A Windows guru spends two weeks with a Mac
I've been on the front lines of the Mac-PC war for as long as I can remember. My first work computer was an IBM PC with an 8088 CPU. I liked it so much I forked out the money to buy my own machine: an IBM PC XT clone running an 8086 chip, and bulging with 640KB of RAM and a whopping 20MB hard disk.
[ For more on the Mac-PC decision, see: Which is Better For Your Business—a Mac or a PC? ]
Since then, I've written dozens of books and hundreds or thousands of articles, columns and blogs about PCs and Windows. Along the way, I've earned the unending enmity of plenty of Mac folks. At one point several years ago, I was targeted by hundreds of Mac fans in an e-mail barrage because I used to write a column about shareware that covered only PC software and ignored the Mac. More recently on my Computerworld Windows blog, I've been called various schoolyard epithets when I've written anything remotely critical about Macs or people who use them.
So it was with more than a little trepidation that I accepted a new assignment from my editor (sort of a follow-up to my article "Living free with Linux: 2 weeks without Windows") to give up my PC and try living for two weeks on the Mac. Talk about sleeping with the enemy!
I asked for a laptop rather than a desktop, and what showed up on my front door about a week later was the latest MacBook Air, with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 1.83 GHz, 2GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeoForce 9400M graphics processor and a 128GB solid-state hard disk. It sported a 13.3-in. screen and weighed in at a very svelte 3 pounds. And so began my journey with a Mac.
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Proof-reading?
I thought professional journalist proof-read their articles before publishing. This article is full of typos.this guy is an idiot
I mean come on... he couldn't get used to minimizing a screen and having it's menu bar still active even though he was looking at a new window? how the heck did he minimize? If he did the Mac version of alt tab, it would immediately activate the new window and the corresponding menu bar. If you click to minimize a window, just click the window you want, like in using expose.. tada no issue! how can a tech writer have such trouble with this ridiculously seamless process?No doubt it does take about two weeks to get up to full speed on a mac os, but once you transition, you'll dread going back to START... which five panes over typically freezes for about five seconds... so many benefits of OS were overlooked, This was a very stealthy way to leave a reader with the impression that it's just too challenging to pic up...
I mean if a Tech writer from 1984 couldn't find a menu bar, how will I ever manage?????
give me a break man.
It gets even better...
I'm also moving to Mac after many years of Windows. Some comments:Command-Tab is useful, but so is Command-Tilde (windows of a
single app). Also, Command-Shift-Tab cycles in the opposite
order (like Alt-Shift-Tab in Windows). Also, while still
holding Command after hitting Command-Tab, Command-Tilde
cycles in the opposite direction.
Find router's IP address via:
System Preferences | Network | Advanced... | TCP/IP
No need to look in the manual or at the router vendor's Web site.
Netgear default is 192.168.0.1
I agree that the disk images appearing on the desktop was confusing
at first, but the reason the installs were so easy was really because
there was so much LESS to do than in Windows. There really is no
install other than dragging the app to the Applications folder in the
little window that pops up showing a picture of you doing that.
No registry updates, no shared DLLs, no adverse impact on other
apps, no need for an "uninstall", just delete from the Applications
folder. Nice!
The apps in the Applications folder are the first things found by
Spotlight, and can be browsed easily via Finder, where they are a
top level "Place" in the left nav bar. Very easy to find, once you
know about either Spotlight or Finder. Just as installed Windows
apps are very easy to find once you know about the Start Menu's
"All Programs" button.
I agree that having the menu bar separate from the window is
disconcerting, especially when the window is minimized. Takes some
getting used to.
I agree the laptop keyboard should have Home and End like the external
USB keyboard does. Also, PageUp and PageDown. My fingers really miss
them. However, at least they are all available as Fn-Left, Fn-Right,
Fn-Up, Fn-Down. Or use an external keyboard -- the Mac one or your
favorite old USB keyboard from your PC.
You don't need DoubleCommand to swap the Option and Command keys. Use:
System Preferences | Keyboard & Mouse | Keyboard | Modifier Keys...
You said Option-Space for right-click. Did you mean Control-Click?
That works on all the Macs I've tried for years. Also, on my new
MacBook Pro, I configured the bottom right corner of the trackpad to be
right-click via:
System Preferences | Trackpad | Secondary Click = Bottom Right Corner
If you prefer not to have to hold Fn while hitting F8 and other function
keys:
System Preferences | Keyboard & Mouse | Keyboard
| Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.