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Impressions from a first-time Mac user

loganmarchione.com

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Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#491

Post by code_biologist »

jamesvandyne wrote: post #481
mastazi wrote: post #469

I think this is a pretty fair article. I'll add one more: in MacOS there is no unified way to get to the beginning or end of a line. In Linux and Windows this is done with the Home and End keys. In Mac, there are some shortcuts but they are not universal, what works in terminal may not work in a browser textarea and so on. Some programs interpret the same shortcut as "go to the very end of the text (as in a PgDown ke…

Cmd-a and Cmd-e work in most/all native controls, no? Really ergonomic once you've remapped caps to cmd as well.

^^^ you mean ctrl-a and ctrl-e? But yes, +100 to the caps lock → ctrl remapping. Trivial to do in the keyboard "modifier keys" setting, and makes emacs text movement extra fast.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#492

Post by _ZeD_ »

I just (couple of weeks ago) received my First Mac, a 2019 MacBook Pro to work with... and I really don't get the "HW good" meme...

The MacBook Pro HW is mediocre, at best.

The body is heavy. Boy, have anyone used and LG gram? But even my other work laptop (a Lenovo) wheight less and feel more balanced.

My model has only the usbc ports.. I don't even have an HDMI one.

My model has the infamous touchbar, and it sucks. A lot. But even the keys... They seems empty, I don't have feedback from them...

And for the ginormous touchpad... I ended using a mouse because that "thing" it's awful to use. I don't give a dime to the gestures... The problem is the lack of feedback! Not a click, a way to understand if you "did" something or not. It was so absurd that I though it was damaged.

I really don't get the "Mac HW is stellar" meme

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#493

Post by code_biologist »

_skel wrote: post #482
mastazi wrote: post #469

I think this is a pretty fair article. I'll add one more: in MacOS there is no unified way to get to the beginning or end of a line. In Linux and Windows this is done with the Home and End keys. In Mac, there are some shortcuts but they are not universal, what works in terminal may not work in a browser textarea and so on. Some programs interpret the same shortcut as "go to the very end of the text (as in a PgDown ke…

Emacs movement keys generally work. Ctrl-A for the start of the line, Ctrl-E for the end, Ctrl-K to kill a line...

> Ctrl-K to kill a line...

The text system also has a basic kill-yank separate from copy paste. So you can Ctrl-K to kill a line, then Ctrl-y to yank it out elsewhere in basically every text input in the OS.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#494

Post by SllX »

kevincox wrote: post #302
SllX wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, I’ll defend the top menubar to the death. Infinite height and top-speed cursor speed makes working with it from the top versus from the window much more efficient for me, and it wastes less pixels (the purpose of high res monitors for me is to use all of the pixels) and gives me a working area on its right side for various utility apps I don’t want taking up space in the Dock (which has enough problems even with…

While I do appreciate those benifits the confusion caused as soon as there are multiple windows on the screen doesn't seem worth it. I have enough trouble managing keyboard focus I don't need to add another layer (which somehow seems even harder for me to comprehend)

It’s just one of those things that if you want to, you can get used to it, but if you resist it you won’t. Like learning Vi or Emacs or BBEdit. There are tools you already learned to use, the Macintosh user interface is just another.

The alternative is what? Apple changes something millions of people are already used to, their existing customer base, to satisfy switchers specifically when most can easily adapt? Or you just don’t use a Macintosh. Now what Apple does need to do is bring proper contrast back and stop wasting everyone’s time with this minimalist nonsense; even the option in the Accessibility options is utter garbage.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#495

Post by godelski »

turbocon wrote: post #490
godelski wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the thing that was hardest for me to learn is navigating the folder systems. Luckily I can use a terminal.

This, I'm not sure why people don't talk about as much but Finder is awful and I've not been able to find a replacement.

Yeah I've been surprised no one cares about this. It is great going forward from your cwd but hard to move back and where is home?

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#497

Post by jamesvandyne »

code_biologist wrote: post #491
jamesvandyne wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cmd-a and Cmd-e work in most/all native controls, no? Really ergonomic once you've remapped caps to cmd as well.

^^^ you mean ctrl-a and ctrl-e? But yes, +100 to the caps lock → ctrl remapping. Trivial to do in the keyboard "modifier keys" setting, and makes emacs text movement extra fast.

That's the one. Thanks for the correction. Forgot my keyboard, which has a ctrl key in place of the caps, so I've stopped mapping it.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#498

Post by chrisoverzero »

_ZeD_ wrote: post #492

I just (couple of weeks ago) received my First Mac, a 2019 MacBook Pro to work with... and I really don't get the "HW good" meme... The MacBook Pro HW is mediocre, at best. The body is heavy . Boy, have anyone used and LG gram? But even my other work laptop (a Lenovo) wheight less and feel more balanced. My model has only the usbc ports.. I don't even have an HDMI one. My model has the infamous touchbar, and it sucks…

> It was so absurd that I though[t] it was damaged.

If you’re not getting haptic feedback, it is damaged.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#499

Post by SPBS »

What a coincidence, everything that the author is complaining about I have an third party application to make up for

- Window management (Magnet)

- Command-tab (Contexts)

I guess this means corporate-enforced macOS (no downloading of unapproved apps) would be a nightmare for users.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#500

Post by nativeit »

sitzkrieg wrote: post #59
imwillofficial wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“You can get great hardware and battery life with system76 for instance.” The build quality of these two platforms is nowhere, and I mean nowhere close. Apples (heh) and oranges. I’m rooting for system76, but they have a long way to go.

they are cheap clevo laptops at a huge markup

I just spec'd out the System 76 Galago Pro to match that of the Clevo equivalent that's linked elsewhere in this thread (L143MU), and the System 76 came to $1032, while the Clevo is listed at €1,026.90 (or $1,116.89), so when you say "huge markup" it must be in reference to something else. That said, I don't have any real skin in this game.
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