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Impressions from a first-time Mac user

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Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#511

Post by d3nj4l »

zdw wrote: post #412
d3nj4l wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cmd-Tab is annoying. There's multiple layers to why it's so annoying: 1. Cmd-Tab doesn't switch between windows, it switches between apps. This seems like not that big of a deal (you lose being able to quickly switch between windows of the same tab, you have to Cmd-` for that) until: 2. Apps can have multiple windows on multiple spaces, and Cmd-Tab preferences windows on your current space. Let's say you have apps A1…

I'll concur on how amazing Hammerspoon is - one Lua file that lets you write hotkey binds to literally anything you could possibly do on the system. I use mine for resizing/throwing windows all around the system, for custom global hotkeys for controlling music playback, etc. (also MacPorts > Homebrew, but that's a different discussion)

Yeah, and it's got so many useful APIs it's nuts. There's a keyboard-based expose API that is like Mission Control but with vimimum/tridactyl's follow mode. It's insanely useful when you need to jump to a window you opened ages ago and is therefore at the bottom of the alt-tab list. That's useful enough as it is, but then you can filter the windows that show up in expose, so you can make an expose just for your terminal windows! Legitimately amazing.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#512

Post by bdougherty »

mkl wrote: post #233
kemayo wrote: post #48

I actually like the command+tab behavior, and miss it when I use Windows. I'll explain: if you have a lot of windows open, I think it's nice to silo them. When I have ten Firefox windows and six Sublime windows and three iTerm windows, and a few other random applications, it's generally easier to go first to the app I want and then find the window inside it, rather than always having to shuffle through 19 different w…

It's nice to silo windows when you have lots open, but I think grouping all browser windows together is not a sensible way to do it. Some browser windows go with my IDE, some with spreadsheets, some terminals, etc. Grouping all browser windows (including web apps, email, etc.) because they happen to use the browser is like grouping all windows whose title starts with "A" or something.

Once you have your browser focused, you can use App Exposé (ctrl+down) to show all the windows from it.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#513

Post by edanm »

pcthrowaway wrote: post #452
nneonneo wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cmd+` switches between windows of the same app, and it's actually more convenient (IMHO) than using Alt+Tab to switch between every one of your windows from every app. There are also a handful of trackpad gestures for showing all the windows in the current app or all of your windows.

As long as you haven't made the active window full screen, or the window you want to switch to, then yes, it works. But it is painful :P

That's one of the reasons I never make windows full-screen.

Except for that annoying quirk, I actually find the interface better (though it definitely took time to get used to it).

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#514

Post by thiht »

kristiandupont wrote: post #506
ChicagoBoy11 wrote: post #2

Despite the warning, I didn't find it nearly as "ranty" as the author cautioned, and instead seemed like a fairly comprehensive and fair take on his experience. Having gone through the same thing myself several years ago, the UI aspect of it is something that I'd be curious to see how it develops for the author. I think it is not uncommon for Windows folk to find the windowing experience on macs rather painful, at le…

I've been on Mac for 10 years now and I still consider the way Windows handles windows vastly superior. The fact that cmd-tabbing to a app will place all of its windows on top means that I might be forced to move a window with the mouse to see what's underneath it which I find infuriating. The fact that two windows belong to the same app is an arbitrary distinction to me. I group things by mental "projects", and I pr…

Same here. After 3 years of daily macOS usage I snapped and finally installed AltTab too. I though I’d get used to it’s way of doing but it’s really not good. I’ve also installed Rectangle a while ago to get easy screen splitting.

macOS does a lot of things very well, just not that.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#515

Post by boardwaalk »

dvngnt_ wrote: post #436
nneonneo wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cmd+` switches between windows of the same app, and it's actually more convenient (IMHO) than using Alt+Tab to switch between every one of your windows from every app. There are also a handful of trackpad gestures for showing all the windows in the current app or all of your windows.

except windows is still king because the preview shows the instance instead of an application

Cmd tilde instantly switches between windows, so there is no preview and so your comment doesn’t really make sense.

If you’re talking about cmd-tab, personally I’ll take big recognizable icons than thumbnails with minuscule text and such any day.

And mission control will give you windows previews if you want them.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#516

Post by srer »

taylodl wrote: post #394
ricardobeat wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, Mac users rarely turn the device off. It can stay on for months without issue. Laptops can sleep for weeks before they run out of power. The power button is more like a reset switch, and doesn't need to be front and center. A lot of these first impressions are just that, first impressions, and can be quite different from feedback coming from daily users.

I read this comment and realized I don’t even remember the last time I powered down my Mac! You’re right that it’s not something I do very often. Is that not the case with Windows and Linux nowadays? What’s the point in powering down?

Software updates is one reason

For simpler userspace updates a restart of the relevant processes is easy enough, but it can be a bit more difficult when it comes to kernel updates.

(Updating a running kernel has been a thing in Linux for a number of years, but my systems don't do it.)

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#518

Post by bigpeopleareold »

rwc wrote: post #7
ChicagoBoy11 wrote: post #2

Despite the warning, I didn't find it nearly as "ranty" as the author cautioned, and instead seemed like a fairly comprehensive and fair take on his experience. Having gone through the same thing myself several years ago, the UI aspect of it is something that I'd be curious to see how it develops for the author. I think it is not uncommon for Windows folk to find the windowing experience on macs rather painful, at le…

Not that it's right or wrong, but the behavior dates back to the very first implementations of Mac OS and Windows. Mac OS has always been an application switching interface, and Windows has been a window switching interface. Takes getting used to the paradigm shift.

The switch-by-application is the only thing I have not let go when starting to exclusively use Linux on the desktop. Switch-by-window is too hard to get used to.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#519

Post by m_mueller »

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.

Use cmd-up to go up a level. That button is the main thing I missed. The columns view is actually very useful. One thing I miss a lot on Windows: quick look with space.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#520

Post by niemenmaa »

godelski wrote: post #467
geoffmanning wrote: post #407

As a lifetime windows user that just recently joined a macBook company, i have to say i am indifferent overall, but there have been many alternating moments of delightful surprises and annoyances of unmet expectations in my journey to learn the MacOS UX. I'm a month in now and i have to say that attitude is everything when it comes to learning something new, and, especially when you know something "kind of like this"…

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

Agreed! It has taken me so much time to get accustomed to Finder. Often it is just the command line and then `open `if finder is needed.

There are some shortcuts to make Finder usage more enjoyable:

- Shift+Command+H go to Home

- Command+Up go to parent folder

- Command+Down go in to selected folder

- Shift+Command+G go to written path

Also Option+Command+P toggles "Path Bar" at the bottom of the window

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