Anyone else just can't get on with Apple Macs?

[ben_p]

I've used windows for most of my life which is probably why I'm finding this but I really don't understand why apple make things so difficult. I bought a mac about 17 months ago and no matter how much I try I can't get on with it.

Just basic stuff like getting pictures off my iPhone -
Windows - plug the lead in, recognises the device and open the pictures.
Mac - plug in, launch iTunes, sync phone, find photos through phone, transfer into iPhoto to then move them into my pictures folder.

Mrs is filling out a application online at the moment and as I have to use pages and the rest of the world is in MS Word, nothing is lining up, that stupid paragraph icon keeps shrinking text until you click on it! Ahhhhh.

Oh and my new Samsung smart TV won't work without a 3rd party application (plex) to access info.

Anyone else just think its over complicated? Im going to sell mine I think and pick up a decent Windows laptop.

 

[Adam.]

Get a copy of Microsoft Office for it?

As for pictures, use Image Capture. Much better than iTunes. Just highlight what you want then click import or do import all.

 

[Fletcher]

No problem here. I run Microsoft office on my MacBook.

 

[ben_p]

Yeah I guess I could, It just seems that everything needs a 3rd party app to make what Apple tried to create, better.

 

[Adam.]

It's a bit nippy sometimes. But hey...Apple "just works" doesn't it? lol

 

[The Fatty]

Wipe it and install windows.

 

[Krispwee]

Just use Photostream to get photos off your phone? I haven't plugged my iPhone in to get photos off it since they launched this.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Doesn't your iPhone sync over WiFi ? I've not plugged my iPad in since day 1 when they got paired up.

I haven't had a single use for Winblows since 2008 and I'm never looking back.

Have to use XP at work and 7/Vista at friends/work sometimes. Copying files from a friends W7 comp via USB stick to his new MacMini the other day, it was like arguing with an unruly teenager then giving the files to a perfectly trained slave. Worlds apart ! OS X blows Windows out the water in just about every aspect.

So many things I could bore you to death with that I think OS X does better.. but I won't.

OpenOffice FTW, BTW. Pages/iWorks is just awful.

 

[jenic]

I love my mac, and find windows computers so very difficult to use. When I have to use a 7 computer at uni I can never work out how to use the thing, it's slow and generally s**t, I try and stick to Linux when I can.

But saying that, I am a massive pages hater, I like most stuff apple do, but when it comes to office applications I still prefer to use the MS Office for Mac than that iWork s**t.

Regarding having to use plex, I use PS3 media server which is free and a lot less intrusive than plex which I really don't get along with.

 

[Rubicon_]

I bought my first macbook last year coming from using windows all my life. Tbh i can't see why i never done it sooner!

Just everything about apple is better than windows, the little things like gestures help so much.

I had to use the work laptop last week with windows and it just feels dated now.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Set up your hot corners & right-click, make the icons smaller so you can get more than 3 on one screen and you're pretty much good to go.

Just took 3 photos with the phone .. send via bluetooth, picks up the imac, sends with a single click on the comp to say all OK. Filed in the downloads folder and drag/drop on to the person I'm sending them to.

Really couldn't have been easier if I wanted it to be

Comp is also beaming Spotify to the Apple TV which the (Android) phone controls too. It all literally could not be simpler...

:evil:

 

[Rubicon_]

You can send photos from iPhone to mac via bluetooth?

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

You can send photos from iPhone to mac via bluetooth?

No idea. I can't get on with iOS, so my Nexus does the job



*sneaky edit

 

[The Fatty]

Copying files from a friends W7 comp via USB stick to his new MacMini the other day, it was like arguing with an unruly teenager then giving the files to a perfectly trained slave. Worlds apart ! OS X blows Windows out the water in just about every aspect.

Don't see how you could have problems copying files to a USB stick in any GUI based operating system tbh...

 

[Sam@NP]

I get on well with all apple products and I'd have a MacBook Air if it could run the Engineering software I use, sadly it doesnt.

 

[MrDave]

spent a silly amount of money on a mbp retina it has taken some real getting used to after being on windows for so long.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Don't see how you could have problems copying files to a USB stick in any GUI based operating system tbh...

It was just a bit of a ballache .. I never use W7, but it kept asking stupid health and safety questions, telling me it couldn't copy the preferences over (it's a bunch of files in a normal folder?!) and wouldn't let go of the USB stick so I just pulled it out in the end. Transfer speeds were slow - it went from 5 minutes, to an hour, to 20 mins, up down up down..... JUST GET ON WITH IT !!!!!!

Plug it in the Mac, it just worked. Drag/drop .. took about 3 minutes to copy them over compared to the ~20 on W7 .. no arguing... just did what was asked.

 

[Munson]

Why do you want your pictures in 'My Pictures'?

Keep everything in iPhoto. That's what it's for. Plug iPhone in. Import to iPhoto. Finished.

Oh and you can get Office for Mac.

 

[bmh.01]

No it's not just you, it is needlessly pointlessly different in every way. All right for piddling about on the net but useless for actually doing anything, looks pretty though which does it for 99% of average joe users.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

No it's not just you, it is needlessly pointlessly different in every way. All right for piddling about on the net but useless for actually doing anything, looks pretty though which does it for 99% of average joe users.

FLOL. How long have you had your Mac for ?

BRB, off to write to Wozniak to ask him to install a Start Bar on OS X.8.4 so I don't get confused when I'm at work running software from the late 90s.

 

[Munson]

No it's not just you, it is needlessly pointlessly different in every way. All right for piddling about on the net but useless for actually doing anything, looks pretty though which does it for 99% of average joe users.

Well that's kinda from the perspective of coming from Windows and expecting it to be like Windows. It's not like Windows. You're looking in from the outside and wondering "why can't I do this?". Where most people flounder is in getting all wound up by not having the knowledge, when all anyone needs to do is Google something they don't understand. Like "how can I do this on a Mac?" etc.

Fair enough its not for everyone, but come on. If anyone has invested the time and money in moving to a Mac, you'd think they would at least try to understand it. "Needlessly different"? Crazy statement to make. They are two different operating systems. Duh. The irony is that if you actually accept and embrace the OSX way, rather than trying to find Windows inside it somewhere, the penny drops that it's all actually MUCH simpler.

Oh and lol and it not being good for anything except browsing. Again that simply shows a lack of knowledge. Fairly sure most creative professionals would strongly disagree.

In summary, it's not OSX's fault that people expect it to be like Windows.

 

[Deeg]

I find it a bit of a pain to use at times, but that's because I'm not used to it.

As Roy says, it's not a case of it not being done 'right', it's a different product, so it behaves differently.

I much prefer using Excel through windows as opposed to Mac, but other than that, I get on with it fine.

I do spend a bit of time googling stuff.

Oh, the other thing I can't get my head round is moving between tabs or multiple windows of the same programme, using key board shortcuts.

 

[Munson]

It's also perhaps worth noting that Mac OS pioneered the 'windows' based GUI. Microsoft kinda copied it.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Oh, the other thing I can't get my head round is moving between tabs or multiple windows of the same programme, using key board shortcuts.

Generally, replace the CTRL part of the command with CMD and you're onto a winner...

 

[JHead]

It's also perhaps worth noting that Mac OS pioneered the 'windows' based GUI. Microsoft kinda copied it.

Copied it and made things easier to use.

There is obviously a reason why most places have windows.

 

[JHead]

Everyone can use windows, but a lot of people can't use apples. That definitely says something about how apple's products aren't as good. The performance may be better, i don't know because i can't stay on one long enough to find out, but it's evidently not very inclusive.

 

[Sym0n]

I much prefer using Excel through windows as opposed to Mac, but other than that, I get on with it fine.

Oh, the other thing I can't get my head round is moving between tabs or multiple windows of the same programme, using key board shortcuts.

Both of these bug the s**t out of me. I really can't get on with any of the Office package on OS X, seems massively anti intuitive. Actually the same with some of the keyboard shortcuts. Like 'Shift + Alt + H' to find in Word or 'CMD + Shift + ~' to cycle through Chrome windows. Also why give me the option to order a British English (yank c***s) Keyboard...just to send a f**king US English (yank c***s) one anyway?!

iPhoto, I need to sit down and look in to properly. I want my library stored on my NAS and I need to get all OCD on the Events etc...but I really can't be arsed.

 

[Munson]

Copied it and made things easier to use.

There is obviously a reason why most places have windows.

Not really. They chose to license it to anyone, which made it more popular in the long term. Jobs famously resisted this approach. Make of that what you will.

The point being that it is not easier to use. It may seem that way because you've spent your life becoming accustomed to how difficult it is to use.

 

[EmirK0]

Got my first Mac last year, don't think ill be going back to Windows anytime soon. Did take a few days to get to grips with everything, but after that its much nicer to use than Windows ever was. Having to bootcamp Windows for SimCity reminded me how much of a pain it is to use!

 

[Jack!]

I have dual boot Win7/Lion on my hackintosh, yet haven't used Windows in yonks, so guess I'm a convert. My only Mac problem is software that clearly wasn't designed with Mac in mind - Android File Transfer with my S2 is shocking, as is Kies; then again, Kies is shocking on Windows too. Samsung really let their great products down with their s**t software and customer service.

 

[ColinG]

My dads office computer packed up a month ago, he replaced it with a windows 8 computer...

That has to be the single least user friendly pile of turd I have ever experienced in my life...whoever decided that was a good idea wants shooting!

Apple is a walk in the park in comparison

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Windows 8 really is bad

 

[Tom]

I've used windows for most of my life which is probably why I'm finding this but I really don't understand why apple make things so difficult. I bought a mac about 17 months ago and no matter how much I try I can't get on with it.

Just basic stuff like getting pictures off my iPhone -
Windows - plug the lead in, recognises the device and open the pictures.
Mac - plug in, launch iTunes, sync phone, find photos through phone, transfer into iPhoto to then move them into my pictures folder.

Mrs is filling out a application online at the moment and as I have to use pages and the rest of the world is in MS Word, nothing is lining up, that stupid paragraph icon keeps shrinking text until you click on it! Ahhhhh.

Oh and my new Samsung smart TV won't work without a 3rd party application (plex) to access info.

Anyone else just think its over complicated? Im going to sell mine I think and pick up a decent Windows laptop.

1. Use image capture or iPhoto directly
2 Use Word for mac
3 http://www.serviio.org/ or just use plex, it's great.

Nothing is difficult. You are just using it like a windows machine and getting nowhere.

Learn how to use it.

 

[The Fatty]

It was just a bit of a ballache .. I never use W7, but it kept asking stupid health and safety questions, telling me it couldn't copy the preferences over (it's a bunch of files in a normal folder?!) and wouldn't let go of the USB stick so I just pulled it out in the end. Transfer speeds were slow - it went from 5 minutes, to an hour, to 20 mins, up down up down..... JUST GET ON WITH IT !!!!!!

Plug it in the Mac, it just worked. Drag/drop .. took about 3 minutes to copy them over compared to the ~20 on W7 .. no arguing... just did what was asked.

The speed issue was probably more to do with the read vs write speeds of the flash drive (write speeds are slower than read speeds).

 

[The Fatty]

It's also perhaps worth noting that Mac OS pioneered the 'windows' based GUI. Microsoft kinda copied it.

And Unix pioneered the core components of Mac OS; I don't see that that point is relevant to anything really?

 

[Munson]

Someone said it's needlessly different, which implies it was copied from Windows and made needlessly different to make it different. The suggestion was that it should be more like Windows just to make life easier for people who liked how complicated Windows is.

Quite relevent given the topic under discussion?

EDIT: FYI I'm not really a genuine Windows hater. I run Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my Mac (for proprietary programming software) and also I of course use it on my gaming PC. It's ok. In fact it's pretty nice. Windows 8 however is about as appealing as a dried s**t in a bucket. Truly awful.

 

[McGherkin]

Windows 7 > OSX > Windows 8.

 

[NFox]

I went apple a few years back and never looked back, the only restriction that ever effected me was a card printer i wanted did not have a linux or mac driver so i had to install windows on a vm. However there was still the option to do the above and it still does what i need!

I would never go back now unless windows really did something spectacular, windows 8 was not.

 

[sn00p]

Both of these bug the s**t out of me. I really can't get on with any of the Office package on OS X, seems massively anti intuitive. Actually the same with some of the keyboard shortcuts. Like 'Shift + Alt + H' to find in Word or 'CMD + Shift + ~' to cycle through Chrome windows. Also why give me the option to order a British English (yank c***s) Keyboard...just to send a f**king US English (yank c***s) one anyway?!

iPhoto, I need to sit down and look in to properly. I want my library stored on my NAS and I need to get all OCD on the Events etc...but I really can't be arsed.

US keyboard on a Mac all day long, why? It has a hash key and I don't have to contort fingers to get a hash symbol.

 

[Sym0n]

US keyboard on a Mac all day long, why? It has a hash key and I don't have to contort fingers to get a hash symbol.

WHAT?! Why do the yanks think because I'm British I want the @ on Shift+2 but don't want a hash symbol?!? At times the decisions Apple makes confuse the living s**t out of me.