3 ms·

I have a Mac and a PC and I feel more productive on a PC. I think the main reason for this is that I'm a "maximised windows" kinda guy and switching between win

I have a Mac and a PC and I feel more productive on a PC. I think the main reason for this is that I'm a "maximised windows" kinda guy and switching between windows and tasks feels much more smooth and simple for me in Windows. It may sound like a small thing but because the OS X dock deals with apps, not windows, it can be a pain switching between open windows (yes I'm aware of shortcut keys etc). Also the tendency of OS X to clutter the screen with open windows (which it seems most people are happy with) really frustrates me. Spaces alleviates this somewhat, but I much prefer something like Photoshop on Windows, for example. Much cleaner. Having said that, the shell in OS X is really useful and a lot of Linux stuff you'll be using (Python for example) feels nicer in that shell than under Windows. Others here have commented on the "unix core" and it definitely is a benefit. For me, though, I'm content to use Windows and Putty/VNC into my Linux box when required. If you can, play with a Mac before you buy it. Developers tend to be a picky bunch so what works for others may not work for you.

hs 18y ago
tiled wm like ion3, wmii, dwm open new windows automatically maximized no need to use mouse to scroll, move, resize, min, max window ... huge time saver
- jrockway 18y ago
  The downside is that you'll consider complete sentences a waste of time ;)
- vorador 18y ago
  And don't forget stumpwm (http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/ http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/), the common lisp window manager !
  - jrockway 18y ago
    And xmonad.
- moe 18y ago
  As a long-year ion3 user I'd like to second that. The productivity boost is comparable to moving to vim/emacs from notepad.
  - nailer 18y ago
    Does ion3 handle standard .desktop shortcuts? A lot of the smaller WMs (with the exception of XFCE) want to re-implement launchers for every app.
    - moe 18y ago
      I don't think so, mainly because ion3 doesn't really have a "desktop". It is fully programmable though, so you could easily write a script that searches your $HOME for .desktop shortcuts and adds those to the builtin menu, creates keyboard-shortcuts or even dock-icons for them. Personally I have never cared much for desktop-shortcuts. My most used applications are all on the keyboard (F1 xterm, F5 browser) and for the less used stuff I simply "F3, amar<TAB><CR>" (runs amarok via the "launch" shortcut).
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
umjames 18y ago
I think the advantage of having non-maximized windows is that dragging and dropping data from one app (or even one window) to another is a lot easier and more intuitive without going through the Windows task bar. It's also easier to do something like read directions on a webpage while you execute those directions in another window without hiding it when accidentally clicking in the browser.
- joshsharp 18y ago
  That's true, but these are not actions I perform regularly. When I want to drag things around or read something while I interact with another app, I'm happy to change my behaviour temporarily.
jlees 18y ago
Using virtual desktops really makes task switching on a Mac much less painful.
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  And/or you use Quicksilver and Witch. And life becomes even less painful. I hide the Mac OS dock on day one and never look at it again, except for every couple of days when I have to relaunch Quicksilver. (It's not the best-maintained piece of software in the world, and it has some kind of long-term memory-management issue. One of these days I might have to try Launchbar instead.)

hs 18y ago

tiled wm like ion3, wmii, dwm open new windows automatically maximized no need to use mouse to scroll, move, resize, min, max window ... huge time saver

jrockway 18y ago
The downside is that you'll consider complete sentences a waste of time ;)
vorador 18y ago
And don't forget stumpwm (http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/ http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/), the common lisp window manager !
- jrockway 18y ago
  And xmonad.
moe 18y ago
As a long-year ion3 user I'd like to second that. The productivity boost is comparable to moving to vim/emacs from notepad.
- nailer 18y ago
  Does ion3 handle standard .desktop shortcuts? A lot of the smaller WMs (with the exception of XFCE) want to re-implement launchers for every app.
  - moe 18y ago
    I don't think so, mainly because ion3 doesn't really have a "desktop". It is fully programmable though, so you could easily write a script that searches your $HOME for .desktop shortcuts and adds those to the builtin menu, creates keyboard-shortcuts or even dock-icons for them. Personally I have never cared much for desktop-shortcuts. My most used applications are all on the keyboard (F1 xterm, F5 browser) and for the less used stuff I simply "F3, amar<TAB><CR>" (runs amarok via the "launch" shortcut).
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]

umjames 18y ago

I think the advantage of having non-maximized windows is that dragging and dropping data from one app (or even one window) to another is a lot easier and more intuitive without going through the Windows task bar. It's also easier to do something like read directions on a webpage while you execute those directions in another window without hiding it when accidentally clicking in the browser.

joshsharp 18y ago
That's true, but these are not actions I perform regularly. When I want to drag things around or read something while I interact with another app, I'm happy to change my behaviour temporarily.

jlees 18y ago

Using virtual desktops really makes task switching on a Mac much less painful.

mechanical_fish 18y ago
And/or you use Quicksilver and Witch. And life becomes even less painful. I hide the Mac OS dock on day one and never look at it again, except for every couple of days when I have to relaunch Quicksilver. (It's not the best-maintained piece of software in the world, and it has some kind of long-term memory-management issue. One of these days I might have to try Launchbar instead.)