Things I Don't Like About the Mac

I have said many nice things about my new MacBook Pro, but I would like to dedicate this post to the braindead things that really annoy me about it.
  • No way that I can find to terminate individual programs when they crash and freeze - and contrary to the hype, programs do crash and freeze on the Mac
  • That 'apple function' key that you use instead of 'ctrl' (which is two keys over) to do things like cut and paste and to start and stop bold and italics - especially since in many online forms, like this one, you use the ctrl key, even on the Mac.
  • Missing first letters. For some reason when you focus on a text field (by clicking in it, in order to type some data) it has to stop and think about what it's doing, or something, so I very frequently lose the first letter in what I'm typing
  • No separate tab (or icon, or anything) for separate windows lanched by the same program - no wonder Mac users loved tabs - working with separate windowns on a Mac is a royal pain. Especially small windows, like, say, the compose window in Thunderbird. I am constantly moving windows around to find a window that has been buried and which has no icon to maximize it.
  • 'Close' that doesn't quit programs. When you click on the little red ball (equivalent to the Windows 'x') it closes the window - but leaves the program running. The processors are very powerful, but I don't want to leave major applications running after I've closed all their windows.
  • 'Delete' that only woks in one direction. The 'Delete' key works like the Backspace key on a windows keyboard - it deletes whatever is in front of the cursor. But there's no obvious way to delete whatever is in front of the cursor. Oh I'm sure there's some way. But it should be a separate key - like, say, 'Delete'.
  • Doesn't connect to my iRiver. There's no hack, download, etc. It simply won't work. Ever.
  • Proprietary audio formats. Thank goodness the iPod and MacBook play MP3s. Otherwise they wouldn't play anything. I had to buy an applicaton (an exhaustive search revealed no free app) to convert WMAs. Moreover, CDs I rip using the Mac won't play elsewhere. I find myself using the Windows machine to rip them, converting the WMAs to MP3s, and then porting them to the Mac. Loads of fun.
  • TIFF images in Powerpoint. Why oh why would the computer store images being used PowerPoint in TIFF, knowing that it will never play on any Windows machine (and again, there is no way to fix this). Yes, apparently Grab can export in GIF and JPG, but this involves an extra step, and moreover requires that you launch and run the application using Preview. I mean, huh?
  • Windows that don't resize properly. Like, say, the 'Applications' window, which won't resize when icons are outside the viewing area. I am always forgetting to scroll horizonally (as well as vertically) to find icons. Worse, new icons are by default added to the window outside the viewing area. That threw me for a real loop before i discovered it was braindead design.
  • Windows that don't resize properly, part two. The only way to resize a window is to grab it at the lower right hand corner. What about the sides and other corners? Dead. This is a real problem when...
  • Windows that open under the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. You can move your mouse over that area without the icons expanding to twice their size and moving about, and you can't click without launching an application. So why are windows displayed under those icons? Especially windows that can only be resized from the bottom?
  • No decent FTP application. I finally found Cyberduck, which is free and at least works. But it only shows a single pane, meaning you're always moving windows about and resizing them (and trying to find them because they've become hidden under other windows. As for the other FTP applications, like the unlamented Fetch, the more left unsaid, the better.
  • No decent drawing application. Paint Shop Pro was my workhorse in Windows. It let me edit photos, it let me make diagrams - anything I wanted to do with images. No such application exists for the Mac. Trying to draw with Photoshop is nightmarish. I tried Inkscape, but it was unusable. I still have no solution for this.
  • Keyboards that won't stay lit. I like the lighted keyboard; a fantastic invention. But when it is at low light, it is constantly urning on and off. I think the sensor is in the keyboard, which means it is constantly being shaded by my hands. Off and on. Off and on. Ack! Put the sensor somewhere else. Add a governor that delays it's lighting and unlighting.
  • Flash and cameras. Flash appears not to work with the camera or audio input device.
  • Popunders. I remember, Acrobat Reader use to launch and then freeze, refusing to perform unless you answered a popup query. Fine - except the query appeared under the reader, so you could never get to it. Some Mac applications function like that. How can you tell? When the yellow 'minimuze' button stops working.
  • Slow menus. Some of the menus are inexplicably slow. For example, clicking on the wireless access ion. It always takes a second or two to open. A second click closes it (ack! when would I ever want that? Anywhere else on the entire computer could close it, why also the one spot that opens it).
  • Letters skip. I don't know what it is, but every once in a while the letter won't register when you type it. No, it's not my typing. It's as though it's doing something else and didn't catch the pressing of the key.
  • No decent text editor. I've tried a few - an Emacs editor, which reminds me why I don't use Emacs, a couple simple text editors, Text Wrangler, which doesn't ask for permissions properly (it tries to guess my user name from my name - silly silly program).
  • Preview - which displays PDF files - preserves the page position when you advance from one page to the next. Which means that when you finish reading one page and start on the next, it displays the bottom of the next page, because that's where you were on the previous page. Argh! I have to scroll back ujp for every page. No way to just scroll through, either - you have to hop from page to page. Very annoying. (Also, of course, when you enlarge text size from the default 'too tiny to read' to something like legible, the window doesn't adjust to the new page width - so you always have to resize the window. It never remembers your text size either.
That's about it for now, all I can think of off the top of my head. I may encounter some others; if so I'll add them.

Comments

  1. "No way that I can find to terminate individual programs when they crash and freeze"

    alt apple esc at the same time should do the trick...

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  2. Crickey! Not so loud! They'll hear you! Before long you'll have hundreds of fervent comments from the MacFaithful telling you how wrong you are.

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  3. You definitely have some points there, some of which I admit to share, especially the menu delay.
    About the texteditor - Try TextMate
    About preview - Rick click on any page and select continous.

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  4. Meanwhile, I've got overheating computer, a burnt screen as a result and a battery that stops working at around 47 minutes (no more 10 minutes warning). Not happy... but it's still better than a PC :-)

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  5. Stephen, I'm not wanting to be a Mac apologist, but here are some tips that might help you adjust.

    force-quit a single app: right click on the dock icon and select "quit" - or if it's wedged, press the option key to toggle that to "force quit"

    multiple windows of same app? command ` to toggle between them, or F10 to see them all.

    Forward delete: function + delete key

    don't complain about proprietary formats AND using your WMA files in the same sentence... AAC is an MPEG4 spec. WMA is a Microsoft format...

    Flash and webcams: I use that often. there's a security popup that you have to accept first, but it works. You may need to right-click on a flash movie to pull up those prefs again.

    FTP apps: I use Cyberduck, but Transmit is really pretty good.

    Text editor: I use (and love) TextMate. BBEdit's pretty good, too.

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  6. almost forgot... there's a setting in iTunes to tell it to rip CDs as MP3 files directly, and it's got one of the best sounding MP3 encoders out there. No round trip through WMA needed...

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  7. Don't want to sound like the mac fanboy, but maybe you should get to know the OS a little better before you start whining about how you can't figure out how to do something because nobody sat you down and taught you step-by-step...imagine if you had always used mac, and now had to try PC...yea you'd have a hard time - does this hard time mean that PCs suck? not neccesarily i think.

    Anyways, to respond to your "issues" with your MacBook Pro.
    1. Hold Comman-Option-Esc
    2. I'm sure you'll get used to it...and it's called the "Command" key not command function key...the function key is the fn key on laptops.
    3. totally lost...what are you talking about?
    4. um...try holding command-tilda instead of command-tab to switch between windows of same app.
    5. ummm....who uses those buttons? Use command-w to close window, and command-q to quit...seems like you're just not good with a computer as is.
    6. try fn-delete
    7. iRiver? ok buddy...
    8. yea WMA sucks...that's not news and thats not Mac...as far as ripping CDs...try using iTunes...while you're sober - it's not that hard, i've done it many times with no problems playing on windows later.
    9. umm hellO! PowerPoint is again Microsoft's bastard child.
    10. No idea what you're talking...mine and everyone else's windows resize to whatever dimensions are specified by the user. You must be drunk...again
    11. Stupid bug when you save say a .rtf under a bigger resolution, occupying most of the screen. Increase you res, resize, and change back.
    12. iSerial Reader...'nuff said
    13. Plenty of options...don't know any off the top of my head because I always use photoshop - as you should if you are as tech savvy as you pretend to be.
    14. Are you using USB 2.0 or are you connected through a crappy hub? Wow...omg what a little thing to cry over, when on the other side of the fence you have the blue screen of death etc etc with Windows.
    15. Macromedia Flash?? Again, Adobe - not Apple.
    16. Never heard of it, never seen it - did you run over your computer and chuck in in the laundry machine?
    17. Take grammar lessons. Wireless menu?? Duh it has to check on the latest on the connection and signal strength to display this info in the menu...also check that you dont have 256mb of RAM...of course Vista is so much better right? because you need like 2GB just to run a stable system.
    18. Never heard of it, never seen it...wow you have so many random problems i'd think you made half of these up.
    19. Wow you're pathetic. Does your mother still spoon-feed you? Use Word for advanced editing, TextEdit (pre-installed) for quick edits, and SubEthaEdit for programming edits.
    20. You should take computer classes or something

    forget it, just give your mac to someone with brains and go back to dumb ass Vista.

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  8. LabTick is a cool program for forcing the keyboard lighting to stay on and it allows for dimming as well.

    Check out Shadowbook and SeisMac too for some fun!

    Freemacware.com can help you too...

    Chris Craft
    MBP and iMac fanboy...

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  9. @OnionRings: Chill out. Seriously. Stephen posted some valid gripes that he's got as a result of spending some quality time with his new MPB. Reactions like yours are what give Mac users a bad name. Relax. He's trying to get used to it, and is willing to ask publicly for help getting through some rough spots. That's a good thing.

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  10. "Preview - which displays PDF files - preserves the page position when you advance from one page to the next."

    If it doesn't suit you, take a look under Preview's preferences, "PDF" tab, and uncheck the corresponding option.

    "Also, of course, when you enlarge text size from the default 'too tiny to read' to something like legible."

    While you're there, you can change the scale to automatic or anything you would like.

    "No way to just scroll through, either"

    Select "continous" in the Presentation menu, or right click on the page as someone already said above. As much as I disagree with the Mac faithfuls insulting you, did you explore the menus and the preferences at all? I don't think so. :-)

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  11. Stephen, I had fun responding to some of your points. You can find it online here:
    http://www.mguhlin.net/archives/2007/05/entry_3230.htm

    Take care and thanks for sharing,
    Miguel Guhlin
    Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
    http://mguhlin.net

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  12. Miguel: Using X11 and the Gimp instead of a Mac app for Diagraming (like say, Omnigraffle)? So, if you want to go from New-York to San Francisco, I suppose you have to make a huge detour via Madrid, Yamoussoukro, Buenos Aires and Tokyo. :-D

    No need to use PDFViewer either and iTunes can rip CDs to MP3. He has the right tools in his kit and should learn how to use them.

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  13. The missing first letter when entering text gets me too.....


    ForkLift is a free 2 pane FTP client..

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  14. For a site that will help you to use your new MBP check out www.screencastsonline.com

    Also a lot of your issues are easily solved with some simple exploration of menubars and preference windows. no idea why you want to rip CD's to WMA then to MP3 when iTunes wil do that for you, again in preferences.

    Your obviously new to Mac OS but some exploration does help with any new system. maybe get Tiger: the Missing manual as well. it's a great help for new people to using Tiger.

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  15. For a good text editor, try Smultron.

    For a good drawing program, try OmniGraffle.

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  16. Grins to you, my friend........

    so WHAT do you like?

    I am new to my MacBook and find some of the same struggles -- and until Mac allows me to run Paint Shop Pro (without the WINDOWS tiein -- I am not completely sold!)

    But there are some things I truly love -- and I would enjoy reading your's as well.

    Jennifer Wagner

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  17. About FTP:

    I don't know if a web-based FTP client would suit you, but I sure like FireFTP, the FTP extension for Firefox, which works for both Mac and Windows. It offers both panes and looks and feels a lot like the old WSFTP (what I used to use way back when on Windows). I like the fact that FireFTP lets you to set up default settings for your local and remote folders; very handy.

    I also use Dreamweaver for FTPing, since the synchronization options are nice, and Dreamweaver will actually FTP anything really; it doesn't have to be a website. You can configure the thing just to FTP and synchronize any local/remote folders you want, as if it were a website.

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  18. I think others have well covered most of the concerns.

    It's a bit of a set up, as any such major shift, be it operating systems, moving to a new city, switching to a new cell phone require an un- and re-learning of interfaces and controls. It's natural step to side up as "old/familiar = GOOD and new/different = BAD".

    To add to the pile- WTF do you have against Fetch? Is it the dog vs cat thing? I have used it continuously since about 1991 or 1992, Of course, that makes it very old and very familiar and thus, very GOOD to me. Before it became sFTP capable, I tried a few others and found them terribly awkward.

    For dealing with WMA, I shelled out the $10 for EasyWMA (http://www.easywma.com/) mainly because of the mp3 recorded I was using at the time would only do WMA file format. And you cannot blame the Mac of iRiver incompatibility; that was an manufactured decision to go with a Windows DRM technology.

    And not a image editor, but one I find indispensable is PhotoDrop (http://www.kudurshian.net/photodrop/), a free utility for setting up droplets that batch cnvert image files, so in one move, you could convert all those nasty TIFFs to JPEG, PNG, etc. I even toss a PSD file on it to make them resized JPEGs, which it can do w/o event waiting the long haul for PhotoShop (CS2) to open.

    Almsot as long as my sting with Fetch has been BBedit, labeled by Barebones as "Software that doesn;t Suck" - it is a workhorse and a half; but my pat phrases is that ut switftly does grep search and replace across multiple files. That is power. The other cool thing is you can write perl scripts in it, execute them, to do mundane desktop chores. I have one that processes any number of images to a custom web based slide show template.

    Actually, I am nicely surprised you have even gone the Mac route given past comments, so I commend your open-ness to give it a go!

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  19. Stephen thank you so much for this post, you made me laugh (sorry i'm not laughing because of your frustration, but rather your determination to expose the difficulties of adapting to a different culture).

    (Even the contemptuous macTroll response is funny.)

    I'm saving up to get a macBook and find out what all the fuss is about, and i'm expecting some moments like you've described .. where i think "what are those mac-iVangelists on about!?"

    The one thing that's kept me for switching (and mac people will not understand) is the Alt key, which in Windows and Linux will operate the Menus (file edit etc). eg Alt+Space .. Alt+F,A

    But i've recently remembered how long it took me to make windows behave how i like .. so why would i expect apple's default settings to satisfy me either? Maybe there's a hack somewhere to enable Alt=Menu.

    Many keyboard things do work, but slightly differently, eg Cmd+Tab (mac) is the same as Alt+Tab (win).

    all the best with your iVoyage of discovery, micahel

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  20. Stephen,

    It's fun to read your experience without having years of background on the OS. As you pick up new shortcuts, tricks, etc, it is easy to forget that there are many things that just aren't obvious.

    Just wanted to throw out a tip for using the Command key (the apple key), which is comparable to the Ctrl in Windows. I find it much easier to do things like copy and paste when I use the Command key with my *thumb*, since it is right next to the space bar and I can move my thumb over without moving much of the rest of my hand.

    Once I got used to that, reaching over to the edge of the keyboard to hit the ctrl key when I use windows was actually harder. Maybe I have small hands, but it seemed to move my hand out of position more. And now on the Windows laptop I'm using, matters are worse because the manufacturer put the Function key in the left corner of the keyboard. I really have to stop and think about where the ctrl key is!

    One site that might help is:
    http://www.xvsxp.com/

    Whether you agree with their scoring or not, which put the two OS's at practically a tie, the thing I find helpful is the feature by feature comparison with shortcut keys, methods for doing things, etc. For example the section on keyboards (http://www.xvsxp.com/misc/keyboard.php)
    answers Mic's question about operating the menus with the keyboard (you can, but you have to turn it on).

    Also, I'd give TextWrangler a closer look. I have looked for a program that has some of the same features on Windows and have not found it, and it is the "lite" version of BBEdit. It has saved me time and again, especially doing search and replaces, garbage character removal, and working on very large text files (which often crash the text manipulators I use on Windows).

    Best of luck,
    /mark

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  21. Stephen, as a recent mac switcher I deeply sympathize! There is a solution to the switching between all windows instead applications only. Two, actually.

    Either you use Exposé. Check in your system preferences under Dashboard & Exposé for the shortcuts - I think F9 is for all windows.

    Much cooler is Witch from Peter Maurer:

    "Have you ever wanted to switch to a certain window — not just the application it belongs to?"

    Witch at Many Tricks

    I am a huge Mac fan, and it makes me sad that Sam at 8:42 was right - it just took, what, some 3 hours for the first Mac Troll to appear? Sorry.

    For your Powerpoint problem: In Options > General > Weboptions > Pictures there is a box to tick allowing PNG as a format. I have never encountered any problems moving with presentations between PCs and MACs, I do that constantly.

    Hope it helps; try out Switch it's cool!

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  22. axabpI can empathise with you Stephen becuase I have passed through all of these problems and more. Although I have had my macbook pro for over a year now it is proving a continuous learning curve with ner an end in sight it seems.
    It does have some redeeming features too though.
    However one thing which I find particularly frustrating is the fact that with an inbuilt camera and microphone I have problems of recording on the mac but no problems for talking to friends using Skype. Also though I can see friends on skype they cannot see me.

    Come on onionrings give me some hint please and no preaching to the converted either:-)

    Pauline

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  23. Stephen, I just stumbled over this here:

    http://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/pencil/

    "Pencil is an animation/drawing software for Mac OS X and Windows. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source."

    Does this help you?

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  24. And two more painting hints for you:

    a paint-like program designed for pixel-pushers: Pixen

    Seahsore

    "Seashore is an open source image editor for Cocoa. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP's technology and uses the same native file format."

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  25. FTP client--Fugu--free and it works.

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  26. Feedback from someone who made the switch ~9 months ago:

    -- "terminate individual programs" Right-click (or cmd-click) on the icon in Dock and choose force quit. Also, CMD-OPT-ESC does roughly the equivalent of CTL-ALT-DEL in Windows.
    -- "cmd key vs. ctrl key" Yes this can be a frustrating difference, but there's nothing that makes it less valid than CTRL combinations. Key mappings are going to be different on any OS and applications. You will become accustomed to it, your brain will map the new reflexes, and you will be able to switch seamlessly between PC and Windows computers without hitting the wrong key. Just takes time.
    -- "missing first letters" I have seen this only occasionally, and primarily with non-Cocoa applications like Firefox. Hard to blame Apple when third-party app developers don't use the most current development tools available to them.
    -- "no separate tab for windows" This is what Expose is for. Also, be sure to turn on Active Screen Corners and the F-key shortcuts for Expose. Also, I recommend Witch, as did another user.
    -- "close that doesn't quit" As I understand it, MacOS works differently such that those apps with no active windows aren't actively taking up memory and CPU cycles like they would be on a WinXP machine. This desire to have all those apps closed is more a Windows-habit derived from Windows-performance need, and in the long run you're better off just having them running and docked, especially the frequently used ones, as it obliviates any app start up time. Not what you expect coming from a Windows world, though.
    -- "delete key" Function-Delete on a MacBook will work as a Backspace. But, yes, this is definitely annoying. The MacBook keyboard layout is it's biggest annoyance (also, see the missing right CTRL key). One solution is to get an external keyboard.
    -- "no iRiver support" Can't help you on the iRiver. Although the first Google hit on "iRiver MacOS" is for instructions on downloading and installing the iRiver Music Manager for MacOS X application, so that might be a good place to start...
    -- "wma support" Seriously -- are you going to blame Apple for Windows proprietary audio formats? iTunes rips CD's to AAC format by default, but you can change that to MP3 under iTunes Advanced setting.
    -- "TIFF and PowerPoint" -- I don't use PowerPoint on a Mac, so can't help you there.
    -- "Window resize #1" Not sure I follow that one. . . maybe it's because I always use list view in Finder windows instead of icon view?
    -- "Windows resize #2" Whereas "properly" = the way Windows does it? :-) Yes, this is a difference, but as with the key mappings, one that you quickly can grow accustomed to. It ceases to become annoying. If it's too annoying there are third-party apps that take care of it, e.g. MondoMouse, WindowDragon, and OCSmart Hacks. (None are free, though.)
    -- "Windows open under the menu bar" By "menu bar at the bottom of the screen," I think you mean the Dock? ("Menu bar" is always a the top of the screen.) You don't always need it visible on the screen. The solution to this problem is to is to set the Dock to "automatically hide", then you can sling the mouse down to the bottom of the screen to make it display when you need it, and it never gets in the way of your other apps. Also, don't think of the Dock as the equivalent of the Taskbar in Windows. It's not a window-switching tool, it's an app launcher. Use Expose (or Witch) for window-switching. If you don't think of it as a window-switching or app-switching tool, you don't need it visible all the time.
    -- "FTP application" I don't use FTP much, so can't help you there. Cyberduck does everything I need.
    -- "Drawing application" GimpShop is a more than adequate Photoshop replacement. Inkscape is your best free bet for vector graphics, or you might try Skencil (Python based -- think it runs under X11). Paint Shop Pro isn't a free app, though, so I'm sure you can find a commercial alternative on the Mac, too. Lineform is a commercial vector drawing tool for the app that's getting great press and awards. US$80. Gimpshop + Lineform = less than Paint Shop Pro.
    -- "Keyboard lighting" Never have this problem myself.
    -- "Flash and cameras" Not sure what this problem is ... you mean Macromedia Flash?
    -- "Pop-unders" Expose again will solve this problem by allowing you to see every open window/dialog at the same time.
    -- "Slow menus" Never have this problem myself, but I don't switch wireless networks that much on the MacBook. (I travel with the PC, not the Mac.)
    -- "Letters skip" Never have this problem myself, except, again, with the occasional non-Cocoa app, e.g. Firefox. (Safari is a better browser for the Mac, but I can't give up the customizability of Firefox.) In the end, I blame your typing. ;-)
    -- "Text Editor" I use TextWrangler, but most Mac users swear by TextMate (which is not free, IIRC).
    -- "Preview" Not sure how you're navigating page-to-page with Preview -- probably the arrow keys? Use the Back/Forward buttons in the menu bar or their keyboard shortcuts -- CMD-[ and CMD-]. Those allow you to move page-to-page, and always keep you at the top of the page.

    Final comments: as others have mentioned, a lot of these complaints really shouldn't be considered "braindead things" about MacOS. It seems like you're frustrated because MacOS doesn't behave exactly the same way another OS does, doesn't have the same key mappings as Windows, etc., But that's true for any two OS's. "Not what I'm accustomed to" doesn't mean "braindead." I experienced a lot of the same frustrations when I made the switch, as I'm sure most people do, but if you dig through the preferences and documentation (RTFM!), you'll find a lot of them are avoidable or curable.

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  27. Hi Steven, pretty much all have been said and lots of solutions for annoying issues derived from switch PC to Mac. I switched myself about a year ago to a MacBook Pro and I can tell now that it was a smart move. Some things took me more time than others to find my way around but finally got everything under control.

    One thing I missed a lot was the forward delete key. I found Double Command and then able to remap keys, in other words change the way your keyboard works. Find it at http://doublecommand.sourceforge.net it is free. Fire FTP for Firefox is probably what you need as well for FTPs.

    Cheers from Spain.

    Jordi

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  28. Stephen - having had some PC to Mac switch friends over the years tell me for the first 3 weeks or so "... how much Macs suck and what a mistake I made by switching." And then when I see them at the 3 to 5 months or later point tell me that NOW THEY FINALLY GET WHY THEIR MAC FRIENDS LIKE MACS ... it will come. You need to be de - PCfied ... it takes time to get over it.

    Learning is truly messy sometimes!!!

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  29. iRiver, I've only got two but I can get both to work on macs.
    I think iRiver have mac software for the iFP790 hidden somewhere on their site (I must have got it from somewhere) it works ok.
    I've a t30 too, got the firmware updater from iRiver you can change from MTP to USM and vice versa the USM mode will allow the player to mount as a USB drive. You need a windows machine to run the firmware updater.

    Like a lot of folk commenting I love textMate.

    I am fine with fetch but only ftp a few files a day, as far as I remember transmit does two panes if you want.

    Moving stuff between apps you can command-tab between apps during a drag. for example: command-tab to switch focus to finder drag a file and command-tab to fetch drop (apologies in advance if this is old hat).
    A good example of this type of dNd is the screencast of blogging with textMate. http://macromates.com/screencasts

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  30. First, I think that Stephen is to be congratulated for actually creating a Personal Learning Space out of his MacBook Pro. He's thrust himself into a new and different environment -- probably one of the best ways to keep those learning tools sharp and rust-free.

    Second, the Mac, as in MacOS X, is really quite new so that even old Mac-heads like myself are bumping into many of the same issues. It is a deep system and despite the fact that I spend 10 hours a day on six or seven days a week with my Mac exploring new ways for educators to use technology, I don't ever expect the well to dry up. That's a good thing in my book.

    Probably the most telling observation is that there are so many secrets to uncover and Apple doesn't make a big effort to reveal them, some not even to developers! It's a big easter egg hunt.

    So, you can either feed the cottage industry that has sprung up to meet this need or take on the challenge of finding out for yourself or mix it up a do a little of each. Myself, I subscribed to Versiontracker's daily newsletter, a bunch of mailing lists in my areas of interest and spend at least a half-hour a day reading Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/) and Macintouch (http://www.macintouch.com/).

    I don't spend much time in the Terminal with the Unix command line and have never cranked-up X-Windows but there's a whole 'nother world to explore. If I ever tap out GarageBand or iMovie, I can always escalate to Logic Express or Logic Pro from Garage Band or to Final Cut Studio from iMovie. It's the journey, not the destination.

    The truth is out there. It's just so voluminous and so widely distributed. It's a real joy to discover something new. Several of the responses here referred to thinks I hadn't known about before.

    http://hercules.gcsu.edu/~flowney

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  31. I've compiled lots of stuff here:
    http://mguhlin.net/wiki/index.php?n=Main.Dalamode8

    Take care,
    Miguel

    ReplyDelete
  32. learn thinking like a mac - think different.
    it's save your time, believe me.

    ReplyDelete
  33. What I would suggest, is getting a PC. After you do that, partition your hard drive and install Leopard on that. So then you can use Windows to do anything worthwhile, and easier.

    If there is an update for windows XP or Vista, a little blimp will come out of your taskbar (next to the clock for all of the retards). If there is an update for a Mac, there will be another dock/blimp thing that pops out of one of the random sides of the screen and keeps bouncing, annoying the hell out of you until you click on it, then you computer has to restart. After all of that, you loss everything that you, because of that update.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I agree with a lot the guy had to write about. I learned to type on a typewriter. I've used Apple computers since the II and IIe. And used PCs since CP/M.

    I really dislike having to remove my hands from the keyboard when I am typing to find the mouse, find where I was typing, click the damn mouse and then delete. Why only one damn delete, in one damn direction? Backspace delete, duh. And ONE fricken key. Not hold two keys and hope you have your tongue in the right corner of your mouth to make the delete!

    Ok. I'll play nice.

    Want list: I want a home/end key that does that. I don't want to hold two keys to (open apple, right left arrow) to jump to the start of a line. ONE Key. How hard is that?

    I also want it built in. No script or keyboard app work around.

    I also want to resize a window from anywhere. Why one stinking corner to resize. Yes, I use the damn green button, no I don't want to use a script to define the size. I just want to drag and resize.

    I too use Paintshop pro. Nothing in the Mac world is as good. Not Gimp, inkscape, not Photoshop. Photoshop is the 600 lb pig. Paint shop uses less system resources and flies (as in fly, not files misspelled, duh).

    As good and as fast as my Macs are, (two: desktop and laptop) I imagine if an app were like paintshop it would run circles around photoshop.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I' m having huge problems with my new Mac. Where is the simplicity that everybody is talking about? I don't find it. Yes I undesrstand that I need to be used to a new OS; however, there are many things that I find harder to use in a Mac. Example: the French accents, the resizing, closing the programs etc etc...

    ReplyDelete
  36. No "save as" function on iPhoto. When you edit a picture and push apply--that's it. You lose the original photo. All you have is the new edited version.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I can't believe so many people have trouble quitting programs. Either Command-Q (Q is for Quit! Go figure!) or just click "Safari" (for example) "quit." It's not hard.

    I've been using a Mac for a long time. I like the benefits of both Mac and Windows (Linux too!), but I am switching back to a Windows machine because I play games (must have Windows for most of them) and I want a little more power and better GPU options for the price. I'd rather not dual boot and spend a total of $1200 which includes tax and a copy of Windows just to own a Mac and be able to play games when I can spend $1000 after tax on a slightly better machine. Plus, Windows 7 is pretty nice and some great applications are Google Chrome, Digsby, and Paint.net... just to name a few.

    Personal preference!

    ReplyDelete
  38. I'm pretty bad at computing - had 2 pc's and now a mac - we only got it because we were warned off vista and I had a macophile friend who bigged it up silly. He was right - it's never had a virus or crashed (frozen) that I can think of - but all in all it's been hard work to adjust to one and tutorials don't even match the reality on screen - seems people like one or the other rather than anything else - would I recommend ? We didn't buy a similar pc at the time so I have no idea how happy we would have been with one but I would be temped back to microsoft to be honest

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi!

    I'm not trolling,m'kay?
    I've been using macbook for over 6 month now.
    And there is a lot that I miss from the Windows(sometimes hellish)world...While Mac is really good with native drivers for soundcards and usb interfaces,there is no software that comes close to Wavelab or Soundforge.Believe me,I've checked...yes,there are sound editors but nothing as good as these ones.Logic for example sounds very good,but misses a lot of function of Cubase SX.

    Whenever a Mac Taliban says "Oh,you can do everything on a Mac just as on a Win Pc."-beware!
    This generally means paying a lot of money for something you could've found as a freeware app in Windows.

    Mac looks sleek,you get a lot of nice things,BUT if you want to get it to run like a Win Pc - use a win pc,no need to switch.

    Yes,Bootcamp and VmWare could work for some people,but not for me.

    Why?

    Well,I was told that Bootcamp is just like a Win PC...it's not;FIREWIRE(!) is not supported for a lot of hardware in Bootcamp (hardware that works perfectly in Windows).

    Also,you have to wait for a lot of programs before they find their way to the Mac.

    ReplyDelete
  40. This is what really irks me. No, I am not trying to start an argument here, but this little article just proves that the Mac isn't as "easy to use" as mac fanboys claim it is. And no, it doesn't always "just work". Whether Pc or Mac, there is always a learning curve, so please mac fanboys, get off of your high horse. Oh and by the way, I learned how to use a Pc backwards and forwards in as little as a half a day. It's not that difficult when you spend a little time tinkering.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Mac has built in FTP! CMD + K in finder.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Dont know if mentioned above, but I have two points:

    1. In Windows, when I am opening a document and choosing one to open, I can select a file and delete it. In Mac I have to open the finder, and then not just pressing the delete button, but to move it the whole way to the trash bin, or right click and move to trash.
    2. If I want to delete something from an external HD, I have to move the archive to trash bin, and THEN EMPTY THE TRASH BIN, only then it is removed from the disk!!

    ReplyDelete
  43. i was thinking of getting a Mac to replace my aged PC but since getting an ipad for xmas there is no way Id ever buy anything Apple! The ipad is just so clunky to get round things that are so simple to do on a pc!

    ReplyDelete

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