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.
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.