There are lots of reasons that people don't want to switch from Windows to Macintosh. I assume the most common reason is simply because Windows works for the people that are using it. The old adage "If it ain't broke don't fix it" tends to apply here. These people are not upgrading to Vista either, they're staying with Windows XP or even Windows 98 and are just fine.
There are however an increasing number of people that are moving to Macs now - many of them people like me that hated Macs at one time. I believe there are lots of reasons for this, not the least of which is that people that are running Windows XP are faced with an upgrade to Vista as their next logical step and feel that maybe it's okay to consider a Mac since they have to go through a full operating system refresh anyway.
One of the reasons I was not interested in Macs for a very long time was that I clung to many facts about the Mac that I felt eliminated it from contention. Well, as with many things in life it turns out the facts that I knew about the Mac were either hopelessly outdated or simply myths. What I wanted to do was tell you the ones that I was aware of and often cited when I dismissed Macs in the past.
Mac's only use a single mouse button
I'm not a Mac historian, my history with the Mac being very recent but I've read that Mac multi-button mouse support has been around for some time. You may look at the MacBook keyboards and only see a single mouse button or a Mighty Mouse and think that it's not supported. The reality is the MacBook track pad has an ingenious way of supporting right mouse clicks that I find better than having the extra little stub that is a right mouse button.
You simply press two fingers to the surface and click the button and it emulates a right mouse click. While the Mighty Mouse (which I personally detest) only appears to have a single mouse button it does indeed support right clicking. I just plugged in my Logitech mice and happily right click whenever I need to.
There are not that many applications for Macs
Windows does indeed have far more applications written for it than are available for Mac. What you have to do is look at the quality of those applications though. Many of the hundreds of thousands that are cited for Windows were written back in the 90s and few have been updated. Sure, most still work but that doesn't mean they are still relevant. I have found no lack of software for my Macs - virtually anything I have needed is available in native Mac format.
Frankly, as a Mac n00bie I was shocked by the volume of quality Mac software available, especially on the consumer front. The number of Mac titles for business software, especially in the vertical markets for small businesses, is much smaller though.
Macs are closed machines that cannot be expanded
I have personally swapped out the memory in my MacBook inside of about 5 minutes. I upgraded my MacBook's hard drive in another 5 minutes. That's about all you can physically do with any laptop, whether it's a PC or a Mac. My Mac Pro upgrades were even easier. That machine is designed to make expanding common hardware about as easy as it gets. It took me less than a minute to install a 1TB hard drive - so little time I grabbed my video camera and filmed how easy it was:
Sure, I can't overclock my processor and the number of graphics card drivers that are supported by OS X is significantly smaller than Windows but to say I can't put non-Apple replacement parts into my Mac is just not the case. The Mac Mini and iMacs are limited in their upgrade options, but the same holds true of the Windows machines from Dell and HP that have the CPU and display all packaged together.
Macs don't work well with Windows machines on a network
I've got a GB switch at home and a variety of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu and now Mac machines on it. Sharing files between the machines is very simple. My Macs can see my Windows shares and my Windows machines can see my Mac shared folders. I shared my printer attached to a Windows machine with my Mac and it was able to use it just fine.
Macs are more expensive
This is the one that I struggle with a bit. Yes, the Macs are slightly more expensive than PCs in general, but you have to look at what you are or more importantly not getting when you buy a Mac. Low cost PCs are often subsidized by bundled application software that is included with a new machine. When I recently bought a little HP that would eventually serve as my Ubuntu workstation it came so loaded with crap and Windows Vista that it barely even ran out of the box. The average consumer that isn't a techie would be hard pressed to clear up all of the stuff that bogs down the average new PC.
For techies it's a different story. You can go to places like Newegg and build a high performance system that has exactly what you want on it - nothing more, nothing less - and adjust expectations on price accordingly. But doing that means you are your own technical support clearing house. When the motherboard in my newly built gaming rig wouldn't post I had to call the manufacturer and work through a series of steps before we found that the board was shorting out. I needed to RMA it myself and undergo the same process when the replacement arrived days later. It took me the better part of two working days to build up that machine.
That said, I did that because I enjoyed doing it, however that time comes at a cost. Is your time worth anything to you? If it is and you don't find joy in doing this kind of technical troubleshooting then getting a fully tested and serviced machine that works out of the box is incredibly valuable. You get what you pay for in this case.
Macs can't run my Windows software
Well, that of course is not the case. I can take a legal copy of Windows XP or Vista and without spending any money use Bootcamp (which comes with OS X) and boot into Windows if I have to. It's standard PC hardware so it runs great. Better yet, grab a copy of VMware Fusion and run the Windows applications side by side with your Mac apps.
I haven't tried playing any high-end games on my Macs yet. This blog has burned up my remaining free time so they are out for now, though that's the most common complaint I've heard that I can't refute. Perhaps someone can jump in here and clarify that one. Can you play high end games like Crysis on Mac hardware and get decent performance?
Macs are mouse centered machines. You constantly have to grab the mouse.
Macs not only have excellent keyboard support, the use of shortcuts is profound. About the only thing I've found that doesn't work as well as Windows is the use of mnemonics in dialog windows that make it easy to jump to a field in a large form with lots of items in it. When a dialog pops up inside of a Mac I find that I generally grab the mouse.
On the other hand shortcuts on the Mac are consistent between applications and liberally sprinkled throughout. If you have ever seen someone that really knows the Mac well use a keyboard to do some work it's an exercise in humility. It's like productivity++.
So there you have it, the myths that I clung to that kept me from seriously considering a Mac for so long. I'm sure there are other reasons that people think switching from Windows to Mac is a bad idea - I've seen enough flame wars on the topic to know that it's a religious issue for many.
78 comments:
Hi David:
As for Mac Mini's, yes they are a little bit limited in what you can upgrade on them. For a non techie, I would not encourage this, but I have done the following:
Ram, 2Gb and a core 2 duo 2.33 processor to replace the core duo 1.66 that my box originally came with. The processor upgrade was really easy, just pull the heat sink, pull the old processor, drop in the new one and close it up.
I'm envious of the Mac Pro and that will be my main machine to replace the windows desktop I have now.
Liked the video, really appreciate the engineering to make the drive addition/replacement so easy.
MV
the two button argument is, and was, just a bit ridiculous. i still see people post this in various blog comments as a negative.
as you've said, macs have supported two button mice since around 1999 (OS 8.6).
i find it funny that people who make this argument pretend to be 'advanced' computer users. one could make the argument that advanced computer uses don't really even use the mouse that much. they use the keyboard instead.
the Control, Option, and Command key are great tools that are under utilized. i use them far more than i use the right button on my mouse.
In addition to alternapop.com's comment, my beige G3 (purchased in late 1997) has had a 3-button mouse since I've had it. I find the center button (or scroll wheel) more useful than the right button, but my 14-year old son disagrees. I haven't had a Mac that didn't support multi-button mice since my very old Mac/SE. But it's true, I still hear the "Mac's only support a one-button mouse" myth; it's like a vampire, it just won't die, even when you prove to the Windows fanatics they're wrong.
Kevin J. Weise
Excellent article David-
You simply summed up 24 years of misinformation in an easy-to-read way.
Yes, Macs have had multibutton mouse support since 1985 so that is probably the biggest myth out there.
There are roughly 19,740 OSX apps now and everyone of them is better than what is available on Windows.
Your contrast of techies building PCs compared to the higher price of Mac is interesting and spot on. PC techies tend to build a cheap box from cheap parts but then use full retail pricing to say Macs are more far expensive. Modern price-trackers like pcprices.net offer a real-time way to see all Mac prices in one spot. But PC techies never mention that :)
Anyway, keep up the fine work!
A far as cost are concerned, if you spec out a Dell on their website as close to the Mac you are looking at, you will be surprised at how close the prices are. Usually they are within a hundred dollars or so, and sometimes the Mac is the less expensive one.
When considering the cost of a Mac versus a PC, in addition to the junky software underwriting the price, you have to consider that you don't need to buy virus software or have Geek Squad come to your house to install the thing. How much is your time worth to you? A dollar a minute? Think about how many frustrating hours you've had getting Windows to work properly -- how much time you've lost in the process. When you buy a Mac those days are suddenly in the past.
Think "total cost of ownership." One earlier poster is still using an 11 year-old computer? Think he got his money's worth?
This was a great article. I'd like to point out that you can use the keyboard for dialog boxes, but it's not quite as friendly as Windows. You have to turn full keyboard support on (in Universal access) and allow it to include checkboxes and buttons and stuff (sorry, can't think of the exact thing it says while sitting in front of a WinXP box at work). By turning that function on, however, you can use the arrow keys and the tab key to move along those buttons in the dialog box. Also, the Return/Enter key will always activate the blue button. The space bar will always activate the button with a blue aura around it. Escape is always cancel. I'm a LONG time Mac user and just learned some of these things. :)
"Macs are mouse centered machines. You constantly have to grab the mouse."
For a wonderful view of the whole mouse versus keyboard thing, take a look at Bruce Tognazzini's old Apple articles here (part 1), here (part 2), and here (part 3).
Yeah, Apple added intrinsic support for contextual menus in 8.9, July 1997, because others had been doing it for years (and selling mice with support). I first started using a multi button mouse with the mac in 1992. I think it was the 3rd party software adding support for it that finally pushed them that way (I loved how the browsers all had "click and hold" to get a contextual menu, something you can get with FinderPop [www.finderpop.com].
As for applications, everyone should know about this site:
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/
It is a great searchable, category based index, with licensing terms (price, freeware, shareware, donationware, BSD, GPL, etc.), CPU, and type of app (carbon, Cocoa, X-Win, Java) listed. THis is an OS X ONLY list. Currently it is at 19,204. Rememeber, ALL these apps HAD to have been touched in the last 7 years because they are OS X.
oops, I meant to say 8.0
@Anon: I actually covered the dialog tabbing issue in yesterday's post. While I can get the tab key to work the way I am used to what I don't have is the ability to hold down a key like I can in Windows (Alt-Letter) and have it jump to specific fields in a dialog. If I have a field that contains the label "First Name" and I hit Alt-F in that dialog then the cursor will move to the First Name field. I do miss that. Otherwise, the setting I outlined yesterday makes it much easier to use.
@Eytan: You always help out man and that link is great - I hadn't been to that site yet. Thanks!
You are too kind David. Your blog has been a great asset for me to recommend to my friends and a great read. It is heartening to see someone adopt the Mac so quickly, write about it intelligently, and avoid falling into the trap of being a Mac Zealot (well, too quickly anyway. You are starting to extoll the mac a lot so I guess we do need to watch out ;) )
I think the one thing that is still mostly true is that the Mac is not a great option for gamers. While iMacs have decent graphics cards the fact that they can't be upgraded is a problem (for gamers and gamers only).
And while the Mac Pro is probably great for gaming it is clearly targeted at (rich) professionals and not so much consumers/gamers.
not only do macs have a sizable amount of quality software available but its also got a large variety of free and open source software.... I found this site not to long ago and was shocked by the amount of good free stuff out there for macs now http://www.macoverdose.com
Hi David -
Some other points on costs:
1. The actual price of comparable machines is pretty close, and if you subtract the cost of virus protection software and update subscriptions, it's about equal. If you add all the software in the Mac, the Mac is cheaper. If you subtract the cost of buying two computers if you need both a Mac and a PC, it's quite a bit cheaper.
2. Mac resale values are considerably higher. Buy comparable Dell and Mac laptops, and then sell them on eBay a year or two or three later. The Mac will always sell for much more than the Dell.
3. Studies have shown that Mac users are more productive in general - they spend a lot less time on maintenance, crashes, conflicts, driver installation, incompatibilities, virus removal, zombie slowdowns, etc.
I suppose that if you totaled all these up, the Mac eventually pays for itself compared to many Windows machines. :-)
Paul
@Hendrik: As someone who used to follow the PC based gaming world pretty closely I will say that the vast majority of effort in gaming titles is focused on console games anyway. Most of the big shops, especially EA, merely port their games to the PC after developing them for consoles and it shows. I know more and more people that used to invest a lot of money in their gaming rigs that are getting off the upgrade train that was required to keep up with the latest technology in PC gaming. Most of them simply buy console games.
@Eytan: Honestly, I do sound like a total fanboy now but the reality is I'm trying to be as objective as I can. If people read that as irrational exuberance then so be it. :-)
A very good article. what I find amusing is the inversion of the function..that being, the question I found myself recently asking myself, and I cannot be alone in this. "Is there a reason I should buy a (Windows) PC instead of a Mac?"
Mac software is better. I find this to be the case over and over no matter what I am looking at. In my case, I *love* 1Password, and I can't run that on Windows at all.
While my iPhone integrates with windows, my personal experience is that it is like how my ankle 'integrates' with a wayward shopping cart. I will survive, but there is nothing pleasant about it, and I won't walk right for days.
I find myself as default computer support person for friends and family. I am slowly replacing my kid's computers and cellphones with Apple, as they go off to school, I will have a far easier time maintaining their Mac computers, and won't have to uninstall WildTangentwhatever for the 50th time. Its hard to put a value on that.
On a personal level, how can a person not find talking with Microsoft for the umpteenth 'activation' anything besides humiliating? I am sorry, but you do not enhance your business or income by conveying the assumption that every user is a counterfeiter, and that is precisely what they are doing. What is the value of not being assumed a liar or cheat?
I really think the curve in inverting; the switch to intel was the first shot over Microsoft's bow, the iPhone platform (if not the device) is another serious blow.
Even if a person finds the dollar TCO to be uncertain (which I do not), please call Apple and then Dell, HP or Microsoft, and rate your telephonic (or even web) experiences. I don't know what narcotic Apple gives its staff, but its working.
David,
In dialog boxes, generally, pressing [return] will activate the highlighted button.
A command key combination with the first letter of the other buttons will normally activate them instead. For example cmd-D will select "Don't Save" in most cases. Cmd-N will usually select "No."
Dialog boxes in Apple's software are pretty reliable about holding to that standard. Other software is hit and miss, but I've found the better the software, the more reliable it is about staying with the protocols.
Here's another undocumented feature - If you're listening to iTunes you can roll your mouse over the miniplayer, even if it's the backmost window, and adjust the volume with your scroll wheel. You don't have to click on it. Just mouse-over and scroll.
Excellent points, with regards to cost, I think people turn away from Mac far too easily due to price, and don't think about what that extra cost actually gives them - stability, ease of use, no need to buy/subscribe for antivirus stuff. And so on.
I find myself more and more of a Mac advocate every day, when in the past I like you, would never consider one. Since December I have been a very happy MacBook owner -and I find myself hardly ever using Windows.
@Rip Ragged
On that same not, Command-. or ESC double as cancel
In the case where a carriage return would add another line, Enter is the key to press to select a highlighted button in a dialog/
I love my Mighty Mouse!! I can program up to 4 buttons and have 360 degree scrolling. Which beats the heck out of up/down, left/right scrolling. More over by holding down the Command button while scrolling gives me instant magnification (very important to my old eyes).
As for Crysis, I finished it a few months ago on my 2.8GHz iMac running XP SP2.
All of the graphics were set to medium and I suppose I could have tweaked the settings a bit, but I was impressed with the Crytek engine's performance as it was and have since moved on to other games.
The latest Quake still refuses to run on my iMac however I attribute that to the way Microsoft has completely buggered OpenGL.
I have never owned a windows pc and never will. Mac user since 1987 and Apple ][ owner since 1981.
@mosesr: I love the idea of the little track ball that the mighty mouse has, though I hear it can get fouled up and need cleaning. What I hate about the MM is that I tend to rest my palm on the mouse when using it and I would accidently click the mouse all the time. As for zooming - I hold down Control and roll the wheel on my Logitech and I get that zoom too - it's a nice feature.
@David - yeah, the ball gets gunked up...
but just wet a paper towel and roll over it a couple of times and it is as good as new - not the hard way I had to do it with my trackball and ball mice...
Concerning your comment that you don't game because of the time spent on this blog, all I can say is that gaming's loss is the world's gain! You do a great job on this blog - keep up the good work!
As for the mouse buttons - I use a Logitech mouse aimed at the Windows market with my PowerBook G4 running OS X Tiger. Besides the right and left buttons, the scroll wheel (fully functional!) also clicks. I've set up Expose to use that third button click to activate the Expose Show All windows function. I find it very handy!
Concerning the mouse vs. keyboard shortcuts, I saw an opinion years ago that it is best to go with what works in any particular application. For example, while word processing, your hands are on the keyboard. In that context, keyboard shortcuts are the way to go. When using a graphics application, your hand is on the mouse, drawing, moving items, etc. In that context, context sensitive menus through the mouse are the way to go. The best systems provide both options, allowing the user to use that which is most productive in the given situation.
I think another reason why people dislike Macs when it comes to networking with PCs (especially for IT people) is the creation of "._" resource fork files when a Mac file is moved on to a PC. Those can and do clutter up network drives really quick!
I found it really annoying at first when copying files from my Mac to PC.
Good Job, David !
But david....
I'll be crazy if i keep using windows.
As for games on the current Macs, it run fine with Bootcamp. I have a MacPro 2x2.8 GHz (2008) with a nVidia 8800 GT and I play at Command&Conquer Tiberium Wars and Silent Hunter 4 with all graphics at max, 1920x1200 and it's smooth and beautiful!
For the games ported on MacOS X, it's the same.
@Sparhawk: Thanks for that update. It's funny, I commonly hear that games like Crysis won't run well on a Mac with settings maxed out but the reality is that with settings maxed out Crysis barely runs on high end PCs too.
Good read on a still much misunderstood topic among everyday folk, and reinforced by Windows bigots.
Kind of on a similar line, there's a site I stumbled across recently that expands on the Mac misconception concept even more.
34 Reasons why not to buy a Macintosh
A bit 'waffley', but worth a read I thought.
@McDark: Thanks for the link. Someone clearly put a lot of time into that one.
David,
if go to system preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse and click on the "Tap to click" check box, u will not use the trackpad button again, simply tap with one finger for a left click, or two fingers for a right click.
(i find the combination of two fingers on the trackpad + one on the button a bit tricky)
by the way, a right click is not always required to bring up the contextual menu, it should also appear after a long click. (but most application developers have forgotten that UI guideline)
@Whatever: Thanks for the tip - I have actually gotten quite used to the MacBook's keyboard and mouse gestures abd the single large button. Many of my older PC laptops came with the single touch click on the trackpads as the default option and I really struggled with it, especially when trying to deal with the subtleties of dragging and dropping.
no i idea why i'm called whatever :D
(must be my google blog name)
my real name is martin :)
I'm using USB Overdrive to fully exploit the six-button Logitech mouse I'm using.
You may have noticed that the scroll wheel normally can only scroll vertically, but you can hold the [SHIFT] key to make the scroll wheel go horizontally instead.
That is where the scroll wheel's button comes in handy: I've assigned the scroll wheel button to the [SHIFT] key, so without pressure the scroll wheel still goes up and down, but when I hold it down it goes left and right instead. Very neat and quite intuitive two-dimensional scrolling with just one scroll wheel!
It doesn't stop there, though.
Since the scroll wheel button is now a modifier key, all other mouse buttons can now be combined with the scroll wheel button. So at least in theory you now have one action button less (because the scroll wheel now only activates the [SHIFT] key) but for the remaining buttons (five with my mouse) you now have two combinations each (with and without [SHIFT]).
In the same vein, I changed the right mouse button to just [CTRL] key functionality. That means that I need to first press the right button and then the left button in addition (chord clicking, in a way) to get a context menu which sounds odd at first but which is actually easy to get used to.
For the now just four remaining buttons I now have four combinations each, however, and more:
After enabling it in the Universal Access control panel and [CTRL] now being assigned to the right button, I can simply hold the right button and the scroll wheel will now zoom in and out. Neat, isn't it?
While I'm leaving the left button alone, the remaining three buttons now invoke the three Exposé functions and Dashboard (using three buttons without and one with the right button held down). I still have eight button combinations free for other functionalities, but I've found that Exposé is for me by far the most important functionality to have directly on the mouse.
USB Overdrive makes this kind of setup possible and is quite useful in practice. But of course, your own mileage may vary. ;-)
David,
First, let me start by saying that I have been really enjoying and learning a great deal from your blog. My wife has had a Mac for the last five years, while I have been on Windows. Your blog has given me the tools to understand her Mac, administer it, and most recently, get over it's death and transition her to a new Mac. I've had to learn quite a bit, as she doesn't really understand how a computer works....
One of the reasons I have enjoyed your blog so much is because it has been reasonably unbiased -- free of blind Apple worship that is typical of Apple fans. However, this particular post has given me pause, as I believe it deviates from the unbiased nature of your other discussions...
Let's start with the first "myth". Yes, Mac has "supported" a multi-button mouse for years. However, not until very recently has a Mac laptop had multi-button functionality out of the box. For example, the only way to get this functionality on our old PowerBook G4 was to buy SideTrack. This was even true after upgrading it from 10.3 to 10.5! So I spent $120 on an OS upgrade only to find out that none of the new gestured worked with the old hardware.... Lovely!
There are enough applications for the Mac. However, as you say, the business end is problematic. This is partly Microsoft's fault. Business runs on Office and Office for Mac is castrated. I don't know how else to refer to lack of VBA support in Office 2008. That's absolutely appalling. The Mac Office suite also does not include Access, so, for example, I cannot manage the MySQL database on our website through Access natively like I can on my Windows machine. Entourage also seems to be a pale imitation of Outlook.
I agree with your statement about expansion.
I am obviously doing something wrong, but the Windows machine cannot log into the Mac on our wireless network. The Mac can log into the Windows machine just fine. I've spent a couple of hours on it already and I can't figure it out. "Easy" and "Mac" are overused as synonyms.
My wife works with an elderly lady whose hands shake badly making it very difficult for her to write. Unfortunately, she also cannot find any ribbons for her old typewriter. So, we decided to get her a computer. I really wanted to get her a Mac because it does seem to promise a better experience for someone like her. So, let's compare the cheapest machines...
Dell Vostro: Core 2 Duo, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB 7200 RPM drive, 19 in widescreen monitor, 3 years of McAfee, Windows XP, and no extraneous bloat-ware -- $550.
Mac Mini: Core 2 Duo, 1.83GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400 RPM drive, NO DISPLAY, Nothing else -- $599!
I mean, come on, people! The apple is an inferior machine in every spec and is more expensive without a monitor! There is no comparison.
Now that Macs have switched to the Intel architectures, it's obviously much easier to run Windows on them. The PowerPC emulation software did not work nearly as well.
Macs *are* much more mouse centered on a very basic level. On Windows, one can do almost anything through the keyboard by stepping through the menus using the underlined letters. Anything in the Start menu can be accessed through the keyboard -- how do you access the doc or the Apple menu on the Mac without a mouse? For a concrete every-day example, let's take window management. Let's say I have 4 windows open in an application. In Windows, I press Alt-W, look at the list of windows, and then press 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the keyboard to select the window I want. Or I can use Alt-Tab. On a Mac, I *have* to use a mouse -- the "Window" menu cannot be engaged through the keyboard and Alt-Tab only toggles between applications, not windows.
This is a fundamental difference. On Windows, all menus in all applications can be opened using Alt and (usually) the first letter. Then any choice within those menus can be accessed with a second keyboard stroke: Alt-F, u for Page Setup. There is no way to access these kinds of "lesser used" commands without a mouse on a Mac.
Now I would like to address one "myth" about a "Mac". The one where it "just works..." Apple products have bugs just like PC products -- Apple users just seem much more willing to put up with them. I'll give a few examples. The first is the syslogd process . It's a bug -- a serious bug, that Apple has known about since 10.5.0 and has not fixed. I strongly suspect that this bug killed my wife's PowerBook G4 -- it pegged the processor and the hard-drive for HOURS! Oh, and it's really nice of Apple to, by default, only show "My Processes" in Activity Monitor rather than "All Processes." This way, the computer slows to a crawl, but you can't tell why. Who ever wants to see only "my" processes"? I eventually figured out how to kill syslogd through Terminal but the damage had already been done -- a few days later the power circuit on the motherboard was fried....
The old PowerBook could not remember the WEP password for our wireless network. Didn't matter how many times we checked the "store in Keychain" box... And it would not automatically connect to Wireless when taken off Ethernet. The new MacBook Pro doesn't have this problem.
Similarly, Mac Mail seems to have trouble remembering POP account passwords. Microsoft Entourage works just fine with the same POP accounts.
And here are some other questions for all you Mac people who are going to skewer me for this post. Why can't I resize a window by grabbing any edge? Why do I have to type an obscure command into Terminal to be able to see system files in Finder? Why do I then, separately, have to enable "Other", "System Files", "Include" in Finder search? David, you must be a very patient person to put up with having the menus for all your apps stuck in the primary monitor in multi-monitor mode -- what's the logic for that?
Here is another "no, it doesn't just work" example, with a twist... I am visiting some friends who have an HP Office Jet 4135v multi-function printer shared through their XP machine. I can connect to the printer fine through the wireless network. But, there is no driver for this printer on Mac OS. The Apple website says there is, but it's not on the list in Options and Supplies > Driver... Here is where it gets interesting -- connecting the printer directly into the USB port works just fine. An HP Office Jet 4300 series driver magically appears. There is no way to change it, so there is no way to see where it is on the OS. So there is still no way to print through the network...
So, why don't I just go to the HP website and download the driver? Here, I'll help: go here and look at the size of the downloads. 188MB! No problem, I am on DSL... This is obviously a lot of crap, like photo-management, that I don't need. I'll download the whole caboodle but only install the print driver... 20 minutes later... Oh, I can't install only the printer driver. It's 500MB (uncompressed) of crap or nothing. No "advanced" install option like in Windows -- only "simple" here. 500MB of bloat just to print!?! That's nuts!
So, it's HP's fault, right? Well, yes and no. In my experience, on Windows, for aggregate packages of stuff, one always has a choice to do a manual install of selected components. On the Mac, this choice is available rarely. This is partly because the Mac is supposed to be "easy." This is Apple's credo and marketing holy word. But, choices are hard, so vendors like HP just choose not to give us any.
Let me finish by saying that we replaced the dead PowerBook with a 17in MacBook Pro. I am using the machine to write this post right now -- it's very nice, I like it a lot, and I understand why David is so taken in by Apple. However, I remember your posts explaining why you switched, David. The basic reason, correct me if I am wrong, was that you were bored with Windows. Microsoft has really shot itself in the head with Vista and for people who are tired of XP's tried and true, OS X is a wonderful alternative. I agree with this -- as I said, I really like the new PowerBook. But, I disagree with the premise that "Mac is better." It's different, and it's better at some things, most importantly, in my opinion, the "design of the user experience" that is somehow more pleasant than the boring efficiency of Windows. But it's not better at all things, it doesn't "just works" always, as the pitch implies, and it does some things markedly worse. Apple's real achievement is that, somehow, it has managed to condition its users to simply accept shortcomings as features. "Sacrifices must be made in the name of clean design." In the end, even the guy who started the campaign to get Apple to replace batteries in IPods just caved in and bought another IPod. It's crazy.
Now let the flogging begin.
Makke.
Wow, yeah, no reason to flog you, but you do seem a little angry, and misinformed...
I guess I am first. I hope you don't mind I answer some of his comments David
1st, the comment about the scrolling/right click.
The earlier mac trackpads (3+ years ago) were not able to sense 2 fingers simultaneously, you are correct. I don't think anyone is talking history here, but present tense. FinderPop was/is a great tool to have the right click come up after a delay.
2nd, Office. You can blame that on MSFT. The next version will have VBA off, but it is really not in MSFTs best interest to make it a 100% equal citizen. If this is vital for you, it is - of course, MANY databases, including mySQL, can be easily installed. And Open Office and NeoOffice are both great clones of Access. Not saying this is your panacea, but there are always options. I don't think David was saying things are exactly the same.
For networking, make sure you have "Windows sharing" enabled under sharing - just like you need to turn on sharing in Windows, you need to turn it on on a Mac, and enable it for the various services you want.
Price, no contest. No one is arguing you cannot get a cheaper machine than a Mac with more power. It will often not include all that comes with a Mac (Mac OS X, iLife, FireWire, Bluetooth, Wifi, etc) but you can certainly get something cheaper. When you look at the low end (specifically, the mac Mini) Apple does not really have competitive hardware. It is a shame.
To pick a window using the keyboard - Exposé key, then use the arrow keys. Spacebar to bring the window to the front. Within an application, Command-~ switch between Windows.
Maybe archaic, but no more than many of the keyboard shortcuts on Windows, CTRL-F2 brings up the selection of the 1st item in the menu bar. At that point you can navigate the menus like in windows. CTRL-F3 focuses in on the Dock. Once any window is selected, Tab moves between controls. See the keyboard preferences for the shortcuts, and be aware you can change them. Just because you don't KNOW the shortcuts does not mean they are not there. On that note, how do I do "New Folder" in Windows without hitting multiple keys or using the mouse? So anyway, any "Lesser" option can be handled either with those shortcuts, or assigning custom keystrokes within the Keyboard System Preference.
So we finally get to the meat and potatoes - there were some problems with your wife's PB G4 and you are unhappy. Sorry, no one here claimed that Macs are problem free. "Just Works" does not apply to that - but rather to the smooth integration of most things on the Mac. As for the Activity Monitor, if you knew enough to open it, you should only blame yourself for not looking at the entire screen. The Pop Up menu to choose all processes is pretty prevalent.
Okay... "...Why can't I resize a window by grabbing any edge?"
That is the way the Mac works. If you don't like it, there are 3rd party ways to change it. For some, that is fine.
"Why do I have to type an obscure command into Terminal to be able to see system files in Finder?"
So as you won't mess with it. There is a great tool, TinkerTool, which turns those on. The assumption is you don't need them, and if you do a quick Google Search will help you find them. No one said things are perfect.
"Why do I then, separately, have to enable "Other", "System Files", "Include" in Finder search?"
You have to do the same in Windows, and given how much faster search is, you could enable disable those 30 times and STILL find your files faster.
"David, you must be a very patient person to put up with having the menus for all your apps stuck in the primary monitor in multi-monitor mode -- what's the logic for that?"
Not sure how you did your printing, but there are a variety of reasons why that may not have worked. Including not choosing the right kind of print sharing in the Printer Utility. I assume you checked Windows Printing - make sure you also have the Firewall open on the windows for sharing, and you are on the same subnet. There could be a dozen of reasons why things don't work.
I have a couple of things to say in closing. One, there can and will always be problems with any platform. It sounds like your experiences with the Mac are to fix problems when your wife has them, which will OBVIOUSLY leave a raw taste in your mouth. Maybe if you used one you would feel different.
2nd, as I was pointing out in my earlier post - yes, Dave is starting to extoll themac - nothing wrong with that, he is enjoying it. I don;t think he disparaged Windows in this blog. Why dod you have to respond with so much venom and bitterness to his post? Why is it such a deal to you? You sound like more of a Windows Zealot than Dave is a Mac Zealot - think about that.
If you really read his blog, you would have seen he downloaded an add on for that.
A couple of corrections to my earlier post. I should have previewed.
In the office section, I meant to say that the next version of office will have VBA back.
In the area where I quoted you on disparaging David's ability to work with multiple monitors and putting up with the dual screens, David found solutions that work fine for him for menus on multiple monitors. If you were a regular reader, you would know that. I did not realize your wife had multiple monitors - you sure did not seem to indicate she is that kind of a power user, just a standard user.
All in all, it seems like you came here to be bitter.
Very well said, David.
There are not that many applications for Macs point is exactly what i'm repeating from so many year.
If you look at TextMate, CSSEdit and Scrivener as examples, you'll see a bunch of clones (TextMate is the more requested by the windows folks. There are 3 clones contenders and, by using them, none fo them rach the original) on wintel side but none ot them with same attention to detail, user-centric design and innovation.
This is the main point. Innovation (little or incrmental, doesn't matter) in software development (in features or workflow) are stagnant on wintel. 400 text editors and all of them with the same feature set. None of them trying to think outside the box.
Yes, there are inverse cases, too.
On the diff-merge market segment, wintel is well ahead of the Mac folks, for example. I struggle using opendiff via term when on wintel there is the free optimus winmerge. Just for completeness of the information given. I don't like to sound like a zelot.
Hi
Just to correct a comment on PowerBook trackpads. I have a late 2003 12" G4 PowerBook and using an open source driver, iScroll, I have two finger scrolling very similar (but not identical) to the latest MacBooks. According to the iScroll developer, most Apple notebooks from 2003 supported two finger taps even though there was no software support in OSX until much later.
CS
Another story about Macs "just working" - a friend o of mine spent two whole days trying to get his HP laptop, HP portable printer and HP printer 11g wireless card to communicate with each other. The laptop was running Vista Home and all the hardware was less than 6 months old. He brought it over to my place and using Bonjour I had the printer working from my MacBook wirelessly in less than 30 seconds. He was speechless.
He finally got it working with his laptop after I told him to use the Windows version of Apple Bonjour.
CS
semioticmonkey: On the diff-merge market segment, wintel is well ahead of the Mac folks, for example. I struggle using opendiff via term when on wintel there is the free optimus winmerge.
From what I've seen winmerge doesn't offer anything I'm missing in BBEdit (you can use the free TextWrangler for that as well).
You may just not know all that's actually available.
Not to say there can't be actual deficiencies on the Mac, I just don't see that as one of them.
semioticmonkey: On the diff-merge market segment, wintel is well ahead of the Mac folks, for example. I struggle using opendiff via term when on wintel there is the free optimus winmerge.
From what I've seen winmerge doesn't offer anything I'm missing in BBEdit (you can use the free TextWrangler for that as well).
You may just not know all that's actually available.
Not to say there can't be actual deficiencies on the Mac, I just don't see that as one of them.
@Makke: Wow man, lots of text in there. I actually debated turning my response into an entire new post but figured I'll just plop it in here instead.
Before I get started I need to make a couple of things clear.
1) I have only had my Macs for less than four months as of today. My history with them is limited to OS X Leopard and a MacBook and Mac Pro. I've never pretended to be a Mac expert and when providing tips that I've discovered have learned to qualify them based on the OS X version that I am using. Turns out a lot of people still use older Macs with older OS X versions that read this blog.
2) When I wrote the Myths article I qualified it at both the beginning and ending that these were the myths that I clung to. I didn't do a lot of research on the topic - this blog is about my experience, nothing more, nothing less. I personally had to dispel these myths in my own mind before I would even consider a Mac.
That said, you are taking me to task for issues that predate my Mac experience. Sorry, but I can't help you there. I can completely understand your frustration with the PowerBook issue you experienced. I've had people write comments in my blog complaining about horrendous service from Apple, defective machines that broke down repeatedly and buggy Mac based applications that caused them lots and lots of problems. I have not had those kinds of problems - all I can do accurately is provide my experiences. I have however documented every single experience I've had, including the negative ones, in this blog.
On the price front I said in my article that Macs are slightly more expensive than PCs, however comparing them to one another is difficult to do at best because you have to look at the entire experience. One of the folks that reads this blog sent me a great link that does more detailed comparisons: System Shootouts. They've tried to take a detailed look at these systems point by point.
What prevented me from considering the Mac was the entire "Macs are so much more expensive" statement in general. People cited a Mac Pro costing $4,000 - and I simply said "Yeah, way too expensive". The reality is my recent Mac Pro purchase, which I got directly from Apple as a refurbished machine (which saved me $500) ended up costing less than the custom gaming / development rig I built a year ago. Sure, they were built for different purposes but my Mac Pro is easily more powerful than my Windows XP system.
My MacBook ended up costing me about $1,500 after my RAM and HD upgrades, about $700 less than my HP Laptop running Windows Vista. The HP has a bigger display and is hardly a direct comparison to the MacBook, yet I've gotten considerably more value from my MacBook because I really enjoy using it. My Vista experience has been... problematic at best.
And just to clarify something, you cited the cost of a Mac Mini compared to a Dell. You are correct, the Mac is much more expensive, however the Dell is running Windows XP, an OS that's over 6 years old and is about to be phased out by Microsoft. The Mini would be running the latest version of OS X and from everything I've seen the performance on it would be fine.
At the end of the day people simply need to determine what level of machine they really want and see if it will work for them. Is it worth paying that price? For me the joy I've gotten from my Macs and the general increases I've seen in productivity have made the price issue irrelevant. That may sound fanboy'ish and biased but it really is how I feel.
Eytan addressed lots of the detail points in your comment so I'll leave it here - thanks Eytan!
Now if you don't mind I'm going to go back to nursing my hangover. My wife's out of town and the guys came over for poker last night. I've now learned that after drinking too much beer that switching to Rum and Coke is a really bad idea.
Really bad.
Anonymous: blind Apple worship that is typical of Apple fans.
What did you think the word "fan" means, actually? 8-)
There are many more Mac users, however, who are simply pleased with their overall experience with Macs despite the occasional annoyance, which is quite a different thing. So let's just stay clear of the personal slights, okay? ;-)
Anonymous: Let's start with the first "myth". Yes, Mac has "supported" a multi-button mouse for years. However, not until very recently has a Mac laptop had multi-button functionality out of the box. For example, the only way to get this functionality on our old PowerBook G4 was to buy SideTrack. This was even true after upgrading it from 10.3 to 10.5! So I spent $120 on an OS upgrade only to find out that none of the new gestured worked with the old hardware.... Lovely!
You've got a five years old machine and a feature which has always been advertised by Apple as a hardware feature is not included in an OS upgrade as an extra freebie, as advertised? What is there to complain about?
Anonymous: So, let's compare the cheapest machines...
Dell Vostro: Core 2 Duo, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB 7200 RPM drive, 19 in widescreen monitor, 3 years of McAfee, Windows XP, and no extraneous bloat-ware -- $550.
Mac Mini: Core 2 Duo, 1.83GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400 RPM drive, NO DISPLAY, Nothing else -- $599!
I mean, come on, people! The apple is an inferior machine in every spec and is more expensive without a monitor! There is no comparison.
The mini is inferior in some specs - what you've ignored is that the mini has gigabit ethernet, Wifi, Bluetooth, digital audio in+out, FireWire, a full-version software package including a full OS version (not some cut-down "home" version), is positively tiny, near-silent and consumes a fraction of the energy of the huge Vostro tower which comes rather bare.
That doesn't make the mini any cheaper, but its compromises are made in a completely different direction - it may not be what you would prefer in every case, but at least for me nowadays the only excuse for a big honking tower with a corresponding electric bill is when I actually need high-end performance (the kind the Mac Pro provides).
The mini is worth its price - it may just not be what you're looking for. Or it might actually be after all if you re-checked your priorities.
Easy usability is quite a relevant feature especially for the elderly, among other things.
Anonymous: Macs *are* much more mouse centered on a very basic level.
No, not at all. Due to pervasive and consistent key combinations across almost all applications, experienced Mac users use the keyboard a lot, maybe more than most Windows users.
You can even easily customize the key bindings for any application in the "Keyboard & Mouse" perference panel.
And with a utility like Butler you can assign anything, by using AppleScript even complete sequences of actions across multiple applications, to any key combination, available anywhere (global hot keys) and much more.
Anonymous: Anything in the Start menu can be accessed through the keyboard -- how do you access the doc or the Apple menu on the Mac without a mouse?
[CTRL]+F2 (user-configurable in the "Keyboard & Mouse" control panel)
[CTRL]+F3 for the Dock
Anonymous: For a concrete every-day example, let's take window management. Let's say I have 4 windows open in an application. In Windows, I press Alt-W, look at the list of windows, and then press 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the keyboard to select the window I want. Or I can use Alt-Tab. On a Mac, I *have* to use a mouse -- the "Window" menu cannot be engaged through the keyboard and Alt-Tab only toggles between applications, not windows.
No. [CTRL]+F2 and then "W" or "WI" to select the window menu would get you there. A widespread convention is also that [CMD]+[number] will immediately select the respective window.
[CMD]+> and < rotate through all windows of the current application.
As explained above, Exposé works with the keyboard as well.
There is also the Witch utility which provides list-based window navigation both within the current application and across all applications.
It is really a good idea to accustom yourself with the possibilities by reading the documentation or simply asking on a forum.
Anonymous: Now I would like to address one "myth" about a "Mac". The one where it "just works..." Apple products have bugs just like PC products -- Apple users just seem much more willing to put up with them.
It's the total level of annoyance or satisfaction which makes all the difference, so as long as I only encounter minor annoyances and I'm very satisfied otherwise, of course it will affect the way I'll complain.
Anonymous: I'll give a few examples. The first is the syslogd process. It's a bug -- a serious bug, that Apple has known about since 10.5.0 and has not fixed.
I've simply never had that problem. This might be of help, though:
macosxhints.com - 10.5: One fix for a runaway syslogd process
It seems some third-party applications may be involved in the issue. The syslog daemon working hard can just be the symptom of a problem lying elsewhere and there causing lots of loggable events.
Anonymous: Oh, and it's really nice of Apple to, by default, only show "My Processes" in Activity Monitor rather than "All Processes."
It's a clearly visible selection popup at the top of the window. And yes, normally I'm interested in my applications' power draw. By default drowning the processes the user knows about in the entire list of system processes would be stupid and would almost certainly lead to significantly increased support for people having accidentally terminated essential system processes. So it's the same as elsewhere on the Mac: You can do almost anything, but the most obvious is generally the default.
Anonymous: And here are some other questions for all you Mac people who are going to skewer me for this post.
I've noticed you are looking for a fight. But other Mac users are not the cause of your difficulties. Many could have been avoided by simply looking a bit closer. And for many others we might even be able to help you out.
Anonymous: Why can't I resize a window by grabbing any edge?
Because Apple is highly resistant to changing basic mechanisms, for better or sometimes for worse. Since Mac apps generally remember your last window positions and auto-resizing usually works well, that's much less of an issue than it would be elsewhere.
Anonymous: Why do I have to type an obscure command into Terminal to be able to see system files in Finder?
Because you only need that if you've got obscure intentions. ;-)
Most people will never need that. And as said, TinkerTool can still change the Finder's behaviour there.
Anonymous: Here is another "no, it doesn't just work" example, with a twist... I am visiting some friends who have an HP Office Jet 4135v multi-function printer shared through their XP machine. I can connect to the printer fine through the wireless network. But, there is no driver for this printer on Mac OS. The Apple website says there is, but it's not on the list in Options and Supplies > Driver... Here is where it gets interesting -- connecting the printer directly into the USB port works just fine. An HP Office Jet 4300 series driver magically appears. There is no way to change it, so there is no way to see where it is on the OS. So there is still no way to print through the network...
Even Apple can't and won't solve all problems with Windows. Not their job.
Anonymous: In my experience, on Windows, for aggregate packages of stuff, one always has a choice to do a manual install of selected components. On the Mac, this choice is available rarely.
By far most Mac software does not come with an installer at all. It's simply drag and drop. Done. If HP can't manage to provide a decent driver package, complain there.
Anonymous: But, I disagree with the premise that "Mac is better." It's different, and it's better at some things, most importantly, in my opinion, the "design of the user experience" that is somehow more pleasant than the boring efficiency of Windows. But it's not better at all things, it doesn't "just works" always, as the pitch implies, and it does some things markedly worse. Apple's real achievement is that, somehow, it has managed to condition its users to simply accept shortcomings as features.
Calling the rest of us stupid and manipulated might be less problematic if you hadn't made various avoidable mistakes yourself. :-I
That is a major issue for many people coming from Windows: They expect things to work the same as they did under Windows. Which is perfectly understandable, but it is simply not realistic.
When I'm on a different platform, among the things I'm doing is to try to find out how things are done on that different platform; And I try to adapt my habits to the platform as much as I try to adapt the platform to my needs. That is the only way that works, but it works very well.
The problem today is that too many people have no experience with anything but Windows and they have become so entrenched in the often problematic ways Windows works that they often have lost the capability to look for solutions in other places than exactly in the ones they have been used to (for better or worse).
If you really exploit the Mac, it is a very powerful and despite its own shortcomings a very pleasant platform to work with which is highly customizable and especially strong for "power users" on both flexibility and ease of use.
But demanding it to work just exactly like Windows would only make you unhappy with it - that just won't and can't work.
@Ping: that was an outstanding post - you just revealed a slew of little tips for me as well!
@ping: I know TW/BBEdit but
a) BBEdit costs way too much and i'm TextMate user anyway.
b) TextWrangler is in no way similar to Winmerge. Use it on your wintel machine and see for yourself. Maybe with Tortoise SVN integration.
http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/
The one and the only, good on both the platform, is Araxis Merge but it costs an arm and a leg :)
http://www.araxis.com/merge/index.html
semioticmonkey: I know TW/BBEdit but
a) BBEdit costs way too much and i'm TextMate user anyway.
b) TextWrangler is in no way similar to Winmerge.
I'd say BBEdit is easily worth its price. Among other things, I can directly diff, merge, commit and otherwise work with the repository
So what exactly are you missing?
semioticmonkey: The one and the only, good on both the platform, is Araxis Merge but it costs an arm and a leg :)
Price is a completely different subject, especially with professional tools. But is there really a substantial functionality gap on either platform in this regard?
Actually, you CAN tab. From LifeHacker website:
"4. Tab between all controls.
By default your Mac's Tab key doesn't move between controls on a page or form other than text boxes and lists. Click the "All Controls" radio button at the bottom of the Keyboard & Mouse pane in System Preferences to right this wrong."
Full article:
http://lifehacker.com/390226/top-10-things-you-forgot-your-mac-can-do
Hope this helps!
PS - Someone mentioned in your other article about dragging apps to the trash. I don't recommend that since apps install pref files, etc.
I DO recommend AppZapper which will erase EVERTHING associated with an app from your machine. The beauty of it, though, is that it just puts everything in the trash so if you accidentally delete something, you can just go to Edit>Undo in the finder. You can find it here:
http://www.appzapper.com/
Also, you might want to check out these two sites if you haven't already:
http://www.maczot.com
http://www.mupromo.com
Both sites off a steep discount on ONE Mac app a day. Its a great way to learn about new mac apps and get them at a steep discount.
I hope I helped. Welcome to the Mac community, I'm so happy you have seen the light!
I can see that my post turned out to be much more antagonizing than I intended. I included several generalities that were unnecessary and offended people -- I apologize for that. However, it also seems that people automatically focused on the negative and ignored the positive things I said about Macs. I further have a lot of respect for David and, as I said, I have learned a great deal from reading all his posts.
There is too much in the posts for me to be able to respond to. I will attempt to touch on a few things briefly.
Thank you for the Expose, Menu, and Dock shortcuts. Through trial and error I figured out that they all require a Fn in addition to Ctrl on a laptop. Expose works well, although I wish it would give an indication when some of the windows are minimized. Getting up into the menus is cumbersome: too many keystrokes: Fn-Ctrl-F2, W, Enter, First letter of window name, Enter. 5 keystrokes total. On Windows its two keystrokes: Alt-W, window number. @Eytan - to create a new folder, in Windows Explorer, Alt-F, W, F for File, New, Folder. So, I stand corrected - these things can be done on a Mac. But they are easier and faster to execute in Windows. No need to memorize shortcuts -- just read the commands and choose the underlined letters.
>A widespread convention is also that [CMD]+[number] will immediately select the respective window.
As far as I can tell, Cmd+number in Safari selects the bookmarks in the menu bar. In Word or Firefox it doesn't do anything. CMD+> and < also doesn't work for me. Cmd+< seems to open the preferences dialog.
The problem with the HP printer has nothing to do with Windows. I can see it through the network (so the sharing is fine). The only guess I can make is that the Mac comes with a USB driver that only works for a USB connection, not a network connection. I don't understand why the driver should care what kind of wire is used....
In my experience, a single application usually comes as a drag and drop. Packages come with installers.
Finally, I don't expect things to work the same on a Mac as they do on Windows. What I do expect, is to be able to figure out how to do something by looking through the documentation (help) provided with the computer, especially on a machine that claims to be "easy". For example, typing "system files" or "view system files" in Mac help brings no results. (I don't consider trying to move mail or address book data from the dead computer's hard-drive onto the new machine as "obscure intentions". The Migration Assistant, just like the HP installer, does not give enough custom control to move over specific bits of old data... )
As I said in my previous post, the Mac is definitely better at some things, I am happy to even say many things, with the design of the user experience being one of them. However, Windows has some admirable qualities as well. I enjoy using the new MacBook, but I miss some things that I think are done better on the Windows side.
Makke
@ping: Try Araxis and see for yourself. The problem here is not the features set but how everything works.
Every OS can open windows, save files and so on but what's the difference?
Every of these applications can diff/merge/committ (i can diff/merge/committ with TM too) but the diff precision, the workflow, the choice, the price/quality ratio makes the difference.
We used Eclipse diff/merge plug, Changes, Filemerge, BBEdit, Winmerge, Ultra Compare and Araxis on a large scale Java web application and i assure you the speed and accuracy of Araxis is unreachable as the workflow. Ultra Compare is a good second option.
What i'm saying is what is missed is the offer in the market segment capable of give us a choice for the money we spend.
When you have to spend 40$ to have a worse Winmerge clone, there is something wrong in the ecosystem about. Don't you think?
BBedit costs too much for what it offers. Obviously, non in a absolute world. Only in my opinion.
But, please, no TM vs BBedit here :)
What a great thread! As a Windows at work/Linux at home computer user, I've never had enough time on OS X to find a bunch of the shortcuts and other routines you all have contributed here. I'll definitely look this up next time I'm on a Mac.
I would not consider purchasing a Mac laptop until they come with full keyboards and a real two-key trackpad (the two-fingers workaround is clumsy). These interface limitations are far more important to me than operating system differences. I cannot get beyond the feeling that I am playing a toy piano.
I am increasingly comfortable using desktop Macs with a real keyboard and a two-button mouse. I look forward to practicing some of the stuff I've learned here next time I'm confronted with one. Thanks!
Good responses to Makke. Personally, I think he makke a mountain out of a molehill.
@GCC
"I would not consider purchasing a Mac laptop until they come with full keyboards and a real two-key trackpad (the two-fingers workaround is clumsy)."
Well my experiences are very different. I find having to contort my thumb to get a second button "clumsy". I find the 2 finger click (and 2 finger scrolling) of a Mac laptop to be very natural and ergonomic, and is something I miss greatly when I have to use a Windows laptop.
@alternapop.com about having multibutton pointing devices... I could not agree with you less. Once I found that Docked folders will show their contents when context-clicked, I knew I had to have a right (for me) click. Though it took me ages to get used to it on a winBox, I was able to and it was simple on a Mac. Now that I sadly use windoze at work more than my Macs, I am sometimes context-clicking more than I used to. Now that we have Stacks, a right click is less needed.
@Eytan: Apple didn't start natively supporting additional buttons until OS X. Apple reportedly was the first to come up with context menus which, true to form, M$ stole so they had meaning for all those unused buttons. Apple talked about them for Copland (which died) long before OS 8 (OS 7.6 with some features from Copland tossed in) released. 8.5.1 was my favorite OS before X because it added the nanokernel making cooperative multitasking bearable.
@pecos bill
Correct. My bad. While they supported the idea of a context click, they did not natively support HID 2nd button until 10.x. You needed to have a driver. Once 10 shipped, even in classic mode any 2 button mouse worked.
Heh - my question is simple. What was the catalyst that made you revisit these myths? That's the question that's been nagging me for a while. Was it just incrementally more exposure with other people using Macs or what?
Some of my comments over at:
http://www.infrageeks.com/groups/infrageeks/weblog/ab76f/Re__Common_Myths_for_the_Macintosh.html
@Alphageek: Most of the key reasons I cover in my first post in my blog. If I really want to trace the dominoes that fell and served as a catalyst I would have to say that when my friend Bradley started using Macs. I always respected his opinion, especially since he believed that everyone was entitled to hear it ;-)
For Bradley - ever the leading edge techie - he got an iPhone right after they were released and loved it. That led him to consider the Mac, which he subsequently switched to.
While there were a number of things that pushed me in the direction of rethinking a Mac, the most direct catalyst can be traced back to the release of the iPhone, which I don't even have!
Since the Dell Vostro was mentioned, I thought I'd add my 2¢.
I work with a non-profit that bought a Vostro with that 19" wide screen. The only problem is that the software included doesn't come with a driver for that screen! The best driver available has significant vertical compression of the screen image. While others are OK with it, it gives me a blinding headache within minutes of starting to use it.
That is not value, at any price!
qka,
I set up the Vostro last night. It is by no means a Mac -- a bit like a difference between buying a new car or a used car, I suppose, since the OS is 6 years old, as David mentioned. Vostro is available with Vista Home Basic for the same price, but that's a step even farther back, as far as I am concerned. Setting up the MacBook Pro was much more fun. However, the purpose of this computer is basically to replace a typewriter for an old lady -- I think it is more then adequate to the task.
Anyway, I didn't have the same problem you describe. I set the screen resolution to 1400 x 900, which is the native monitor resolution, and everything looks fine. The driver was already installed on the machine and included on a CD that came with the monitor.
I suspect your display resolution is set to a non-widescreen format. I apologize if you already know all of this, but, if you don't, the way to check is to right-click on the desktop, choose Poperties, go to the Settings tab, and make sure it's at 1400 x 900. There is also a way to do this through the driver interface, but I don't have that in front of me. Also, if you want to check it out, here is the link to the driver on Dell's site:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?releaseid=R151906&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=211208
Hope this helps.
Makke
semioticmonkey: Try Araxis and see for yourself. The problem here is not the features set but how everything works.
In BBEdit I have the repository functions at my disposal with single keystrokes, including fully transparent SSH login to the remote repository server.
For my uses, I'm just not missing anything. It could not be simpler or quicker and hardly more convenient for what I need.
Anonymous: I can see that my post turned out to be much more antagonizing than I intended. I included several generalities that were unnecessary and offended people -- I apologize for that. However, it also seems that people automatically focused on the negative and ignored the positive things I said about Macs.
You're not helping your case too much... Making derogatory remarks abo