If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Click here to find out what an RSS feed is. Thanks for visiting, Phil!
The majority of my hardware concerns stem from the fact that it is a laptop - which is not the fault of Apple Inc. I have mostly disliked laptops in general for a few reasons, but now I find that having a laptop will prove much more beneficial.
The keyboards are difficult to get used to and near impossible to upgrade, at least that’s what I have always been lead to believe - correct me if I’m wrong.
Starting with the Keyboard:
a) So much less pressing of the keys is required than regular keyboards. This annoys me.
b) Buttons are in the wrong places.
c) No number pad on the right
Then there’s the differences in Mac and Win keyboards. So Command = Ctrl? and Option = Alt?
Why can’t they be in the same place as their windows equivalent? After at least (estimate) 15 years my muscles and brain have been trained to do things a certain way and it will not be easy to change that. I did read somewhere of a way to swap Command and Option (not physically obviously). Nice way to confuse other Mac users…
The lack of a Delete key is awkward, but I’m sure pressing Fn won’t be too much of a task.
Mouse
The mac mouse has always bugged me. Only recently has it become in any way nice to look at, though to me it still isn’t as functional as it should be - so it can scroll sideways, that’s not really not necessary.
As Macs do have right click functionality, alone with most software, why can’t they stop being so obstinate and get two buttons on the mouse?
It isn’t going to be a problem for me anyway - I have my own [Microsoft] optical USB mouse which I will be using.
Next, the trackpad - no problems here at all. I’m aware of the recent improvements, with multi-touch which should be fun. Though wouldn’t it be interesting if it was slightly to the right for right-handed people…
CD/DVD drive
And finally.
Each time I have placed a disk into the Mac drive I have felt likeI’m scratching it as it goes in touching the sides along the way. And if something goes wrong? There’s no way out. No classic paper-clip option.
These are just a few of the obstacles that I will no doubt overcome quickly. Plenty of updates to come when it arrives.
I welcome any and all hits and tips!
5 Comments
I use both a mac and PC at the same time in work. The think that used to get me most, was the max/minimize being on opposite sides of the screen.
One of the shortcuts I miss is shift and the right arrow (I think that’s it on the PC - to select to the end of a sentence).
I can’t say that I even missed the number pad. Oh, and I love the track-pad. Especially the one tap click and two finger tap right click.
I’d have to say that the mac seems far more intuitive in a lot of ways. Once you get used to some of the short-cuts there is a whole bunch of useful stuff, like print-screen that gives you a selection tool to crop the area you want.
Most of your “fears” are unfounded - you should have chatted to me about it last night as I don’t have enough time to get into detail about it now. Arrgh!
@cufa - i completely forgot about the buttons being on opposite sides of windows - was one of the things that really got me thinking at first, and I didn’t know what they even did until last week, but Andy showed me. As long as I remember it’ll be grand.
@Andy - thanks, though i wasn’t in the mood for talkin about it and wasnt gonna ruin you party with tech talk. Enjoy your holiday!
A lot of the frustrations you’re having is because Windows is a poor copy of Mac OS.
The Windows Key = Command. Guess which came first. Alt was moved from beside Control to fit in the Windows key (which yes, is a post-1995 innovation)
The Forward Delete thing that PC users use is just weird I find. :)
Best place for Mac questions in the spirit of community sharing is http://nimug.org
You’ll get used to the laptop the first day you plug a massive screen into it.
Leave a comment