Mission Control Alternatives?

On a PC, when I want to view my desktop, I could usually just hit a button next to my start and it does that instantly.

On a PC, when I want to view one view thing at a time, I could minimize the thing under the explorer (I forget what you call it) and it keeps things organized.

Now on Mac, if I want to view my desktop I have to hover my cursor to the top left hand corner and barely hit that small - button on ALL my browsers/applications to get to see my desktop. That or I need to hit Command - M many times. Any alternatives?

On a Mac, when I want to view that other document, I have to use mission control because for some reason each browser/application/document takes up the whole screen and minmizing and maximizing becomes quit a drag since the - button is so god **** small to click on and putting them on different "desktops" doesn't simplify the problem.

One last question, what exactly does the dashboard do? Because I am used opening new tabs by hitting the scroll on my mouse, but now when I do it, it takes me straight to the blank dashboard.

Thanks

You don't tell us anything about the OS you are using OR the Machine your using it on, but presuming you have Mission control you WILL have what i will suggest.....

What you need to remember THIS ISNT WINDOWS so get out of that way of thinking now. It just won't work for you if you keep thinking that way..

You say you have Mission Control, well you can set that up and more with 'Hot Corners'.
Open System Preference by hitting the  top left then System Preferences. Open Mission Control and bottom left of that window you have 'Hot Corners'.
Now in the pop down window set up your 'Hot Corners'. I have mine as Top Left ~ Mission Control, Top Right ~ Desktop, Bottom Left ~ Launch Pad, and bottom Right ~ Put Display to Sleep.

once you have that done try them out. When you go Top Right with the cursor it SHOULD take all the windows way and show you your full Desktop.......

HTH

Cheers

Dashboard is supposed to be a collection of small applications or accessories that you can open quickly. I'm not sure what you mean by a blank dashboard.

I'd say that it's really of no benefit to state how you did something with Windows. If you could do it with Windows, chances are you can do it with a Mac. But, it's almost guaranteed to be done differently.

And, as alluded to above, it helps to say which Mac you have and what version of the OS you are using.

Are you using a regular mouse or a Magic Mouse/Trackpad? (Sounds like regular mouse from the scroll comment) If you are using anything that recognizes multi-touch gestures - then you can assign whatever you want to a gesture - including show desktop and tab through open windows with an app called better touch tool. There are also default options to show desktop and open App Expose under Apple -> System Preferences -> Trackpad
Great Tools For Your Mac By Andreas Hegenberg » BetterTouchTool, BetterSnapTool & SecondBar
I know a lot of Windows people detest trackpads and I used to be the same way - but after you figure out multi-touch gestures - there is no going back to a regular mouse.

I've also found that logitech and some others provide drivers for their multi-button mice - you could use their setups to assign keys on the mouse to perform actions.

If you want to assign keys to your actions you can go to Apple -> System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard shortcuts and set up hotkeys for what you want to do. You can re-assign shortcuts there as well. You can assign mission control keys for moving around the desktops as well as the documents.

Mission control can help you find various items. Just hover the mouse over an item and hit space-bar - it will zoom that item.