I've Moved To Mac

[coalesce]

Cons:
very difficult to upgrade

Considering that I was able to upgrade my old Blue and White G3/400 tower with a bigger hard drive, a DVD burner, more memory, a better graphics card and additional Firewire/USB ports--all of which were not available at the time of purchase--how is it difficult to upgrade? There are certain models, such as the Cube, that were less upgradeable (sp?) than others, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

May I ask you for clarification?

Michael

 

[HarryKeogh]

Do you know what - for me on the Mac it is one of the most annoying things! I never "remember" or "know" which does which and I've been using them for years. No idea why it's just one of those things that doesn't stick, I have to look and think.

I figured that one out before I ever clicked on them. We all learned that red means stop, green means go and yellow means minimize the window.

The one thing that was annoying when I started using OSX was instinctively pointing to the upper right corner of the window to minimize and maximize windows. Growing up exclusively using Windows will do that to you!

In all I think "window" handling is one of the weaknesses of the OSX GUI - it's better then it used to be but most other GUI's these day do it much better. A simple "for instance" - I can't make a window on the Mac bigger by grabbing any side I have to use the bottom right handle

Agreed. I wish they would change that.

 

[NobbyNobbs]

All OS have problems with user-friendliness. But Macs are hailed as being particularly user-friendly, so it is reasonable to look into that claim.

Macs are being hailed as more user-friendly, so it is reasonable to make a comparison.

No, Windows uses icons. Underscore, tiled windows and X. Far better than merely colors.

This didn't seem right, but fortunately I brought my Mac laptop to work, and have just now booted it up to check.

Indeed, the button appear to just have color. But when you scroll the mouse over any one of them, all three show an icon. An x on the red, a - on the yellow, and a + on the green. The x closes the window. Being red in color, natural instinct should tell you that this is the most dangerous button to hit. The yellow minimizes it. The yellow color tells you to use caution, as it will appear that your window is gone, but not to worry; it's only minimized. The green changes the window size. Being a nice friendly green, this tells you that there is no reason to panic in hitting this button.

So, as it turns out, the Mac uses both icons and colors, whereas Windows uses only icons.


This is trivial, however. How the window is resized or closed is not the primary issue that endeared me to the Mac.

 

[HarryKeogh]

I never change the color of my socks. All my socks are exactly the same color, style and brand.

I hate wasting time sorting socks.

So do you wear white socks with your dress shoes or black socks with your sneakers?

 

[chulbert]

What other visual clues do you see, other than color?

The attached screenshots show that the Close, Minimize and Resize gumdrops are filled in with symbols when the mouse hovers over them. Additionally, if a document has unsaved changes the Close gumdrop is filled in with a dot even if the mouse is not hovering over it.

 

[Lisa Simpson]

The one thing that was annoying when I started using OSX was instinctively pointing to the upper right corner of the window to minimize and maximize windows. Growing up exclusively using Windows will do that to you!

My desktop is XP and my laptop is Mac. No matter which computer I am on, I seem to go to the wrong corner.

Agreed. I wish they would change that.

Thirded.

 

[chulbert]

And thus, if you want to make it bigger, you have to perform two actions: Move it up and left first, and then use the bottom right handle.

You can also use the green Resize gumdrop to do both of those actions in with one click, which one could argue is even simpler than dragging some hairline window border.

Talk about false beliefs...

Says the man who apparently has never even used a modern Mac.

 

[chulbert]

Truth be told, I think the heyday of the Mac's vastly superior usability has passed. There was a time when, relative to the PC experience, one could fairly claim that most everything on a Mac "just worked" but that disparity in usability between the two platforms has largely closed.

Like others, I prefer the OS X platform because of its Unix underpinnings and for a whole slew of fuzzy reasons like it's prettier and just feels more polished.

 

[CFLarsen]

Macs are being hailed as more user-friendly, so it is reasonable to make a comparison.

Much more user-friendly.

This didn't seem right, but fortunately I brought my Mac laptop to work, and have just now booted it up to check.

Indeed, the button appear to just have color. But when you scroll the mouse over any one of them, all three show an icon. An x on the red, a - on the yellow, and a + on the green. The x closes the window. Being red in color, natural instinct should tell you that this is the most dangerous button to hit. The yellow minimizes it. The yellow color tells you to use caution, as it will appear that your window is gone, but not to worry; it's only minimized. The green changes the window size. Being a nice friendly green, this tells you that there is no reason to panic in hitting this button.

That's why.

So, as it turns out, the Mac uses both icons and colors, whereas Windows uses only icons.

Only when mouseover.

So do you wear white socks with your dress shoes or black socks with your sneakers?

No socks with sneakers.

The attached screenshots show that the Close, Minimize and Resize gumdrops are filled in with symbols when the mouse hovers over them. Additionally, if a document has unsaved changes the Close gumdrop is filled in with a dot even if the mouse is not hovering over it.

That's why.

Says the man who apparently has never even used a modern Mac.

I have used just about any computer platform you can imagine - and then, some. Add to that, a lot of non-computer interfaces, in all situations.

 

[Lisa Simpson]

If you have to have the icon showing even when you aren't actually using the function (ie, trying to decide whether to close, minimize or maximize) then you are probably too stupid to use a computer, period.

 

[Darat]

...snip.. No matter which computer I am on, I seem to go to the wrong corner.

...snip..

Snap!

 

[coalesce]

If you have to have the icon showing even when you aren't actually using the function (ie, trying to decide whether to close, minimize or maximize) then you are probably too stupid to use a computer, period.

Is that's why I can't find the "Any" key?

Michael

 

[Lisa Simpson]

Hey, you're right! The Mac doesn't have an any key either!!

 

[chulbert]

That's why.

What's why?

 

[CFLarsen]

What's why?

You have to do a mouseover.

 

[NobbyNobbs]

Much more user-friendly.

That's still a comparison, and still appropriate to disclose what the opposition features or doesn't feature.

Only when mouseover.

And in that vein, does Windows add color when you do a scroll over? No? Then I'd say the Mac has a feature that is more user-friendly than Windows.

If you have to have the icon showing even when you aren't actually using the function (ie, trying to decide whether to close, minimize or maximize) then you are probably too stupid to use a computer, period.

Thank you, Lisa. I didn't want to appear rude by ranting, "Duh, why can't you figure out three little buttons?" Like I said, this wasn't the quintessential selling point that made me get the Mac.

 

[chulbert]

What's why?

You have to do a mouseover.

That's why, not what. What are you trying to say? That the reason you didn't think OS X used icons for Close, Minimize and Resize is because they weren't visible in the screenshot you found?

I don't mean to be unkind but it's uninformed criticisms like these that cause me to question whether you've used a modern Mac.

 

[CFLarsen]

And in that vein, does Windows add color when you do a scroll over? No? Then I'd say the Mac has a feature that is more user-friendly than Windows.

No, because Windows start with icons. Icons are better than colors.

 

[Darat]

I like crayons.

 

[Ohmer]

Eh?

I didn't say she was 2 years old... I said it took her 2 minutes to configure the Mac having never driven it before. She happened to be aged about 16 at the time, if memory serves me.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.