OS X Annoyances

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Hi Guys,

I switched to Mac about 6 months ago, and I'm absolutely loving it. It's so slick and fast and easy to use - just what I'm after in an OS. There are just a few niggling things which I'm hoping to find a solution or at least a workaround for. It'd be great to hear your suggestions!

1. How do you hide all windows? Not like the expose way, that doesn't allow you full desktop freedom

2. Can I set the mail app to be open all the time? I want it to act like the mail app on my iphone, and always push through emails when I receive them, but not have to worry about making sure it's open all the time.

3. Why doesn't OS X delete apps properly? Leaving little bits and pieces left on my mac after deletion. I don't want to have to download a third party app to delete apps properly. Is there anything to be concerned about just dragging apps into the trash?

I think that's all... I'll update if I remember anything else.

Cheers guys!
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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Hi Guys,

I switched to Mac about 6 months ago, and I'm absolutely loving it. It's so slick and fast and easy to use - just what I'm after in an OS. There are just a few niggling things which I'm hoping to find a solution or at least a workaround for. It'd be great to hear your suggestions!

1. How do you hide all windows? Not like the expose way, that doesn't allow you full desktop freedom

2. Can I set the mail app to be open all the time? I want it to act like the mail app on my iphone, and always push through emails when I receive them, but not have to worry about making sure it's open all the time.

3. Why doesn't OS X delete apps properly? Leaving little bits and pieces left on my mac after deletion. I don't want to have to download a third party app to delete apps properly. Is there anything to be concerned about just dragging apps into the trash?

I think that's all... I'll update if I remember anything else.

Cheers guys!

Hi. Here's a few brief answers/comments.

1. You could do a 4 finger swipe up on the trackpad - which hides all the open windows, or use spaces - and then a cntrl + arrow key will take you to a clean space.

2. You can set your Mail application to load upon startup.

3. Dragging apps to trash is usually sufficient. If the application came with an uninstaller, you can use that. Unless you really hate having a 4kB .plist text file on your drive, there isn't really much left behind, and certainly nothing to worry about. If you're really anal about that then using an uninstaller will put your mind at ease.
 
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Hi. Here's a few brief answers/comments.

1. You could do a 4 finger swipe up on the trackpad - which hides all the open windows, or use spaces - and then a cntrl + arrow key will take you to a clean space.

2. You can set your Mail application to load upon startup.

3. Dragging apps to trash is usually sufficient. If the application came with an uninstaller, you can use that. Unless you really hate having a 4kB .plist text file on your drive, there isn't really much left behind, and certainly nothing to worry about. If you're really anal about that then using an uninstaller will put your mind at ease.

Thanks for the reply! Good to hear about the uninstall process. 4kb files are fine. It's not like they're going to fill up my 2TB HDD or anything! And as long as they're out of sight, then they're out of mind!

Mail on startup is ok... I'm doing that already, but it's got the little running indicator, which gets to me, and it can be closed to easily... guess I'm in the habit of pressing command+q. I'd like an option more like iOS mail app. Know Any alternatives?

And 4 finger swipe up is good for quick jobs, but if i want to do some more extensive modifying, or transferring files between the desktop and other apps... well, maybe I should just use Finder more. But I mean the desktop is there for something right? But I don't like the way the apps all go to the sides of the screen and bounce back to view when you do certain things. I just want them all to go away! :p

Any
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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Give Spaces a try - you can keep a squeaky clean desktop on one of them and switch to it anytime you like. How would you do this in Windows? I'm curious?
 

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Only way I know is 'option command H' - that will minimize (hide) all windows except the one in focus, you then have to minimize that one.

Have heard bettertouchtool has an option for minimizing all, along with a ton of other stuff.

(In windows you just click the Show Desktop shortcut sitting the quick launch tool bar.)
 
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. guess I'm in the habit of pressing command+q. I'd like an option more like iOS mail app. Know Any alternatives?

The alternative is to stop hitting command+q, that's quit in every OS X app. If you just want to close a window hit command+w instead.
 
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AppTrap is a good way to get the little leftovers when you drag an app to the trash

AppTrap
 

cwa107


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(In windows you just click the Show Desktop shortcut sitting the quick launch tool bar.)

I like Windows-M, minimizes all windows nearly instantly. The Show Desktop button is great, but it's not always accessible, depending on how the machine is configured.

On the Mac, I have a hot corner that hides all windows with Expose - but I know what the OP is saying, they don't completely disappear. I mean, if you just need to flip back to the Finder to do some file manipulation, it's good enough, but not always as nice as being able to instantly minimize everything.
 
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Doesn't Cmd-Option-M do the same as Windows-M? I wouldn't get used to minimizing windows, there have been all kinds of complaints with Mission Control in Lion not supporting them.
 

cwa107


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Doesn't Cmd-Option-M do the same as Windows-M? I wouldn't get used to minimizing windows, there have been all kinds of complaints with Mission Control in Lion not supporting them.

I don't believe so. When I do it, it just minimizes the foreground window.
 

BrianLachoreVPI


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(In windows you just click the Show Desktop shortcut sitting the quick launch tool bar.)

Is it too late for me to withdraw that comment - sheesh. :Blushing:
 

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How do you hide all windows? Not like the expose way, that doesn't allow you full desktop freedom

Give Spaces a try - you can keep a squeaky clean desktop on one of them and switch to it anytime you like. How would you do this in Windows? I'm curious?
This is your best bet. There is no "minimize all windows" function in OS X so give that solution a go. There's also this little app - looks kind of old but may be worth checking out.
 
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Look here. Maybe you can find what you want or may ber some things you didn't know you wanted:

Keyboard shortcuts - Mac Guides

I have an application called Warp which i think is now part of Lion, while allows me to move between the spaces by moving the cursor to the sides and top and bottom. I have separate aplications in each space so things don't get to crowded in anyone one. For example, I like taking songs out of little movies, and I use Wiretap for that, but its on the same space as VLC.
 
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The windows hotkey for "Show Desktop" that hides all apps is WinKey+D. To get something similar I just hide the windows I'm not using Cmd+H.
 

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