggy and introduces a tiny but noticeable delay which is a constant source of frustration to me.

nbar1 3y ago

Same for me. Trackpad is my best friend for productivity. 4-fingers up (and also bottom-left hot corner) for Mission Control, top-left hot corner for desktop, 4-finger swipe left/right between spaces. I don't need anything more than that, and any app that offers more just becomes noise.

nerdjon 3y ago
The trackpad gestures is a major reason that Mac is my primary OS while Windows is there when I have to use it. Even on my "desktop" Mac setup (which is really just my laptop in a dock) I have a full keyboard and the Magic Trackpad joined together with that tool from twelve south. Thinking about it more I feel like I just use Windows and Mac differently. Most of the time I am in full screen mode (so any windows is just a quick swipe to the left or right) and when I am not I have multiple desktops or I have split full screen mode. Plus using 3 monitors I really just don't find myself switching all that often. For me Windows feels like the worse management when I get used to what Mac has to offer.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  KDE is so close to getting the best of both worlds out-of-box for Linux users. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a Magic Trackpad-heavy workflow (and it's probably why KDE is the default on Asahi). - 4 finger swipe up is an overview for all desktops - 4 finger swipe down is an overview for all windows - 3 finger pinch does the MacOS-style desktop overview with your other desktops at the top All of the gestures are 1:1 with the trackpad, and are functionally very useful. It feels a little cobbled together in current builds, but I'm hoping it gets extra attention with KDE6: https://youtu.be/aBEsxTVRsEo?t=100 https://youtu.be/aBEsxTVRsEo?t=100
  - sylens 3y ago
    I have been incredibly impressed by KDE in my recent uses of various Linux distros
  - brimstedt 3y ago
    The nice thing about kde's version of "showing all window thumbnails" is that it's also searchable by typing

forgotmypw17 3y ago

Some people are unable to (or prefer not to) use the touchpad or pointing devices.

chii 3y ago
such as having the mac docked and connected to an external screen with the original screen closed. There are of course keyboard shortcuts to access expose or spaces, but then what's the difference between alt-tab and that?
- Veen 3y ago
  You can also use hot corners.
  - apocalyptic0n3 3y ago
    Which are often annoying if you are using multiple displays because the interior corners aren't used (or at least aren't in my configuration)
  - forgotmypw17 3y ago
    How do you use those with the keyboard?
- tsuujin 3y ago
  This is how I use my MacBook, but I still use a wireless touchpad just fine.

mrbabbage 3y ago

No, the joke is on us MacOS users who insist on its terrible Alt-Tab behavior instead of leaning into the gesture support. But I do believe the gesture support has fundamental limitations: 1) you have to take your keys off the home row to render gestures. Not good! 2) gesture window switching / Exposé breaks down when you have too many windows open: the thumbnails become unrecognizably small. 3) to solve the above problem, perhaps you suggest using spaces. Well, MacOS's spaces support is also frustrating. It's impossible to turn off the animation and time lag switching between spaces! Sure, it's only a half-second, but a half-second repeated hundreds of times adds up. And spaces's interaction with alt-tab is totally broken: if you're using a given app (say Chrome), switch to another space where Chrome is also open, and then try to alt-tab back, it doesn't take you back to the last window you had open. Sad!

nerdjon 3y ago
As far as those limitations go. 1) That would also be true if you are switching to nearly any GUI based app that you need the mouse except for maybe if you are switching to a text editor but I doubt every time you switch apps you are immediately typing something, so not really sure I see the problem there. 2) True, maybe I just don't tend to have a ton of windows open at the same time. 3) I can't really speak on how it behaves with alt-tab however with the track pad it is as fast as you swipe and tied to that swipe. I can slow it down or speed it up.
cmiller1 3y ago
I love the mac alt-tab behavior, you just move your finger up one key to switch between windows in the current app grouping them nicely unlike Windows where they're all a big mishmash.
- kristiandupont 3y ago
  Hah, my perspective is the exact opposite! On Windows, there is a nicely and predictably maintained Z-order, whereas MacOS insists that if I want to switch focus, surely I want all the windows that the other app has to offer, which feels like a big "mishmash" to me.

kitsunesoba 3y ago

I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of Winlike alt-tab myself. Its usability rapidly degrades with the number of windows open, with the downward slope beginning at ~5 windows and curving down exponentially from there. Being that I’ve always got 10+ windows open at any given time it’s almost useless for me. I could see some utility in a keystroke that only toggles between the two last used windows, but full-on alt-tab just doesn’t work for me.

eviks 3y ago
You can for smaller visible thumbnails of much more than 5 windows in the switcher, or even use a list of icons, or just the fact that most recent windows are shown (and older 20+ is not) is already very useful
zanellato19 3y ago
That's exactly what alt-tab is when used without holding.
- kitsunesoba 3y ago
  Yep, but I think that little bit of functionality alone is enough to be given its own separate shortcut that doesn't summon UI or switch to some other window if accidentally held a bit too long.
  - eviks 3y ago
    Alt tab mac switcher app allows you to set the delay, so you can set it high and only use for invisible app switching (apparition delay) it's still not prefect as it's not forced to consider only two windows (that would require a separate hack)

vehemenz 3y ago

The nice thing about macOS is that there are several equally effective paradigms for window management. For example, you use trackpad gestures for Mission Control as your primary switcher, whereas I use Command+Tab and only use Mission Control sparingly with mouse5 (no trackpad). Likewise, some people use a visible Dock, but I've never seen the point of it.

tssva 3y ago

What exactly am I missing with gestures on Windows vs macOS for this purpose? 3 finger gesture brings up my windows and allows me to drag windows to different workspaces. 4 finger swipes left and right allows me to switch workspaces.

rzwitserloot 3y ago

I use CMD+TAB prodigiously, but only to switch to the previously open thing or the second-previously open thing. If I'm looking for a certain window I use the three-finger-swipe-up, or, if using the mouse, it has a few extra programmable buttons and one of them is programmed to do that. It feels like CMD+TAB was designed to be used for this purpose and not for the more general ersatz 'open an application I know is currently running' mode. But, hey, if you _do_ use it for that, this Witch window switcher seems like a great idea. More power to you!

tracker1 3y ago

I'm usually docked and using a model-m style keyboard and a standard two button + scroll-wheel mouse. So such gestures aren't really convenient for me. Switching apps is really painful, as I tend to have a few browser windows with different profiles, as well as a couple projects on VS Code open. It's kind of ugly imo. I wouldn't mind if I could trigger the same gesture (as three finger swipe) with cmd or cmd+ctrl with the scroll wheel.

darkteflon 3y ago
I use Hyper (Caps) + Space for the 3-fingers up gesture, plus Hyper + q / e for switching desktops and Hyper + w for 3-fingers down. Works very well.

pleb_nz 3y ago

That is making the assumption every user uses the Mac keyboard for typing, I for one don't when I am at my desks.

ant6n 3y ago

The problem is MacOs’ window switching behavior when using alt-tab and alt-`. The one switches to the most recently used other software, the other cycles through the windows of the same software. Now imagine u have 10 terminal windows and 3 chrome windows open. And you switch back and forth between two or three of these windows. In Mac Os you cant really do that, because u have to cycle through all the windows of the same software to get back to the other terminal window youre working on. And thats why people use non keyboard methods for switching windows, which sux, I hate Windows, but I also hate Mac Os for its dumb opiniated design choices that after 20 years theres still no option for fixing, so u need to pay 20$ for some tools that give you sane usability (also the the need for better touch tool to get proper tap to drag without a release delay). And the worst is the fanboys that act like Mac Os’ wonky choices are a necessity because I’m holding wrong and they never had a problem with it.

brimstedt 3y ago
You might like kde. Imo it's superior to both windows and Mac and it's adaptable so you can have an efficient workflow.
eviks 3y ago
Alt tab for Mac is a free app

qxxx 3y ago

personally I don't use the magic mouse or the touch pad (only if I work remotely and i have the macbook with me) but the magic mouse is terrible compared to normal mouse. I use a gaming mouse with a ton of macro keys. These keys do various things, most important keys are keys for switching desktops.

Tagbert 3y ago
The appeal of the Magic Mouse is that it allows gestures like a trackpad. If you are not a gesture person, then it’s just a funny-shaped mouse with a kinky charging method.
- thiht 3y ago
  That was the appeal for me to try it but it just doesn’t work well. The Magic Mouse is almost unusable to me. It’s shape is so bad for the hand even when using it normally, and it instantly hurt me whenever I tried to do gestures.

spurgu 3y ago

> I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). Swiping alone is unnecessarily slow so I don't do it unless I need visual assistance. I do them all though, in this order of frequency: - Cmd+Tab for switching apps (most frequent action) - Option+Tab (remapped) for switching windows of active app - Three-fingers down to see all windows of current app - Three-fingers up to see all windows (rarely used because I have too many windows open for this to be useful) In addition I use Ctrl+{1,4} to move between different workspaces (although I sometimes use three-finger swipe left/right for this but too often I want to skip one (like going from 1 to 3) in which case swiping is annoying. Moving windows to a different desktop/workspace I do by clicking titlebar and pressing Ctrl+{1,4}. Relying on the "overview" (or whatever it's called) sounds convenient, but slower than what I do.

codybontecou 3y ago
How do you get the three-fingers down behavior?
- kps 3y ago
  Your OS version may vary (I'm not up to date) but look for ‘App Exposé’ in the Trackpad settings.
- spurgu 3y ago
  Trackpad -> More gestures -> App Exposé https://i.imgur.com/u9BRDU8.png https://i.imgur.com/u9BRDU8.png (Big Sur, YMMV)

deathanatos 3y ago

> Unlike when I use Windows, I just don't use command (alt) tab on Mac. I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). First, ⌘+Tab & Alt+Tab do different things; the latter is far superior in doing The Right Thing. But me too, but I use the gestures because I lack Alt+Tab, not because they're better. I do like the gesture feature, and I think, even if I had Alt+Tab, gestures would have its own place. I also wish the catchment for resize wasn't a single pixel in macOS. In Linux, with the shortcuts, it's 1/8th the entire window. Resizing in Linux is the entire window, which is nice now that applications feel the need to invade the title bar. (I'm looking at you, browsers.)

yakk0 3y ago

There are Mac users like myself that don't have a trackpad or touchpad. After trying the Magic Mouse when I got my Mini I reverted back to my 20 year old Microsoft optical mouse. I long for the Windows style of app switching where you can go through each window instead of the Mac style where you go through each app.

wbobeirne 3y ago
Cmd+~ switches between windows of the same application
- mikebenfield 3y ago
  That's not what your parent comment asked for.
CitrusFruits 3y ago
You should try contexts! It also has a bunch of other features and is highly configurable. I'm not one to normally pay for software, but this is probably up there with some of the best $10 I ever spent. https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/

franciscop 3y ago

While I agree, there's some few cases where I find Alt+Tab to be superior. A small example, you are writing a PR and want to peek at the code, you can cmd+tab, look, cmd+tab again and keep typing without moving your hands from the position. So for that "peeking" it's very useful while keeping focus. I find grander gestures like three fingers up to be a lot better when I want to "context switch" though. Now the only/big annoyance in macOS is that "closed" windows don't close the app, so you are back from a zoom meeting trying to get into the zone and you cmd+tab from code to terminal and back expecting that to work and suddenly you are greeted tabbing into Zoom, but it is closed, but it still gets in the way.

adamredwoods 3y ago

I re-code the 3-fingers movement to drag with mouse, similar to the middle-mouse button. Saves on wrist/finger pressure.

notatoad 3y ago

my mac doesn't have a touchpad, so the gestures are a little difficult.

lolinder 3y ago

> I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized). Is a docked setup just not a thing for most Mac users? I almost never want to use my laptop as a laptop—the keyboard is too small, looking down at the screen is bad for my neck, and multiple monitors is addictive. But as soon as I set the laptop aside and break out the external keyboard and mouse, Mac's window manager becomes completely unusable. I'm finding that the magic mouse doesn't help much because it's crippled compared to the trackpad and is horribly unergonomic. Hence the external tools to make the keyboard actually useful.

thiht 3y ago
> Is a docked setup just not a thing for most Mac users? Can’t tell for others, but the trackpad is central on how I use my Mac. I can’t imagine using an external mouse/keyboard because it would completely break my workflow. Gestures are extremely convenient when you get used to them. So yeah, no docking. I also don’t agree that the keyboard is too small or that multiple monitors is addictive (it’s just convenient). The neck thing is true, which is why I try to keep my main windows on the second monitor, at eye level and bigger