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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
New user, First macbook pro
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<blockquote data-quote="walkerj" data-source="post: 909864" data-attributes="member: 9385"><p>Lots of good links placed here, but if you are wanting a good experience, you will as a long time windows user need to discard the quirky knowledge you've acquired using Windows. Mac OS X is not windows (and is in fact UNIX with a really slick GUI) so you need to 'give in' so to speak to the Mac way of doing things. What you will find that are common for former Windows users are:</p><p></p><p>There is no 'cut' for files in Finder. This is by design. It is safer to copy files over to where you want them then delete (move to trash) once you know they are safely where you want them.</p><p></p><p>The Dock is not the Taskbar. You put (in addition to what is already there) what you want and usually use in the Dock and use it to launch common applications that you'll use most, uh, commonly.</p><p></p><p>The green button that looks similar to the 'maximize' button in app windows does not maximize. It enlarges the app window to the size necessary to display the content, whatever that might be. Mac OS X assumes that you will be multi-tasking, and therefore you will not want anything to take over your desktop completely. This is a difficult thing for people to get coming from Windows for some reason.</p><p></p><p>That 'just works' thing is mostly true. If you plug in an external drive it just figures out what it is and 'mounts' it to your desktop. You do need to remember to 'eject' it before you unplug it, but otherwise it plays nicely with external media. This applies to CD's, DVD's, jump drives, SD cards, and all that. Just remember to eject them before disconnecting. This applies also to external monitors (with the exception that you can just unplug external monitors without 'ejecting' them; the monitor is either connected or not and Mac OS X acts accordingly depending on what's connected.) </p><p></p><p>Applications are installed by drag/drop, uninstalled by moving them to the trash. There are few apps that use 'installers'. Some do, but most are all-inclusive packages that, while they look like a single icon really consist of the whole package of things the app needs to run without laying out pieces of itself in other places you might need to clean up later.</p><p></p><p>Coming from Windows (and to an extent, traditional UNIXes/Linux) things are more 'think simple'. If there is something you ponder about how to do on Mac OS X, chances are it's the simplest way you could possibly think to do it. For example how do you burn a CD? You insert the blank CD and it shows up on your desktop as a blank CD. Drag the files you wish to burn to it. Once your done doing that double click it to open it. There will be a button that says 'Burn'. Click that and it will burn the CD for you. Simple as that. Don't want to burn certain files to that CD/DVD? Drag them to the trash.</p><p></p><p>I could go on, but I won't. I switched in 2005 and haven't looked back after using Windows/Linux/UNIX for 20+ years. The Mac of today (and note that I say 'today', not previous incarnations of what Apple called a Mac) is the most pleasant, easy to use, and intuitive computers I have ever experienced. And yes it is an experience. Why do you think I hang out in a forum like this for as long as I have? Also I tend to make long posts but that's just me. Follow the rule of 'It's not Windows' and you'll be golden.</p><p></p><p>Good luck with your quest for pleasant computing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="walkerj, post: 909864, member: 9385"] Lots of good links placed here, but if you are wanting a good experience, you will as a long time windows user need to discard the quirky knowledge you've acquired using Windows. Mac OS X is not windows (and is in fact UNIX with a really slick GUI) so you need to 'give in' so to speak to the Mac way of doing things. What you will find that are common for former Windows users are: There is no 'cut' for files in Finder. This is by design. It is safer to copy files over to where you want them then delete (move to trash) once you know they are safely where you want them. The Dock is not the Taskbar. You put (in addition to what is already there) what you want and usually use in the Dock and use it to launch common applications that you'll use most, uh, commonly. The green button that looks similar to the 'maximize' button in app windows does not maximize. It enlarges the app window to the size necessary to display the content, whatever that might be. Mac OS X assumes that you will be multi-tasking, and therefore you will not want anything to take over your desktop completely. This is a difficult thing for people to get coming from Windows for some reason. That 'just works' thing is mostly true. If you plug in an external drive it just figures out what it is and 'mounts' it to your desktop. You do need to remember to 'eject' it before you unplug it, but otherwise it plays nicely with external media. This applies to CD's, DVD's, jump drives, SD cards, and all that. Just remember to eject them before disconnecting. This applies also to external monitors (with the exception that you can just unplug external monitors without 'ejecting' them; the monitor is either connected or not and Mac OS X acts accordingly depending on what's connected.) Applications are installed by drag/drop, uninstalled by moving them to the trash. There are few apps that use 'installers'. Some do, but most are all-inclusive packages that, while they look like a single icon really consist of the whole package of things the app needs to run without laying out pieces of itself in other places you might need to clean up later. Coming from Windows (and to an extent, traditional UNIXes/Linux) things are more 'think simple'. If there is something you ponder about how to do on Mac OS X, chances are it's the simplest way you could possibly think to do it. For example how do you burn a CD? You insert the blank CD and it shows up on your desktop as a blank CD. Drag the files you wish to burn to it. Once your done doing that double click it to open it. There will be a button that says 'Burn'. Click that and it will burn the CD for you. Simple as that. Don't want to burn certain files to that CD/DVD? Drag them to the trash. I could go on, but I won't. I switched in 2005 and haven't looked back after using Windows/Linux/UNIX for 20+ years. The Mac of today (and note that I say 'today', not previous incarnations of what Apple called a Mac) is the most pleasant, easy to use, and intuitive computers I have ever experienced. And yes it is an experience. Why do you think I hang out in a forum like this for as long as I have? Also I tend to make long posts but that's just me. Follow the rule of 'It's not Windows' and you'll be golden. Good luck with your quest for pleasant computing. [/QUOTE]
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New user, First macbook pro
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