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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'?"
Buy a multi-button usb mouse. It will work like you want. I made the switch in a single day. You can too.
...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.
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.)
I use Linux and Mac about 50% of my time each. Each has its own peculiarities and its own strength but Macs were designed to be operated using keyboard shortcuts.
Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
Noooooooooooooooooo!
This question is how to migrate from Windows to the Mac, not buy a Mac and use it the same silly way that Windows does. Go and download Quicksilver. If you know how to type at least 3 or 4 characters you can use Quicksilver. Trust me, there is no better way to launch an application.
Btw, yes, I do have my Applications folder in my dock, but I don't remember the last time I used it. I'm guessing that its for the rare time that I use some program that I don't use that much and can't remember the name of it, but like I said, I don't remember when that was.