Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Impressions from a first-time Mac user

loganmarchione.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

471–480 of 756 posts

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#471

Post by aulin »

nine_k wrote: post #164
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 can't shake off the impression that Apple does not offer options for better window management to make your screen more cluttered and thus sell you more displays. When using macOS, I badly miss window management options available on Linux. (And don't get me started regarding font rendering.)

Apparently font rendering is going to get bad on Linux too with gtk4. I believe at some point they decided to stop supporting subpixel rendering with the idea that everyone will have hidpi displays. Unfortunately the display industry is lagging and 1080p is still the norm...

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#472

Post by IgorPartola »

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…

I use a keyboard with dedicated Home and End keys and the behavior is exactly how you describe. This is definitely a software problem and one that should be fixed.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#473

Post by pkulak »

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…

Isn’t it just option plus right arrow?

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#474

Post by landa »

"Also, unlike Windows or Linux, you can’t “maximize” a window using the green “zoom” button, it will only make the current window fullscreen (and again, on its own desktop)."

Just hold option when you click on the "zoom" button.

Your other complaint, about Alt-Tab, is just a preference. I actually prefer this behavior over Windows.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#475

Post by bourgeoismedia »

Some corporate IT security policies just don't make sense. Why is he allowed to install random software from homebrew but not signed apps from a developer who has a contractual relationship with Apple? Even the economics are broken - hackers are going to refine and commercialize security exploits against widely used apps like Slack because of its large and ubiquitous deployment. They are not likely to spend resources targeting power user Mac apps that change the appearance of the alt-tab menu.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#477

Post by desttro »

and0 wrote: post #193
ysleepy wrote: post #87

My recommendations for Mac Users: * Put the Dock left or right, vertical space is precious (trust me, do it for a week and then decide) * Setup Hot-Corners (Settings -> Mission Control -> Hot Corners) - Upper-Right Corner as Mission Control (Must be upper right so spaces are immediately shown) - Lower-Left Corner as Application Windows - just fling your mouse curser into the corner (use std. gestures on the trackpad)…

I couldn't imagine navigating macOS without gestures. Great on touchpad, non-existent on any comfortable third-party mouse (the magic mouse is made for toddlers apparently.. I don't even have particularly large hands). Thankfully someone made an LUA script for the Logitech G app to use one of the random buttons on my gaming mouse to imitate three-finger swipes, which feels great: https://github.com/mark-vandenberg/g-…

This is my experience as well. I am a 25-year PC user. Got my first MacBook last summer. The gestures just make the whole OS experience fantastic. But I can never leave my PC behind. Without gestures the Mac os is lackluster IMO.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#478

Post by fomine3 »

etempleton wrote: post #432

As a longtime user of Macs this is dead on. Mac OS UX feels cumbersome today in a way it never used to feel. A lot of that is by comparison to Windows 10/11 and Linux, rather than actual regression, but it doesn’t change the fact that it feels bad. I remember first using OSX and it feeling like a revelation compared to Windows. Honestly it wouldn’t take much to fix this. If they implement drag windows snapping; rethi…

Win7 taskbar and Win10 taskview was huge improvement. Both basics are based on macOS Dock and Expose but improved. Meanwhile Apple stopped improvement.

Re: Impressions from a first-time Mac user

#480

Post by Volundr »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #231
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'm now on 7 years since the first MBP provided to me by an employer. It's just as terrible as ever. I would not use an Apple product outside of work, despite some thousands of hours using one over the last several years. Everything about using a Mac feels patronizing and intended to make me work harder than I should to do the most simple tasks.

Same. I have a MBP for work, and run Arch Linux on a Dell laptop for personal use. Before that it was Linux on a ThinkPad. The hardware on the MBP may be better, but not in any way I care about, and I'd trade it all to be rid of the touch-bar and have my function keys back. The MBP is fiddly as heck to get it to drive my ultrawide monitor at full resolution, while both Linux laptops "just worked". Personally I just can't find any reason I should prefer the Mac.
Post reply on HN