I just found your blog a few days ago. Through Digg, of course. You’re a very entertaining writer! Welcome to the Mac world… it’s a pleasure to meet a recent switcher. I have to update my blogroll anyways, so I’ll add you in. I also subscribed to the RSS feed. I hope you have even better experiences with the OS X platform.

Cheers!

Don’t forget quicksilver!

Definitely takes some time to get used to, but once you get accustomed to it, you’ll wonder how you ever used a computer without it.

Yes widgets might be easier than navigating to start>programs>accessories, but as a power user windows, who the does that? Windows Key+R and type calc enter

yes not as fast as opening your widget, but pretty damn close.

If you are using Mail. Hit Command + I in Safari and it copies the webpage into an email ready to send.

Don’t forget you can use F8-F11 for Expose. And check out SizzlingKeys, my favorite iTunes controller. Oh and the cool css-signatures you can learn how to do at http://allforces.com/2006/04/14/css-signatures/

Don’t forget about Command+H to hide an application’s windows, or Option+Command+H to hide all other windows. It’s a lifesaver when you’ve got a lot of windows and applications running.

Another Expose trick: You can drag and drop between applications using Expose. Drag a file into an Expose hot corner, then mouse over the window you want to drop onto, wait a second for the window to zoom, then drop. Another handy tool for a crowded desktop.

And, yes, Quicksilver is definitely worth checking out.

In Windows, to open calculator:

Windows Key – R then type “calc” and hit enter.

You make a pretty good point, that some people still are pretty timid about using OS X, like explorers sailing in from a distant land who still hang out on the beach. Wander into the jungle and surprise yourself with some of the things that can be done differently. Really explore things like the Finder and Automator. People say they hate the finder but use column view for a few weeks and tell be you’d go back to Explorer. Also reading through the Windows switching book from Pogue might be a good idea.

@j-bro -five keys including one combo is in no way anywhere near as fast as simply hitting “F12” and having your widget pop up instantly. I use Windows all the time as well and use Run myself but it’s just plain slower. Not to mention how handy it is to have a calendar you can look ahead in easily just as accessible…

One little tidbit in OS X I find very useful – in any save or load dialogue, you can drag directories or files from Finder windows into the dialogue to have it jump right there instead of having to navigate yourself. A time saver as often you have a finder window already open in the location you are trying to save something.

Also, you know you can spell-check in any text entry box by pressing Command-: (semicolon), right? That’s really a handy feature to have system wide.

try using vista befor finally switching to a MAC… u’ll find a better user experience.. for example just try the speech recognition …

“Windows Key+R and type calc enter”

Are you crazy? Map ctrl-alt-c to calculator and you’re set for life.

Yeah sure, in windows ALL I have to do is hit the windows key, then R, then type calc, then hit enter. Or I could just hit F12 on my mac…..

OK, if you’re a power user on windows you can have all these little short cuts to things. But they still aren’t that short.

Vista is just a skinned version of windows xp. It still feels clunky and instead of a tasteful skin, it feels like a trip to the dollar store.

I recently converted and had many of the same revelations. Good post.

“I’m just used to the simple Printscreen on Windows. I didn’t know I could hit Command+Shift+4 and then hit Space.”

LOL!!!

Don’t forget Alt-F4 to close windows and, the “Show Desktop” icon.

Good article though, people need to realize that they are different systems, made with different things in mind.

@Don: why can’t PC guys learn that it’s a Mac, not a MAC?

RE: “Who the hell wants to go Start>Programs>Accessories just open a calculator. Not me anymore.” Some people have suggested quicksilver, I agree, but I also would recommend checking out LaunchBar. It’s not as full featured, but IMO it’s more user friendly, does what I need, and doesn’t have the larger learning curve. Sometimes apps don’t need to throw in the kitchen sink to be useful.

I was a former Windows switcher myself. One of the things I really liked about Windows was the Run window, which gave me a quick way to run programs. OSX doesn’t have something exactly like this pre-installed (although Spotlight kinda serves this function). I would recommend a program called Quicksilver to do exactly what the Run menu can. You can make it launch programs, but furthermore, you can quickly search for a program by typing in just a few letters (it’s faster than Spotlight’s search on most computers). I barely use the finder anymore thanks to Quicksilver and Spotlight.

Get Quicksilver at http://quicksilver.blacktree.com

The command + shift + 4 is soooooooo helpful when working on a helpdesk that supports mac’s and PC’s! Before I switched I was looking for a printscreen everywhere on the keyboard but a google search led me to the shortcut. Also there’s many way to implement the mac equivalent of control + alt + delete (do a google search!). If there’s something I did in windows, and I want to figure out how I do it on a PC I use the many mac forums or google, there’s always a way!

i recently purchased a macbook and i love the look and feel of OSX. only problem is random shutdowns on the macbook but it happens off and on. i thought mac osx was slow at first but when i upgraded to 2gb the machine is 10x faster.

Re: Jason M

Check your memory, may not like the mac. This could be causing your random shut downs.

Re: kathryn Clancy

option+apple+esc

Force quit dialog, I think this is what your after

For no frills app launching without the complexity of quicksilver (which is awesome btw) use namely http://amarsagoo.info/namely

i’ve tweaked it to not display in Dock and it’s just too easy to start any app with just a few chars.

@ Jason can you point to a good quicksilver how to site i have been trying to learn to use it but have not found a good place to help me get started. what i have found is more advanced than i am at so far thanks..

I rely love this blog i found it through the geeknews central podcast a few weeks ago and really like the style. just a quick suggestion can you explain more how you did somthing when you talk about it. thanks

The random shutdowns are caused by a faulty heatsink. It’s a problem acknowledged by Apple. Call AppleCare.

Matt: Check out these video tutorials on how to use Quicksilver

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=quicksilver+tutorial&search=Search

If you turn on hot corners for Expose (in System Prefs) you can drag and drop files with Expose.

1. Grab file and drag to hot corner. All windows tile.

2. Hover over window you want to drop file in. Window springs to front.

3. Drop file – or navigate via spring loaded folders to drop it deeper in the folder heirarchy.

It’s fast, it’s stylish.

Bonus tip:

Use the Finder’s sidebar for one-offs, ie. for folders you may only be working with for a few minutes. Not only does this help you avoid the ‘2 window shuffle’ when moving files – since the sidebar lets you move files without opening 2 windows – but you also save tons of time navigating through folders to open or save files, since the Sidebar items always appear in Open and Save dialogs. A huge time saver.

kathryn Clancy:

Don’t forget command + shift + 3 and command + shift + 4 with caps lock on to get a full screenshot or a screenshot of the currently active window (respectively).

Pedro:

Where’s the Show Desktop Icon in Windows?

Sean:

Is there a (free) way to map ctrl-alt-c to calculator without hosing your registry because you are newbie to Regedit?

Anyone:

And more importantly how do I invoke Windows + D to hide all my windows – the way I can in Expose – especially if I’m using a laptop that has no Windows key?

Check out The Apple Blog for some excellent Quicksilver related articles. Here is one of the first; the tutorials roundup – http://theappleblog.com/2006/02/14/quicksilver-tutorials-round-up/

Then checked out the related articles on the site for more info.

Closing windows with the red x…

I have a discussion about this topic with an Opera official over there at their forums. I’ve had so many, and I am fed up with it.

http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=174403&page=2#comment2305898

Wanna join me convincing them?

-thomas