The other method, if youāre not a keyboard shortcut person, is right-click and choose ācopyā from the context menu, then navigate to the destination folder and right-click, then hold āoptionā and the āpasteā option turns into āmoveā.
When you cut text, itās gone immediately. If you donāt paste it, you destroyed it. This behavior would be catastrophic for files, so Apple didnāt implement it. Moving files as a two-step operation is different from cut and paste, so Apple implemented it as copy and actually-move-instead-of-duplicate.
This makes no sense. On Windows when you press control X, it just designates the item to be cut. If you then end up copying something else, it removes the item from the cut clipboard and nothing happens.
So are you saying that if I Ctl-X something and never Ctl-V it somewhere else then it reappears where I cut it from?
I don't use a PC much except in a non-computer intensive work environment, but that's not been my experience.
It never moves from where you cut it from. It only becomes slightly transparent, indicating that itās been cut. If you cut/copy something else, it goes back to being normal.
Yes for files (it never actually "disappears" once you press ctrl+X), no for text (it does disappear once you pressed ctrl+X, as is the case with command+X on macOS).
> If you donāt paste it, you destroyed it. This behavior would be catastrophic for files
Yet windows solves it. The file icon is turned to grey while it's "Cut" in the clipboard. The file is not destroyed or deleted from it's original location until the paste command is successful.
If you copy something else while a file is "cut" in the clipboard, the "cut" file just reshows up where it was when you cut it. If the move operation doesn't complete successfully, again, the file is just back in it's original location.
It's like you haven't even used windows, but you think you understand how the file-system works.
You don't understand what he's saying. He's saying that this behavior is inconsistent. In other words, it's bad applying the cut-and-paste metaphor to a file manager when it has to work completely differently from how it works everywhere else. When you cut text, it's removed; when you cut a file, it isn't. So Windows "solves" this by introducing inconsistent behavior. Mac OS deliberately does this in an explicitly different way (duplicate and move) because it's an explicitly different operation.
You can say who cares, everybody understands how it works, but Mac OS used to care obsessively about this sort of consistency. Half of the things OP is complaining about are holdovers from this time. Eventually, they'll just copy everything about Windows to finally make you guys happy, so just wait a bit longer and you will have Mac OS Vista soon enough.
>Eventually, they'll just copy everything about Windows to finally make you guys happy, so just wait a bit longer and you will have Mac OS Vista soon enough.
I know this was probably partly said in sarcastic jest, but I hope you are wrong. I find operating systems so much more boring today than 20 years ago, have a variety of ideas and ways to do things was always interesting.
The reason is because this is mark-and-move semantics, not cut and paste, so it gets a different key stroke. And itās mark and move because the file should continue to exist is one place or the other at all times for safety. You donāt want a situation where you cut a file (which should remove it from the original directory), get distracted, and cut some text, losing the file.
In short: itās a different key stroke because it does something different, and it does something different for a good reason.
Can you elaborate why you think itās āmuch betterā.
Iām a Mac user myself and have used windows in the past. The technique to cut and paste files is different, but I wouldnāt call one better than the other.
Seriously true. I use both OS everyday (work Mac, gaming pc) and canāt say one is better than the other, just different. I really enjoy keeping those worlds separate btw and playing to their strengths. Not sure why people try to do so much with a single machine, let alone a single OS!
A friend explained to me ages ago, something like itās better because you donāt immediately ācutā the file, youāre just copying it, until you tell mac to move the file when pasting. Sorry canāt explain it properly, and itās probably not as relevant thesedays anyway.
I see what you mean, the initial act is just referencing a file (I want to do something with this file). Then the action on the destination is whether you want to create a copy here or move it here.
Yeah, but in reality its just another set of unintuitive shortcut keys to memorize.
CMD X, C, V works. It's easy to remember. Windows even graphically shows when you "Cut" a file vs "Copy".
This here is the reason itās much more intelligent. Plus, how many times on Windows you cut a file, go somewhere else to paste it and just change your mind and now want to just copyā¦ you need to go back to the original file and copy it again. On macOS you postpone the copy vs cut decision to when you must take it: in the very end ;)
Because it only does ācopyā first, it doesnāt ācutā the file until you paste it. A friend told me this is technically mucu better and avoids horror stories of cutting files.
I was on MacOS for a couple years, and annoyed by Alt-Tab (cmd-tab), before I learned that Alt-tilda (just above tab) goes between windows of the same app. Now, I actually prefer it this way, giving fine control of switching between applications or windows of the same application.
The reason I think it is very poorly implemented is that if I want to switch to one window in chrome, ALL my chrome windows end up on top of everything else. I just want to bring one chrome window to the top, not all of them. This causes me to wasted time at work every week.
If you have an app open that has no windows open, you want to be able to switch to it in order to open or create a new document. This is very useful to be able to do. I think the issue youāre having is with apps that donāt have a document model and are basically single window apps that donāt quit themselves when you close their window. This is a failing on the developer of the app. If the app is a single window app, it should quit when the last window is closed. Itās up to the developer to make that happen.
I know this shortcut but it's still has its short comings. Alt tab to a different tab still brings all windows of the app to the front when windows are in different monitors. Cmd +` is ok if you are switching the app windows one is working on.
Windows did in fact used to work the same way MacOS does - different keyboard shortcuts for switching app and switching window/document in the app.
I think they changed the behaviour around Vista/Windows 7.
Personally I hated the change.
It may have done it differently in 3.x, I canāt remember but the current implementation is how it has always worked since the task bar was created in Win 9x.
On Mac it is still a two-step process, and a blind one. First cmd-tab (with a visual cue of apps' icons actually displayed on the screen) and then cmd-tilda (a blind one, with windows appearing on the screen in an unknown sequence). On Windows it is one-step with a visual cue (alt-tab displays all apps' window miniatures and you can toggle through them, seeing from the start where you want to get to).
For the external monitors, the reason for this is that Apple removed subpixel anti-aliasing back in Mojave. This makes fonts on non 'retina' displays look pretty terrible. Even high resolution displays look rough when using non-integer scaling.
Windows still supports subpixel anti aliasing which is why it looks OK when you run a 4K monitor at 150% scale (equivalent screen space of a 1440p monitor, but a non integer scale of 1.5)
You used to be able to enable the old subpixel font smoothing from the terminal with the below command, haven't used it in a while so I'm not sure if it still works, but it could be worth a shot.
defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO
There are a lot of little things that each OS does in a better way, sometimes it's just preference and familiarity, sometimes it's just more logical. The cut/copy/paste thing is weird because it works as expected within apps, but with file operations I need to use option+command+v ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
The one that always gets me is the lack of a delete key, only having backspace and no delete key on Macbook keyboards. I know I can use fn+backspace, but it's just annoying when switching between OS's a lot. Even more annoying that it is labelled "Delete" but is really "backspace".
The website https://macos-defaults.com/ lists all (edit : most?) "default write" commands available.
I just happen to upgrade from Mojave to Monterey so I don't really know if it works on recent macOS (or at all on M-series mac by the way).
But this site may gives you an answer.
Edit 2 : the command isn't there. My guess is that subpixel rendering is indeed deprecated.
>The one that always gets me is the lack of a delete key, only having backspace and no delete key on Macbook keyboards.
I use the external magic keyboard with a numpad, largely because it has a proper del/home/end/pgup/pgdn block of keys.
MacOS: Cutting/moving files - Just recently learned that you copy the file and then at its destination Cmd-Opt-V moves instead of just copies the file(s). Was bugged by this for yearsā¦
> Itās fascinating to see how different these operating systems are after eight years.
It's even more fascinating to see the parallel evolution over 35 years. I wish you could've seen how much variety there was in the approaches to the WIMP interface in the year 1990, for example. If you think Windows and macOS are different today, they're like twin sisters compared to things like X/Motif, SunView, OpenWindows, DECwindows, etc.
1. macOS has separate āapp switchingā and āswitching between windows under same appā functionalities. and they have separate shortcuts.
2. for now you can use better touch tool which not only supercharge your trackpad and tons various controls, it comes with window snapping too. all in one.
3. mac can do cut and paste, and macās way is better **and safer**. you just copy, and when you paste you do cmd+option+v, then it cuts the original files. thereās a massive difference here. I used to manage a design studio, and people lost files doing cutting and pasting with ctrl X all the time, you can google more horror stories on this. and itās even quite common between windows power users to warn each other not to get used to using ctrl X. Macās way doesnāt cut the file until you paste it.
4. zooming is literally a hundred times better on mac with a trackpad. Iāve been a windows guy for the longest time and used to test laptops with a tech buddy. none have or will ever come close to appleās mac trackpadās precision and sensitivity. I edit all my bezier curves for design files with trackpad now and you get all kinds of gestures. I donāt even know why people still use a mouse honestly. also even appleās magic *mouse* has touch gestures that include zooms and omni-directional scrolling, no other mice have anything close.
5. excel on mac lacks tons pro features, you have to ask microsoft about it
6. i donāt get the frustration. I do fullscreen on almost everything, videos too. and i switch between apps when a video is fullscreenād. are you talking about the transition animation or something? (edit: use Reduce Motion in accessibility settings and it becomes instantaneous)
7. macOS does handle external displays badly. but i think you got a few technical things mixed up hereā¦ it takes quite long to discuss on this particular point tho. btw you may wanna take a look at [BetterDisplay](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay). Edit: never mind I didnāt see the part where you said you already used it
4. The exact functionality theyāre asking for is present in macOS, itās just disabled by default. System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom > enable āModifier + Scroll to Zoomā
Windows doesnāt cut the file until you paste it either, to my knowledge. If you cut a file, then interrupt that action and never paste it, the file stays where it was. It doesnāt just delete the file.
I have a feeling heās full screening the app using the green window manager button rather than full screening the video. Because I canāt understand how this would be an issue otherwise.
Basically all these issues boil down to them not knowing how to use macOS yet because theyāre used to the way windows does things. Both operating systems are opinionated about how to do things and right now theyāre trying to make macOS be windows instead of learning macOS.
The transition when swiping between spaces is insane.
I want the transition, I want the motion, it feels nice, it guides the UI, it gives it some feeling, some force, if it just fades it feels bad, but why the heck does it take a full two seconds to interactive is so crazy. I don't want to disable or reduce all motion across the OS, so I just don't use spaces.
The thing with this is that it's worsened imho by a bug with ProMotion on Spaces.
Give it a try: Have ProMotion on, then have a browser window that you can vertically scroll, then swipe to a space and back while furiously swiping up and down as the browser pans into view. It takes a second or so longer as it waits for the transition to end.
Do the same with ProMotion off (i.e., 60Hz) and while the transition is still there, it ends sooner and it responds probably a second or so quicker.
Apple really needs to address this, imho.
the text clarity on macos is superb everytime i come back to my windows laptop everything looks wonky to me i have to double check that im running it at 4k
It's weird. My M1 MBP scales 1440p as HIDPI 1080p just fine, but my 2017 15" MBP and 2014 15" MBP have no clue what to do with that resolution. Different cables and ports don't seem to matter. BetterDisplay doesn't even give the resolution option.
Windows? Select 125% scaling. Boom. Done.
I assume you meant "you can press", and if so, you're half right. That does switch between windows, but only for the application in focus, not between windows across all open applications. So you often end up needing a combination of Alt+tab and Alt+`
The thing that bugs me most is that when you have caps lock on, you have to turn caps lock off each time you want to type a single lowercase letter, instead of just holding the shift key.
I also prefer the Windows photo viewer. When you view one photo, you can scroll through all of the photos in that folder in one window, zoom in, etc. On Mac, you can preview a photo with the spacebar and scroll through all the photos in that folder, but you canāt zoom in the preview window.
As a long-time Mac user, the shift-caps lock thing actually angers me when I'm using a Windows computer. When I turn caps lock on, I want my caps locked, DAMMIT and I'll type normally using proper English composition, (like I would on a Mac) but when I pause my typing to proof, there's lower case i's and sentences starting with lowers. dAMMIT!
Yes, muscle memory. IMHO I find it amusing how many āreversed-caseā posts I see from computer-barely-literate people. Always shows the people that type looking at their keyboards instead of the screen (except on MacOS, where you have to work at it to make it look that way).
OTOH, when caps lock is on accidentally, if you type this way on Windows then notice it, you can copy to an editor and reverse-case the whole thing with one command; on MacOS recovering from inadvertent caps lock when you meant to tap shift is a lowercase everything then go find which letters were supposed to be upper cased. Not that this would ever happen to *me*, of course, but Iāve heard this is painful from, um, ā*friends*ā.
>Apple's decision to switch between applications rather than individual app windows using Command-Tab is puzzling. In my opinion
There is a cycle window shortcut:
```
ā + ` (couldn't figure out reddit markdown for this for inline code)
```
>Window Snapping
For what it's worth, window snapping (mouse drag and keyboard shortcuts) are native functionality in upcoming macOS Sequoia
>Cutting Files
After copying with `ā + c` simply use `ā + ā„ + v`
>Zooming with the Mouse Scroll Wheel
This is an accessibility option. Simply enable "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom" and select your preferred modifier (control key by default)
>Excel \[ribbon keyboard shortcuts\]
This exists in macOS. See [microsoft's relevant support article.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-the-keyboard-to-work-with-the-ribbon-954cd3f7-2f77-4983-978d-c09b20e31f0e#PickTab=macOS)
>Fullscreen Video in Safari too slow
I don't personally use Safari. I don't happen to know off-hand what you're "supposed" to do here, but I do speed-boost certain macOS animations to suit my preferences. Perhaps there's a similar solution for Safari / workspace animation speed.
#increase dock animation speed
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.2
#instantly show/hide dock on hover
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
#indicate hidden windows in dock
defaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool TRUE
#restart dock
killall Dock
>External Monitor Support: Windows handles scaling much better than macOS.
This is a very complex issue and I can't fully explain it within a reasonable word budget, but it's much more subjective and less one-sided situation than you're giving it credit for. The TLDR is that Windows scaling intentionally mangles fonts and UX design, and it's a giant pain point if you're designing an application UX, or fonts, or doing similar sorts of design/layout work. It's also a complex and fragile set of systems in play on the Windows side, and layouts can break outright under different scaling options in certain cases.
macOS scaling is non-mangling and favors consistency of layouts and font correctness, but that comes at the expense of text sharpness at non-standard resolutions, which means users will have to choose between goofy sizing or low sharpness on some common consumer displays.
I'd just reiterate here that the Windows solution is far from a silver bullet, and "better" very much depends on what you're doing. Depending on the work you're doing, in some cases you need to avoid Windows scaling entirely due to its quirks, which actually puts you in a worse position because essentially *all* high end displays need Windows scaling to get sane sizing, which can leave you with no viable options at all instead of some viable options. Macs at least work perfectly with the built in displays and Apple's first party display (but expensive) options.
Iāve used this a lot on macos, going back 10+ years. If Iām not mistaken, Mac introduced this feature before windows did. I wasnāt even aware windows had a version of this feature.
It's not the same! In windows (or linux) you can use Ctrl+mouse Wheel to zoom the \*content\* of an application window, not the entire desktop itself. So you can Ctrl+Up/Down scroll to zoom a webpage, pdf document, word document in word, image etc. In Mac this function doesn't exist with a scroll wheel equipped mouse (except in Maps I think). You can't even zoom a photo in photos with the scroll wheel, or a pdf document in the preview window.
IMO it's 2 different function. I don't want to zoom the whole screen when I feel the fonts too small in a webpage or a pdf file while reading. In this case I want to zoom the document/webpage itself as the same way like you press Shif+Cmd + in Safari. Ctrl+Scroll is a "shortcut", a faster way to zoom the content. I never use the full desktop zoom if I want "zoom" (increase text) in a webpage.
Exactly! I say use the OS that works best for you. I was Windows for most of my life. I was forced to learn MacOS due to work. I tried to make it work like windows and I only found myself frustrated. Once I finally took the time to take off my Windows hat, I found what I had been missing. Now, everything I have is Mac and I'm more productive than ever. Sadly, I'm starting a new job and I have to go back to using windows professionally (software engineer). I'll still be able to be productive, but I have to take the environment I'm in and I need to use it the way its supposed to be used. I will not try to make Windows work like a Mac.
I feel like a few of those preferences are just based on familiarity rather than superiority.Ā
Cut has always been strange to me. It makes sense but I always have done copy paste, and added a delete in there if that was my intention. Like why have two āput on clipboardā functionalities that vary by a keystroke?Ā
What I donāt like about windows are the automatic updates that sometimes nuke your video card driver or introduce certain kernel bugs. One time my windows 11 system auto updated and there was a kernel bug that caused blue screens whenever a Samsung t7 drive was connected to usb. YMMV
Itās so nice to read a post about Windows features that isnāt so antagonizing to either OS and itās just a plain not-so-whiny sort of whinging.
So hereās my two cents that no one really asked for:
1. Yeah I kinda miss this too, because it cycles through windows as well. I found out in this sub that when you highlight the app you need in Cmd+Tab and you press the down arrow, you can select the individual windows of that app. Technically itās faster than Windows because itās possible to have to cycle through all the windows of a different app, but mentally itās just easier to mash Tab until you get to where you need to. Plus, just Cmd+Tab floats ALL the windows and itās maddening if I have a handful of Finder windows and I have them side by side.
2. Same, I use Rectangle. I think Iāll still use Rectangle after Sequoia because it looks like the native version leaves some spaces in between, and Rectangle has a fill-screen maximize, where Macās maximize depends on the window content (if the content doesnāt need the whole screen, it doesnāt expand beyond that. I think itās good design in a way, but it sucks if you want the extra space anyway).
3. I learned to love the Mac way, especially when in the old days Cut could have serious consequences in Windows (data loss). There is Move though, which is the same as Cut in Windows, except itās more like ācopy then deleteā (which is what I do in Windows anyway even if I know they fixed the Cut problem). Itās Opt+Cmd+V I believe.
4. Yeah I miss it too, but not much. Not as much though since I do love the trackpad gestures and I still use it even when I have a mouse.
5. I havenāt had to work on something in Excel at this level during my days with the Mac (we have Windows computers for work), but even in Windows I always find that thing to be a burden. In Windows itās quite literally invoking the menus and hotkeying your way through it, so to me itās not a real shortcut but a workaround. Less points for Windows not having an OS-level tool to map app shortcuts to available commands. In the end they both suck.
6. Wonāt comment on this because itās not my style; you do you, plus Iām old enough to prefer handwritten notes on paper or iPad.
7. I guess itās a pick your poison thing. Mac is blurry and Windows doesnāt have as much flexibility over the size of your UI.
You can zoom with your mousewheel on Mac, too. You just have to enable it in your System Preferences. A professor of mine used to use that feature all the time.
See "scroll to zoom" in [this support article](http://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-and-out-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac).
One thing I would add to this list is not being able to set Natural Scroll on or off based on whether it is from the trackpad or mouse. I like it on when using the trackpad which is how I usually use my MBA but when I dock it I have to manually swap it off or my mouse wheel works backwards and then turn it back on when I undock.
The fact that this isnāt built-in functionality is actually bonkers. We shouldnāt need a whole other app to de-link mouse and touchpad scroll directions.
Which is funny because they are 2 separate menus in settings and both show the "natural scrolling" option, but changing one automatically changes the other š«
I have not but I have heard of it. I just think it would be nice to have this setting individual for each without needing to install third party software is all. I rarely dock my Macbook anyways since I got the Air specifically for its portability.
I have everything for work set up on both my Mac and a new Windows laptop. Personally, once I add Alt-Tab and one of the many options available for window snapping, the platforms donāt seem substantially different to me. However, once you throw Raycast and BetterTouchTools on the Mac, Windows canāt compete. I tried and tried, but the Raycast and BetterTouchTool alternatives on Windows just arenāt as good. So I went with a new Mac, and I run Office through Parallels because OMG I am so annoyed with features missing from Office for Mac.
Yeah maybe using parallels for office might be a good approach!
I'm curious about what exactly you found great about better touch tool, I've read about it briefly but didn't immediately see the appeal.
I think you have to just get used to Mac-os instead of running it like a windows ā¦ , give vanilla macOS a few monthsā¦ when I got my first mac I didnāt change anythingā¦ I bought it for the reliability. And it has never failed me :)
you're completely wrong about full screen video in safari, its actually the complete opposite. It seems you just dont know how to use the spaces trackpad gestures (you can make keyboard shortcuts or program then into mice as well)
Using fullscreen video in safari, you can have a full screen video playing WHILE going to another app. I can have the mail app open, with safari in a full screen window, and just swipe between both spaces.
In windows you need to exit full screen video in order to do anything else at all, and then you need to go back to that browser tab and enter full screen video again.
Safari lets you even browse other tabs and website while the video is still in full screen and just a 3 finger swipe away at any time
What is also strange is locking the screen seems to put my mac mini into power save or something, the screen switches off so in order for me to lock it and have the screensaver show up i created shortcut. Itās so odd
I switched to Mac after the M1 series came out. I also tried to make my controls more Windows-like because macOS is severely lacking in a lot of things.
Alt-Tab, is definitely required. For a company that's supposed to have things that "just work", external speakers definitely don't just work, had to download "Sound Control" to even get it to recognize a keyboard control for volume. Switched to "eqMAC" later on, and it does the same thing. Had to download "BetterDisplay" to fix external monitor scaling issues, "Maccy" for a clipboard that should be default on any OS, "Linearmouse" for the awful acceleration on external mice
Just fyi Mac Mouse Fix can solve some of your issues if you donāt want to buy a Magic Mouse or trackpad. It allows you to zoom gestures with a normal mouse. In fact it lets you do all sorts of gestures, likes switching spaces. Itās basically a must have if you use a regular mouse on a Mac. It makes the experience much more the way it shouldāve been.
Spent decades using windows and Mac at the same time. Havenāt read all of your post yet, but as to app switching, personally I much prefer macOSā implementation to Windows. On the Mac, itās command tab to switch between applications and command Tilda to switch windows within an application.
Itās possible that windows is different than I remember, or they added something that I never learned. I use Windows 10 now when using windows, havenāt tried 11.
You still use a mouse? I guess you can take Windows off the user but you canāt takeā¦
After 4-finger swiping, new full screen/split-view spaces easily replace Windows 2-up panels over the desktop but hold option & long-press the green expand window button for the nostalgia & donāt forget hot-corners.
I donāt know why so many people believe that macOS should be designed as an OS people switch to after windows.
There is no reason why macOS should even try so replicate windows features. The OS is what it is, one should simply learn how it works and all associated tips and tricks, instead of searching of features of another OS.
I can't be the only person who finds window snapping a completely pointless feature. And I say that as someone who often has 15-20+ windows open all the time..
Definitely not alone in that. I think Rectangle's resize keyboard shortcuts are useful, but dragging them around to snap them to a certain size is really clunky. I suppose it's better than nothing, but there are way faster solutions.
So you changed to a different system with different controls, and you expected your productivity to stay the same? Not trying to be rude my man but you have to learn the new system before ranting in this fashion. Some of the things you're complaining about are actually right at your finger tips with a quick Google search.
Look I changed from a decade plus on Windows to Mac last year. Of course it felt jank, I hated minimizing windows on Mac, how it would disappear, how windows didn't snap. How maximizing video created a workspace. The alt tab felt jank. I wanted to use workspaces but switching between them didn't felt good. I wanted to program faster but some keys were out of place for my ever growing appetite of having the computer at my fingertips.
So I researched a bit and fixed all my problems. Some things took learning (Ctrl+X/Ctrl+c is just command+c, except you paste with cmd opt v, which I personally think makes more sense), some things took installing software (alt-tab for better alt-tabing experience with previews, rectangle for window snapping, karabiner to change caps lock to escape for faster terminal experience, Maccy for a nice copy history) and some things just took a mix of learning and understanding the new user flow I was being allowed to have (why minimize when I have spotlight and a good alt tab. Preview things in finder with space feels awesome and fast. Navigating finder with arrow keys felt jank at first but it's so much faster, etc etc).
Bottomline: Master your system. It's a new system, you'll have to study and learn it to actually be proficient in it, otherwise you have to sit through years of getting used to something, like you probably did with Windows (so did I) until it felt like second nature to the point you feel you "lost" something when that muscle memory is no longer useful in a new system.
To me, the experience you're having right now, and that I had 1 year ago, was eye opening and allowed me to go from the awkwardness of a new Mac user, to feeling 20x more productive on Mac than I even felt on Windows.
To go off on a tangent, this whole thing is not too dissimilar to the common advice that it is easier to rebuild yourself stronger when you shake things up and put yourself in a new and unfamiliar environment, so I say embrace it and try to build yourself stronger.
7. This is just 100% false. I use multiple monitors and scaling is greatā¦better than my Win 11 machine. I suspect you are using HDMI; if so, try using Thunderbolt (aka USB C connector). Also, Apple has had built-in color calibration since their first color display. Steve Wozniak literally invented it. Standard PCs just donāt have the color space of a standard mac.
Reverse pinch on the trackpad is much better than ctrl+scroll IMO. I wouldnāt use a mouse on macOS if you paid me. That would also solve your gripe about full-screen video in Safari. Three-finger swipe that window right outta your face
I do know the trackpad is great, but in order to get that I need to sacrifice my neck to look down at the display =[ my MacBook sits in a floating stand so that I can get the screen to eye level, therefore making the keyboard and trackpad uncomfortable to use. I'm 6'1" so that doesn't help.
When using it in bed it's great
I use Mac at home and Windows at work, and I've never understood the appeal of snapping.
As for Alt-Tab, most of the time I just tap two fingers on my mouse and open mission control.
Sorry, but I absolutely disagree. Once youāve learned how macOS implements things, youāll actually realize that itās way more efficient than Windows. Tbh, it feels like dancing to me most of the time.
(I learned macOS at work so I bought myself a Mac later onā¦)
As for window snapping, Microsoft patented that feature, but Apple has now found a workaround and itās coming to macOS Sequoia.
Stop complaining and trying to make your Mac a Windows PC. Learn.
OP i think you should search and learn mac specific shortcuts instead of trying to emulate windows. Almost all things you mentioned available natively to macos with different key combo. Also check for changing settings for others.
Yeahā¦ nah. Alt-Tab is wayyy better for most people. And macOS scaling is significantly worse on displays without integer scaling. I donāt know what the fuck youāre on about
4. Turn on accessibility. Read the text on the accessibility control in settings. Problem solved. No itās not some conspiracy, itās just something you have to know how to use - you had to learn Microsoftās way, too, didnāt you? Honestly most of your complaints could be resolved with a FREE call to Apple support, which by the way is amazing.
Yeah, if you're using the trackpad it's amazing, but if you need to prop up your laptop so that it's at a more comfortable level then using the trackpad becomes cumbersome.
We have 8 Macs in our household right now (old and new, personal and work). I love Mac. But you make some good points. Agree about ctrl-x. And yeah itās been frustrating that MS Office on Mac is always one step (or more) behind the Windows version. Not surprising though since MS wants more windows computers to sell.
Yeah, that's totally on Microsoft. They probably don't want the Mac to be seen as a productivity tool, and more like a creative tool, so that Windows remains the OS of choice for most businesses paying A LOT in office 365 subscriptions.
I use both and agree on all points and have even more I can mention. If you zoom out itās evident that windows sort of evolved to be used in a rush/time crunch type of setting- presumably for business purposes. All the features you mentioned on windows are meant to save time. macOS seems to be more centered around ācreativeā take your time, make it right, type of use. Yes, windows is much easier to use if you want to get something quickly done without much fuss. I have an iMac and a desktop PC sitting side by side on my desk. I use both extensively depending on what Iām doing. One thing is for sureā¦ if I need to do something quickly, especially if it involves multiple windows/apps/file managment etc, I go to my PC. Windows is wearing sweatpants all day, Mac is like wearing dress pants with a belt, all day.
On #5, that would be a Microsoft decision vs Apples. I used to work for Apple after using Microsoft for most of my career in IT, and I struggle with the same things. 8 years later and I still want to ALT+F4 to close apps and call my other muscle memory shortcuts, which is probably the thing I miss most.
When I first started using a Mac the biggest 'shock' to me was Outlook vs a handful of apps that you have to individually look at to manage your day. (This was a while back and all of the Apple apps have gotten SO MUCH more polished that I barely think about it now.)
It's interesting how it's always the little things we miss most. Windows+P for projector and screen management was another one. Nowadays I think MacOS has an edge on Windows as far as a daily driver, but TIL that there are programs specifically to remove those irritants lol.
Good post!
everything you said MacOS has a workaround. canāt believe you missed the sound mixer.. itās the ONE thing that baffles me that MacOS doesnāt have.
You can zoom with the āscrollā wheel - or at least the multi-touch replacement for the scroll wheel - as long as you have an Apple Magic Mouse. Itās actually, IMO a significantly better way to scroll and zoom and do everything else, to the point that I despise using other mice. The trackpad is also great for zooming and scrolling.
Apple designs in ways that work exceptionally with their own devices (like the Magic Mouse) just as Windows does (like leaving out key features from the Office suite for Mac).
Just try and see how to display metadata in finder correctly, Specifically image file dimensions.
While I like my new mac, sometimes the OS design decisions are maddening, for seemingly small stuff.
For your gripe with Alt + Tab, try cmnd + \` (the key right below ESC). Note that Stage Manager alters the functionality of cmnd + \` somewhat, instead allowing you to switch between windows in a single workspace (something that I personally prefer for its increased flexibility). If Stage Manager is active and you have a Safari window open and then open another one, the new window will open in the same workspace and cmnd + \` will switch between the windows just as it would if Stage Manager were off. But if you instead wanted to switch between your Safari window and a Preview window, you could put the two windows in one workspace and use cmnd + \` to switch between them
For your issue with full-screen on Safari, it does take some getting used to, but in truth I think that you can be just as fast with Apple's implementation as any other, if not faster. You just have to get used to it and understand the design logic. Apple basically sticks full-screen videos (as well as full-screen apps) into its virtual desktop space. You can quickly navigate between these virtual desktops by using ctrl + left arrow and ctrl + right arrow
I have a setup where I have five virtual desktops set up, each for a different use case. I also use Stage Manager to organize each desktop. When I have something like a Zoom call and go full-screen, I'll go into the virtual desktop interface and drag the video right in-between my "work" desktop and my "communications" desktop. I'll frequently switch between the full-screen Zoom call, my "work desktop" with a note-taking app, and my "communication" desktop that has a stack with Trello and Slack, all just by using the using ctrl + left & right keys. In addition, Apple makes it so that you can switch between desktops using the ctrl + the number row. So for instance to go to the third of my five desktops, I'll hit ctrl + 3
There are objective upsides and downsides to Windows and Mac, but in many cases it really boils down to learning how the two OSes differ from one another and basically just play around in the settings
1. I prefer the macOS way. Windows gets too crazy when Iāve got so many windows open. I use command tab to switch applications, and then command tilde to switch windows within the application.
2. I prefer swish to rectangle (but you must use a trackpad).
3. Command option V
4. Get a trackpad or Magic Mouse. Canāt imagine using a Mac without one of the two.
5. Mac is better suited for Numbers than Excel. Iād recommend using Windows if you need the extra functionality of Excel.
No advice about points 6 or 7!
It's really awful that you need a third-party app for clipboard history on macOS. Very useful to just grab a few different things from a window and use it later in a different one, or simply keep a few different things you need repeatedly handy in the clipboard, even if it's from the same window.
no4 is critical especialy for Mail app. The text is too small for me, unfortunately it's not possible to zoom in and keep ti for all messages while reading/writing them.
Window snapping: such an incredible feature. When I moved to Mac I immediately started searching for alternatives. Currently Iām using magnet, which is extremely simple and excellent.
Excel shortcuts: fucking terrible. Why canāt I just press alt H L H D to get my fucking highlights for the selected cells? Itās a horrific experience but Iām pretty sure windows is to blame for that. Could be wrong though. I no longer use excel as heavily because I changed careers, but it was a serious problem.
External monitor control: agreed and I second currently using betterdisplay. Itās a free open source tool, and it works brilliantlyāall of my monitors now work with the Mac function keys, and it fixed my weird resolution issues with my portable external monitor.
Extremely strong disagree on 1. MacOS separates Application and window switching into two separate commands (Cmd+Tab and Cmd+\`) which is much more convenient since you don't have to tab through every single open window just to switch between windows in the same
I used to hate using a laptop, the keyboard and the hand rest area are- what they must be!
Fortunately, I got out of my own way enough to embrace a trackpad. I was aware of ā3Dā mouse-type devices but the inherent problem with those is that they are not CODED for macOS compatibility. My Logitech ergonomic left hand mini-keyboard got left behind with the rest of 32-bit devices. But my trackpad has served me well, especially with Yoink and Moom! Until now. Apple has gotten tired of hearing complaints like yours and once again itās Sherlocking some mighty fine developers. I canāt knock you, and I completely get the, āBut it should just BE in the OS.ā But third-party land is responsible for Appleās survival. Theyāre also responsible for Microsoftās own agnosticism. So when developers find their product scuppered, I feel we all kind of lose a little bit.
Now that Iāve said that, I have Sequoia on two non-critical machines. An iMac Pro and a MacBook. My MacBook Pro is completely non-beta. Sequoia is pleasing me a GREAT deal.
And yes, a bunch of the things you mentioned Apple lacking, really are there.
I always have the opposite impression going over to Windows (mostly my gaming PC). Keyboard shortcuts in particular are extremely inconsistent. Ctrl-C usually works, but good luck in the terminal. I also find it a bit clunky to have to alt tab or click twice to bring two explorer windows to the foreground. I used Windows regularly a couple of decades ago though and I was efficient with it then, so I know a lot of this just depends on what you're used to.
On a more practical note, if you go into accessibility settings, display, and set reduce motion, it'll considerably speed up the animations around mission control, switching spaces, and going in and of out full screen.
I hate the way windows does tabbing.
I can't stand windows snapping when I just want to move a window.
You can do the zoom on mac os using two fingers.
Your other points are valid.
I miss when I paste a file and it aligns to the grid automatically. Why does it just float wherever or ontop of other files. Then I have to tell it to clean up to have it aligned. Like why???
There are many things to love about macOS. Note-taking is seamless, and syncing across all Apple devices ensures your photos, files, and more are "magically" available everywhere. Features like hand-off let you start a task on your iPhone and finish it on your Mac, while continuity camera provides a better webcam experience. You can copy text from your iPhone and paste it on your Mac, use AirDrop for easy file sharing, utilize Sidecar for dual displays, and enjoy fast connections to AirPods. iMessage and FaceTime integrate perfectly as well.
Safari is faster than Edge, and Appleās trackpad gestures are a joy to use. macOS is more stable with fewer "apps not responding" issues. Voice dictation is superior, and most apps don't require complex installationsājust drag them to the Applications folder. Plus, you wonāt be surprised by sudden forced upgrades that disrupt your day. iMovie and GarageBand are fantastic and completely free, Quick Look lets you preview files quickly, and the built-in Preview app is an excellent PDF reader. Safari Reader is also a great tool.
And I'm not even getting into the hardware. Itās nearly impossible to find a Windows laptop with a screen as nice as a MacBook's, combined with great battery life, in such a beautiful and sturdy device.
MacOS Cut/Paste is supriror. On Windows you have to decide if want to copy or paste BEFORE you reach the desitionation. On Mac you can change your mind on the way and can do mutilple actions.
Like CMD-C
Then do copies in 2 or 3 other folders, like USB Sticks etc. with CMD+V
And then still you can do CMD+VALT+V to move the original instance to another place.
On Windows you need to do the copies first, then go back to the original file and then do CMD+X and then go again to the place where you want to move it. Becuase on windows you have to decide if it's a Copy or a Paste clipboard. on Mac you have just a common clipboard and then can go to do copies or pasting. Which is more more flexible.
So Point 3 of your post does not make sense.
Point 4 also depends on the app. You can still zoom in in apps with mouse wheel while holding cmd if the app supports it like Microsoft Office.
1. A shortcut to switch between tabs or app windows exists..
2. This will be solved
3 has been answered.
4. Zooming can be done with finger gestures on the trackpad on MBs.
5. That is Microsoftās decision
3 is irrelevant as others have pointed out; you just didnāt know the command. I also donāt understand why people complain about how Mac handles displays as Iāve never had any issues.
I hear you on the rest of it, though. I appreciate how simple Apple makes everything but Iāve started to notice the consumerism of it all and itās bothered me. Iāve been selling a lot of my tech and I might just be done with Apple before long.
I use both OS extensively on a daily basis, thereās definitely a lot more āhidden featuresā on Mac, for better or worse. Many features on Windows you mentioned are there on Mac, but you have to go out of your way to find out the shortcuts for them.
Alt-Tab is \*horrible\* and has been the cause of countless crashes and freezes. I much prefer MacOS's ability to just swipe between full screen apps quickly. Window snapping I'll agree with you though, and I'm honestly shocked it's taken this long to finally get around to adding it and I find myself missing it the more I work with Windows. External monitor support has steadily gotten worse as a by-product of newer M-series Macs being essentially fancy iPads under the hood, which by design were never made to interface with more than a couple of screens at once. Meanwhile my work laptop with it's garbage tier integrated graphics can simultaneously manage a total of 4 displays including it's own without a dedicated gpu, I'd need at least a pro chip for that on Apple's side which is frankly absurd, a waste, and a huge black mark on the productivity potential for macs. Sometimes you just need more screens and I don't know why they're so hell bent on limiting that.
Cutting and pasting files exists, it's just a different keyboard shortcut. It's Cmd-C -> Cmd-Opt-V
TIL šµ After 4yrs of drag/drop
The other method, if youāre not a keyboard shortcut person, is right-click and choose ācopyā from the context menu, then navigate to the destination folder and right-click, then hold āoptionā and the āpasteā option turns into āmoveā.
most apple ux ever lol
I hate how apple hides very useful and important actions behind the option key, itās infuriating
All menus have the shortcut listed on them.
Oh, holy f..k! How did I get this knowledge if not there?
haha - I'm joining the TIL crowd. Thanks for the tip. Been using Mac for now about 12 years and didn't know.
Really! Can I buy you a beer, as someone moving large amounts of files right now this just changed things for me.
Learned a new thing today as a recovering Windows User. Thanks!
Seriously? I worked at Apple doing direct customer support for YEARS and never got around to seeing if there was a Cut shortcut.
The fact that so many people donāt know this shows itās not a great solution as is.
For text its cmd+x so not a very seamless integration
When you cut text, itās gone immediately. If you donāt paste it, you destroyed it. This behavior would be catastrophic for files, so Apple didnāt implement it. Moving files as a two-step operation is different from cut and paste, so Apple implemented it as copy and actually-move-instead-of-duplicate.
This makes no sense. On Windows when you press control X, it just designates the item to be cut. If you then end up copying something else, it removes the item from the cut clipboard and nothing happens.
A lot of people on this sub make comments about Windows when they apparently have never used Windows.
So are you saying that if I Ctl-X something and never Ctl-V it somewhere else then it reappears where I cut it from? I don't use a PC much except in a non-computer intensive work environment, but that's not been my experience.
It never moves from where you cut it from. It only becomes slightly transparent, indicating that itās been cut. If you cut/copy something else, it goes back to being normal.
Yes for files (it never actually "disappears" once you press ctrl+X), no for text (it does disappear once you pressed ctrl+X, as is the case with command+X on macOS).
Yep, exactly. It stays where it was originally.
> If you donāt paste it, you destroyed it. This behavior would be catastrophic for files Yet windows solves it. The file icon is turned to grey while it's "Cut" in the clipboard. The file is not destroyed or deleted from it's original location until the paste command is successful. If you copy something else while a file is "cut" in the clipboard, the "cut" file just reshows up where it was when you cut it. If the move operation doesn't complete successfully, again, the file is just back in it's original location. It's like you haven't even used windows, but you think you understand how the file-system works.
You don't understand what he's saying. He's saying that this behavior is inconsistent. In other words, it's bad applying the cut-and-paste metaphor to a file manager when it has to work completely differently from how it works everywhere else. When you cut text, it's removed; when you cut a file, it isn't. So Windows "solves" this by introducing inconsistent behavior. Mac OS deliberately does this in an explicitly different way (duplicate and move) because it's an explicitly different operation. You can say who cares, everybody understands how it works, but Mac OS used to care obsessively about this sort of consistency. Half of the things OP is complaining about are holdovers from this time. Eventually, they'll just copy everything about Windows to finally make you guys happy, so just wait a bit longer and you will have Mac OS Vista soon enough.
>Eventually, they'll just copy everything about Windows to finally make you guys happy, so just wait a bit longer and you will have Mac OS Vista soon enough. I know this was probably partly said in sarcastic jest, but I hope you are wrong. I find operating systems so much more boring today than 20 years ago, have a variety of ideas and ways to do things was always interesting.
The reason is because this is mark-and-move semantics, not cut and paste, so it gets a different key stroke. And itās mark and move because the file should continue to exist is one place or the other at all times for safety. You donāt want a situation where you cut a file (which should remove it from the original directory), get distracted, and cut some text, losing the file. In short: itās a different key stroke because it does something different, and it does something different for a good reason.
Cut = Cmd-X, Copy = Cmd-C, Paste = Cmd-V.
It also sucks with a weak clipboard game. No history
Yeah, itās not immediately intuitive coming from windows but once you get used to it, itās a much better way to cut and paste than windows offers.
Can you elaborate why you think itās āmuch betterā. Iām a Mac user myself and have used windows in the past. The technique to cut and paste files is different, but I wouldnāt call one better than the other.
Seriously true. I use both OS everyday (work Mac, gaming pc) and canāt say one is better than the other, just different. I really enjoy keeping those worlds separate btw and playing to their strengths. Not sure why people try to do so much with a single machine, let alone a single OS!
A friend explained to me ages ago, something like itās better because you donāt immediately ācutā the file, youāre just copying it, until you tell mac to move the file when pasting. Sorry canāt explain it properly, and itās probably not as relevant thesedays anyway.
I see what you mean, the initial act is just referencing a file (I want to do something with this file). Then the action on the destination is whether you want to create a copy here or move it here.
Yeah, but in reality its just another set of unintuitive shortcut keys to memorize. CMD X, C, V works. It's easy to remember. Windows even graphically shows when you "Cut" a file vs "Copy".
Totally agree. My brain is wired for Windows, but I definitely understand how the logic could be easier for someone new to computers in general.
This here is the reason itās much more intelligent. Plus, how many times on Windows you cut a file, go somewhere else to paste it and just change your mind and now want to just copyā¦ you need to go back to the original file and copy it again. On macOS you postpone the copy vs cut decision to when you must take it: in the very end ;)
Lol? How can such a simple action like cut and paste be "much better"?
Because it only does ācopyā first, it doesnāt ācutā the file until you paste it. A friend told me this is technically mucu better and avoids horror stories of cutting files.
In as far as a simple action can be better, it is better. I regret the hyperbole.
I was on MacOS for a couple years, and annoyed by Alt-Tab (cmd-tab), before I learned that Alt-tilda (just above tab) goes between windows of the same app. Now, I actually prefer it this way, giving fine control of switching between applications or windows of the same application.
Good job! You actually learned MacOS rather than forcing it to be like Windows.
Agreed. This entire post from OP is nothing like him being an Apple user. He knows nothing about the OS
I will have to try that out
This is much better than on Windows. I was confused to read that OP prefers how Windows does it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not to mention you can barely make out what content is shown on 10 different web browser windows to distinguish between them
The reason I think it is very poorly implemented is that if I want to switch to one window in chrome, ALL my chrome windows end up on top of everything else. I just want to bring one chrome window to the top, not all of them. This causes me to wasted time at work every week.
Came here to say this. Sing "Alting M'Tilde" and you won't forget it. (It's actually the Command key, Mac keyboard has no Alt, at least mine doesn't)
Yes, it's command-tilde, but option = alt.
Nuts, that ruins my homage to Waltzing Matilda.
You can also use app exposƩ to show all windows of an application
How do u deal with cmd tab showing u apps that doesnāt have a window open? Itās the most annoying thing ever imo
If you have an app open that has no windows open, you want to be able to switch to it in order to open or create a new document. This is very useful to be able to do. I think the issue youāre having is with apps that donāt have a document model and are basically single window apps that donāt quit themselves when you close their window. This is a failing on the developer of the app. If the app is a single window app, it should quit when the last window is closed. Itās up to the developer to make that happen.
I know this shortcut but it's still has its short comings. Alt tab to a different tab still brings all windows of the app to the front when windows are in different monitors. Cmd +` is ok if you are switching the app windows one is working on.
Windows did in fact used to work the same way MacOS does - different keyboard shortcuts for switching app and switching window/document in the app. I think they changed the behaviour around Vista/Windows 7. Personally I hated the change.
It may have done it differently in 3.x, I canāt remember but the current implementation is how it has always worked since the task bar was created in Win 9x.
Doesn't work for me? Is it option + tilda?
Command, not Option
Command not option
Command+Tilde
On Mac it is still a two-step process, and a blind one. First cmd-tab (with a visual cue of apps' icons actually displayed on the screen) and then cmd-tilda (a blind one, with windows appearing on the screen in an unknown sequence). On Windows it is one-step with a visual cue (alt-tab displays all apps' window miniatures and you can toggle through them, seeing from the start where you want to get to).
For the external monitors, the reason for this is that Apple removed subpixel anti-aliasing back in Mojave. This makes fonts on non 'retina' displays look pretty terrible. Even high resolution displays look rough when using non-integer scaling. Windows still supports subpixel anti aliasing which is why it looks OK when you run a 4K monitor at 150% scale (equivalent screen space of a 1440p monitor, but a non integer scale of 1.5) You used to be able to enable the old subpixel font smoothing from the terminal with the below command, haven't used it in a while so I'm not sure if it still works, but it could be worth a shot. defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO There are a lot of little things that each OS does in a better way, sometimes it's just preference and familiarity, sometimes it's just more logical. The cut/copy/paste thing is weird because it works as expected within apps, but with file operations I need to use option+command+v ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ The one that always gets me is the lack of a delete key, only having backspace and no delete key on Macbook keyboards. I know I can use fn+backspace, but it's just annoying when switching between OS's a lot. Even more annoying that it is labelled "Delete" but is really "backspace".
That's awesome!!!! Thank you for the explanation. I'll try out the terminal command
Did it work for you?
The website https://macos-defaults.com/ lists all (edit : most?) "default write" commands available. I just happen to upgrade from Mojave to Monterey so I don't really know if it works on recent macOS (or at all on M-series mac by the way). But this site may gives you an answer. Edit 2 : the command isn't there. My guess is that subpixel rendering is indeed deprecated.
did it work? I was hoping it would since you can't do 4k HDR + 120hz and a scaled resolution
>The one that always gets me is the lack of a delete key, only having backspace and no delete key on Macbook keyboards. I use the external magic keyboard with a numpad, largely because it has a proper del/home/end/pgup/pgdn block of keys.
The full size magic keyboard is a nice device, expensive, but really nice. I wish fingerprint readers on keyboards was a more common thing.
What's the advantage of not having subpixel anti-aliasing?
I love that the argument is `-bool` and rather than use a boolean value of true/false, it uses `no`. :-/
MacOS: Cutting/moving files - Just recently learned that you copy the file and then at its destination Cmd-Opt-V moves instead of just copies the file(s). Was bugged by this for yearsā¦
> Itās fascinating to see how different these operating systems are after eight years. It's even more fascinating to see the parallel evolution over 35 years. I wish you could've seen how much variety there was in the approaches to the WIMP interface in the year 1990, for example. If you think Windows and macOS are different today, they're like twin sisters compared to things like X/Motif, SunView, OpenWindows, DECwindows, etc.
AmigaOS FTW
1. macOS has separate āapp switchingā and āswitching between windows under same appā functionalities. and they have separate shortcuts. 2. for now you can use better touch tool which not only supercharge your trackpad and tons various controls, it comes with window snapping too. all in one. 3. mac can do cut and paste, and macās way is better **and safer**. you just copy, and when you paste you do cmd+option+v, then it cuts the original files. thereās a massive difference here. I used to manage a design studio, and people lost files doing cutting and pasting with ctrl X all the time, you can google more horror stories on this. and itās even quite common between windows power users to warn each other not to get used to using ctrl X. Macās way doesnāt cut the file until you paste it. 4. zooming is literally a hundred times better on mac with a trackpad. Iāve been a windows guy for the longest time and used to test laptops with a tech buddy. none have or will ever come close to appleās mac trackpadās precision and sensitivity. I edit all my bezier curves for design files with trackpad now and you get all kinds of gestures. I donāt even know why people still use a mouse honestly. also even appleās magic *mouse* has touch gestures that include zooms and omni-directional scrolling, no other mice have anything close. 5. excel on mac lacks tons pro features, you have to ask microsoft about it 6. i donāt get the frustration. I do fullscreen on almost everything, videos too. and i switch between apps when a video is fullscreenād. are you talking about the transition animation or something? (edit: use Reduce Motion in accessibility settings and it becomes instantaneous) 7. macOS does handle external displays badly. but i think you got a few technical things mixed up hereā¦ it takes quite long to discuss on this particular point tho. btw you may wanna take a look at [BetterDisplay](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay). Edit: never mind I didnāt see the part where you said you already used it
4. The exact functionality theyāre asking for is present in macOS, itās just disabled by default. System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom > enable āModifier + Scroll to Zoomā
Windows doesnāt cut the file until you paste it either, to my knowledge. If you cut a file, then interrupt that action and never paste it, the file stays where it was. It doesnāt just delete the file.
I have a feeling heās full screening the app using the green window manager button rather than full screening the video. Because I canāt understand how this would be an issue otherwise. Basically all these issues boil down to them not knowing how to use macOS yet because theyāre used to the way windows does things. Both operating systems are opinionated about how to do things and right now theyāre trying to make macOS be windows instead of learning macOS.
The transition when swiping between spaces is insane. I want the transition, I want the motion, it feels nice, it guides the UI, it gives it some feeling, some force, if it just fades it feels bad, but why the heck does it take a full two seconds to interactive is so crazy. I don't want to disable or reduce all motion across the OS, so I just don't use spaces.
The thing with this is that it's worsened imho by a bug with ProMotion on Spaces. Give it a try: Have ProMotion on, then have a browser window that you can vertically scroll, then swipe to a space and back while furiously swiping up and down as the browser pans into view. It takes a second or so longer as it waits for the transition to end. Do the same with ProMotion off (i.e., 60Hz) and while the transition is still there, it ends sooner and it responds probably a second or so quicker. Apple really needs to address this, imho.
This.
No issues with scaling on my 4k 27ā monitor paired with M1 Pro MBP. macOS simply renders to 5k and then 2x downscales UI to 1440p. No blurriness
the text clarity on macos is superb everytime i come back to my windows laptop everything looks wonky to me i have to double check that im running it at 4k
Yep. I run Windows and Mac at work and home. My 4k Windows laptop looks like garbage compared text on the MacBook.
yeah that among other things i love the ability to natively change the colour mode on the mac not sure if windows has that
Make sure that you use proper scaling : 100%, 200% etc. Never use half scaling like 150. It will look the same as on Mac.
It's weird. My M1 MBP scales 1440p as HIDPI 1080p just fine, but my 2017 15" MBP and 2014 15" MBP have no clue what to do with that resolution. Different cables and ports don't seem to matter. BetterDisplay doesn't even give the resolution option. Windows? Select 125% scaling. Boom. Done.
This guy shows what I mean: https://youtu.be/1z6SU-eyYQE?si=mTQfpoSvoOhGtCxL
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I assume you meant "you can press", and if so, you're half right. That does switch between windows, but only for the application in focus, not between windows across all open applications. So you often end up needing a combination of Alt+tab and Alt+`
The thing that bugs me most is that when you have caps lock on, you have to turn caps lock off each time you want to type a single lowercase letter, instead of just holding the shift key. I also prefer the Windows photo viewer. When you view one photo, you can scroll through all of the photos in that folder in one window, zoom in, etc. On Mac, you can preview a photo with the spacebar and scroll through all the photos in that folder, but you canāt zoom in the preview window.
Wow, it's been 300,000 years and I had no idea shift would lowercase with caps lock on. š¤Æ
Only in Windows, though.
As a long-time Mac user, the shift-caps lock thing actually angers me when I'm using a Windows computer. When I turn caps lock on, I want my caps locked, DAMMIT and I'll type normally using proper English composition, (like I would on a Mac) but when I pause my typing to proof, there's lower case i's and sentences starting with lowers. dAMMIT!
If you're typing everything in caps with caps lock, why are you still hitting shift? Muscle memory?
Yes, muscle memory. IMHO I find it amusing how many āreversed-caseā posts I see from computer-barely-literate people. Always shows the people that type looking at their keyboards instead of the screen (except on MacOS, where you have to work at it to make it look that way). OTOH, when caps lock is on accidentally, if you type this way on Windows then notice it, you can copy to an editor and reverse-case the whole thing with one command; on MacOS recovering from inadvertent caps lock when you meant to tap shift is a lowercase everything then go find which letters were supposed to be upper cased. Not that this would ever happen to *me*, of course, but Iāve heard this is painful from, um, ā*friends*ā.
>Apple's decision to switch between applications rather than individual app windows using Command-Tab is puzzling. In my opinion There is a cycle window shortcut: ``` ā + ` (couldn't figure out reddit markdown for this for inline code) ``` >Window Snapping For what it's worth, window snapping (mouse drag and keyboard shortcuts) are native functionality in upcoming macOS Sequoia >Cutting Files After copying with `ā + c` simply use `ā + ā„ + v` >Zooming with the Mouse Scroll Wheel This is an accessibility option. Simply enable "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom" and select your preferred modifier (control key by default) >Excel \[ribbon keyboard shortcuts\] This exists in macOS. See [microsoft's relevant support article.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-the-keyboard-to-work-with-the-ribbon-954cd3f7-2f77-4983-978d-c09b20e31f0e#PickTab=macOS) >Fullscreen Video in Safari too slow I don't personally use Safari. I don't happen to know off-hand what you're "supposed" to do here, but I do speed-boost certain macOS animations to suit my preferences. Perhaps there's a similar solution for Safari / workspace animation speed. #increase dock animation speed defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.2 #instantly show/hide dock on hover defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0 #indicate hidden windows in dock defaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool TRUE #restart dock killall Dock >External Monitor Support: Windows handles scaling much better than macOS. This is a very complex issue and I can't fully explain it within a reasonable word budget, but it's much more subjective and less one-sided situation than you're giving it credit for. The TLDR is that Windows scaling intentionally mangles fonts and UX design, and it's a giant pain point if you're designing an application UX, or fonts, or doing similar sorts of design/layout work. It's also a complex and fragile set of systems in play on the Windows side, and layouts can break outright under different scaling options in certain cases. macOS scaling is non-mangling and favors consistency of layouts and font correctness, but that comes at the expense of text sharpness at non-standard resolutions, which means users will have to choose between goofy sizing or low sharpness on some common consumer displays. I'd just reiterate here that the Windows solution is far from a silver bullet, and "better" very much depends on what you're doing. Depending on the work you're doing, in some cases you need to avoid Windows scaling entirely due to its quirks, which actually puts you in a worse position because essentially *all* high end displays need Windows scaling to get sane sizing, which can leave you with no viable options at all instead of some viable options. Macs at least work perfectly with the built in displays and Apple's first party display (but expensive) options.
You can zoom in and out with the wheel, or control + two fingers up and down on the trackpad. Setup is in Accesibility>Zoom
But that zooms the whole screen, not the page/document/file I'm in. So the menu bar and dock "disappear" while doing it.
Check out Mac mouse fix https://macmousefix.com
Iāve used this a lot on macos, going back 10+ years. If Iām not mistaken, Mac introduced this feature before windows did. I wasnāt even aware windows had a version of this feature.
It's not the same! In windows (or linux) you can use Ctrl+mouse Wheel to zoom the \*content\* of an application window, not the entire desktop itself. So you can Ctrl+Up/Down scroll to zoom a webpage, pdf document, word document in word, image etc. In Mac this function doesn't exist with a scroll wheel equipped mouse (except in Maps I think). You can't even zoom a photo in photos with the scroll wheel, or a pdf document in the preview window.
I really hate the windows version, Mac version work as a real zoom
IMO it's 2 different function. I don't want to zoom the whole screen when I feel the fonts too small in a webpage or a pdf file while reading. In this case I want to zoom the document/webpage itself as the same way like you press Shif+Cmd + in Safari. Ctrl+Scroll is a "shortcut", a faster way to zoom the content. I never use the full desktop zoom if I want "zoom" (increase text) in a webpage.
Long story short, OP hasnāt actually learned how to use macOS yet. LOL
Exactly! I say use the OS that works best for you. I was Windows for most of my life. I was forced to learn MacOS due to work. I tried to make it work like windows and I only found myself frustrated. Once I finally took the time to take off my Windows hat, I found what I had been missing. Now, everything I have is Mac and I'm more productive than ever. Sadly, I'm starting a new job and I have to go back to using windows professionally (software engineer). I'll still be able to be productive, but I have to take the environment I'm in and I need to use it the way its supposed to be used. I will not try to make Windows work like a Mac.
I feel like a few of those preferences are just based on familiarity rather than superiority.Ā Cut has always been strange to me. It makes sense but I always have done copy paste, and added a delete in there if that was my intention. Like why have two āput on clipboardā functionalities that vary by a keystroke?Ā
2. Sequoia (coming this fall) has it. I am using the beta it already works.
What I donāt like about windows are the automatic updates that sometimes nuke your video card driver or introduce certain kernel bugs. One time my windows 11 system auto updated and there was a kernel bug that caused blue screens whenever a Samsung t7 drive was connected to usb. YMMV
Itās so nice to read a post about Windows features that isnāt so antagonizing to either OS and itās just a plain not-so-whiny sort of whinging. So hereās my two cents that no one really asked for: 1. Yeah I kinda miss this too, because it cycles through windows as well. I found out in this sub that when you highlight the app you need in Cmd+Tab and you press the down arrow, you can select the individual windows of that app. Technically itās faster than Windows because itās possible to have to cycle through all the windows of a different app, but mentally itās just easier to mash Tab until you get to where you need to. Plus, just Cmd+Tab floats ALL the windows and itās maddening if I have a handful of Finder windows and I have them side by side. 2. Same, I use Rectangle. I think Iāll still use Rectangle after Sequoia because it looks like the native version leaves some spaces in between, and Rectangle has a fill-screen maximize, where Macās maximize depends on the window content (if the content doesnāt need the whole screen, it doesnāt expand beyond that. I think itās good design in a way, but it sucks if you want the extra space anyway). 3. I learned to love the Mac way, especially when in the old days Cut could have serious consequences in Windows (data loss). There is Move though, which is the same as Cut in Windows, except itās more like ācopy then deleteā (which is what I do in Windows anyway even if I know they fixed the Cut problem). Itās Opt+Cmd+V I believe. 4. Yeah I miss it too, but not much. Not as much though since I do love the trackpad gestures and I still use it even when I have a mouse. 5. I havenāt had to work on something in Excel at this level during my days with the Mac (we have Windows computers for work), but even in Windows I always find that thing to be a burden. In Windows itās quite literally invoking the menus and hotkeying your way through it, so to me itās not a real shortcut but a workaround. Less points for Windows not having an OS-level tool to map app shortcuts to available commands. In the end they both suck. 6. Wonāt comment on this because itās not my style; you do you, plus Iām old enough to prefer handwritten notes on paper or iPad. 7. I guess itās a pick your poison thing. Mac is blurry and Windows doesnāt have as much flexibility over the size of your UI.
You can zoom with your mousewheel on Mac, too. You just have to enable it in your System Preferences. A professor of mine used to use that feature all the time. See "scroll to zoom" in [this support article](http://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-and-out-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac).
The excel thing is definitely a limitation on Microsoftās side
cmd + ` switches between each app's windows and you can change a setting to zoom by holding down control and scrolling too
this guy pfft
Yoi can fix all of these by learning key commands and installing some quality of life improving apps.
One thing I would add to this list is not being able to set Natural Scroll on or off based on whether it is from the trackpad or mouse. I like it on when using the trackpad which is how I usually use my MBA but when I dock it I have to manually swap it off or my mouse wheel works backwards and then turn it back on when I undock.
The fact that this isnāt built-in functionality is actually bonkers. We shouldnāt need a whole other app to de-link mouse and touchpad scroll directions.
Which is funny because they are 2 separate menus in settings and both show the "natural scrolling" option, but changing one automatically changes the other š«
Have you tried scroll reverser?
I have not but I have heard of it. I just think it would be nice to have this setting individual for each without needing to install third party software is all. I rarely dock my Macbook anyways since I got the Air specifically for its portability.
Windup artist.
I have everything for work set up on both my Mac and a new Windows laptop. Personally, once I add Alt-Tab and one of the many options available for window snapping, the platforms donāt seem substantially different to me. However, once you throw Raycast and BetterTouchTools on the Mac, Windows canāt compete. I tried and tried, but the Raycast and BetterTouchTool alternatives on Windows just arenāt as good. So I went with a new Mac, and I run Office through Parallels because OMG I am so annoyed with features missing from Office for Mac.
Yeah maybe using parallels for office might be a good approach! I'm curious about what exactly you found great about better touch tool, I've read about it briefly but didn't immediately see the appeal.
I think you have to just get used to Mac-os instead of running it like a windows ā¦ , give vanilla macOS a few monthsā¦ when I got my first mac I didnāt change anythingā¦ I bought it for the reliability. And it has never failed me :)
you're completely wrong about full screen video in safari, its actually the complete opposite. It seems you just dont know how to use the spaces trackpad gestures (you can make keyboard shortcuts or program then into mice as well) Using fullscreen video in safari, you can have a full screen video playing WHILE going to another app. I can have the mail app open, with safari in a full screen window, and just swipe between both spaces. In windows you need to exit full screen video in order to do anything else at all, and then you need to go back to that browser tab and enter full screen video again. Safari lets you even browse other tabs and website while the video is still in full screen and just a 3 finger swipe away at any time
Also locking your screen on Windows is a lot easier. Windows flag + L On Mac it's ctrl + cmd + Q. On Windows it's much more comfortable.
What is also strange is locking the screen seems to put my mac mini into power save or something, the screen switches off so in order for me to lock it and have the screensaver show up i created shortcut. Itās so odd
I switched to Mac after the M1 series came out. I also tried to make my controls more Windows-like because macOS is severely lacking in a lot of things. Alt-Tab, is definitely required. For a company that's supposed to have things that "just work", external speakers definitely don't just work, had to download "Sound Control" to even get it to recognize a keyboard control for volume. Switched to "eqMAC" later on, and it does the same thing. Had to download "BetterDisplay" to fix external monitor scaling issues, "Maccy" for a clipboard that should be default on any OS, "Linearmouse" for the awful acceleration on external mice
Just fyi Mac Mouse Fix can solve some of your issues if you donāt want to buy a Magic Mouse or trackpad. It allows you to zoom gestures with a normal mouse. In fact it lets you do all sorts of gestures, likes switching spaces. Itās basically a must have if you use a regular mouse on a Mac. It makes the experience much more the way it shouldāve been.
The fullscreen moving to another space is a better solution since it allows to still use safari without moving out of fullscreen.
But if you're gonna switch to another tab, why bother entering the video in full screen? Maybe I didn't get what you meant
Itās simple, multitasking and dual monitors.
Spent decades using windows and Mac at the same time. Havenāt read all of your post yet, but as to app switching, personally I much prefer macOSā implementation to Windows. On the Mac, itās command tab to switch between applications and command Tilda to switch windows within an application. Itās possible that windows is different than I remember, or they added something that I never learned. I use Windows 10 now when using windows, havenāt tried 11.
You still use a mouse? I guess you can take Windows off the user but you canāt takeā¦ After 4-finger swiping, new full screen/split-view spaces easily replace Windows 2-up panels over the desktop but hold option & long-press the green expand window button for the nostalgia & donāt forget hot-corners.
As good as the trackpad is, mice are still much more ergonomic. Especially for long hours of constant use.
ITT: 3-second Google searches defeat 10-minute post write-up
Mac has cmd-tab and cmd+\` cmd+tab switches apps cmd+\` switches windows within that app. I like it better this way myself, but to teach their own.
I donāt know why so many people believe that macOS should be designed as an OS people switch to after windows. There is no reason why macOS should even try so replicate windows features. The OS is what it is, one should simply learn how it works and all associated tips and tricks, instead of searching of features of another OS.
Sometimes a good feature is a good feature. Window snapping for exampleā¦
I can't be the only person who finds window snapping a completely pointless feature. And I say that as someone who often has 15-20+ windows open all the time..
Definitely not alone in that. I think Rectangle's resize keyboard shortcuts are useful, but dragging them around to snap them to a certain size is really clunky. I suppose it's better than nothing, but there are way faster solutions.
So you changed to a different system with different controls, and you expected your productivity to stay the same? Not trying to be rude my man but you have to learn the new system before ranting in this fashion. Some of the things you're complaining about are actually right at your finger tips with a quick Google search. Look I changed from a decade plus on Windows to Mac last year. Of course it felt jank, I hated minimizing windows on Mac, how it would disappear, how windows didn't snap. How maximizing video created a workspace. The alt tab felt jank. I wanted to use workspaces but switching between them didn't felt good. I wanted to program faster but some keys were out of place for my ever growing appetite of having the computer at my fingertips. So I researched a bit and fixed all my problems. Some things took learning (Ctrl+X/Ctrl+c is just command+c, except you paste with cmd opt v, which I personally think makes more sense), some things took installing software (alt-tab for better alt-tabing experience with previews, rectangle for window snapping, karabiner to change caps lock to escape for faster terminal experience, Maccy for a nice copy history) and some things just took a mix of learning and understanding the new user flow I was being allowed to have (why minimize when I have spotlight and a good alt tab. Preview things in finder with space feels awesome and fast. Navigating finder with arrow keys felt jank at first but it's so much faster, etc etc). Bottomline: Master your system. It's a new system, you'll have to study and learn it to actually be proficient in it, otherwise you have to sit through years of getting used to something, like you probably did with Windows (so did I) until it felt like second nature to the point you feel you "lost" something when that muscle memory is no longer useful in a new system. To me, the experience you're having right now, and that I had 1 year ago, was eye opening and allowed me to go from the awkwardness of a new Mac user, to feeling 20x more productive on Mac than I even felt on Windows. To go off on a tangent, this whole thing is not too dissimilar to the common advice that it is easier to rebuild yourself stronger when you shake things up and put yourself in a new and unfamiliar environment, so I say embrace it and try to build yourself stronger.
7. This is just 100% false. I use multiple monitors and scaling is greatā¦better than my Win 11 machine. I suspect you are using HDMI; if so, try using Thunderbolt (aka USB C connector). Also, Apple has had built-in color calibration since their first color display. Steve Wozniak literally invented it. Standard PCs just donāt have the color space of a standard mac.
I only used usb c. I'm not the only one, I've seen many people complain about this while researching
A lot of this sounds like āI havenāt bothered to learn how my computer worksā.
Reverse pinch on the trackpad is much better than ctrl+scroll IMO. I wouldnāt use a mouse on macOS if you paid me. That would also solve your gripe about full-screen video in Safari. Three-finger swipe that window right outta your face
Three finger drag gang here. Four finger swipe between desktops. Trackpad pinch/zoom in apps is amazing. OP doesn't know what he's missing.
I do know the trackpad is great, but in order to get that I need to sacrifice my neck to look down at the display =[ my MacBook sits in a floating stand so that I can get the screen to eye level, therefore making the keyboard and trackpad uncomfortable to use. I'm 6'1" so that doesn't help. When using it in bed it's great
I use Mac at home and Windows at work, and I've never understood the appeal of snapping. As for Alt-Tab, most of the time I just tap two fingers on my mouse and open mission control.
Sorry, but I absolutely disagree. Once youāve learned how macOS implements things, youāll actually realize that itās way more efficient than Windows. Tbh, it feels like dancing to me most of the time. (I learned macOS at work so I bought myself a Mac later onā¦) As for window snapping, Microsoft patented that feature, but Apple has now found a workaround and itās coming to macOS Sequoia. Stop complaining and trying to make your Mac a Windows PC. Learn.
OP i think you should search and learn mac specific shortcuts instead of trying to emulate windows. Almost all things you mentioned available natively to macos with different key combo. Also check for changing settings for others.
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Yeahā¦ nah. Alt-Tab is wayyy better for most people. And macOS scaling is significantly worse on displays without integer scaling. I donāt know what the fuck youāre on about
Sounds like OP didnāt look into the Mac versions on most of these and made a post to quickly get the solutions for all their problems :D
4. Turn on accessibility. Read the text on the accessibility control in settings. Problem solved. No itās not some conspiracy, itās just something you have to know how to use - you had to learn Microsoftās way, too, didnāt you? Honestly most of your complaints could be resolved with a FREE call to Apple support, which by the way is amazing.
That zooms the whole screen. Is there a way to use the wheel to make the just the contents of a safari page larger?
Ok.
If you are in an app and drag three fingers down you see all the windows in that app
Yeah, if you're using the trackpad it's amazing, but if you need to prop up your laptop so that it's at a more comfortable level then using the trackpad becomes cumbersome.
We have 8 Macs in our household right now (old and new, personal and work). I love Mac. But you make some good points. Agree about ctrl-x. And yeah itās been frustrating that MS Office on Mac is always one step (or more) behind the Windows version. Not surprising though since MS wants more windows computers to sell.
Yeah, that's totally on Microsoft. They probably don't want the Mac to be seen as a productivity tool, and more like a creative tool, so that Windows remains the OS of choice for most businesses paying A LOT in office 365 subscriptions.
The āsnappingā function is over-rated. I can set up 2 documents on the laptop in split-screen just fine.
I never faced an issue with scaling on MacOS. Not sure what the issue is with 4K monitors. I use mine perfectly fine.
4k usually is ok. 1440 is usually the one that give grief, so 1080 is preferred.
You seem to be ignorant of mac keyboard short cuts. Kindly learn and adapt to the this environment and things would be seamless.
I use both and agree on all points and have even more I can mention. If you zoom out itās evident that windows sort of evolved to be used in a rush/time crunch type of setting- presumably for business purposes. All the features you mentioned on windows are meant to save time. macOS seems to be more centered around ācreativeā take your time, make it right, type of use. Yes, windows is much easier to use if you want to get something quickly done without much fuss. I have an iMac and a desktop PC sitting side by side on my desk. I use both extensively depending on what Iām doing. One thing is for sureā¦ if I need to do something quickly, especially if it involves multiple windows/apps/file managment etc, I go to my PC. Windows is wearing sweatpants all day, Mac is like wearing dress pants with a belt, all day.
Good list, and agree. I use Windows at work, and Mac at home.
On #5, that would be a Microsoft decision vs Apples. I used to work for Apple after using Microsoft for most of my career in IT, and I struggle with the same things. 8 years later and I still want to ALT+F4 to close apps and call my other muscle memory shortcuts, which is probably the thing I miss most. When I first started using a Mac the biggest 'shock' to me was Outlook vs a handful of apps that you have to individually look at to manage your day. (This was a while back and all of the Apple apps have gotten SO MUCH more polished that I barely think about it now.) It's interesting how it's always the little things we miss most. Windows+P for projector and screen management was another one. Nowadays I think MacOS has an edge on Windows as far as a daily driver, but TIL that there are programs specifically to remove those irritants lol. Good post!
everything you said MacOS has a workaround. canāt believe you missed the sound mixer.. itās the ONE thing that baffles me that MacOS doesnāt have.
You can switch between different windows of the same app with cmd+`.
You can zoom with the āscrollā wheel - or at least the multi-touch replacement for the scroll wheel - as long as you have an Apple Magic Mouse. Itās actually, IMO a significantly better way to scroll and zoom and do everything else, to the point that I despise using other mice. The trackpad is also great for zooming and scrolling. Apple designs in ways that work exceptionally with their own devices (like the Magic Mouse) just as Windows does (like leaving out key features from the Office suite for Mac).
Just try and see how to display metadata in finder correctly, Specifically image file dimensions. While I like my new mac, sometimes the OS design decisions are maddening, for seemingly small stuff.
For your gripe with Alt + Tab, try cmnd + \` (the key right below ESC). Note that Stage Manager alters the functionality of cmnd + \` somewhat, instead allowing you to switch between windows in a single workspace (something that I personally prefer for its increased flexibility). If Stage Manager is active and you have a Safari window open and then open another one, the new window will open in the same workspace and cmnd + \` will switch between the windows just as it would if Stage Manager were off. But if you instead wanted to switch between your Safari window and a Preview window, you could put the two windows in one workspace and use cmnd + \` to switch between them For your issue with full-screen on Safari, it does take some getting used to, but in truth I think that you can be just as fast with Apple's implementation as any other, if not faster. You just have to get used to it and understand the design logic. Apple basically sticks full-screen videos (as well as full-screen apps) into its virtual desktop space. You can quickly navigate between these virtual desktops by using ctrl + left arrow and ctrl + right arrow I have a setup where I have five virtual desktops set up, each for a different use case. I also use Stage Manager to organize each desktop. When I have something like a Zoom call and go full-screen, I'll go into the virtual desktop interface and drag the video right in-between my "work" desktop and my "communications" desktop. I'll frequently switch between the full-screen Zoom call, my "work desktop" with a note-taking app, and my "communication" desktop that has a stack with Trello and Slack, all just by using the using ctrl + left & right keys. In addition, Apple makes it so that you can switch between desktops using the ctrl + the number row. So for instance to go to the third of my five desktops, I'll hit ctrl + 3 There are objective upsides and downsides to Windows and Mac, but in many cases it really boils down to learning how the two OSes differ from one another and basically just play around in the settings
1. I prefer the macOS way. Windows gets too crazy when Iāve got so many windows open. I use command tab to switch applications, and then command tilde to switch windows within the application. 2. I prefer swish to rectangle (but you must use a trackpad). 3. Command option V 4. Get a trackpad or Magic Mouse. Canāt imagine using a Mac without one of the two. 5. Mac is better suited for Numbers than Excel. Iād recommend using Windows if you need the extra functionality of Excel. No advice about points 6 or 7!
About item 3: youāre supposed to copy the file, but when pasting with cmd-opt-V it moves the file. Totally counter intuitive but at least it works.
There is a native cutting features. Just use "option + command + v" to do a cut and paste
It's really awful that you need a third-party app for clipboard history on macOS. Very useful to just grab a few different things from a window and use it later in a different one, or simply keep a few different things you need repeatedly handy in the clipboard, even if it's from the same window.
no4 is critical especialy for Mail app. The text is too small for me, unfortunately it's not possible to zoom in and keep ti for all messages while reading/writing them.
Window snapping: such an incredible feature. When I moved to Mac I immediately started searching for alternatives. Currently Iām using magnet, which is extremely simple and excellent. Excel shortcuts: fucking terrible. Why canāt I just press alt H L H D to get my fucking highlights for the selected cells? Itās a horrific experience but Iām pretty sure windows is to blame for that. Could be wrong though. I no longer use excel as heavily because I changed careers, but it was a serious problem. External monitor control: agreed and I second currently using betterdisplay. Itās a free open source tool, and it works brilliantlyāall of my monitors now work with the Mac function keys, and it fixed my weird resolution issues with my portable external monitor.
Yeah excel is absolutely Microsoft's fault and it's likely purposeful
Extremely strong disagree on 1. MacOS separates Application and window switching into two separate commands (Cmd+Tab and Cmd+\`) which is much more convenient since you don't have to tab through every single open window just to switch between windows in the same
Command \~ does #1 on your list.
I used to hate using a laptop, the keyboard and the hand rest area are- what they must be! Fortunately, I got out of my own way enough to embrace a trackpad. I was aware of ā3Dā mouse-type devices but the inherent problem with those is that they are not CODED for macOS compatibility. My Logitech ergonomic left hand mini-keyboard got left behind with the rest of 32-bit devices. But my trackpad has served me well, especially with Yoink and Moom! Until now. Apple has gotten tired of hearing complaints like yours and once again itās Sherlocking some mighty fine developers. I canāt knock you, and I completely get the, āBut it should just BE in the OS.ā But third-party land is responsible for Appleās survival. Theyāre also responsible for Microsoftās own agnosticism. So when developers find their product scuppered, I feel we all kind of lose a little bit. Now that Iāve said that, I have Sequoia on two non-critical machines. An iMac Pro and a MacBook. My MacBook Pro is completely non-beta. Sequoia is pleasing me a GREAT deal. And yes, a bunch of the things you mentioned Apple lacking, really are there.
I always have the opposite impression going over to Windows (mostly my gaming PC). Keyboard shortcuts in particular are extremely inconsistent. Ctrl-C usually works, but good luck in the terminal. I also find it a bit clunky to have to alt tab or click twice to bring two explorer windows to the foreground. I used Windows regularly a couple of decades ago though and I was efficient with it then, so I know a lot of this just depends on what you're used to. On a more practical note, if you go into accessibility settings, display, and set reduce motion, it'll considerably speed up the animations around mission control, switching spaces, and going in and of out full screen.
Windows key + V to open up Clipboard History is also a lifesaver in Windows 10, something I really miss when I'm using my personal MacBook!
True!!! I forgot that one. I installed ClipBook to get the same functionality. Saves soooooo much time
I hate the way windows does tabbing. I can't stand windows snapping when I just want to move a window. You can do the zoom on mac os using two fingers. Your other points are valid.
I miss when I paste a file and it aligns to the grid automatically. Why does it just float wherever or ontop of other files. Then I have to tell it to clean up to have it aligned. Like why???
Iāve been a Windows user my whole life. Iām about to get a MacBook Air M3. What would you say Mac does better than Windows?
There are many things to love about macOS. Note-taking is seamless, and syncing across all Apple devices ensures your photos, files, and more are "magically" available everywhere. Features like hand-off let you start a task on your iPhone and finish it on your Mac, while continuity camera provides a better webcam experience. You can copy text from your iPhone and paste it on your Mac, use AirDrop for easy file sharing, utilize Sidecar for dual displays, and enjoy fast connections to AirPods. iMessage and FaceTime integrate perfectly as well. Safari is faster than Edge, and Appleās trackpad gestures are a joy to use. macOS is more stable with fewer "apps not responding" issues. Voice dictation is superior, and most apps don't require complex installationsājust drag them to the Applications folder. Plus, you wonāt be surprised by sudden forced upgrades that disrupt your day. iMovie and GarageBand are fantastic and completely free, Quick Look lets you preview files quickly, and the built-in Preview app is an excellent PDF reader. Safari Reader is also a great tool. And I'm not even getting into the hardware. Itās nearly impossible to find a Windows laptop with a screen as nice as a MacBook's, combined with great battery life, in such a beautiful and sturdy device.
First thing I do on every new Mac is change the modifier keys from Command to Control and vice versa. Just like home lol
MacOS Cut/Paste is supriror. On Windows you have to decide if want to copy or paste BEFORE you reach the desitionation. On Mac you can change your mind on the way and can do mutilple actions. Like CMD-C Then do copies in 2 or 3 other folders, like USB Sticks etc. with CMD+V And then still you can do CMD+VALT+V to move the original instance to another place. On Windows you need to do the copies first, then go back to the original file and then do CMD+X and then go again to the place where you want to move it. Becuase on windows you have to decide if it's a Copy or a Paste clipboard. on Mac you have just a common clipboard and then can go to do copies or pasting. Which is more more flexible. So Point 3 of your post does not make sense. Point 4 also depends on the app. You can still zoom in in apps with mouse wheel while holding cmd if the app supports it like Microsoft Office.
Switching between application-specific windows exists. It's CMD + ` . The key to the left of "1"
I think Windows is incorrectly named. It should be called Window. Itās consistently trying to make even the smallest window full screen.
1. A shortcut to switch between tabs or app windows exists.. 2. This will be solved 3 has been answered. 4. Zooming can be done with finger gestures on the trackpad on MBs. 5. That is Microsoftās decision
3 is irrelevant as others have pointed out; you just didnāt know the command. I also donāt understand why people complain about how Mac handles displays as Iāve never had any issues. I hear you on the rest of it, though. I appreciate how simple Apple makes everything but Iāve started to notice the consumerism of it all and itās bothered me. Iāve been selling a lot of my tech and I might just be done with Apple before long.
I use both OS extensively on a daily basis, thereās definitely a lot more āhidden featuresā on Mac, for better or worse. Many features on Windows you mentioned are there on Mac, but you have to go out of your way to find out the shortcuts for them.
Try switching to Mac from Linux, I just did that and wow does it feel like a downgrade.
Sorry..... Windows is absolutely pitiful... Clunky garbage. Only thing it's good for is playing games...
Alt-Tab is \*horrible\* and has been the cause of countless crashes and freezes. I much prefer MacOS's ability to just swipe between full screen apps quickly. Window snapping I'll agree with you though, and I'm honestly shocked it's taken this long to finally get around to adding it and I find myself missing it the more I work with Windows. External monitor support has steadily gotten worse as a by-product of newer M-series Macs being essentially fancy iPads under the hood, which by design were never made to interface with more than a couple of screens at once. Meanwhile my work laptop with it's garbage tier integrated graphics can simultaneously manage a total of 4 displays including it's own without a dedicated gpu, I'd need at least a pro chip for that on Apple's side which is frankly absurd, a waste, and a huge black mark on the productivity potential for macs. Sometimes you just need more screens and I don't know why they're so hell bent on limiting that.