tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1261161155002888881.post-28668508850664895062008-04-26T21:40:00.003-04:002008-04-28T17:25:41.621-04:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_OhCpUpLz1NY/SBPZ5-eESjI/AAAAAAAAA8k/XbX-Gt9Ok30/s1600-h/vmvs.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_OhCpUpLz1NY/SBPZ5-eESjI/AAAAAAAAA8k/XbX-Gt9Ok30/s400/vmvs.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193734385333193266" /></a>In the week since I got my Mac Pro I have made a conscious effort to transfer everything that I knew I would need over from my Windows XP machine. I've even powered off the Windows XP machine - something I rarely do with a computer - because I wanted to make sure I didn't try to use it as a crutch. My goal was to see if I could really switch to Mac completely and one week in that has been the case, though there has been some compromise.<div><br /></div><div>I use <a href="http://vmware.com/products/fusion/">VMware Fusion</a> to run Windows XP in a virtual machine. It works really well for the most part and when it is running in full screen mode I really feel I'm running a Windows machine, with a couple of major exceptions:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Keyboard Shortcuts:</span> Visual Studio makes heavy use of function keys, especially for debugging. By default the critical ones I use most are F10 (Step Over) and F11 (Step Into) and F9 (Toggle Breakpoint). On my Mac's keyboard the F9 key advances the song/track in the player, F10 mutes the speaker and F11 lowers the volume - these are special feature keys for OS X and work in any application you happen to be in.</div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_OhCpUpLz1NY/SBNk5-eESiI/AAAAAAAAA8c/kGlSO9xvB8o/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_OhCpUpLz1NY/SBNk5-eESiI/AAAAAAAAA8c/kGlSO9xvB8o/s400/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193605742472743458" /></a></div><div>You can flip a toggle in the System Preferences to allow the Functions to operate as standard keys, in which case they will not work as special feature keys unless I hold down the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">fn</span> key on my keyboard. Likewise if I have the option in System Preferences unchecked I need to hit <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">fn</span> in order to access the keys as standard F keys.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was also one other layer of complexity added to all of this: by default OS X ships with some keyboard shortcuts of it's own that also conflict with things. This threw me for a little while because by default some of those F keys are mapped to Spaces and Expose.</div><div><br /></div><div>What I ended up doing was eliminating the Spaces, Expose and Dashboard use of the F9 through F12 keys; I use the mouse for that stuff anyway. I also keep the option to use the special key feature enabled, meaning that if I want F10 to be passed down to my application I need to hold the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">fn</span> key too. It's a pain in the ass but I really like having the special keys enabled. Too many functions for too few keys.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really do wish the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">fn</span> key was a toggle, not a modifier key though. That would make it so much easier. I spent a couple of hours researching how to make it work that way but had no luck.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Using the Keyboard to Navigate Text</span></div><div>I've <a href="http://www.davidalison.com/2008/02/hardcore-windows-guy-switches-to-mac.html">mentioned before</a> that the text navigation keys between Windows and Mac are different. On Windows you use Ctrl-Right, Ctrl-Left to move the cursor one word at a time to the right or left. On Mac it's Option-Right, Option-Left. Well, this creates a little conflict when using VMware Fusion and Visual Studio.</div><div><br /></div><div>By default OS X uses Ctrl-Right to move to the Spaces window to the right, Ctrl-Left to the Spaces window to the left. As a big time Spaces user I've found this excellent, unfortunately I've had to disable the feature since I really need the ability to Ctrl-Right and Left arrow through words in Visual Studio. This is not something I'm terribly happy about but I'm trying to get used to it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other than these two issues, so far it's been excellent. My development performance has actually increased a bit because all of the applications I've come to count on are now on the Mac Pro.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1261161155002888881-2866850885066489506?l=www.davidalison.com'/></div>David Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134311846576585532noreply@blogger.com19