Since the author appears pretty savvy, I recommend trying out https://www.hammerspoon.org/ and writing a little bit of lua to customize his mac experience. Can even install it as a Homebrew cask
Impressions from a first-time Mac user
21–30 of 756 posts
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#22"In summary, macOS does not behave like Windows or Linux."
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#23The author makes a big deal of lack of snapping. Frankly I've never seen the utility of it on OSs that do have it, infact I've always felt it more of a hinderance than a help (gets in the way, tries to snap when you don't want it to). The author makes a big deal that you have to do Command+Tab to switch applications, and then Command+` to cycle between windows in that application. Well, frankly I think thats the bett…
> The author makes a big deal of lack of snapping. Frankly I've never seen the utility of it on OS's that do have it, infact I've always felt it more of a hinderance than a help (gets in the way, tries to snap when you don't want it to).
It may be useful for users of large external monitors, allowing to make better use of the screen real estate. Then again, Macos lacks per-application menu bars, which means you cannot do a lot of tasks without focusing the app first, so IMHO lack of snapping/advanced windows management is not as big as a deal as it would be under Windows.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#24I totally get the window switching thing, especially if one of the windows is minimized. In that case, hovering over the window using Cmd + Tab will not open the window. You have to press Option while simultaneously letting go of the Cmd key.
The only other major thing is how terrible Finder is out of the box. There are ways to make it less terrible, but it's still far less than ideal in usability.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#25>you use what they give you, how they give it to you, using their workflows, barely customizing anything. Apple products are supposed to be revered the world over as the pinnacle of design, used by artists, engineers, professionals, and creators. Why do I feel like there are training wheels on a machine I use for productivity? Gosh, this is exactly how I felt in a similar situation. Really hit the nail on the head. I…
system76? sounds cool can it run excel and apple music?
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#26As a decades long Mac user, all these points are fair and worth reading.
Apple, hope you’re paying attention.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#27i used to be totally fine with the macOS desktop manager experience.
then i went in hard on i3.
now, macOS feels ungainly.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#28> Package management
This always floors me when I have to use a non-Linux computer. The difference between package management on Linux and other OSes is shocking. Dnf, Yum, Pacman are all so convenient and straightforward.
I can't understand why Windows and MacOS don't have anything official that fills this gap.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#29This is a story as old as time. When you’re used to something else the change hurts. I have found it far better to not bring your mental baggage with you and meet the new platform as its level rather than try and make it the same as the old one. I have gone MOS > RiscOS > WinNT -> Solaris -> Linux -> Win7 -> macOS and it hurt every time.
Indeed, and the change that hurts me when I try to use a Mac is the fact that there are things that I can't change. I prefer focus-follows-mouse and no-raise on-focus, and those are apparently structurally impossible in macOS.
"I can't change it to work the way I like it" is a totally legitimate complaint and Linux has a strong advantage in this regard.
Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user
#30Someone needs to tell him about option-click on the maximize button. Most of these "rants" really just amount to: "this different OS doesn't work exactly the same way as the OS I am used to." That's why 3rd party utilities exist to give you the functionality you wish to have. That formula cuts both ways.
This is Apple UX in a nutshell. Hidden power tools are not intuitive.