Using a Mac, [a bit over] a week later
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Surprisingly, I'm largely over the "who moved my cheese?" phase. It's a bit of a mixed bag:
Pros
- Very stable
- Very light - went home without the beast like Dell for the first time last night and had to check I'd actually packed the machine. This is a biggie
- Some of the OS well thought through, it's pretty similar to Ubuntu's GUI TBH. Some processes are very smooth
- Bootup time, compared to win7 at least is insane
Cons
- Finder - a sort of windows file explorer-cum-search. Makes it unnecessarily difficult to perform basic tasks- can copy but not cut. Rename is insane - need to go to the "Get Info" popup and do it there, from the people who criticised MS for putting shut down in the start menu. No real sense of where you are in the file system - I want to be able to navigate a path. Sometimes I've dropped into a terminal because its easier
- Had to learn a silly amount of keyboard shortcuts - I'd want to learn most of these anyway to be fair, I know the equivalents in windows, but on for some tasks its quicker to take the hand of the mouse and use the keyboard.
- A keyboard that doesn't have a # (alt-4 on a mac) but does have a key for ± / § is not a keyboard designed for actual use. The physical keyboard is good otherwise
- Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports. But thunderbolt with adapters - they need to be everywhere
I'm doing a lot of screenshot work preparing materials, this typifies my experience. No PrintScreen key, so i've had to learn the shortcut (cmd-shift-4) bad. Instead of printing the screen, I get a selection cursor to choose which area to capture good. The image is saved as a .png to my desktop bad apple, naughty apple, haughty apple - the filename defaults to a date and time, so I need to use either the terminal to move and rename, or scrabble round the UI. I really don't understand what the hype is about - it's OK as a machine, I wouldn't pay that much for one. Using for (mostly JS) dev the experience is similar to working under a *NIX - pretty good, but again I'd rather save the cash and do just that.
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
How do u know someone is using a Mac? Answer: He tells you!
Keith Barrow wrote:
Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports.
GDIAF... i'm using 5 ...
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
} -
Rage wrote:
the fact that you have to guess that plugging an USB key creates a directory on your desktop (or whatever it is)
Ummmm... its a shortcut to access the drive. Very similar to the way Windows can open the dialog and ask you what you want to do.
Rage wrote:
instead of being accessible through any kind of path navigation or file explore
A Finder preference will show external drives on the left just like internal drives or shares.
Rage wrote:
Either I did not understand a concept
Seems to be the case here.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Very similar to the way Windows can open the dialog and ask you what you want to do
Which, to me, is a very terrible thing to do. Plus the desktop had many icons on it, so it took me a while to spot the newly created shortcut.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
A Finder preference
Yeah, make the obvious hidden by default :sigh:
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Seems to be the case here.
Intuitive seems to be a concept, then.
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That was exactly what I would have expected, but there was nothing "mounted" anywhere back then, definitely only the desktop shortcut. Maybe some sort of silly options somewhere.
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I started using OSX at Mountain Lion - perhaps it was before then?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
See Mike's answer, it is a setting.
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See Mike's answer, it is a setting.
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Mike Mullikin wrote:
Very similar to the way Windows can open the dialog and ask you what you want to do
Which, to me, is a very terrible thing to do. Plus the desktop had many icons on it, so it took me a while to spot the newly created shortcut.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
A Finder preference
Yeah, make the obvious hidden by default :sigh:
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Seems to be the case here.
Intuitive seems to be a concept, then.
Rage wrote:
Plus the desktop had many icons on it
Which, to me, is a terrible thing to do.
Rage wrote:
Yeah, make the obvious hidden by default
Yeah, looking at the preferences wasn't obvious at all. :rolleyes:
Rage wrote:
Intuitive seems to be a concept, then.
Nobody is claiming that Apple is perfect but it helps to at least have an open mind when using something new. Sheesh! Were you one of those guys that screamed and whined when Windows 95 came out because it was soooo much different than Windows 3.1?
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
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How do u know someone is using a Mac? Answer: He tells you!
Keith Barrow wrote:
Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports.
GDIAF... i'm using 5 ...
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}`Cough cough[^] :) that was in the "cons" list
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
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I'm referring to the most current version. I seem to recall is was the default several versions ago.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
I'm using Yosemite but hardly use USB sticks these days.. (yeah, I like the cloud too :laugh:) I remember seeing it last time I used a USB stick, odd if they've made it a setting though - that wouldn't make sense to disable it.. how are you supposed to unmount the drive?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
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`Cough cough[^] :) that was in the "cons" list
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
:-O I GDIAF then :suss:
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
} -
Rage wrote:
Plus the desktop had many icons on it
Which, to me, is a terrible thing to do.
Rage wrote:
Yeah, make the obvious hidden by default
Yeah, looking at the preferences wasn't obvious at all. :rolleyes:
Rage wrote:
Intuitive seems to be a concept, then.
Nobody is claiming that Apple is perfect but it helps to at least have an open mind when using something new. Sheesh! Were you one of those guys that screamed and whined when Windows 95 came out because it was soooo much different than Windows 3.1?
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
Mike Mullikin wrote:
eah, looking at the preferences wasn't obvious at all.
Looking at the preferences to make it possible accessing the content of a USB key with the what-should-be a file explorer ?? Really ?
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Nobody is claiming that Apple is perfect
I do not want them to be perfect. I was only expecting a bit more for a device that costs about 4x more than its equivalent in the PC world. Apple braggs about everything being simple and shiny, well, in my experience it was far from being that. All I wanted was to download some file to a USB disk, and it took me 10 minutes. Never again.
-
Surprisingly, I'm largely over the "who moved my cheese?" phase. It's a bit of a mixed bag:
Pros
- Very stable
- Very light - went home without the beast like Dell for the first time last night and had to check I'd actually packed the machine. This is a biggie
- Some of the OS well thought through, it's pretty similar to Ubuntu's GUI TBH. Some processes are very smooth
- Bootup time, compared to win7 at least is insane
Cons
- Finder - a sort of windows file explorer-cum-search. Makes it unnecessarily difficult to perform basic tasks- can copy but not cut. Rename is insane - need to go to the "Get Info" popup and do it there, from the people who criticised MS for putting shut down in the start menu. No real sense of where you are in the file system - I want to be able to navigate a path. Sometimes I've dropped into a terminal because its easier
- Had to learn a silly amount of keyboard shortcuts - I'd want to learn most of these anyway to be fair, I know the equivalents in windows, but on for some tasks its quicker to take the hand of the mouse and use the keyboard.
- A keyboard that doesn't have a # (alt-4 on a mac) but does have a key for ± / § is not a keyboard designed for actual use. The physical keyboard is good otherwise
- Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports. But thunderbolt with adapters - they need to be everywhere
I'm doing a lot of screenshot work preparing materials, this typifies my experience. No PrintScreen key, so i've had to learn the shortcut (cmd-shift-4) bad. Instead of printing the screen, I get a selection cursor to choose which area to capture good. The image is saved as a .png to my desktop bad apple, naughty apple, haughty apple - the filename defaults to a date and time, so I need to use either the terminal to move and rename, or scrabble round the UI. I really don't understand what the hype is about - it's OK as a machine, I wouldn't pay that much for one. Using for (mostly JS) dev the experience is similar to working under a *NIX - pretty good, but again I'd rather save the cash and do just that.
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
It is nice, until you start doing something serious with it. It gets job done when the job is simple. But when you start using it for serious work, it really gets in your way. And like all the other Apple products it will make you feel stupid / frustrated with simple tasks even if you are a pro. Yes, the Finder is a bad design. I still remember googling for 'How to rename a file in Mac' (there is no option in Edit menu also :omg: ), 'How to do a slideshow in Mac', 'How to open a file using Keyboard in Mac' and few other embarrassing searches, and it was really simple but not-intuitive (take that Apple) like press Enter (rename), press Space-bar (slideshow) and press Ctrl + Down Arrow (open). It took me few days to get over the lack of Backspace key, specially when I was coding. And it still annoy me that Mac can read, but can't write to my external HDDs, because they are formatted with NTFS. When you backup/import your Music/Photos with iTunes/iPhoto, you can't find it on the HDD anywhere. Also be gentle/careful with the power adapter, the cable 'will' break (near the power pin) and it will cost you an arm (take a look at its reviews on Apple Store). And be ready for GBs and GBs of updates every few days. Apps will get updated for the latest version of a Mac OS, even if you are using an older version. The Mac App-Store's prices will make you laugh, > $100.00 for Apps that does so much little. So most of the negatives are due to the awful Mac OS and not because of Mac (They know hardware but don't know software, opposite of Microsoft), if you install Windows on it. It will be very useful. ;P On the positive side: I really like the portability, track-pad, keyboard feel, display, long battery life, overall built-quality and other people's oh wow expressions (which, I will never understand why).
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
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How do u know someone is using a Mac? Answer: He tells you!
Keith Barrow wrote:
Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports.
GDIAF... i'm using 5 ...
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}HobbyProggy wrote:
How do u know someone is using a Mac? Answer: He tells you!
Yep, just like LGBT people. Straight people don't feel it is necessary to tell you they are straight. Just like Windows' users don't feel it necessary to tell you they use Windows, but Mac users do. I guess Mac users are LGBT people. :laugh: :laugh: Runs and hides from P.C. police.
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Rage wrote:
Plus the desktop had many icons on it
Which, to me, is a terrible thing to do.
Rage wrote:
Yeah, make the obvious hidden by default
Yeah, looking at the preferences wasn't obvious at all. :rolleyes:
Rage wrote:
Intuitive seems to be a concept, then.
Nobody is claiming that Apple is perfect but it helps to at least have an open mind when using something new. Sheesh! Were you one of those guys that screamed and whined when Windows 95 came out because it was soooo much different than Windows 3.1?
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
-
Mike Mullikin wrote:
it helps to at least have an open mind when using something new
:thumbsup: Exactamundo!
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
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A couple of tips.. * Renaming - just press enter on the file or folder you want to rename. * Cut - If you open finder, then either do CMD-T or CMD-N (that'll bring up another tab or window) you can drag your file/folder from one place to another) * Navigation - if you show the status bar on the bottom of the finder window (it's a setting you can access from the UI) it'll show you the full path. You can go up a level in the hierarchy by holding CMD and pressing the up arrow key. I'm a .NET developer (since 2005 - C, C++ and many others before that) and it really feels like a major step backwards using a Windows 8.1 machine these days. Visual Studio is great but it's now the only application I use that I need a PC for. I don't know if you use an iPad and/or iPhone but along with the Mac? They works extremely well together. After just over 2 years of using a Mac, my Mac is the device of choice for me for everyday use. I used to whine on about Apple devices years ago, but now accept I was wrong. Give it time, put the effort in to get to know the machine and you'll end up loving it, I'm sure :)
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
Cheer for this - I'm in the weird position of liking keyboard shortcuts, but resenting the fact that I'm being forced to at the moment - especially given the how Mac OSs are pitched on usability. Time will tell if I come round to it all a bit further.
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
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Cheer for this - I'm in the weird position of liking keyboard shortcuts, but resenting the fact that I'm being forced to at the moment - especially given the how Mac OSs are pitched on usability. Time will tell if I come round to it all a bit further.
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
Back on the Mac now.. just checked the navigation path bar bit, it's enabled when in Finder from View -> Show Path Bar :) I think the change from Windows to OS X can be jarring, especially around the keyboard shortcuts. There are a lot of them (I'm still finding out about new ones every few weeks) but the good news is that a lot of them work consistently across most applications. You can still do everything with the mouse, but once you've picked up a few shortcuts things really start to fly. Personally, I really love the MacBook's trackpad - the gestures work brilliantly for me, really making things quick when I've got apps open on multiple desktops. I can't help thinking why hasn't Microsoft added multiple desktops to Windows - OS X and Linux have had them for ages and it seems more sensible than trying to fit a dozen windows onto a single screen? :)
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
-
I'm using Yosemite but hardly use USB sticks these days.. (yeah, I like the cloud too :laugh:) I remember seeing it last time I used a USB stick, odd if they've made it a setting though - that wouldn't make sense to disable it.. how are you supposed to unmount the drive?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
Brent Jenkins wrote:
I remember seeing it last time I used a USB stick, odd if they've made it a setting though
I'm not sure how it transitioned through updates vs. fresh installs. I'm also going on memory since my Mac is at home and I'm at work (Win 7).
Brent Jenkins wrote:
how are you supposed to unmount the drive?
Maybe through the drive shortcut that pops up on the desktop.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
-
Mike Mullikin wrote:
eah, looking at the preferences wasn't obvious at all.
Looking at the preferences to make it possible accessing the content of a USB key with the what-should-be a file explorer ?? Really ?
Mike Mullikin wrote:
Nobody is claiming that Apple is perfect
I do not want them to be perfect. I was only expecting a bit more for a device that costs about 4x more than its equivalent in the PC world. Apple braggs about everything being simple and shiny, well, in my experience it was far from being that. All I wanted was to download some file to a USB disk, and it took me 10 minutes. Never again.
Rage wrote:
a device that costs about 4x more than its equivalent in the PC world
:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: Not where I live. In the US there might be a 10-15% premium for Mac's versus Dell/HP/Lenovo when comparing "equivalent" products. That's a premium I'm willing to pay for the benefits I see.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.
-
Surprisingly, I'm largely over the "who moved my cheese?" phase. It's a bit of a mixed bag:
Pros
- Very stable
- Very light - went home without the beast like Dell for the first time last night and had to check I'd actually packed the machine. This is a biggie
- Some of the OS well thought through, it's pretty similar to Ubuntu's GUI TBH. Some processes are very smooth
- Bootup time, compared to win7 at least is insane
Cons
- Finder - a sort of windows file explorer-cum-search. Makes it unnecessarily difficult to perform basic tasks- can copy but not cut. Rename is insane - need to go to the "Get Info" popup and do it there, from the people who criticised MS for putting shut down in the start menu. No real sense of where you are in the file system - I want to be able to navigate a path. Sometimes I've dropped into a terminal because its easier
- Had to learn a silly amount of keyboard shortcuts - I'd want to learn most of these anyway to be fair, I know the equivalents in windows, but on for some tasks its quicker to take the hand of the mouse and use the keyboard.
- A keyboard that doesn't have a # (alt-4 on a mac) but does have a key for ± / § is not a keyboard designed for actual use. The physical keyboard is good otherwise
- Nobody, in the whole world, will need more than 2 USB ports. But thunderbolt with adapters - they need to be everywhere
I'm doing a lot of screenshot work preparing materials, this typifies my experience. No PrintScreen key, so i've had to learn the shortcut (cmd-shift-4) bad. Instead of printing the screen, I get a selection cursor to choose which area to capture good. The image is saved as a .png to my desktop bad apple, naughty apple, haughty apple - the filename defaults to a date and time, so I need to use either the terminal to move and rename, or scrabble round the UI. I really don't understand what the hype is about - it's OK as a machine, I wouldn't pay that much for one. Using for (mostly JS) dev the experience is similar to working under a *NIX - pretty good, but again I'd rather save the cash and do just that.
KeithBarrow.net[^] - It might not be very good, but at least it is free!
Keith Barrow wrote:
who moved my cheese?
I went through that back in 1998 when I switched from OS 7.5.5 (on a Powermac 6100) to Win98. I haven't looked back since! I do remember 'Finder' from those days as it tended to crash often. :laugh: :laugh: Great times!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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It is nice, until you start doing something serious with it. It gets job done when the job is simple. But when you start using it for serious work, it really gets in your way. And like all the other Apple products it will make you feel stupid / frustrated with simple tasks even if you are a pro. Yes, the Finder is a bad design. I still remember googling for 'How to rename a file in Mac' (there is no option in Edit menu also :omg: ), 'How to do a slideshow in Mac', 'How to open a file using Keyboard in Mac' and few other embarrassing searches, and it was really simple but not-intuitive (take that Apple) like press Enter (rename), press Space-bar (slideshow) and press Ctrl + Down Arrow (open). It took me few days to get over the lack of Backspace key, specially when I was coding. And it still annoy me that Mac can read, but can't write to my external HDDs, because they are formatted with NTFS. When you backup/import your Music/Photos with iTunes/iPhoto, you can't find it on the HDD anywhere. Also be gentle/careful with the power adapter, the cable 'will' break (near the power pin) and it will cost you an arm (take a look at its reviews on Apple Store). And be ready for GBs and GBs of updates every few days. Apps will get updated for the latest version of a Mac OS, even if you are using an older version. The Mac App-Store's prices will make you laugh, > $100.00 for Apps that does so much little. So most of the negatives are due to the awful Mac OS and not because of Mac (They know hardware but don't know software, opposite of Microsoft), if you install Windows on it. It will be very useful. ;P On the positive side: I really like the portability, track-pad, keyboard feel, display, long battery life, overall built-quality and other people's oh wow expressions (which, I will never understand why).
Remind Me This - Manage, Collaborate and Execute your Project in the Cloud
Rutvik Dave wrote:
It is nice, until you start doing something serious with it. It gets job done when the job is simple. But when you start using it for serious work, it really gets in your way. And like all the other Apple products it will make you feel stupid / frustrated with simple tasks even if you are a pro.
Can you give a few examples of the "serious" work that you do so easily on a Windows PC that is so difficult on a Mac? This is an honest question. I've seen a few others make the same general claim and I'll be damned if I can't think of any work I do in Windows that isn't similarly easy or hard on my Mac. Makes me wonder what others are doing that I'm not.
Contrary to popular belief, nobody owes you anything.