16 years PC, now over to MAC: Help! :)

[Oneironaut]

No justification going on here at all. Of course I'd like to have the ability to cut directly in Finder. However, I never did find it necessary, even in Windows, to be able to resize a window from any edge. It just never occurred to me. The point is that it's all a matter of point of view. Some things you might consider really basic might not be as important to others. Depending on which way you're switching, a feature might seem to either be lacking or it might seem to be something extra. And as long as there is some way to get the functions you want, whether it's on Windows or on OS X, I don't see how this annoyance should become a major problem.

I think it's better to understand this than to say you'd rather give up your Mac just because it isn't working like another operating system, whatever the reason is.

 

[cwa107]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look up that tool you mentioned. No not all players use tag info. But main thing was using the same files on a PC and then I'd have to change the title name twice. Anyway. I'm past that issue. I'll figure it out. Thanks for your help.

I like cutting and pasting too - I've been using FileCutter for quite some time now. Works well.

I also hear ya on the iTunes thing for organizing music. I used to obsess over folder/file names thinking that it was the only way to truly have your music in some coherent structure. But I learned to let go and have the machine do those menial tasks. Once you let iTunes keep your music folder organized and consolidated, I learned that it became one less thing to worry about. I can still find whatever I want instantly with a simple Command+Space and start typing the name or the artist or the album.

I think a lot of us old hats at using PCs (and I go back to the Commodore 64 days) just can't 'let go' of some of those old "best practices". With indexed file systems and instant search capabilities, there really isn't any great need to obsess over file/folder structure. But old habits die hard.

 

[Doug b]

No justification going on here at all.

Oh.. just a Weeeeeeeeee bit. ;D

Of course I'd like to have the ability to cut directly in Finder. However, I never did find it necessary, even in Windows, to be able to resize a window from any edge. It just never occurred to me.

Ya wanna know why it never occurred to you? Because it always came naturally and you never had to think about it. Apple wouldn't be making this change unless they thought it was logical, too. Of course, their reasoning for it must also fit into whatever else they're doing with the GUI refinements and such.

The point is that it's all a matter of point of view. Some things you might consider really basic might not be as important to others.

Ah, glad you said this. Because you're right.. but this has never mattered to Apple or its users as far as I can tell. When Apple feels it's time to change something, or that something must be different, they do so without the consent of their user base.

They also do so knowing that people can and will adjust their "point of view" in order to maintain the position that Apple suits their workflow and personality best, even if it means having to compromise the efficiency of said workflow. After all, you CAN NOT deny that Apple isn't able to represent every user mentality type in its camp. To think otherwise would be admitting that we're robots, and that is just silly as you know.

I don't see how this annoyance should become a major problem.

There's that apologist mentality I was talking about. Interesting that you'd call it an "annoyance" rather than just say something like "something new to learn and a new way to do something". Because sometimes, it's just a matter of something working better than something else. And that's mostly why we all use OS X here, because we feel it works better than Windows.

But that doesn't mean every little thing about it works better, and that's ok to admit. There's a difference between adjusting yourself in order to maintain workflow efficiency, and knowing what works best for you right off the bat. I maintain that it's not JUST a matter of getting used to something, either, because if it was, I'd be just fine with spring loaded folders and cmd+drag/drop. I do it all the time, and I AM used to it. Yet I still recognize that it's nowhere near as efficient as it could be.

I think it's better to understand this than to say you'd rather give up your Mac just because it isn't working like another operating system, whatever the reason is.

Who ever said they were giving up their Mac!? There's only ONE thing that could make me give up my Mac, and I really hope Apple isn't dumb enough to go down this road... With all this talk of application devs making sure that their software keeps up with Lion's new memory/energy saving protocols and such, I fear the worst for vendors who can't comply. Though, in all reality I guess the things I worry about shouldn't affect me, since programs I use such as Lightroom are less processor and RAM intensive than its Aperture counterpart. CS 5 is another story, but it's the most used application suite on OS X for today's graphic/media/web artist etc..

I'm very curious to see how Lion will play out. I just hope that the price of SSD's will be taking a big dive sometime this year.

Doug

 

[Oneironaut]

The original poster said if he had known that he couldn't cut files, he would have been less likely to get a Mac in the first place. I wasn't talking about you giving up your Mac.

I understand that being able to cut files is more efficient. I'm just saying that in the bigger picture, it's not something I would ever want to give up my Mac over, and wouldn't factor into my decision whether to get a Mac at all. In that sense, it is more of an annoyance than a major problem. A major problem is one that would actually cause me to give up OS X. In my opinion of course.

 

[Doug b]

I guess I missed that bit in my flurry of words... My bad. That said, I agree with you, obviously.

Doug

 

[chas_m]

I don't know about everyone else here, but I'm WAY to easily distractible to ever want to have cut/paste for files. I'd cut ... and then something either naked or shiny (or both) would come into my field of vision and that would be the last I ever saw of that file.

For me, copy/paste works great and adds an extra measure of safety. Files are "moved" (not copied) if I'm moving them within the same drive, and copied (not moved) if I'm copying them to a different drive. To me, this makes perfect sense, and it is the Windows way that does not make sense. Just my opinion.

PS. Doug, dude, that line about "Apple changes stuff without the consent of its user base" is the single biggest line of BS I've ever read here. Please do tell me about how a) Microsoft ONLY makes changes with the consent of their user base and b) how they even GET that consent in the first place. PUH-LEASE.

If MS made OS changes based on the "consent of the user base," they'd have brought out Service Pack 28 for Windows 98 as their latest update. I mean, for real, bro.

 

[MacInWin]

You don't seem to understand I want to change the "title" of a song, not the file name (or the tag in iTunes which Chas_m talked about). What you are explaining is not changing the "title" of the song. tried it. Seems it's changing the file name. I know how to change a file name and that's not what I need.

To me it seems it is no way you can change the title of a song inside a file on a mac. If anyone know how to change the TITLE of a song on the saved file on a mac, please let me know.

I'm not sure exactly what you want to change. If it's NOT the filename and if it's NOT the title of a song in the tag, what is it you want to change? In iTunes, the displayed column headed "Name" has in it what is in the tag as "Name" on the "Info" tab. But you rejected that name when chas_m suggested it, so exactly what is it you want to change? How did you make the change you are seeking in Windows?

EDIT: I re-read the original post. The objective seems to be you want to "arrange" your songs by something you call "Title." There is nothing I can find in the tags called "Title" so I don't know where you were doing the re-titling in Windows. However, in iTunes, if you open the tags (Right click on the Name of a song, you can edit the tags through "Get Info." One of the tags is on the "Sorting" tab, where you can assign a Sort Name, Artist, Album Artist, Album, Composer and Show variable. those are then used when you right click on the column header bar and choose what you want to display. So you can show the Sort variables, then sort on them in any way you want. The original data remains as assigned by the recording company. Is that what you want?

Later EDIT: I looked at a Windows version of iTunes. Nothing there named "Title" that I could find. I did find the same Sort variables, but nothing labeled Title. Right clicking on the column header didn't find anything named "Title" on which to sort, either. I think if you could tell us how you used to do in Windows what you want to do now, we might have better luck at figuring out what might work.

 

[Doug b]

I don't know about everyone else here, but I'm WAY to easily distractible to ever want to have cut/paste for files. I'd cut ... and then something either naked or shiny (or both) would come into my field of vision and that would be the last I ever saw of that file.

Sounds like a personal problem to me. But you're in luck.. there are drugs for ADD/ADHD

For me, copy/paste works great and adds an extra measure of safety. Files are "moved" (not copied) if I'm moving them within the same drive, and copied (not moved) if I'm copying them to a different drive. To me, this makes perfect sense, and it is the Windows way that does not make sense. Just my opinion.

Yes Chas, because it would be really difficult to just choose copy, or simply drag a file to another directory instead of cmd+x or right clicking and selecting cut instead of copy. Guess what, you don't HAVE TO choose cut! Whoooah, heavy thinking went into that one ! PUH-Leeze. Lame one C.

PS. Doug, dude, that line about "Apple changes stuff without the consent of its user base" is the single biggest line of BS I've ever read here. Please do tell me about how a) Microsoft ONLY makes changes with the consent of their user base and b) how they even GET that consent in the first place. PUH-LEASE.

If MS made OS changes based on the "consent of the user base," they'd have brought out Service Pack 28 for Windows 98 as their latest update. I mean, for real, bro.

Cool story bro. Except, we're not talking about Microsoft and Windows, are we. No, we're not. So stop comparing the two, I'm not. I'm comparing a feature that is present on multiple operating systems. You can even leave Windows out of the equation if you'd like. And nothing that I said is NOT true. They don't make major changes as according to what their user base wants. They make the changes they want, and we all get on with our day, gradually getting used to said changes. Go ahead and prove me wrong.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

hugs...

Doug

 

[chas_m]

Thanks for making my point -- ALL the operating systems in the world make changes "without the consent of the user base." Yes, even Linux.

So singling out Apple and accusing them of doing it is sort of like singling me out and accusing me of breathing air. Guilty!

 

[magnitude]

How do I show the desktop? Now I click cmd+option+(click on desktop beside the dock). Problem is it's minimizing many of my other windows and I have to re-open them by clicking on the program icon on the doc. I prefer to use F3 (where all the open windows is shown as little windows on the screen and I can click on the window I want on top), but after clicking the cmd+option+(click on desktop beside the dock) many of my open programs is not shown when clicking F3.

Thanks.

 

[pigoo3]

How do I show the desktop? Now I click cmd+option+(click on desktop beside the dock). Problem is it's minimizing many of my other windows and I have to re-open them by clicking on the program icon on the doc. I prefer to use F3 (where all the open windows is shown as little windows on the screen and I can click on the window I want on top), but after clicking the cmd+option+(click on desktop beside the dock) many of my open programs is not shown when clicking F3.

Thanks.

Hopefully I understand your question. If you want to quickly see your desktop without collapsing a bunch of open windows...hit F11. You can also hit F10...to show all windows as "mini-windows" or "preview windows".

HTH,

- Nick

 

[magnitude]

Hopefully I understand your question. If you want to quickly see your desktop without collapsing a bunch of open windows...hit F11. You can also hit F10...to show all windows as "mini-windows" or "preview windows".

HTH,

- Nick

Hey Nick,

Don't think we have the same keyboard. I am using a external keyboard with model no. A1243. This one: Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - Apple Store (U.S.)

If you zoom in you can see that the F11 button is actually "reduce speaker sound", not show desktop.

Could you help me figure out the button on this keyboard which does what I want?

Thanks.

 

[pigoo3]

Hey Nick,

Don't think we have the same keyboard. I am using a external keyboard with model no. A1243. This one: Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - Apple Store (U.S.)

If you zoom in you can see that the F11 button is actually "reduce speaker sound", not show desktop.

Could you help me figure out the button on this keyboard which does what I want?

Thanks.

Yes...our keyboards are different...I'm using a MacBook Pro keyboard. Here's hopefully the solution...you need to press the function key "fn" directly to the right of the "delete" key. Then press "f10" or "f11" as desired.

So it's a two key combo..."fn + F10" or "fn + F11".

Hopefully this works,

- Nick

p.s. I need to do the same thing on my MacBook Pro keyboard...difference is my "fn" key is in a different location.

 

[chas_m]

No pigoo, you and I have the same (old style) keyboard. On the aluminum keyboards, Apple changed the arrangement around (lovely!).

On the new keyboards, it's command-F3 I believe. Your "fn+F11" will also work, I think (don't have one of the newer keyboards to test).

 

[magnitude]

Thanks guys!! Both of you are right. Man I've been using mac for a month without knowing that

 

[Oneironaut]

You could also swipe up on the trackpad with four fingers, and that will reveal move all windows out of the way to reveal the desktop. Swipe down on the trackpad with four fingers to bring your windows back again.

 

[magnitude]

I use external mouse.

 

[pigoo3]

No pigoo, you and I have the same (old style) keyboard. On the aluminum keyboards, Apple changed the arrangement around (lovely!).

On the new keyboards, it's command-F3 I believe. Your "fn+F11" will also work, I think (don't have one of the newer keyboards to test).

Apple loves to change things!

I have a couple of the newer aluminum keyboards laying around...but I don't use them that much (usually on my laptop).

Technically...I don't have to do "fn + f11" since f11 on my 2007 MBP keyboard is a single function key. But I do need to do "fn + f10" to do the "see all open windows" feature...since my f10 key is also my MBP's keyboard brightness up key.

Thanks for the info,

- Nick

 

[Oneironaut]

If you use a mouse, go into System Preferences>Hardware>Mouse and you can assign the middle button (or the outer buttons on a Mighty Mouse) to reveal the desktop. I think you can also assign a Hot Corner to do this function.

 

[magnitude]

When using Microsoft Excel on a PC I can click F2 to edit a cell. On my mac keyboard that only controls the light on the screen. How do I get inside the cell using the keyboard not double clicking with the mouse?