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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
Newbie help using Apple Computers and macOS
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<blockquote data-quote="aOf8T3OD4AO" data-source="post: 1858086" data-attributes="member: 369625"><p>To put the current situation in context, Macs once were easy and simple. No more.</p><p></p><p>I've been using them since the first Mac in 1984 and I've been a documentation contractor for Apple in the 80s and 90s beginning with paper, then the first online documentation. At first, very little choice of what one could do, basically MacWrite and MacPaint came with the computer and there were few system options to get involved with. So, no distraction glitz.</p><p></p><p>At the time, the <strong>first</strong> consumer GUI. So—open the box, use a paper pamphlet about how to connect mouse and power cord, turn on, how to insert a disk with an app. The OS and both apps were on a single 128k floppy.</p><p></p><p>There was a User Guide giving orientation to the Finder and the mouse. I read it. There were user guides to MacWrite (142pp) and MacPaint (32pp). I read the first few pages of each and was immediately able to begin writing something I had been working on. MacPaint was a stroke of genius, it was for fun, playing with it, just doing things, making mistakes, erasing them, no serious goal to reach. Playing with it was addictive, so one learned the fine points of using a mouse, selecting, changing tools, how the interface worked, etc. all without a serious "tutorial."</p><p></p><p>The mouse just worked. It didn't have settings like the trackpad on a new Mac. As the Mac evolved: from one to two floppy drives, to external; then internal hard drives; to boxes with external monitors; to ever-increasing memory; from wired to wireless connections, and so forth, more and more became taken for granted as already known and experienced. </p><p></p><p>The increased capability—and complexity—have advantages and disadvantages. </p><p></p><p>Regarding complexity, Picasso could pick up a stick and draw beautiful images in the sand at a beach. I can't.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aOf8T3OD4AO, post: 1858086, member: 369625"] To put the current situation in context, Macs once were easy and simple. No more. I've been using them since the first Mac in 1984 and I've been a documentation contractor for Apple in the 80s and 90s beginning with paper, then the first online documentation. At first, very little choice of what one could do, basically MacWrite and MacPaint came with the computer and there were few system options to get involved with. So, no distraction glitz. At the time, the [B]first[/B] consumer GUI. So—open the box, use a paper pamphlet about how to connect mouse and power cord, turn on, how to insert a disk with an app. The OS and both apps were on a single 128k floppy. There was a User Guide giving orientation to the Finder and the mouse. I read it. There were user guides to MacWrite (142pp) and MacPaint (32pp). I read the first few pages of each and was immediately able to begin writing something I had been working on. MacPaint was a stroke of genius, it was for fun, playing with it, just doing things, making mistakes, erasing them, no serious goal to reach. Playing with it was addictive, so one learned the fine points of using a mouse, selecting, changing tools, how the interface worked, etc. all without a serious "tutorial." The mouse just worked. It didn't have settings like the trackpad on a new Mac. As the Mac evolved: from one to two floppy drives, to external; then internal hard drives; to boxes with external monitors; to ever-increasing memory; from wired to wireless connections, and so forth, more and more became taken for granted as already known and experienced. The increased capability—and complexity—have advantages and disadvantages. Regarding complexity, Picasso could pick up a stick and draw beautiful images in the sand at a beach. I can't. [/QUOTE]
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