Good Mac thread
12:00 Sunday 3 Jun 07
Is a fairly old one at Lifehacker – A guide to switching to a Mac. Some good comments there and here are a couple of choice cuts:
On why the Apple mouse has only one button: “I also heard a rumor/story that users were confused on which button to use, so Apple simplified it by removing the second button.”
How to handle getting a new Mac:
1. sell it on ebay
2. build your own pc or linux box
After using both for a number of years, I have to say I find the PC more intuitive.
and this one will save me sooooo much Cmd+Q:
You really don’t need to close applications on the Mac. If you closed all documents and the application is not processing something in the background (which will be the case unless you want it to), it will be swapped out of memory and will not interfere. Don’t let old school Windows memory management make you think you need to quit apps – launch once and leave open and you’ll be fine…
Never again do I need to quit anything! How damn great is that eh?
Starting now I’m not going to quit anything at all. I shall let you know when the machine keels over. Given it slows and needs rebooting at least every 2 days I somehow think my quitting must be responsible – foolish of me.. tut tut.. bad ex-windows user.
This complete comment on installation is good.
1
I thought installation was neat on the Mac, and then I read that link. Duh, now I can see what a Sow’s ear it is. It seemed sort of semi-obvious to drag apps in and out of the Applications folder, but I can now see how it is an unusual idiom for new users to get.
And then there are all the “other” types of installer, that litter stuff all over the system (like Windows installers alledgedly do) (pkg installers, typically) – but unlike Windows, the uninstall support has never been implemented. (I managed to remove SANE and TWAIN-SANE scanner support, it took half an hour).
Of course, you noted in previous entries how removing apps leaves stuff behind – typically on a few preferences, but something else that is non-obvious.
It’s a shame really, since things like Spotlight plugins show how the Mac can cope with smartly linking applications facilities in without a registration/deregistration procedure, so pkg is nearly unnecessary now. And, the drag and drop to the Apps folder would be so simple to layer over with a more intuitive concept. A little work by Apple and all the objections could be removed.
The Mac way IS much neater, but it has some legacy support which is ugly, and could do with a bit more finish.
Now, Windows apps are moving to a single directory install which is how .NET tends to work, which is all an app bundle is anyway, the one supposed advantage of Mac installs is gone.
I am also trying to not close apps when I am not using them – too hard.
21:10 Wednesday 6 Jun 07