Windows Skin for MacBook Pro

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Hello,

I have seen posts asking about this already but they were from 3-4 years ago (that I saw anyway) so I wanted to ask again. I just accepted a new job and the company is an all Mac environment. I am now the new owner of a MacBook Pro, which is great!!....except I am a lifelong Windows user.:\ I'm NOT trolling, Mac's are great I would just prefer if possible to skin the Mac OS GUI to work like Windows so that I don't have learn all of the idiosyncrosies of the Mac and can just start working. Is there anyway to do this? I don't do any heavy graphics work, we are a consulting firm and use the Microsoft Office suite so I really just need it to do normal PC stuff.

If I'm stuck with having to learn the Mac way I'll do it, it would just be faster for me if I could do things the way I have been doing them the last 20 years. Thank you for your patience and help.
 

pigoo3

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Can you be more specific. What is it you would like to "Work like Windows"?

- Nick
 
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Can you be more specific. What is it you would like to "Work like Windows"?

- Nick

Actually most things, but specifically file structure and naming, moving and sharing data files, saving of documents with new names, etc. I had to download a bunch of company files to my Mac from a hard drive and it took me 15 minutes just to figure our how to make a folder to accept them. Now I have a folder with the files but they are on my desktop, not in a folder on my drive so that I can keep my desktop clean. I want a file folder menu so that I can quickly find the exact folder and file I'm looking for....

I know that the Mac will have it's own way to do this but to a non Mac person everything is just...well, weird. :)

Shawn
 
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Shawn, I want to make a serious suggestion to you. You just accepted a job with a company that is all Mac, and you have a Mac, presumably from them. I strongly urge you to learn the Mac way of things instead of trying to force OS X or macOS, whichever you have, to work like Windows. It simply won't, and you'll be frustrated all the time. Since you work for the company, you should learn the company way of doing things. You do want to appear to be a team player and to be working WITH the company instead of AGAINST it.

As for the folder on your Desktop, to move it to your home folder, open Finder (the little blue icon on the left of the Dock) and on the left column you'll see one icon that looks like a house. That is your "Home" folder where you should keep your documents. You "own" that folder and no one else should be able to get in there but you, under normal circumstances. Now drag and drop your folder from the Desktop onto that house icon and the folder and contents will now be in your HOME folder. As for a "file folder menu" that is what Finder is for, and it should default to your home folder when it is opened from the Dock.
 
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It's not really about doing it the company way, as I work remotely and what they want is the work product not necessarily how it's produced, but your point is valid. I was only hoping to find a way to shorten up the learning curve of the new (to me) operating system so that I could focus on producing the work itself which is brand agnostic. Sounds like that is not an option so I'll just have to figure it out. Thank you for the help, I appreciate it.
 

Raz0rEdge

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What you are looking for is NOT a skin, but rather to run Windows on your Mac. This is something the Mac can do no problem by using Boot Camp. However, you will need to purchase a copy of Windows and Office to go along with it. In the end, if you are more comfortable with Windows, working remotely and don't need a Mac for any specific work, just tell the company to buy you a Windows PC and return the Mac to them.
 

pigoo3

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Thanks for mentioning that Ashwin. To me a "skin" (in this case) is something that makes the Mac interface look like Windows (purely cosmetic)...but still operates like the Mac OS.

- Nick
 

Raz0rEdge

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Thanks for mentioning that Ashwin. To me a "skin" (in this case) is something that makes the Mac interface look like Windows (purely cosmetic)...but still operates like the Mac OS.

- Nick

Nick, when I think of "Skin", that's what I think of as well. This is very common in the Linux land to make it appear like OS X with icons and so on. But it's a very shallow thing and doesn't in any way change the behavior of Linux. The OP is looking to make OS X behave like Windows which is just not possible especially we bought Macs for OS X and like the way it works..:)
 

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Yes, you can't make things like the file structure operate like a Windows PC by changing the appearance of windows or icons. That would seem to be what you are asking smess4, anything else is cosmetic.

I know it's easy for me to say but the filing system in macOS really is pretty easy to master but make sure you get it right from the start or you will pay later.

Please use the provided folders in the Finder window. This is the key to navigating easily.

Go to Finder preferences under the Finder Menu > General > tick all of the boxes and make new finder windows open your Home folder rather than All My Files..
Next go to the Sidebar tab and tick everything, now you should be able to access anything from a Finder window.

I strongly suggest you have a backup, preferably a bootable clone using either Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper.

Open System preferences under the Apple Menu and examine the system preference options, for example the Dock Preferences. Hiding it gives you more real estate.

If you want an app on the dock just drag it from the applications folder to the dock, to remove it right click it for its menu or just drag it to the middle of an empty desktop and let go.

Right click on the desktop and examine the Desktop Display options. This is the key to a useable tidy desktop.

Open the downloads Folder in the Dock, go to Options and unless you like the default display (I hate the Fan display and Stacks) change it to Sort By Date, Display as a Folder and View as a List. While you are there note you can display it in a finder window too. Very handy.

All this will get you started but there are so many tips we can suggest. Remember anything you do can be undone, so experiment, and if need be get back to this forum. We love to help.

Believe me there are no stupid questions here.

The MS Office suite for macOS will at least be familiar but there are some small differences.

In the end I can only say I'm glad for you that the situation is not reversed. If you were a dedicated macOS user who had to change to Windows well....'nuff said.
 
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smess4, note what Rod said, "The MS Office suite for macOS will at least be familiar but there are some small differences." If you use the Mac version and swap documents with co-workers, there should never be any issues. But if you use Windows and the Windows version of Office, you might find occasions where you have used a feature of Office that MS has not included in the Mac version. In that case, your co-workers won't see what you did, or won't be able to open the document successfully because of that feature you used. That possibility of non-compatibility is low, but could cause frustration when it happens. Again, you chose to work for a company that uses Macs exclusively and need to think about "fitting in" as the new guy. Companies don't change their climate to fit one employee, they expect the employee to adapt to the company climate.
 
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As for the folder on your Desktop, to move it to your home folder, open Finder (the little blue icon on the left of the Dock) and on the left column you'll see one icon that looks like a house. That is your "Home" folder where you should keep your documents. You "own" that folder and no one else should be able to get in there but you, under normal circumstances. Now drag and drop your folder from the Desktop onto that house icon and the folder and contents will now be in your HOME folder. As for a "file folder menu" that is what Finder is for, and it should default to your home folder when it is opened from the Dock.
I would open the Home Folder, and drop the new folder into the Documents folder. The above suggestion places that folder at the same "level" as the Documents folder.

The Mac has "spring-loaded folders" meaning that if you drag something to a folder but you really want to drop it into a folder that is inside this folder, you just "hover" for a few seconds, and the folder you are hovering over will open, giving you the option of dropping your item into another folder inside.
 
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True, and you can also open the Home folder, drag and drop the Documents folder to the Sidebar and then you can drag the folders from the desktop to the Documents folder. It's all in how many steps you want to go through to retrieve the documents. THere's more than on way to skin a cat in macOS (although why Apple holds such animosity for felines is beyond me).
 

chscag

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although why Apple holds such animosity for felines is beyond me

C'mon Jake, have we forgotten the love Apple had for the "Big Cats" by naming many of their versions of OS X after them? O:)
 

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