Just for a little more background information on me, I hate spending money on myself. I think that I may have some kind of complex or something. Around Christmas time last year, I was debating purchasing a Mac. I went to the store, played around with one or two, had the concierge service help me out with using it, and lost my nerve and walked out empty handed. Not this Christmas. I literally got up out of bed and headed straight to the Apple store and purchased my Mac before I lost my nerve.
However, after doing some reflecting, I now realize that I should have been using a Mac all along. I was getting to the point where I was adding tweaks to my Windows system so that it looked and behaved like a Mac. For example, I installed the following software on my Windows so that it simulated a more Mac kind of feel.
- RocketDock - Dock bar for Windows
- Cygwin - Linux / Shell emulator for Windows
- VirtuaWin - Multiple Desktops
- Launchy - Allows for the launching of applications through shortcut keys
Although it has not been all roses converting over to a Mac, more on that later, I have to say that I am definitely enjoying my new machine and the features that it has to offer.
2 comments:
Hey Carlus,
How has your experience been using/learning a new set of OS-provided keyboard shortcut conventions?
One concern I've had about switching away from Windows as a platform is keyboard shortcuts that I use without even thinking about it no longer working anymore -- e.g. Alt+F4 to close the current application, or Ctrl+Shift+Rightarrow to add the word to the right of the caret to the current selection in a text editor.
Are many of these conventions the same on the Mac as they are in Windows? Has this been a significant hurdle for you so far, or not?
Jon,
You are exactly right. I am an Eclipse junkie.....and I am a huge shortcut fan. The mental gymnastics that I am doing in order to change from using a Windows Keyboard to using a Mac keyboard is the most frustrating thing at this point.
It is hectic in the sense that the laptop keyboard is different than the standard Mac keyboard. (Evidently, the standard keyboard has more keys than the Mac Book Pro keyboard). Something else that is interesting is while windows only has two modifier keys (Alt, Ctrl) Macs have three (Alt, Control, Command). This has caused some new finger combinations that is taking some getting used to.
Honestly, this has been the biggest hurdle. However, it is one that is slowly going away. I am starting to not have to second guess every keyboard shortcut that I perform on my Mac. Also, I had to work on a Windows Machine recently, and I actually had think about how to do a shortcut in Eclipse....which means, I am making some progress and being slowly assimilated into the Mac world.....
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