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Windows to Mac Migration Guide/Advice?
Harpa wonders: "Having spent more years than I care to count living and working with various Windows machines, I'm about to get my first Apple (an iBook). While eagerly waiting for the machine to be shipped, I'm starting to realize that changes I'm going to have to deal with may involve more than getting used to one less mouse button!I'm wondering if any Slashdot folk can help. What does an old-time Windows user have to learn/unlearn? To what extent can my Apple live happily with my existing PC's, my printer, my network? Everything I've found so far seems to be either geared for people who've never used a computer before or for existing Mac users. Is there any info available that supports us 'converts'?"
There are a number of conversion utilities/packages which I will let you Google for. :)
Otherwise just don't expect it to be like Windows.
And VersionTracker along with the Apple OSX download page will be your new friends...
Buy a multi-button usb mouse. It will work like you want. I made the switch in a single day. You can too.
Always say things such as "Apple leads by design.."
"I don't understand unix but with a mac I don't have to"
"Macs are cheaper and faster than a xeon cluster"
I got myself a PowerMac a month or so ago. I've found that there were actually more things I had to temporarily unlearn going back to work, than I had to unlearn going to the Mac.
:) Aside from the eye candy (or iCandy?) aspect, that's a very useful feature - one keystroke, and you can see _every_ open window at once. A related question... anyone know of a free Expose clone for Windows XP?
One of the main things I had to unlearn on the Mac was pressing home/end to go to the beginning/end of a line - in OSX, they go to top and bottom of the document. Ctrl-left/right arrows are what are used instead.
But after only having had my Mac a few days, I started doing Mac things without thinking. I kept (and still do!) reaching for the F9 key. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
I think the biggest issue for me was switching my Windows iTunes library over to Mac iTunes, since even though my music is stored on a shared network drive, Apple's pathnames are different than Windows.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
http://www.apple.com/switch/ talks about switching from Mac to PC, and includes answers to FAQ's on pages like: http://www.apple.com/switch/questions/ and http://www.apple.com/switch/questions/index2.shtml
Just about any USB mouse will work on a Mac, so if you have an existing USB multi button mouse on a PC, try it and you may find it works fine (and the Mac will allow to set the right button to do contextual menus etc).
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy and intuitive everything is on the Mac Platform. When I switched (about a year ago now). I'd say within a week I'd totally forgotten all of my windows ways and was happily hitting up the Apple key to get at the context menus.
Congratulations on your iBook purchase, you'll be one of us "holier than thou" Mac snobs that you've always hated in no time!
"I wish I had a Kryptonite cross, because then you could keep both Dracula AND Superman away." --Jack Handy
I've helped quite a few friends make the switch. They're pretty happy users as far as I can tell!
The best thing you can do is make friends with other Mac users, especially true Mac geeks. If they've been using Mac OS X for long enough and they're real geeks, they'll have a lot of great answers for you and be able to personally recommend solutions to your problems because they've run into those things and tried a few solutions themselves.
Don't get a book. No one actually reads them after they buy them.
Also, if there's something you're used to on your PC (like your two-button mouse), there's often times a good equivalent or an exact equivalent on the Mac. Using a Mac doesn't mean giving up absolutely everything that was nice about the PC (even though, as a good Zealot, I would claim that list is somewhat short).
I use this Logitech mouse on both of my Macs, and I love it. Very basic and cheap, but it never fails me and I get the two buttons and scroll wheel that Apple didn't automatically include.
If senility was a race, I would win.
Right after you get your copy of MS Office!
Your network should just work. OS X out of the box is set to use DHCP. It is easy to configure the networking parameters if necessary, and it supports network profiles so you can have different settings for home, work, and at the lanparty or whatever. Through Samba, it supports Windows file sharing. There is a "Network" pane in Finder that lets you browse your network similar to Network Neighborhood. You can also mount NFS, SMB, FTP, and other wacky filesystems. It is as easy as going to Go->Connect to Server... in Finder (or Cmd-K).
Is your printer USB? Does it work with CUPS? If OS X doesn't directly support your printer, slam it into one of your Windows machines and use networked printing. OS X can do it via CUPS' IPP, LPD, etc.
I would suggest grabbing a Microsoft Intellmouse Optical with scroll wheel, though. I can't stand the Apple mouse.
You might want to throw iTunes on all your Windows machines and take advantage of Rendezvous, so you can play all your music on all your machines.
I would also suggest getting Microsoft Office 2004 for OS X if you do any work that involves word processing, slideshows, spreadsheeting and charting, etc. It is a very slick package and I like it much better than Office for Windows. Oddly enough, the features in the OS X version are slightly different.
Some third-party software you might consider getting (check for it on VersionTracker.com):
* OSXvnc - So you can connect to your Mac remotely. Might not be as important on a laptop.
* Quicksilver: A really nice application launcher that lets you just hit Cmd-Space and start typing the name of any app, contact, photo, etc on your system to open it.
* SSHKeychain: Never enter a SSH passphrase again
* Remote Desktop Connection (http://www.microsoft.com/mac): Good for connecting to your XP machines from your Mac.
* Roxio Toast Titanium: Decent CD/DVD burning software
* If you like multiple desktops, get Desktop Manager
* Chicken of the VNC: A VNC client
* Camino: If you don't like Safari for some reason, this is Mozilla with a pretty Aqua UI
I went from being an Apple hater from the pre-OS X days to now loving my Apple PowerMac G5. Recently, I even got sucked in enough to buy an iPod, Apple Cinema Display, etc. I hope you enjoy your purchase.
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Your iBook should work quite well with an existing windows network/printer. Even if there are no mac drivers for the printer, you can set up printer sharing on the window side and still access it from the mac (I think you wont need any special drivers for this, but I could be wrong, most modern printers have mac drivers anyway). As far as the network goes, osx integrates quite easily.
...with a few linux and *bsd PCs and such...and windows occasionally...
[opinion]
the one button mouse is okay most of the time. Some programs (ie Shake) will require a mouse with more than one button. Those are rare though, and I think you'll quickly learn how to use control+click as a substitute.
The one upside about the one button mouse is that its great for both people who mouse with their right and left hands. Microsoft mice and such rarely are comfortable for the minority of people who are left handed mousers.
[/opinion]
The one huge bizarre difference between OS X and Windows would be the interface. Application windows won't have menu bars for the most part in each window, the three buttons (close/minimize/shrink) are on opposite sides, the dock is a bigger version of those little icons next to the start menu you can click (forgot what those were called), the menu bar could be considered the less customizable Mac equivalent.
Icons are on the opposite side of the screen (along the right, not the left) generally unless you move the icons, and windows-only wallpaper will be useless.
On the flip side, I find that the Mac community (sans the n00bs) is absolutely wonderful to go to help for, but just make sure to google first. Mac developers and programs for the Mac are absolutely gorgeous. Once in a while you'll come across something that won't quite be the same, like FCP or Blender, but thats rare.
There's also the BSD foundation, which is quite handy. If you're used to working with *BSD or Linux, you'll feel right at home. for development theres the free xcode tools, gcc, et cetera. if you want, there's also gentoo for mac os x (basically just portage), darwinports, and fink to make your life easier
It'll probably take around a week or so to get used to it. But after you switch, you'll wish you could use it all the time (: Good luck, and nice machine.
Hi I use Macs and Windows machines all day, and I can safely say that the 1-button mouse is my biggest problem. Connecting a regular old 2 button scroll mouse goes a long way, but if you're used to a Windows trackpad with scroll functionality (i.e. run you finger against the right edge to scroll the active window) there's a little app you can use to get that back.
The other thing I miss every time I use a Mac is the standard windows two pane file navigation. To me nothing on the Mac even comes close. There must be something out there which is just as good, I just haven't bothered to look for it yet.
The other replies refer you to the Apple Switch site and it is valuable. The Versiontracker site and the versiontracker suite are well worth the annual fee. You will have Apple's automatic software update for OS and Apple Apps and then you have the versiontracker product that supports BOTH Apple and third-party apps. It's invaluable.
I really find the OSXlist a great resource.
If you have Micro$oft data, bite the bullet and buy their office suite (if you can claim student or educator status, the price for three installs is below $200.00) and you have transparent exchange between platforms.
As for the problems that will crop up, the best utilities are Techtool Pro 4, xupport and Diskwarrior.
Networking, printing and email are a snap. If your printer isn't supported in native OSX 10.3.5 then look into the free CUPS and GIMP print apps. I can print to anything but a daisywheel....
I like Logitech trackballs over 3 button / scroll-wheel rodents - but I own and use all. A Right-Click is CTRL-Click on the single button rodent.
Finally, get a copy of the keyboard shortcuts (Xupport has a list) and learn them. The productivity increase is at least 10:1 when you learn the shortcuts.
Enjoy!
Isn't this the sort of question one should ask before ordering the machine? What if the answer indicates that you were better off sticking with Windows? (I know, on Slashdot that conclusion isn't possible.)
I'd say that if you're somewhat familiar with Linux/BSD you'll be very comfortable in OS X. Just start in the Terminal and work your way out. If you want your traditional UNIXy tools, install the Fink project (which often leaves much to be desired, especially when installing fink itself, but it'll get the job done)
For me, other essentials include Adium (a multi-protocol instant messenger), Firefox (sorry Safari) USB Overdrive (I find USB mice to move much too slowly even at max system settings), and Meteorologist (little weather-sensing menubar app).
macosxhints also has a good number of tips and tricks that you might want to through.
Other than that, I can't think of any real problems I had migrating over. It takes a few days to get used to, but it really is fairly intuitive. Try to experiment a bit, particularly with your normal 'window' habits. You may find you like to do things a different way. I used to run everything maximized, now I don't ever run something maximized anymore, despite having a smaller screen. I couldn't tell you why, it just feels more comfortable to do things this way for me. If you have any question, just remember there's a 'help' command in every application, the help docs are usually very nice.
Random and weird software I've written.
Downloading and opening downloaded files was the most confusing for me. There are .sit files that are basicly like .zip files, you click on them and they auto open and a folder with the files appears on the desktop or whatever directory you opened the .sit in. The other thing is .dmg files. This is a disk image file that acutally mounts a temporary disk image and the files are inside of the disk image. You can then drag them out of the disk image to wherever you like and then drag the disk image to the trashcan. You of course can open .zip files. I also like www.macosxhints.com but it may be a little advanced unless you have unix experiance. Try getting a subscription to macaddict or macworld magazine. Macaddict has a more tips and less advertisements. And of course Congratulations!
How to uninstall a program.
I looked everywhere. No friggin uninstallers for practically anything. There was the occasional one from the odd app., but most programs had nothing.
Then I asked someone. You throw the Application icon away. That's it. The vast majority of the apps. files are stored within a package which appears as the app. icon. aside from a few preference files, there's nothing else left.
No hidden DLL's, no registry to clean. It was freaky.
1. Substitute the ctrl key with command (apple) key when using keyboard shortcuts. In a Macintosh, the command key is use mostly with keyboard combinations.
2. The Applications folder take the place of the Program Files folder.
3. The ctrl plus mouse click simulate the right click in windows. (largely unneeded despite what others say)
4. Command-K or Connect to server in the Go menu brings up the network browser (Network Places in Windows XP). You can share files with any PC, Mac, or Linux or anything else.
5. The dock which is at the bottom replaces the start menu and toolbar in windows. Put all you shortcuts there by simply dragging the application to it. Also minimized windows will disappear to there
6. The Macintosh will require you to buy all new software. Mac OSX cannot run Windows software without an emulator which is expensive and slow. It gets real expensive if you are maintaing both PC and Macs. So, if you are happy with the Mac, stick with it and drop the PC's!
Last but not nearly least. I notice Windows users typically try to quit programs in Mac OS by simply closing the windows. But this is wrong, the programs remain in memory. Hit Command-Q to fully quit the programs
You don't have to be smart to use a Mac, you just have to be smart enough to buy one
a lot has already been mentioned, but I thought that I should mention a couple GREAT mac-related websites:
:-P
www.macosxhints.com - a wonderful resource for good hints and tips on getting the most out of OS X.
www.thinksecret.com - a great mac-news related site.
www.macrumors.com - another great mac-news related site, they also have really good forums with very nice and helpful members, who will help you with your problem no matter how small it is.
those are the 3 sites I visit on a daily basis.
one last thing,
a good program to have is called "MPlayer" - it will play nearly ANY kind of movie file and it is great for playing those l33t DivX's you downloaded
you can get it here - http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/
I can't imagine you're really going to come across any problems you can't figure out on your own as far as switching goes... Except that you may be S.O.L. as far as drivers go, especially for sub-name-brand peripherals.
BUT as an iBook owner I heartily recommend two things:
This keyboard protector. Buy it now and use it. White keyboards get very gross very fast, and it's impossible to clean dirt, pet hair and whatever else out from under the keys. And believe me, that stuff will show.
And if you're daring, try This patch. It enables you to use an external monitor in extended desktop mode instead of just mirroring the iBook screen. Evidently Apple locked this ability out to make that feature in the Powerbook more appealing. It works great, but read up on it before you use it.
what is your point exactly?
2. You will learn keystrokes. The GUI is clean and simple but to do things really quick you learn keystrokes.
3. Less icons. I think is due to the nature of executables but there are fewer icons. In Windows almost every file is an icon (unless hidden). In Mac, the only icons that you see with applications are the ones you need to click on to execute.
4. Adopt Unix user conventions. OS X is based on Unix. You need to have a root (admin) account and an everyday use account. If you need to do anything that requires admin privileges (installing software), OS X will ask you for your admin password seamlessly.
5. Be hands off when installing hardware. The operating system will recognize and install without much intervention. Although Windows has gotten better about this, I feel it asks me too many questions about what it needs to do. If it doesn't recognize it, check on whether it is properly installed.
6. If you really want to tinker, learn Unix and open a terminal window.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Once you go Mac...... You never go back!! Oh yeah try this as a test, See how long your computer will run without crashing. not just how long you can use it, but how long will it run before it crashes. P.S. Say goodby to the spyware, adware, and virus's.
I would consider myself a switcher, although I use windows and linux pretty much daily as well. I have a mac laptop and a mac desktop at work, and my windows home machine is mostly used for games and browsing. I do linux servers at work.
other than the suggestions I've seen above, I would strongly suggest a bluetooth mouse. A handy thing to have, but the one button is not nearly so bad. ctrl-click also will get you right button functionality.
very strangly, i think the keystrokes came quicker on os x than on any other os I work on. No idea why.
Otherwise, have fun with it! you'll not regret it.
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
As someone who switches between W2K at work and OSX at home on a daily basis, the biggest ongoing problem I have is keyboard shortcuts - I'm forever using the wrong modifier key
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
Important URLs:
Important Apps:
That's the jist of things i give them. Besides that. play with expose. it is godlike. i recommend setting the screen corners for maximum efficiency. Besides that, the best thing you can do is to just play around with the apps and system until you're comfortable
- tristan
My advice as someone who switched about a year ago is quite simple.
:)
Just switch. Stop using your PC immediately. If there's something you think you can only do on your PC, you're probably wrong. In my experience, I was able to find freeware mac programs to do the tasks I was accustomed to doing on the PC in a matter of minutes (oh the joys of drag-and-drop to install)
Of course, for me, this wasn't exactly volluntary for me, as the Hard Drive in my PC semi-crashed two weeks after I got the mac (was able to get data off thank god, but the drive was toasted).
Had I not switched to my mac (and just had my PC laptop on me), I'd be scrambling to replace the drive immediately. I eventually replaced it about 8 months later
Honestly, if you try to use the two in tandem, you will instinctively clutch to the PC with which you're more familiar, and you'll end up being less happy in the long run.
And since it seems like the thing to do on this thread, here's a list of software I use
--OS X Mail -- the built-in mail client is top-notch and has awesome spam filtering. use it.
--MS Office -- It's actually BETTER on the mac. There's really no good alternative at the moment and I have no complaints.
--iTunes -- accept no substitutes
--Adium -- Equivilant to trillian on the pc but with a nicer interface and 100% free/GPL
--Transmit -- FTP client. Shareware. Don't know of any decent free ones.
--iCal -- another apple app. simply amazing calendar manager. very simple and powerful
--SubEthaEdit -- great simple text editor with syntax highlighting and a cool collaboration feature. Free.
--JEdit -- More complicated editor for the bigger PHP projects. For those of us afraid of emacs.
--QuickSilver OR LaunchBar -- interesting information organization/retreival tool. check them out. they're quite interesting
--Toast -- Commercial app for burning CDs. for 95% of data and audio CDs, OSX's built-in support is good enough, but Toast is nice to have for burning more obscure cd formats.
--Acquisition -- world's best P2P client ever. forget anything you ever knew about gnutella.
--Azureus -- Great BitTorrent client
--Safari/Firefox/IE -- All have their ups all have their downs. I use safari / firefox most of the time. safari has annoying javascript and css problems, but is otherwise perfect. firefox doesn't intergrate into the OS nicely. IE is outdated, but unlike the windows version, doesn't suck too badly.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Seriously. Apple is the only company that even comes close to getting drag and drop right. This tends to cause a problem with Windows users I've trained because they are used to having to have a specialized app or process for doing everything, so they do things like assume they need to go buy Roxio Toast because they don't have any CD burning software. It never occurs to them to try just dragging some files into the CD. A key idea in working with MacOS, especially the Finder, is that they try hard to maintain the illusion that something's representation in the GUI is in fact the thing itself. Hence, you add files to a CD by adding those files to the CD.
Need to e-mail someone's address book info to a co-worker, but you don't have your mail app open? Try dragging that person's name from your address book to the Mail app icon in the dock. Kinda cool how it automagically opens mail and starts a blank e-mail with a vcard containing the contact's info already in there as an attatchment. If your coworker has a Mac, he/she can just drag that attatchment's icon straight from Mail to the Address Book - no need to save it first. Similarly, you can IM an image you see on the Web to a friend by just dragging that image from your web browser to iChat.
Granted, a lot of this Drag and Drop coolness has become a bit bastardized on OS X, but it's still mostly there and I'd say it's the single largest difference between Windows and OS X.
(That one button mouse thing is mostly a cosmetic issue; you can buy a two (or 3) button mouse, and if you're on a laptop and don't have a mouse plugged in it's just as easly to hold down the Splat key and click to get your right clicks. Still, I agree that if they're going to do things like offering X11 bundled with the OS they should get a clue and at least make an option to get your laptop with 3 buttons underneath the touchpad.)
Internet Explorer : FireFox, Safari, Camino, Opera
:)
Kazaa : Any of a dozen or so different P2P apps (Google for "OSX" and whatever P2P network you're trying to use)
Windows Media Player : Mplayer works just fine
Microsoft Office Version X : OpenOffice-X, Microsoft Office-X
zMUD : dunno (not a MUDder)
Games : dunno (not a gamer) but I've seen some sites dedicated to Mac gaming. Google is your friend...
Napster : iTunes (duh!
one thing that you'll need to consider is file formats. textedit does a fair job of reading/writing .doc files, and if you really need to, OO.org or even abiword will help. you probably have lots of emails. mail.app uses mbox format, and you'll need to import them. most apps for windows have mac counterparts, but your licenses won't transfer. so, you're screwed there. you can easily connect a 2 button mouse and it "just works". i am on my second ibook, (first a G3 700, now a G4 800) both 12" variety. the only problem that i have is that you can't connect to a novell network, unless they activate the tcp/ip stuff. not really sure about novell stuff. it's just that I can't my school district's novell network. funny, 'cause my old laptop with linux could easily (ipx_configure ... and ncpmount ...) and i can't see why you can't compile a kernel extension for darwin based on source code. but i do perl, java, and php. not c. anyways, i have enocuntered some difficulties with windows .pdf's. don't know why.
the biggest adjustment is doing things in a mac way. for instance, things are document centric not application centric. therefore, you cmd-tab through apps, and cmd-` through documents. so, if you have word open, and you have three doucments open, cmd-` will only tab through the documents. it took a while to figure this out. now, i throw a fit when i have to use windows and i alt-tab through every freakin window. if windows designers ever figured this one out...
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
The largest problem for me was starting to trust that the machine would handle all my files correctly.... Seriously...
I've always been very 'file-centered', meaning that I wanted to have control of where my files would go on a hard drive. In DOS and later Windows you had to... or you lost track of everything. If I copied digital pictures to my Windows machine, I would copy them myself to the correct location, and then tell my photo editing program where they are located.
The drag and drop functions of iPhoto and iTunes take care of your files for you, so you work the other way around. You let the application handle the file copying and archiving. These programs are meant to be very easy for users. A lot of functions on the Mac work that way, and I really had to get used to this.
In the beginning I would try to copy pictures myself to the correct directory, only to find that when I imported them in iPhoto, not a link but the entire file was put into the iPhoto library. I really had to 'unlearn' wanting control these actions myself..
Another thing that will be difficult to get used to is the lack of viruses. I've always envied Windows folks who get to come to work on the day a big virus is going on and basically sit around and do nothing until the virus is cleaned up.... So you'll have to get used to not having as many days off; then again, you'll be more productive, so you'll be able to leave work early.
In short, be prepared to smile a lot when you're using your computer. A lot of users find it difficult at first, but it gets easier.
This site isn't directly for Windows-switchers, but it will give you lots of great ideas on how to get your Mac working well:
http://www.macosxhints.com/
- Max out the RAM you can afford. Don't buy them at Apple.com, though.
- You will need to re-learn and familiar yourself to the Mac's GUI philosophy. For example, the menu bar is always at the top. You need to get use to new keyboard shortcuts. Don't be frustrated at the change, it's not as difficult as you may think. You just need time. To make it easier, forget about being a power user right away. Mac OS X is flexible enough that you can do many things differently. As you familiarize yourself, start picking hints for doing things more efficiently (tips and tricks).
- When you are stuck at a task, usually the answer is simpler than you think. Many converts try to find a complex answer when it is actually staring at them on the screen. Sometimes, simplicity is hard for people used to runabout ways.
- One button mouse. This always comes up. Mac OS X and apps writen using Apple's guideline are operable using one button mouse. Simple as that. But, you can use CTRL key and the mouse button to simulate a right click. However, if you are a power user or you really prefer multi-button mouse, simply use your old USB mouse. No driver installation is needed.
- If you are familiar with linux, you'll find almost at home with Mac OS X. CLI is a click away and many open source apps support Mac OS X. sourceforge.com is a good start. For searching apps, google helps alot, but it's easier to go to VersionTracker first.
- Lastly, visit lots of Mac websites. You'll find that Mac communities are a helpful bunch. One site you shouldn't miss is MacSurfer. It's a Mac news clearinghouse. It has links to news, rumors, tips, tricks, deals, etc.. From there, you'll find many links to other Mac sites (at the bottom of the page). You can also visit Apple Insider for their excellent forum where you can discuss problems and speculate on rumors.
It's a short list, but it's a start.Disclaimers: I am in no way affiliated with the websites I mentioned above.
Apple are you listening!? You know those little lines under menu items in windows? Those are for navigation! Make your interface more keyboard friendly. It won't offend the dumbed-down-mouse-only users if it's OPTIONAL!!
This is an important distinction that really needs to be clarified.
1) Windows are not Applications. When you open an application in OS X, generaly a window will apear containing a new instance of the program. When you close the window however, this does not close the program. You have to specificaly quit the application.
2) Maximize means expland to fit the window contents, not expand to fill the screen.
I highly suggest you head over to anandtech.com and checkout the macdates section of his weblog. It has a lot of information in the entries and the comments.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
zMUD: Savitar works well, or any of a number of programs ported from Linux. (TinyFugue, for example)
TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.
Other OS X annoyances:
Now, before you bash me as a Mac-basher let me say that I honestly think OS X is the best OS on the market today. It's just a shame that Apple doesn't do a little more to serve the needs of the serious user who, for example, prefers the keyboard to the mouse.
I switched in 2002 after growing up on DOS when I was 4, then being all excited over windows 3.1 when I was 6 and it was heaven when windows 95 hit whenever that was. I was 15 or 16 when I finally switched (I'm 18 now, at University for design) and I have to say the switch was very easy. The OS is very intuitive, just remember that control+click is right click, the dock can hold shortcuts to programs and also holds your open programs, and is great for putting folder shortcuts (although the new finder in 10.3 is good for that was well). The file management system is what messed me up the most. I was so used to window's Explorer. I still get confused. You'll enjoy it, and the lack of spyware/adware/virii and it's just a much better experience. Expose rocks, you'll like that. Buy a 5 button mouse and program it for expose, you won't regret it. And remember, pretend "apple key" is control and all your shortcuts are the same.
~ marko Savic
Some more apps:
;)
:P
;)
FFView - Similar to IrfanView
iTerm - like putty for windows.
DVDattache - same as windows one
iGetter - like flash download accel.
Some tips:
Get a 3 button mouse and a microsoft USB internet keyboard... then load the MS keyboard software to config the keyboard... works like a charm... don't bother with loading any other mouse drivers (logitech or MS)
Also, just get a thawte freemail certificate instead of using SSH, and you won't need SSH apps...
Also, there are no replacements for a good movie viewer... the best is VLC or MPlayer... nothing in the league of Media Player Classic for windows.
Alas, there is nothing you will find that will totally replace TotalCMD... but then again you have zsh!!
Besides these, as a power-user that has tried and bought many programs on many platforms, the Mac may seem simple, but it has all the features and then some to compare with the most powerful windows apps... they are just hidden in intuitive ways.
My leetle iBook G3 is still my fav machine... and I also have the latest DELL Inspiron 9100 running XP!
Just a teensy bit slow these days...
Games : dunno (not a gamer)
That goes without saying: You own a Mac.
Apple initially took Xerox technology and made it all happen. They never quit improving from there. The designs you see all over Microsoft products are rudimentary and often sketchy copies of Apple's designs. Therefore you will find that a lot of it is very familiar... and if anything, it will seem improved.
I have a friend who facetiously considers Apple to essentially be Microsoft's "research and development group", as Apple has always been around 5 years ahead of Microsoft in terms of technical advancement, but never ends up keeping the best of its ideas to itself in the end. When Microsoft stepped in and took over, we all took a deep breath, bent over, and accepted the fate of being held back in technology in order to bring a massive corporation to power.
I think you and anyone who switches to Apple will find it to be an uplifting experience that will push you back into the future, and will help you realize what you've been missing all along.
Just get ready for it to hit your wallet, though. =P
They cover things like take control of buying a mac, take control of your airport network, take control of your mail app, take control of customising panther, etc.
They're generally pretty short, but they're focused on one topic, and will cover that one topic in much more detail than a chapter in a bigger book would.
They're also published by the people who do the excellent Tidbits magazine. You can find them here: http://www.tidbits.com/takecontrol/
...don't forget that Apple ship their development tools with every system for free. And they are good ones, you don't need anything else. Writing Cocoa apps with Objective C is the most productive way to program on any modern platform, by such a huge margin it's just not funny.
:)
RealBASIC doesn't count. (Even if it did, Cocoa is still much quicker).
I can't believe how much time I've wasted over the years on C++, just bowing and scraping to the language and the compiler. I've seen the light brother!!!
Learn to use a 3 button mouse, since most mac users use 3 button mice instead of the standard one.
:P
Get used to a centralized consistent address book, and not one per application.
Get used to *not* installing drivers for every. single. hardware device.
Get used to a lack of crashes, even when suspending/sleeping.
Oh, and get used to suspend actually working.
Then also get used to pretty fonts and visual effects that do not get in the way.
Also get used to just dragging apps to your hard drive to install, and dragging them to your trash to uninstall.
Ah, yes, and the trashcan is actually consistently used by all apps.
Also get used to the fact that all your internet, network and proxy settings are stored centrally for all apps, and stored per user location.
Hmm... ah yes... OS X does not have a good TotalCMD clone... pity about that... perhaps I cannot switch after all...
I've already switched and have been trying to convince my girlfriend to switch. She would love to get a PowerBook, and the only thing keeping her back is AutoCad, which doesn't have a OSX version.
I am aware of several CAD packages for OSX which can edit AutoCad files, but they all seem to have extremely different UIs than AutoCad. My gf invested a lot of time learning the GUI, and wouldn't want to relearn everything just to get a nifty computer.
What are the experiences of you architect switchers? Is it very difficult to relearn the new GUIs (and to move back if you have to use AutoCad at work)? Which programs would you suggest?
In contrast, over the last years I've gotten used to the track pad having only one button and can kind of deal with using shift, option, command keys in conjunction with the track pad. It is possible to 'click' by tapping on the trackpad, but it's not the default setting.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
One of the things I haven't seen here that I like to do is drag the Applications folder to the right-hand side of the Dock (Between the Trash and the bar that separates open apps from the other dock items). Once you've done that, Ctrl-Click (or Right-click) on the Applications icon in the dock, and you'll get a nice pop-up menu of all the Applications available on your system. You can repeat this with any folder, so you can easily get to the contents, without having to drill-down through Finder windows.
do...
don't...
when you are in a bind and need to use your windows machine, but don't feel like getting up from the couch, just use remote desktop.
Moving the iTunes Library shouldn't be too tough at all. Just move all your music files to your Mac. You can put them in your iTunes music folder or anywhere else (first, in the Preferences/Advanced panel, uncheck "Keep iTunes folder organized" and, if you wish to store your files outside your iTunes music folder, uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library"), then use the File/Add to Library command and your Library gets re-built using all your mp3/mp4 tags. You will lose your Star ratings though because they're not stored in the MP3 tags, but you can fix this with some creative use of Smart Playlists: Gather all your 1,2,3,4,5 star ratings in separate smart playlists. Open each playlist, select all the songs and add something like 3Star to the comment field of all those tracks. You can do this to multiple tracks at one time using the File/Get Information command. Later when you are rebuilding your library on the Mac, you can do the same in reverse by using the smart playlists to gather up all tracks whose comment field include your 3Star string.
OOo has translations in
Surprisingly, or maybe not, OpenOffice.org aka OOo does a better job with legacy file formats than does MS-Office. So, save your money, avoid viruses and ease your transition with OOo.
If you're already using OOo on your old platform, then the transition will be very smooth.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
Windows can't touch spring-loaded folders. Try it, in the Finder, pick up a file and hold it over a folder, it springs open; drag the file to the window's bottom (or edge, depending on view) and scroll to another folder within that folder, hold over that and deeper and deeper you can go. Possition out of the window and everything returns to where you started. Sometimes I do this just to hunt around for stuff. A big mistake that Windows makes with its UI is the way its always wanting to maximizing its windows to take up the whole screen. To me this shows a basic misunderstanding of the original Mac GUI windowing principle, which was if you can see any part of a window you can click on it to bring that window into focus, or you can drag from one screen to any other you can see. Watch experienced Mac users and you'll see them managing dozens of stacked up windows at a time without losing their bearings. The OS X dock makes switching between apps and docs a snap (click and hold on dock items to get more command and doc navigation options) so you can shuffle between tons of tasks. People in this thread have talked about how cool Exposé is. I agree with them, but there's just so many other great navigation and file/app management options--make sure you try them all. Have fun.
One tip I have not seen here is this: Assuming that you go with an aftermarket mouse. And assuming that this mouse has the clickable wheel. I suggest you configure said clickable wheel to execute the F9 function of expose' (all windows). This has resulted in a HUGE increase in productivity for me. It makes the already wonderful Expose' twice as natural and speedy. I can find any of a dozens windows in less than a second. If you go with a mouse with even more buttons, the F11 feature is nice to have at your fingertips also.
I like how, on the Mac, it makes break vs copy in the terminal a no-brainer. On Windows, I'm always in doubt which modifier I should use to copy text from a terminal. Is it shift-del (maybe ctrl-ins, I forgot) or ctrl-c?
On MacOS X, cmd-c is copy, ctrl-c is break.
tf rocks. I've used zMud on a friend's PC but if you're going to spend any time mudding stick with the terminal. So if you're going to use a mud client pick an old UNIX one.
Mac OS X's terminal app is very good and tinyfugue works well.
Once you get used to its scripting language and the way triggers work it can save your ass in a game.
zMud offers a lot including a mapper that you won't find on any Mac client as far as I know. But quite a few MUDs aren't really mappable on a 2d grid anyway, but then maybe I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to text adventures.
Don't blame me - this
As other people have mentioned, iTerm is great too. Oddly, i dont recall anyone else mentioning Fink. Its essentially a huge collection of Unix apps ported to OS X, including X-Windows apps that run great under Panther's X11. It uses Debian tools like apt-get and dselect for package management, and includes such personal favorites as nethack, xemacs, and ethereal. good stuff
-- listen to interesting music, support independent radio... WPRB
I think I'll gonna treat myself to a new G5 iMac later this month. The only thing I am having problems with is finding a Bluetooth mouse with more than one button that still matches the iMacs design, i.e. is white.
I'd also settle for a radio-wireless mouse, if it'd come with a small USB dongle that easily hides on the back of the iMac.
Any good suggestions there?
And to stay on-topic: I've switched to an iBook about 9 month ago. The biggest problem really was to accept that everything just works. I really needed to get rid of the Windows thinking "But, there must be more it. Does it really work already...?"
Like deleting an application: dragging it to the trash. That's it.
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...
One thing I find very different is that Windows and it's associated applications force the user to think of their info as being stored in files, whereas many Mac OS X apps (iPhoto, iCal, iTunes, etc - esp the Apple apps) really make life easier for you if you can start to think of things just in terms of data - this is a song, this is a picture, this is a movie - rather than files.
Some 'swithcers' find it frustrating that they have songs that they listen to in iTunes that stop being part of iTunes when they move the files around. Here's a hint - DON'T MOVE THE FILES AROUND. Turn on the "copy files for me" preference and let iTunes worry about where the files ARE, you just need to listen to SONGS. When you import new music from a CD it's all right in your library, if you get a new song (through some unknown process) drag the song off [someplace like the desktop], and drop it in your iTunes library - iTunes will copy it to the music library for you (you can do this with multiple songs at once) and you don't have to know where it goes or when it's done.
That's just one example.
Just pretty much stop thinking about files altogether or you may end up being frustrated with where everything is and how hard it is to manage everything yourself. The beauty of it is that Apple knows how hard it is to manage a filesystem by yourself, so they set most things up to do it for you.
Also, set up an Administrator account, and an everyday use account, and a Guest account. This is the minimum for any machine (it only takes a second to do and it really easy)
The adminstrator account will be used very rarely. I hardly ever use mine.
The everyday account will be used 'everyday' for day-to-day stuff. If you need to install programs or change settings that require admin access, you'll either be prompted to enter the password (usually) or be asked to login as the administrator (less often) but either way you'll be aware that you're giving something administrative access to your machine and you might not always want that (depending on which program we're talking about or which setting change.)
The Guest account will have no password and will allow other people to use your machine without access to YOUR files (unless they're in your SHARED directory) and they won't be able to change any settings on your machine (unless you give them your admin password).
Some might say this is more complicated than using windows, setting up all these users, but the thing is with windows, although they do provide these different levels of security it's very poorly 'policy-ed' (?) You really can't do ANYTHING with windows without admnistrator access, so most people just set themselves up as the admin. Besides it's really not that complicated.
Another benefit of this users system is that it will force you to keep your files/info/data IN YOUR HOME DIRECTORY which a lot of people find a strange concept. USE YOUR HOME DIRECTORY. DON'T STORE FILES IN OTHER PLACES. It sounds authoritarian but it makes a lot of sense once you start doing it. You really shouldn't save things anywhere but inside your home directory, and if you're using your 'everyday' account, you'll be forced to do this.
(PS All this info is based on my experience as a tech at a university where the school had no particular "Mac Policy" so the techs came up with one ourselves - ie: lots of practical experience)
1.) If you know Unix, you'll be right at home 2.) Minimize/Maximize/Close are on the left, not the right. You'll constantly be confusing the two (and on your Windows boxes, too) 3.) Your current Windows hardware should work fine on the network. Maybe a minor hassle to set up (not always, esp. if you use DHCP), but not much of one. 4.) If you don't like modified-clicking with the apple or control modifier, you can buy a standard two-button USB mouse (with scroll wheel if desired) and plug it in.
...BEFORE clicking the button!!
Geez. You really were a Windows user, weren't you?
Mac is way more different from Windows than other *nix systems are. You're going
to find thousands of little things you never imagined would be different. Taken
individually, none of them are a big deal.
As for the mouse, spend the ten bucks and get yourself a USB scrollmouse. Most
major Mac software knows how to use the extra buttons (including a middle button)
if you have them, so if you're accustomed to a multibutton mouse, get one. One
less difference to get used to.
The things that will bug you are much more subtle differences...
* You switch between windows on Windows, but on a Mac you switch between apps.
* On Windows if you close an app's last window, it exits; on a Mac, it doesn't.
(This was really annoying on classic versions, because doubleclicking the
app's desktop shortcut subsequently didn't open a window. OS X fixes this.)
* You can only resize a window from the lower-right-hand corner.
* There is no maximize. There's a "resize", but it's nothing like the same.
(On the plus side, you get windowshading, which Windows lacks.)
* The filesystem is arranged rather differently. (I don't mean the lowlevel
technical details, but rather where different types of files are kept.)
Everything you know about where things are on the hard drive -- forget it.
* Menubars work rather differently.
I'm really just scratching the surface here. Everything is different, from
how you open zip files to the fundamental dissimilarity of the dock to the
Windows taskbar. There's a reason Mac people don't like Windows: it's
nothing like what they're used to.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Once you've gotten through Mac OS X GUI boot camp and are ready to delve into the guts of OS X, the best site around is macosxhints.com.
PS - welcome to family.
Head down to your local Apple Store. (I hope one is near you.) And walk up to the Genius Bar. You may have to make an appointment, in Cambridge, they'll give you a beeper to wear.
Now ask the smart men and women your questions and you'll find them polite and helpful.
Now get this. This service is free.
Sorry, I know you're trolling but I never listened to my mom when she told me not to feed the trolls.
4. Windows Media Player : None
How about Windows Media Player? It IS available for OS X you know.
7. Games : None (nobody writes games for the Mac)
We're getting more and more.
8. Napster : None (the Mac market is too small for them to make a port)
Who the fuck uses Napster????
Although I started off my desktop career in the late 80's with PC's using DOS and Windows 2.11, I've used Macs in DTP and grpahics jobs and Windows in programming jobs and in my last job was a Windows admin. At home I use both, but chiefly Macs with OSX.
The things I think you'll need to know:
1.As many others have stated, get a 3rd party multi button mouse. Right button works just as it does in Windows.
2.The GUI will probably seem easier after a while. It is definitely cleaner than Windows. You'll get used to the menu always at the top in no time as it's like a maximised app in windows.
3.The dock will be one of those things on the Mac that shows you a profound difference between Windows and OSX. Just drag apps that you want to have permanently there to it and others that you don't just drag off the dock. Drag 'n drop is a fundamental feature of the Mac.
4.Since there is no start menu, you might miss having your applications available at a click. Just drag the applications folder to the right side of the dock separator and you can then right click on the folder there to access your apps. This works with all folders.
5.You'll probably be using Expose extensively soon. Try the keys F9, F10 and F11 to get a fell for what it does. It's a great way of grabbing a file you need in an application.
6.Cmd-Tab is the way of switching applications. Both here and in Expose, drag and drop make it very useful.
7.OSX uses a lot of meta keys and combinations. Cmd, alt, ctrl, shift and the space bar in various combinations work in various ways, but usually consistantly in various apps, such as alt-drag in the finder to copy a file or cmd-click to select various non consecutive files in the finder.
8.The finder has a columns view that is not available in windows. Some prefer it, some don't. I do. try alt dragging the little area below the scroll bars.
9.The finder lets you place favourites in the area to the left. In order to navigate the finder by keyboard, use cmd-up arrow to move up the folder hierarchy.
10.Minimising places windows on the right side of the dock. alt-double click will place all that applications windows in the dock.
11.Cmd-h will hide an application from view, including its minimised windows form the dock.
12.What are control panels in windows are the system preferences in osx. The app with a light swtich icon. It is considerably simpler to use than Windows contorl panels.
13.The firewall is on by default, and networking services and file sharing are configured here and are fairly simple to do compared to windows. You'll be able to set up a windows share to get data from your windows computer.
14.Printer setup is also easy. Just plug it in usually.
15.You'll need a root account on rare occasions. This can be set up using the Netinfo manager utility in Applications->Utilities.
16.The terminal is a full fledged unix commandline environment and is extremely useful for power users. Bash is the default shell.
17.There are many many sites out there that offer advice and troubleshooting. One that springs to mind is osxhints. The MacNN forums also offer really good help for newcomers.
Lastly, good luck.
I just bought my first Mac a few weeks ago myself -- and also like you it was an iBook. For me, the biggest thing to get used to has been the different keystrokes. For instance, the [Delete] key on the Mac functions like the [Backspace] key on a PC. To duplicate the functionality of a PC's [Delete] key, I have to use [Fn]+[Delete] on the iBook as I haven't yet found the single-keystroke equivalent. Also, I haven't found the keyboard equivalent of [Alt] to access the menu, but that's probably because I haven't really looked too hard. Also, I tend to use [Ctrl]+[arrow] a lot to move word-by-word, and that's different on the Mac as well.
Other than that, it's a computer, so the transition hasn't been that difficult.
google.com/mac will do a mac specific search.
I switched from Windows to Linux last year. Now, I'm strongly considering switching from Linux to Mac. From what I've looked at so far, a Mac is like a Linux box that's fully integrated and will actually work out of the box.
But the point is this: I used OO.org for word processing, Audacity for audio recording, Firefox for web browsing, and Thunderbird for a mail client. That made switching from Windows to Linux a breeze, as there were version of those programs available for both platforms. And it looks like Thunderbird will be the only one I'd need to replace in Mac.
That's pretty cool, and makes switching very easy. I hope. I'll find out in the next few months.
One of the most annoying things to deal with is switching windows. On Windows you can alt-tab to each window, but on Apple Command-Tab moves from application to application. If you want to traverse through multiple windows in the same application it is Command-Tilde(~). Though this might seem minor, since I accidentally discovered command-tilde life has been sweet. Expose helps too, but sometimes you don't need the fancy graphics to switch windows. Also of importance, get these tools and life will be easier:
Quicksilver - Kick ass launcher
Desktop Manager - Pager OSX Style
SSHKeychain - Best OSX integrated SSH Key Management
MenuCalendarClock - Add a calendar linked to iCal to the date/time status bar (disable OSX's date/time display)
SubEthaEdit - Excellent code editor, especially in a group of other coders
http://macwindows.com/
Their articles are pretty good (right sidebar).
CTRL + click usually gives you a context menu like you'd expect wtih a right-click in Windows.
All shortcuts use the Apple key, not the CTRL key.
Closing a window does not quit the application. To quit ethe application, you have to, well, quit the application (almost always File/Quit or Apple+Q).
Menu bars are almost always attached to the top system menu bar, not to the window.
To find a file like you would with Start>Search (or Find depending on OS version), you click on Finder in the dock (bottom of the screen), and then type your search term in the field on the top right portion of any Finder window.
Terminal is the application that provides a command prompt like Start > Accessories > Command Prompt. However, this is a Unix prompt, not a DOS prompt!!!
System Settings is the application that is the equivalent to the Windows control panels. Get to System Settings from the Apple menu (top left of the screen - click on the apple icon).
Most folder have rough equivalents:
Program Files = Applications
My Documents = [username]/Documents
c:\ = Macintosh HD (or / in terminal)
c:\Windows = Library (that's a *real* rough equivalent)
If you have an app you use a lot and want on the doc, just drag its icon there. Don't want it on the dock any more? Just drag the icon off.
There is no good way to maximize a window in Mac world.
You probably want to "Hide" rather than minimize windows. Apple+H. That's just my preference.
Apple+Tab = CTRL+Tab
Somethings never change. F1 = Help.
Good luck!
My parents visited and he borrowed my wife's iBook, running Jaguar. He had no trouble figuring stuff out, once he got used to Safari. He figured out everything else just by looking in menus. Now, I think he wants either an iBook, or a iMac G5.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
They're hardly mutually exclusive, as a reading of any Apple thread here will reveal. (Posting AC to preserve my karma from idiot Mac user zealots.)
~~~
I too was in the same position as you 12 months ago.
There is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. As mentioned in a few of the posts already versiontracker and macupdate (a little better in my humble opinion) will cover most of the things you may need.
Networking, accessibility la de dah are all easy.
I administer a windows network from my mac using RDC (remote desktop client) and have never had cause to physically stand in front the windows boxes (touch wood). Oh thats a slight lie as the backup tape needs changing (sorry!)
One thing I did have some pain with was vpning into the office. Our firewall doesn't support the built in vpn options in mac os x (panther). But behold... vpntracker works fine.
Have fun and you'll never regret it.
Just had to chime in with a quick observation. As a longtime Mac user, I can't help but notice how many comments there are about how nicely drag-n-drop works, how uninstalling apps are easy, and just general ease of use of the OS itself [ie, the Mac way of doing things]. These are all the things that us Mac users were trying to get people to notice a decade or so ago. Instead we were told how the OS was too "childish" and "not really easier to use than Windows." Yes, the true multitasking wasn't there, nor was the command-line. However, all of these "niceties" that people seem to talk about nowadays have been there forever. Like I said, just a little observation I've made.
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
from a malady known as Windows-itis, a state of deep confusion and insecurity brought about by having things work too easily.
The main symptom is the continual vocalization of: That can't be right, it's too easy.
The cure is heavy exposure to OS X. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of producing Windows Intolerance. Symptoms of Windows Intolerance include a deep sense of dread when thinking of Windows, and physical illness when forced to actually interact with a Windows computer.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
"The icons are actually on the right side of the desktop, where they won't be covered up by every window you open!"
Or, to put it a better way, OS/X uses much more of your desktop real estate. You will not be able to easily enjoy having your foreground application in the foreground as you might under Linux or Windows. Icons will clutter the screen irrespective of your foreground app.
Are you trying to imply that the icons in OS X are ALWAYS in the foreground? Cuz if you are, you are stupid. Just wondering.
"'Shut Down' is not under 'Start'"
It's hidden somewhere else. Good luck finding it. Don't think you can right click for it either.
What the hell are you talking about? It's under the Apple menu, which is available 100% of the time, is always in the upper left hand corner of the screen, no matter which application is open. And you can't shut down Windows using right click, so I don't know why you brought that up at all.
You'll basically need to open an application then go through another procedure to maximise it
This is just an outright lie. You can click on the button at the top of your window that has the "+" sign in it.
"I can do anything a Windows user can!"
(Macs have a version of MS Office available for them, however it does not contain the same range of productivity applications that are available to Windows/Office users)
Um... MS Office for Mac contains all the regular MS Office with the exception of Outlook. Instead, MS offers Entourage, which is quite a bit BETTER than Outlook (2000; I haven't used Office XP yet.)
"My Mac never has technical problems!"
(This is a fallacy. The Apple Mac is quite capable of generating application errors and crashing, just like any other *nix based system.
The statement "My Mac never has technical problems" contains no fallacies. It a statement of fact and as such is either true or false. I own a Mac, and have never had a hardware issue with it. In my experience, Apple's computers are better constructed and engineered machines than Dells or other mass-manufactured computers.
Expect to wait several months for spare parts. You will not be able to buy parts off the shelf and install them and have them work.
This is simply stupid. Video card slot: AGP 8X Pro. Hard drive: serial ATA. Memory: DDRAM. Peripherals: USB or Firewire. Monitor connector: VGA. Expansion slots: PCI-X. If your CPU goes bad, order it from Apple. They have the highest rated customer support in the world.
Crack smokin' crackah.
I switched a little over two years ago from maybe 19 years of DOS/Windows/Linux/VMS/c64 use. To echo what many others have said here, the switch is really not that difficult. Within a day or two I was pretty much at home.
What really helps is having a friend or two who have been avid Mac users, not so much for technical difficulties, but to quickly find out the most common ways, or the most popular apps that can accomplish a specific task. For example, you're likely to find a ton of FTP apps on Versiontracker, but a friend can give you an idea of which you should check out first, instead of wading through 20 different programs that suck. Or, if you have a pretty thorough knowledge of UNIX you may find yourself heading straight to the Terminal, when it may be easier (and in some cases even necessary) to accomplish something through the GUI.
Also it doesn't hurt to hang out in a heavily populated Mac chat room for a while. You can ask questions when needed, but also observe others' frequently asked questions, whose answers may be of use to you in the future. You'll also get a feeling of what's 'hot' in the Mac community when it comes to apps, news sites, grievances, conflicts, hardware support -- whatever.
Get used to not needing to periodically reinstall your operating system every six months. In fact, get used to not even feeling the need to do a clean install when an OS X upgrade is released -- I haven't since 10.1.5, and my system is still speedy (and functional).
The one-button mouse thing is a matter of preference. On my iBook I'm perfectly happy with the one-button configuration, and I find myself always accidently hitting the right mouse button when using friends' x86 laptops. At home on my PowerMac however, I use a 4-button Logitech dual optical mouse, primarily for gaming. Otherwise I'd probably still be using the included mouse, though the scroll wheel has become pretty addictive.
My last suggestion would be to immediately start seeing your computer as a tool for creation. Let's be honest: the Windows world has its share of creativity apps, but it can't escape its origins as a platform of choice for bourgeoisie corporate America; Windows does not particularly inspire or encourage one to be creative. Jobs on the other hand has been pushing the 'digital lifestyle' for quite some time now, and the idea that computers can be used for individual expression and creation with the iLife suite. Don't be afraid to splurge on a DV cam and let your hidden creative talents surface; iMovie, Garageband, and iDVD come packed in with OS X. I had absolutely no interest in video creation until I started playing with iMovie, and saw how easy it could be. When iMovie no longer met my needs I moved onto Final Cut Express, and have become quite fond of it as well, creating a couple pretty impressive projects.
Once you grow a bit fonder of Macs, it might not hurt to buy some older, pre-OS X machines. Start learning a bit about the intricacies of old-world Macs, and even 68k machines. Install Linux or BSD on a couple of them; become familiar with older versions of MacOS. It's kind of like the x86 world; you'll understand so much more about where Macs are today if you have a solid historical framework of where they've been. Of course, this is not necessary, but if you want to become a Mac Geek it truly helps. Not to mention you may be in a position some day where you need to have Macs running OS 8.1, BSD machines, OS X machines, and Windows machines all talking to one another.
1. One big difference you'll instantly notice is the lack of compatibility issues. Suddenly you're compatible with the rest of the world where previously you were only compatible with the Windoze using world. 2. Multi-button mice have been the norm since USB became standard on Macs. One piece of useful software to grab for anything more than a 2 button+scroll wheel mouse is 'USB Overdrive'. It will detect how many buttons you have and allow you to assign any of them to any task (or simply 'Pass to MacOS' for standard Left, Right Click etc) - it can also be configured to use buttons contextually, so different buttons do different things depending upon the program you're in - handy for setting 'Forward' and 'Back' in Safari, or 'Prev Tune, Next Tune' in iTunes - you'll get the idea. 3. The built-in CD writing software works well enough, but Toast is a much better option if you need to fine-tune a CD for a particular purpose. 4. As others have said... learn the kybd shortcuts. I'm amazed at how many Windows users I've met who simply don't bother to learn the shortcuts on THEIR OS (or even know they CAN use kybbd shortcuts). I use both platforms at home and work, and after having to go to a menu for a task once I don't want to go back again, so I have a look at what the shortcut is and use it the next time around. 5. You can navigate Windows, folders and pretty much everything from the keyboard and you'll find consistency across the board from one app to the next for the most used shortcuts (Open, Close, Save, Print, Quit etc etc... Option Drag to copy works in many apps, such as Illustrator, Reason, Photoshop, iMovie). Try typing the name of a file you want to open whilst you're in a folder and hey presto, it'll highlight. Want the next but one alphabetically? Hit Tab... it jumps alphabetically to the next item, use shift Tab jump reverse-alphabetically. Try Cmd (Command - or Apple for newbie Macheads) and the cursor keys for navigation. Cmd-Down is 'Open' for folders/apps/files. Cmd-Up is 'Next folder up the hierarchy'. Option (aka Alt) double-click a file to close the finder window as you open the file/folder. Option (Alt) close a window closes all current windows. Option whilst switching apps hides the app you just switched from. So many things in there that you'll discover. 6. Plug n Play is a reality. Drag n Drop is a reality. USB Memory stick? Digi Camera? Need to install drivers? Noooooo... just plug it in and it'll pop-up on the desktop as a removable drive annd you can just drag n drop the files to/from. Suddenly your camera becomes your portable storage device!!! 7. You'll like this one - a greater than average number of Mac users are Macevangelists!!! This comes from many many years of defending their choice of OS, but also comes in extremely useful when needing advice or help - hence the regional and local MUG's (Mac User Groups) out there. I've been using Macs since about '85 myself and am very evangelist about it, and ALWAYS happy to help a needy user or newbie. Recently I've seen a much bigger shift to my fave OS than ever before, so you're very much at the head of a growing trend. 8. Once you've had Mac, you never go back. Well... you'll probably still keep the odd PC about for PC-ness sake, but not for serious productivity. 9. A good rule-of-thumb is: 'if it makes sense for a particular action to yield a particular result, it's probably built into the OS'. This is generally missed by most people because it's something Apple don't shout about. There's an amazing wealth of stuff built-in (and the same holds true for the hardware) that you'll never know about until you stumble across it. If it seems like a sensible thing for you to be able to email a file to somebody by simply dragging it to the Mail app, then try it, it might work and if it doesn't then it won't have hurt to have a go (the mail one will by the way *hehe*)! Same system-wide though. So when you're PC-owning friends are bashing their heads against a wall because they're trying to set up a computer to computer network but have no twisted
In case no-one has posted this yet, this page from Apple outlines the major philosophical differences between the Mac and Windows GUIs:
http://developer.apple.com/ue/switch/windows.html
Another useful one is VirtuaWin.
Of course this is offtopic, but they're two Windows apps that I can't live without.
I made the switch recently - bought a Powerbook after years of working with Windows and some dinking around on Linux. After the hype, I was expecting great things from OS X. While I deffinitly appreciate its Unix functionality, I have been deeply dissapointed by the GUI. It pains me to say that Windows still makes the best desktop out there.
My biggest complaint, naturally, is the lack of a second mouse button. Sure Control + click generally works, but it requires a second hand, and, on many applications, the resulting context menu is often very much lacking. I guess its because Mac developers aren't expecting people to use a second mouse button - or the Contrh + click hack - so they don't bother putting anything usefull in the context menus. In Safari, if you control-click, you get 4 options - as compared to more than a dozen if you right click in either Firefox or Internet Explorer on Windows. Some folks will try to sell you on the lack of options being a feature - simplicity, clean interface, or whatever - but I don't buy it. I want to be able to right click on an image in my browser and select "Properties" and there are the image properties. That doesn't work on Safari, which is one of the reasons its a poor browser to use as a development tool.
Another thing I dislike about the Macintosh GUI is the inability to maximize windows. You can't do it. They have one of those little gumdrop buttons on their windows that makes it look like you should be able to maximize a window, but it doesn't work. It just makes it bigger, according to whatever arbitrary size was picked by the developer of the application. Mac lovers will tell you otherwise, that maximizing windows is a bad thing, because it breaks up the metaphoracle desktop interface chi, or whatever. These people are delusional. I've used Windows long enough to understand that maximizing a window is the best way to not be visually distracted by desktop background clutter. Moreover, not being able to maximize a window makes it too easy - especially when using a notebook track pad - to accidentally click on one of the background windows and have it pop up in you face unexpectedly, obscuring whatever it was you were trying to do. That pisses me off. A similar problem occurs when you are trying to scroll a window using OS X's scroll bars - which are pretty, but way too thin. If you miss the scroll bar by two pixels, you wind up clicking on the background window - and it pops up in your face, causing you to swear audibly while trying to find your window again. Maybe its my fault for being uncoordinated, I don't have that problem when using maximized windows.
Another problem - the Finder is just weak in comparison to Windows Explorer or even the Konqueror on KDE. Mind you - the default Windows Explorer sucks pretty hard, but if you figure out how to configure it right, it can be a strong and usefull tool. I havn't figured out how to configure the finder in to something usefull yet - it still won't show me a decent file-tree structure, and I find myself having to guess at what subdirectory I'm in. Maybe there is a better way I could be using it, I don't know, but I thought the whole point of the Mac user interface was that it was supposed to be easy.
And it is pretty easy - if you want to do things exactly the way the Mac interface designers expect you to. Trouble is, they designed it with the expectation that you are a non-computer savy grandmother or art student, or something like that. But power users who switched for the unix goodies are left high and dry by the limitations of the user interface. I'm still awaiting a computer that will excell in both the desktop AND command line interfaces. OS X ain't it.
SpyDock: Scientific Python in a Docker container
You can read forum posts at www.MacFixItForums.com for free. Lots of useful troubleshooting help.
To post, you need to register but not necessarily buy a subscription.
Having used both Mac and Windows for several years, I can tell you a few things about how well they interoperate. 1) Printers - If your printer is USB, then all you need is the correct driver for it to print from the Mac. If it's parallel, just share the printer on Windows and then have your Mac print to the Windows shared printer. It works great. 2) Network - AppleTalk is not necessary for a typical home network. And Macs have been speaking IP for years, just like everything else. All your useful control panels are in System Preferences. 3) FileSharing - Macs can share Web based, FTP, WINDOWS and other. They can also connect to Windows shares quite easily. Use "Connect to Server" from the Finder to view available shares on your network. 4) Ejecting a floppy, CD, USB drive, etc. - This is the biggest complaint I hear from PC users unfamiliar with Macs, "How do I eject the floppy?" Ans: either ctrl-click on the item and select "Eject" or drag the item to the Trash (it should become an eject button). 5) Shutting down - keyboard shortcut for shutting down, ctrl-Eject (the eject button looks like the up arrow and equal sign stacked) 6) Disk Utility - Repair Permissions fixes alot of little quirks on your Mac. So does zapping the PRAM. 7) Apple's Knowledge Base is your friend. http://www.apple.com/support 8) Mac OS X Hints is ALSO your friend. I have found many useful tips there. http://www.macosxhints.com/ 9) MS Office files are directly compatible with the Windows version. Just make sure to add the dot extension to it so Windows can recognize the filetype. 10) You can change what applications opens a file by selecting the file, Get Info fromthe Finder menu, and choose "Opens with..." and select the app. 11) If you are using wireless WEP, you CAN enter the key in your Mac, but I don't remember where you do that. ;P
Hmmm, I'm sure there's tons of more stuff but that should get you going.
blue
Safari is an excellent web-browser. By default, though, it downloads everything to the desktop. Not just files you intentionally download, but also anything displayed with an external application. That includes PDFs, tarballs, all sorts of things.
A week of that and your desktop looks like a train wreck.
Create yourself a new folder on the desktop - either ctrl-click on the desktop and select "New Folder" or from a shell prompt (install the X server - it's worth it just for xterm, let alone everything else) "mkdir ~/Desktop/Safari" and tell Safari to use that folder for downloads: Safari -> Preferences -> General.
Control Click is your friend! Essentially it is right clicking. That or get a two button USB mouse. If you buy office the word shortcuts are exactly the same minus the use of the Apple button for cut/paste purposes. STAY AWAY from installing anything norton. Its a GOOD utility booting from the cd, (if its an OSX version) but its useless if you install it. Make sure you enable bock popups and tabbed browsing in safari, but you still can use the beloved firefox if you want (camino is pretty good too!). You shouldn't have too much of a problem once you figure out where stuff hides. Apps are in the Apps folder, Utilities are in the Apps folder. With OSX switching doesn't have that much of a steep learning curve. If you are bangin your head against the wall about something, take a deep breath and think of the easiest possible way it could be done.. and thats probably it. Just sometimes you look over the easy things. Good luck!
The only other thing that I'd add, literally the only thing that was any kind of a problem for me, was scanner support. SANE might be a decent workaround for some combinations of users/scanners, but you'll likely need to get a new scanner, if you use one that doesn't support OS X.
If your scanner is old enough, it might be time for an upgrade, anyway, though...
This book and Pogue's book share some commonality, but this one is directed toward the more technical Windows user. Check it out. :)
There are lots of people willing to help "switchers" on an ongoing basis (instead of just a Slashdot story). My favorite resource is MacMentor.
Gimp-Print for OS X provides printer drivers for hundreds of legacy printers. Basicly, if you have some way to connect it (USB, or parallel with a USB converter), it'll probably work with OS X.
I know this is late in the conversation but i made the switch 2 days ago and the only problems i've had adjusting is the lack of right click (which I've just found out as mentioned way above is ctr-click) and loading Open Office took a while. I'm very happy I've switched.
This post patent pending.
If you should have any questions or problems with your new Macintosh, goto to
http://www.macosx.com/
to get FREE assistance from experienced Mac users. You will find warm and friendly responses to your questions.
For totally geeking out with Mac OS X, go to:
http://www.macosxhints.com/
to learn all the under-the-hood BSD/UNIX stuff you would ever want to know about Mac OS X.
Best regards,
A sincere and hard core Macintosh geek spreading the Jobsian gospel of Apple.
The only thing I couldn't sync was Outlook to Entourage. I still know of no way to get a .PST file over to the mac.
... there's a tool that'll do that same thing by PocketMac.
... OMG ... it rocks!
Thank goodness for Palm. With my wee little m500 I was able to sync my entire Outlook to my Entourage.
For those with Blackberrys
Only had my G4 PowerBook for 3 weeks, but
I've had friends who were having this same problem. It turns out they bought their Macs from 3rd party retailers who were offering "Free RAM Upgrades", and stuck in some cheap generic RAM. Once replaced with good, brand-name RAM, the systems were fine, and never had that system crashing problem again.
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
I'm going to take this opportunity to plug our little freeware DVD ripping solution, MacTheRipper, which has more features, including removing RCE region protection, an additional type of Macrovision, some experimental UOPs removal, more extraction modes, and a better interface and compatibility. It's also still being actively developed, unlike DVDBackup. You can find it here: http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/mtr.html
"I like systems, their application excepted", George Sand (French)
Yeah, unless you're using Microsoft Office X, in which case the home/end and all other keys work like Windows. I just don't understand this at all. It really screws me up!
So far people have mentioned that apps under OS X generally don't quit when you close the window, although there are exceptions (System Preferences come to mind), but rather remain loaded in memory until you 'Command-Q' or 'File->Quit'. But that can get a little confusing. Here's what you need to know to surely quit that app - click on the Dock icon, but don't release the button; hold it until a menu pops up. If it says 'Show in Finder', well, then the app ain't running. But if the app is running, then you will get a menu that, at the very least, will have a 'Quit' option at the bottom. Personally, I dislike the Dock, but this is one feature that is quite handy. One can quit any running app at any time from any other app, regardless of the number of windows related to that app. Sure, you can do this in Windows by closing out all app-related windows in the task bar, but it ain't as elegant or easy.
(tig)
Ignorance and prejudice and fear
Walk hand in hand
I'm a Mac user by default, but I've noticed a few funny things when friends (or girlfriends) who use Windows try to use my mac.
First off... remember just about anything your use to do using right click is avail under the menus at the top of the screen.
Drag and Drop is far more refined in the Mac OS... you can take any document, and drag it to the a application's icon (anywhere you see the icon including the dock) and if the program can understand the document it will open it. Also doing thing like draging the icon of a jpeg (photo) and placing it in a document (like an email) will work as expected. PC users seem to want to perfrom convoluted operations to move thing around, from application to application and etc, but Drag and Drop usually works and is generally easy.
When you want to use a feature you haven't tried before, look around. The people who design Mac applications are pretty good at trying to make things esay to figrue out.
Good luck!
If you reformat the drive (which you probably shouldn't do since it's massive overkill -- if you don't want AppleWorks bundled with your computer, just throw it in the trash, afterall, this isn't Windows...), do install OS 9 drivers. There's no reason not to, and in a few rare circumstances it might even be useful. Similarly, leave Classic alone. If you never need to use it then it'll be as if it's not there. If you do ever have any reason at all to use it, it might be convenient to have preinstalled. There's no penalty in keeping it there, unless you're so short on disk space that the extra 300MB is critical to reclaim...in which case you should spend the $80 on a larger hard drive.
bbs.xlr8yourmac.com is one of the finest computer forums out there. Unfortunately, that's because it has had a closed membership for several years, and there are only about 100 or so very active users who already know eachother, and Macs, very well. So you're just as likely to find talk about politics and car engines as you are to find talk about OS X...well, maybe more likely to find talk about politics and cars. That forum is also pretty merciless when it comes to Apple and OS X: if you think Mac users are a bunch of blindly loyal followers, the griping, moaning, and complaining on that forum should be enough to convince you that Mac users might be followers, but they're not blind to the Mac's obnoxious features, bugs, and miscellaneous shortcomings.
:p
Anyway, the bbs.xlr8yourmac.com forums are often a fun read, so even though you can't post, they might be worth a visit.
You certainly won't have to suffer through the inane, juvenile, offtopic BS of the macnn.com forums. Instead you'll laugh-out-loud at the inane, sophisticated, offtopic BS, peppered with subtle irreverence, introspective commentary, and sometimes great technical advice relating to life as a Mac user.
BTW, the www.xlr8yourmac.com FAQ is one of the most useful FAQs on the internet. It's way better than Apple's Knowledge Base because it'll talk in technical detail about problems, techniques, tips, and suggestions that Apple won't even acknowledge. It is definitely worth a look.
Yes I'm of those guys that never puts anything in MyDocuments.
Ciao
PS. You can tell Safari your preference folder for downloads. Jesus! I'm going to buy myself two of them preeetty iMacs.
I have put together a list of software that I recommend using (for common tasks), after evaluating several alternatives. Also, there is a detailed discussion about how I moved my mail archives over to the Mac, with pointers to appropriate helper software. Admittedly, some of this might be easier nowadays. Hope it helps.
A little advice on the road. OS X is more desktop oriented than Windows. This means that if you put in a CD it's shown on the desktop, not in another program (win explorer). Also, files that you download will be laid on the desktop and you have to put them somewhere else afterwords.
I switched to Mac two years ago and I have no regrets. My next computer will also be a Mac.
Olav
Cocoa apps also use emacs keybindings in all text input areas. Ctrl-a to go to the start of a line, ctrl-e to go to the end. Ctrl-k cuts from the cursor to eol. Ctrl-y pastes back what you cut, etc.
This is actually customizable. You can use other schemes if you want or invent your own. You can probably find instructions at macosxhints.com
Don't forget that you can also turn on full keyboard access to navigate menus w/out the mouse.
Send that iBook back while it's still in the first 14 days and get yourself a powerbook, so you can avoid most of the nasty logic board and repair/replacement nightmares that take place, even for AppleCare customers (though some powerbooks also suffer from logic board problems, the iBooks have a logic board replacement program because it is so prevalent).
"Other bands play, but Manowar KILLS"
A preview of what's to come.h eater2. html
http://homepage.mac.com/labluegirl/iMovieT
right along with Cmd-Tab to cycle through open applications, use Cmd-~ (tilde) to cycle through the open windows of just the active application.
I used this all the time before exposé came along, and in many cases it's still the quickest and easiest ways to find the window you want!
As if this is anywhere near a major ir even above-minor setback.
As a switcher, my advice is to immediately invest $20 into a quality optical Microsoft 2-button mouse. Configure the scrollwheel for F9/Expose functionality.
Other than that, you'll have to get used to using the Apple keys in leiu of the CTRL key in Windows.
David Pogue has also authored a specific Missing Manual "Switching to the Mac." The description in the parent post would apply perfectly to it as well.
F9, F10 & F11
or whatever you remap them to...
the mail app is real good
itunes is very nice (but you already knew that!)
you can customize the file dialog box by dragging & dropping folders to the left side. add all the apps you regularly use to the dock and delete the ones you don't
Cmd-Shft-A
This is a big one for me, and I think it's made my machines more stable. On first setup, I make an admin account. You can name it anything (admin, superman, BillyBob, x, etc.). Use that account only for installs and upgrades. Then make another account you'll use every day. Don't give the everyday account admin privileges. That means any slimy code you get while surfing won't have admin privileges, either. (More knowledgable geeks correct me on this if there's a chink I don't know about.) Account switching feature in OS X makes it easy to pop over to the admin acct if you need to get the latest release of something installed. Also, if it's not a simple app, and always for OS X updates, I first logout, reboot, run Repair Disk Permissions (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility), do the update, run Repair Disk Permissions again, and reboot. That makes it pretty certain that major updates are happening in a clean environment.
1)Purchase Macintosh 2)Unplug Existing PC 3)Move existing PC, and put in box 4)Start Macintosh 5)Realize its overrated, and utterly simplistic 6)Put Macinsotsh in Box 7)Plug Back in PC Its even simpler than the imAC manual!
Call me and my voicemail! 914-713-6795. (wow, I have the balls to post my voip number on
You can only resize windows from the lower-right corner.
I'm getting an iBook this month, with a USB mouse. I use Linux at home. Is there any way to get alt + mouse button to move or resize windows ? I can live with keyboard shortcuts, but this is easily my favorite feature in X. BTW, is this really a feature of X, or is it in the window manager ?
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
My FTP server, though, doesn't like to work with 2.3.2 or 2.3.3, but works fine with 2.3.1, so I just use CyberDuck 2.3.1.
Best part about this FTP client is the iTunes-like (and soon to be system wide with Spotlight in Tiger) search bar in the upper right. Have a mess of files/folders to search through that make your scroll bar go really small? Simply start typing the name of the file/folder you want in the search bar (as long as you are able to normally see it in the window) and it reduces the amount of files/folders until you can easily get to the one you want. We have hundreds of files and folders on our FTP server, and this search bar is a godsend for me.
Oh, and since CyberDuck is open source, it is free as in speech, not just free as in beer. ;-P
Seems it's not documented, but you can switch between all open document sin the same application (without Expose) by pressinb Command-~
SCO.com uses Linux
I had a big writeup. but realized it's not necessary.. just do it.
Keep an open mind, keep in mind that if it works differently than you expected that there might be a good reason for the way it works.
Keep in mind you will actually USE the GUI... which is something that you only THINK you do in windows.
Learn keyboard shortcuts... they really make a big difference. cmd-q to quit an app, cmd-w to close a window, cmd-n to make a "new" something (finder window, browser window, etc), cmd-e to eject...
Also: From past experience..you may want to re-format and re-install without the OS9 stuff ulness you need it.
Speaking of Right Click Check out this shareware app http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/ It lets you turn your trackpad into a "scroll wheel", and assign one of the corners as a RIGHT clicker... does a bunch of other things too.
after using a few macs, ive never owned one, every time i sit down at them and start going through the directories is feels so unorganized, does this just aflict the systems i was using or is this something i will have to get used to?
After you take the Apple pro mouse out of the package marvel at its beauty and design find a cool box to put it in and put it in the closet. Maybe offer it on craigslist.org. Then buy an intellimouse. Its MS I know but it rocks.
I've been writing down my thoughts about switching to a Mac for a while now. Here's a sample:
You'll regret your purchase, but you'll get over it
You'll have a few moments where you really, really wish you had purchased that Dell laptop for $499, and you'll seriously consider taking the Mac back to the store, but eventually you'll get over it and wonder what the hell you were thinking.
People will ridicule you for owning a Mac
My boss, an otherwise friendly and intelligent person, is always on the lookout for opportunities to poke fun at me because I own a Mac and bring it to work with me every day.
You'll feel like you're in a little club
When other Mac owners find out you have one too, you'll get a little smile of appreciation, and will likely end up talking about Macs for five or ten minutes - no matter who they are and what the circumstance is.
People will help you for no reason
Other Mac owners are usually fairly willing to help you get up and running on the Mac. This may be self-serving on their behalf, because it helps sell more Mac stuff which in turn justifies their investment in a company with less than 5% market share, but it's still a nice perk.
There are 18 more on my Switching page.
<dict>e s/FireWire%20HD/Archive/Music/2Raumwohnung/In%20Wi rklich/01%20Da%20Sind%20Wir.mp3</string>
now if you let iTunes organize your music, the path after the main library directory should be the same on both platforms ( i guess ),<key>Track ID</key><integer>37</integer>
<key>Name</key><string>Da Sind Wir</string>
<key>Artist</key><string>2Raumwohnung</string>
<key>Album</key><string>In Wirklich</string>
<key>Kind</key><string>MPEG-Audiodatei</string>
<key>Size</key><integer>8216922</integer>
<key>Total Time</key><integer>342204</integer>
<key>Track Number</key><integer>1</integer>
<key>Year</key><integer>2002</integer>
<key>Date Modified</key><date>2004-02-28T03:41:30Z</date>
<key>Date Added</key><date>2003-11-18T01:50:40Z</date>
<key>Bit Rate</key><integer>192</integer>
<key>Sample Rate</key><integer>44100</integer>
<key>Comments</key><string>lixlpixe l sayz: 680</string>
<key>Play Count</key><integer>8</integer>
<key>Play Date</key><integer>-1121955999</integer>
<key>Play Date UTC</key><date>2004-07-18T14:01:37Z</date>
<key>Artwork Count</key><integer>1</integer>
<key>File Type</key><integer>1061109567</integer>
<key>File Creator</key><integer>1061109567</integer>
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volum
<key>File Folder Count</key><integer>4</integer>
<key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>1</integer>
</dict>
exept the slash pointing in the wrong direction.
(again, a guess, since i never used a Windows system.)
now if anyone could confirm that - because
i've coded this little tool here:
-> fundisom.com/itunes/switch
where you can upload your Windows iTunes Library and convert it so it works with your Mac.
seems like some of you could use that.
Command clicking on the title of a window will give you quick access to the file or its enclosing folder in the Finder. I guess many people never noticed...
Also: you can drag the icon in the title of a window to move/copy the file. Yes, get used to being able to rename of move a file regardless if it is opened by some program or not. You will hate Windows for not allowing you to do this...
gimp-print doesn't support one of the most popular cheap color laser printers (actually, it doesn't support several families of printers), though - I bought a Konica-Minolta 2300DL color laser printer for ~$500 ($595-$100rebate). This printer requires a foomatic derived driver called foo2zjs (foomatic to zenographics jetstream if you want to be technical :) and available instructions for the mac are all missing required information (like CUPS mime config changes), so after a couple of weeks of hacking at it and finally getting it working, I'm now in the process of re-writing the directions as well as creating an installer for it. foo2zjs is supposed to work on Magicolor 2200 and 2300 DL, Minolta Color PageWorks/Pro L and HP LaserJet 1000 and 1005, but I have no way of testing them (guinea pig volunteers, anyone ;)
:)
;)
I'll be submitting the new documentation to the developer when I have it complete. If you read this and are interested in how I did it or want to help me test my installer (I'm putting in about a component a day currently, which is slow, but there's no demand yet
I'm also looking for someone to try or compile the data files on Panther, as I'm still running Jaguar (with an OS release planned every year, skipping a release seemed like a good idea about a year-and-a-half ago).
I can be found off of http://www.lostgumball.com (it's my personal site, so e-mail or forum, though it's all fairly new, so don't be surprised to see 2 users and 5 posts
In my opinion, those damned one-button mice are virtually unusable. Go out and buy a cheap Logitech optical, and you'll get rid of one minor irritation immediately. OS X is very functional with a three button wheel mouse.
:)
I used to be a Windows user too, but for the last 6 years, I have been using Linux and OS X (for the last 2-3). I like OS X quite a bit, but I have 4 issues that continue to frustrate me...
1. The + widget doesn't really maximize a window; rather it will toggle between full height, and maybe full width, depending on the window's content. Personally, I hate inconsistency so this one just flares up my obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
2. Finder and application windows are only resizable from the bottom right corner -- no edge-based resizing, no resizing from the top. This isn't that major, but it does interfere with my productivity in a subtle frustrating way.
3. You can't sort file windows so that folders appear first followed by alphabetical file listing (at least I haven't been able to figure it out). This makes file management a bit more clumsy and cumbersome.
4. OS X leaves hidden files littered throughout every folder of any network shares you connect with. The files aren't that big, but it's like going to the beach only to find the sand covered in cigarette butts.
I bought an iBook two months ago. I am used to w2k, Linux and FreeBSD. I thought I would like OSX since it is a pretty GUI with Unix available. I was wrong. My kids like the iBook, but then they are computer illiterate. I like the hardware, it is cute! But OSX is way overrated. The iLife software is slick, but it isn't important to me. You lose a lot of flexibility with their GUI. It is Apple way or the highway. Yes you can setup Xwindows and I have, but it still doesn't feel as stable as Linux or BSD. It is overrated. I had the OS hang within the first week. It doesn't feel responsive multitasking (768M RAM). Worse yet, since I let Apple update the wireless applications, I now get the infamous flasing finder/? icon. If I could, I would send this crap back and buy another Thinkpad. Windows 2000 with vmware to run Linux would have served me better. Albeit with a 50% premium in cost.
YMMV (I hope).