Mac OS X forum: Macs are so cool...

I just got a Macbook Pro after using Dell pc's for as long as I can remember and although I think macs definitely win hands down for overall exterior appearance and ease of setup, I can't figure out whats so great about OS X. As much flack as Vista gets I think its interface is far more visually pleasing (i.e. animated desktop backgrounds, aero) and navigation is much easier, especially with the aero 3d window scroll. I do acknowledge that Vista is a complete pain in the butt to setup initially and only computers with serious hardware should even bother using Vista instead of XP (I run Vista Ultimate x64 on a Dell XPS 720 with intel quadcore and 6 GB of RAM so thats why I don't have alot of the issues that others complain about) . Maybe I just haven't figured out all the little tricks of mac's OS though but for a system thats supposed to be so user friendly I'm having alot of trouble performing simple tasks. I do give Apple alot of credit for the Bootcamp application. Atleast they give their users the option of using other OS's.

In vista there is a feature that allows you to quickly scroll through all your open windows. Its kind of like an isometric overlay where you click a button and all windows line up in a 3d stack and you can scroll through them and click on the one you want. The reason I particulary like it is because I have a logitech mx revolution mouse with a thumb scroll wheel that controls it. Say I'm working in Photoshop and I have autocad, the internet, and google earth all open underneath it, all I have to do is use the scroll wheel and the windows stack up and i pick which one I want to look at. Also, where's the maximize button in mac. I always have to grab the bottom right of a window and drag it to make it bigger.

If you are using a "Mighty Mouse" then a squeeze of the sides will activate Expose and reveal all open applications on the screen at the same time.
Click on the one you want and it comes to the foreground and becomes the active window.
Without MM, try hitting the F9 key, fn+F9 on the new keyboards, and the same will happen.

As mentioned in another post, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

On the subject of the Maximize button. There actually is one but it does not function in the same way as the maximize button does in Windows.
If I have a 24" screen, and am in Safari, on a Windows machine clicking the button causes the current page to fill the entire screen. Unfortunately, the page designer did not build the page to fit exactly on a 24" screen. The result is a large web page, artificially made wider, that has nothing in it. Some people like that.

In OSX, clicking the button makes Safari display the entire width of the page, as designed by the builder. If the page was built to fit on a 17" screen, the button expands, or contracts, the page to the edge of the actual page as it was originally built.
I'm not sure what the standard size for building web pages are now but it used to be that pages were designed for a 15" screen so that you could be sure that the page fitted on almost every monitor out there, without the need to scroll.
Screen sizes have moved up, so I expect that the "build to" size has increased too.

In other applications, clicking the button expands, or contracts, the window to encompass whatever is in that window. It seems like a waste of space to open a folder containing 1 item and to have that folder occupy all of the viewable screen, some people feel more comfortable doing that though. Maybe it depends on what you are used to. Apple has never had a expand to fit the screen button, neither has Windows, but I'm pretty sure it is not a conspiracy as has been suggested.

P

If you are unimpressed by OSX , then just look at the CNET section on answering questions for PC users. They have a problem with their computer slowing down, what should they do???

Here are some of the answers----
Run an antivirus application (Why?)
Run antispyware/adware applications (Why?)
Run a disk defragmenter utility (Why?)
Run a disk clean up utility (Why?)
Remove any unnecessary programs (Why?)
Run a registry cleaner (Why?)
Download and install the latest OS and driver updates (Why?)

Notice how NONE of these are needed with a Mac. You could upgrade to the next level OS. Many times the newer OS runs faster, even on older machines.

Hey, if you love Windows, stay there. But I have to use both. and believe me, Windows SUCKS major.

Just a thought.

Haven't seen that before.
Apple's probably got a hundred other things lying around in Leopard too. Wonder what those are like...

-BMF

Sadly, I would have to question your statement that "Macs are so cool". I have recently been lent a six and a half year old iBook G3 (OS X 10.1) with a view to buying it and giving my children (8 and 13 years old) a balance alternative experience of computers.... they have access to Windows XP, Vista and an excellent little Asus Eee running Linux.
Sadly, after two calls to Apples premium rate technical helpline (one call lasting over 25 minutes), I have learned that this excellent little piece of hardware is no longer supported and as 10.1 cannot run Safari (IE no longer works) the machine has been consigned to the trash can by Apple (I believe the original cost of this machine was 800 / 900 in the UK).
Ironically, I can view Apple's web site perfectly on my six year old Dell running XP (regularly updated and supported), but the iBook freezes and hardly works at all.
In these environmentally sensitive times, I would ask.... How green are Apples and are Apples good for our children ?
I would suggest that perhaps they are not as "Cool" as the advertisers would have us believe and "i" for one remain unimpressed and would be very reluctant to ever invest in a new Mac that could become unsupported and obsolete in less than 5 years.... see http://lowendmac.com/musings/07/0508.html.

Apple's willingness to cut ties with the past is exactly what keeps the OS lean and effective. OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard due out next year will cut ties with PowerPC machines which means my 2.5 year old iMac G5 will be stuck on Leopard forevermore. But I don't mind. I think Apple is smart to move on. The bloat and complexity of legacy support is the albatross that Microsoft needs to shed before they can really take their OS to the next level.

But just because you can't run the latest OS doesn't make an old machine useless. I have a 5 year old iBook that originally came with Panther that was recently having issues. So I installed a copy of Tiger on and now it is running beautifully. Since yours is a bit older, probably with a G3, try to get a hold of a copy of Jaguar or Panther and I think you'll get a couple more years of life out of the iBook. Or just reinstall OSX 10.1 and run all the upgrades. A clean reinstall can do wonders too.

I just did the same thing on Mozilla Firefox 3.0. Free software, no restrictions and no need to buy a $2000+ computer to use it.