Posted on 08/22/2004 12:43:01 AM PDT by Swordmaker
Tired of viruses, lost files and the 'blue screen of death'? In the first of two articles about waving goodbye to Windows, John Dodds switches to Apple's OSX
It was the sight of a friend's new company laptop on his study desk that did it. It had only a 12-inch screen, and the keyboard was tiny and cramped; it just wouldn't work for a non-touch typist like me. It seemed like miniaturisation gone mad - but it also emphasised the sheer bulkiness and age of my three-year-old Gateway desktop running Windows 98.
Lately, like the majority of Windows users, I had experienced the "blue screen of death", lost numerous hours of writing to files that then just vanished or refused to open, and increasingly witnessed the havoc wrought by viruses. Now I had a reason to buy the Apple machine I'd always coveted.
Check out the full article at the source:
It doesn't have to be this way
(Excerpt) Read more at apple.com ...
That's a major difference in approach: Windows thinks it's a surprise worth telling you about when something works. Apple doesn't.
As always if you want to be included or excluded from the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
What about navigating your own files? The Finder seems a useful file organiser, though the visual simplicity of Windows Explorer was pretty much perfect. However, OS X's Dock - its equivalent of the Windows taskbar - is annoying. The large icons suggest it will be easy to use, but I miss being able to read the taskbar for the name of the applications and documents you have open - which would be especially useful on a slightly smaller laptop, where windows inevitably overlap.Obviously, he has not learned the joys of Exposé - Swordmaker
Also, when working with multiple windows it is sometimes difficult to find what you want Exposé??? - SM, and the thinness of the side sliders of any window demands very accurate cursor control. I have often found myself working on the wrong documents or applications because they were already open or lying dormant on the desktop beneath.
Other annoyances include trying to get both time and date displayed, and the single-button mouse - no doubt there's an internal Apple logic, but it's still irksome. Much more annoying is the lack of a forward delete key. You can use a combination of keys, but I've still deleted the wrong text many times. Also, files downloaded from the web are all dropped into a separate folder, rather than one you specify. But these are minor quibbles.
HUH?! They are downloaded into your "Downloads" folder in your home directory! - SM
The key lesson is to read ahead. You take a different journey on an Apple. If you're not a techie, it's a slight morass at first. However, it's a journey worth making. The initial expense was quite high, but I can't see myself needing more power or capabilities for years. PCs now seem positively clunky. I, for one, won't be struggling to peer through any Windows any more.
I've learned that a lot of PC users can't buy into Macs because they're TOO easy. It's like because they're easy and reliable, they can't be for serious users--only beginners.
Note to author: You CAN make the icons in your dock smaller.
If OS X were to reach the number of users as Winblows I'm sure quite a few more warts would become exposed.
I'm writing this on the first of my three Powerbooks yet I have a WinblowsXP box in the spare room loaded with Doom3 and an ATI Radeon X800 card, Cygwin and Gentoo Linux.
OS X ("ten" because it's a roman numeral, not a slain civil rights activist) is no panacea. I love it but Safari is aggrivating sometimes and I can never quite get Finder to behave just like I want it to. There are good points too. Before the 10.3.5 update was released this laptop that I'm using had an uptime of 34 days. Try that with winblows and suspending it up to 20 times a day. OS X is the best of both worlds. UNIX with a usable GUI and decent application selection. Fink is nice but I'm using DarwinPorts now. It reminds me of my FreeBSD dot com days.
If Office 2004 didn't cost $400 I'd be recommending Apple more. Don't even mention things like OpenOffice or that Java abortion wrapper for OpenOffice. Most users won't have any idea what an X server is or why you need to run it.
Appleworks is more than adequate if you don't have to exchange complex documents with anyone else.
This is really bugging me, too. I've found in some programs I can use a combination of keys to forward delete, but yesterday, using Quicken, there was NO combination that would forward delete. This drives me crazy! Any suggestions?
Logitech has a great, $25 two-button, scroll-wheel mouse that works great with OS X & OS 9x
WiFi is a good example.
I met a client at a local coffee shop with free WiFi, and we each brought our laptops. There was a table-tent with detailed Windows setup instructions for all the different versions of Windows. Nothing about Macs. Typical "Nobody uses a Mac." IT mentality, I thought.
So, I figured I'd wing it. I opened my Powerbook to get started, and a message appeared. Basically, it said, "Want to join this WiFi network I found?" I clicked, "yes," and was on the Internet. (It reminded me of that old commercial, "Step one, plug it in. Step two? There is no step two.")
A few minutes later, after rummaging around System Preferences, Network Settings, typing this and that, my client was also online with his PC.
Anyway, it's just the little things that I almost take for granted that make owning a Mac pretty nice.
Any USB mouse will work. If you want a two-button mouse and/or a scroll wheel, take one of your PC mice out of the closet and plug in into the side of the keyboard. Voila.
Much more annoying is the lack of a forward delete key.
Fair enough, but it is a laptop. (Full-size Apple keyboards have forward delete keys.) If you're that hung up on one, why not just program one of the f-keys to perform that function?
To take it further, Logitech and Microsoft both have a good Bluetooth mouse, that works with the new Powerbooks/Bluetooth right out of the box with no drivers (and no cables).
He still raises an interesting point. What's the deal with the Mac mice? Remember the hockey puck?
The Command-Delete combo is supposed to work... but often programers want to use that combo for something else in violation of Apple rules.
Marketing gimmick - some people equate simple with elegant (and most of the time they wouldn't be wrong to do so), or they equate it with easy to use.
Of course, Apple knows many of us will just plug our USB/Bluetooth mouse setups in, so we have the option of two, three, four buttons, etc.
Regarding forward delete, if it's not too much trouble, how would one program one of the f-keys to forward delete? Or where would I go to find out how to do this? You would have my undying gratitude, this is the one and only thing about my Mac powerbook that drives me crazy. Thanks.
Thanks! Oh, and BTW, appreciate the Mac article pings. Keep 'em coming (I'd miss most of the articles without you).
If you just want to be able to forward-delete, period, typing the key combo "fn-delete" is the Powerbook equivalent of the forward-delete key. If you really really want to only have to hit a single key, you'll want to download and install DoubleCommand (http://doublecommand.sourceforge.net/), which is free. I think it automatically maps F11 to act as a forward-delete, but I don't remember for sure. If you install it and have any trouble, just ask and I'll try to help.
(Don't forget that when you're not on the go, you can always plug a regular full-size keyboard into the USB port. Any USB keyboard should work, it doesn't have to be an Apple keyboard.)
(Of course, remapping F11 will mess up Exposé if you're running 10.3.x. You'll want to go into the System Preferences, open the Exposé control panel and tell it to look for some other key or key combo to reveal the desktop.)
This is awesome! Where do you find this stuff?
Anyway, thanks a bunch.
I build it from source regularly. It's more of a memory hog and doesn't integrate as cleanly. Setting it to the default browser doesn't work with everything.
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