I’ve found that using my intuition works. I know that sounds odd, but if I’m not sure of something I just try what I think should be the way it works. I’m often happy to find it does. As much as MAC Lovers dislike PCs, how different are they once you get inside the application?

The hardest part is not looking for things in your PC habit way. Tiffany is right, it is intuitive. Just relax and poke around.

ChrisL

Go to the source: http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/

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This page might help you: Top 30 mistakes made by new Mac users

I’ve been on a mac for about 6 months. I was raised in dos and windows. Here are some things I’ve done to help me adjust:

In the system preferences > appearance change the scroll arrows to appear at both ends of a scroll bar.

I’m always accidently clicking too far to the left or right of a window and losing focus of the application. In photoshop, always hit F to go to full screen mode. Also, try to minimize the windows you’re not using.

Control = Alt. It hurts at first, like learning a new guitar chord. I still get cramps in my left thumb from reaching it all the way under my palm to press that weird open-apple key.

Font Explorer X has helped a lot with font management. Definately use it.

I still don’t understand the mac file structure. I keep all my work on the desktop in job folders. The finder window is pretty neat though. I primarily use the column view, it’s the fastest and easiest. Kind of like the old 2 column windows explorer but a but more clumsy.

Now I just wish I could figure out how to get rid of these stupid jelly buttons, rounded corners, and brushed aluminum.

I’ve been using Apple for about two years now. The most terrifying thing about Mac OS X is that when you copy a folder over an existing one, OS X completely replaces the destination folder (removing the old contents) rather than merging the contents, which is what Windows does. I still use my PC to access my Mac hard drive and do file management there (batch renaming, synchronizing various folders, moving stuff around), since it’s much faster than using the Finder.

Also, there is one thing that I still haven’t figured out: with one Finder window open in a particular folder, how do I easily open a second Finder window in the same folder/path? (So I can go to a subfolder from there and conveniently — as much as it’s possible in Finder — copy/move stuff around)?

A.

After you go to the source http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/ as Nick suggests, just get comfortable with the Mac. And don’t worry about asking the people you are working with for advice and help. You will find that the dock, and the GUI (graphical user interface) is much friendlier than the PC and, in general, the Mac is much easier to use. But, like everything else in life, you can make mistakes. But have fun while you’re working.

I had no idea Windows merged folder contents like that. Weird. And I’ve been using PCs for a long time.

”...with one Finder window open in a particular folder, how do I easily open a second Finder window in the same folder/path? (So I can go to a subfolder from there and conveniently...”
Adam,
Click on the desktop and type “Command N” this will give you another finder window which you can navigate to whatever location you want. You can open as many finder windows as you like.

ChrisL

Adam,
I always use “list view” where all subfolders are visible and openable.

ChrisL

If you double-click a folder icon while holding the command key (the apple key), it will open that folder in a new window while keeping the old one open. Also, if you double-click an icon for an app or a folder while holding option, it will close the folder you were in and open the app/new folder.

Get used to far fewer keyboard shortcuts and right-click context-sensitive menus (unless, of course, you have a SUPER mouse which, like, is so super is has more than one button: Mac users only had to wait 25 years for this SUPER improvement).

Also, in OS X, you will find that, occasionally, an operation will fail (destination disk full, filename longer than 32 characters — a REALLY stupid limitation—etc.), but you will be given no clue by your Mac as to WHY the operation failed.

“right-click context-sensitive menus”

use control click for same effect.

extra button on mouse is a question of preference. I don’t see any advantage for me.

ChrisL

If you double-click a folder icon while holding the command key (the apple key), it will open that folder in a new window while keeping the old one open.

Hey, I didn’t know that. Now that I do, here is one way to do the shortcut Adam is looking for:

With a Finder window open, double-click a folder in it while holding the command key. A new window (the folder) will open. Hold down the command key and click on the title of the new window. A pop-up menu showing the folder path will appear. Choose the enclosing folder (or volume). You now have two windows to the same file path. The only case when this wouldn’t work is when there are no folders in the window view you want to duplicate. There is probably a way to do this with AppleScript in a way that works regardless.

FYI, before OS X, it was not possible to have two windows showing the same path. This is a Next carry-over that confused long-time Mac users at first.

Control-click is the same as a right-click—handy if your mouse only has one button.

extra button on mouse is a question of preference. I don’t see any advantage for me

True...you’ve bought into the Mac Mystique (pay more, get less, but look REALLY COOL doing it), so you’re used to two-handed mousing. The observation was directed at a PC user, who definitely KNOWS the advantage of single-handed navigation.

Sure would be nice if we could keep this thread as a way to give Héctor the help he asked for rather that sidetrack it into yet another PC Vs Mac bashing contest. We have been there and done that way too many times already.

ChrisL

The observation was directed at a PC user, who definitely KNOWS the advantage of single-handed navigation.

I have a 5 button mouse on my pc. Using a 3 or 2 button mouse is hard enough, much less trying to use the silly 1 button mac bubble. At least they don’t make those perfectly round g3 mice anymore (worst design EVER).

Thanks a lot for the advices... that’s why I love typophile.
I guess it’s not going to be that hard after all, It seems that the main difference is the way to find files and getting used to a couple of different keys.

Héctor

I love Pcs. Macs are awesome in terms of making things easier but PCs just give me a complete control over everything. Plus not to mention its wicked fast.