Switch to Mac: a delightfully short list of complaints

by Julie Gomoll on February 23, 2007

Apple_1
How much do I love my new Mac? So much that simply could no longer stand to use my PC laptop, and am now the proud owner of a MacBook Pro computer in addition to the desktop Mac. I bought it on my way home from a meeting in San Antonio. Impulsive enough for ya?

I do have a few peeves, however:

  • You can only resize windows from the lower right corner, unlike in Windows, where you can resize from any corner and any side. I hope Apple fixes this in Leopard.
  • Remote access is pretty weak. I used GoToMyPC all the time, and loved it. It even allowed me to use a Mac to log onto my home PC. Unfortunately there’s no Mac version, so I’m relegated to Vine Server. It’s adequate, but not very friendly, and it won’t force my entire desktop into my laptop window – I have to auto-scroll to move across the desktop.
  • There’s no (at least I think there’s no) way to view thumbnails or previews of images in directory windows. I miss this when placing a graphic from a long list of files.
  • I can’t reliably tab my way to pop-up menus. I can never do it in Firefox – I can occasionally do it in Safari. I’m used to rapidly filling out forms without moving my hands from the keyboard, but I nearly always have to go back and manually select the "state", and any other pop-ups. Update: I found a fix for this!.
  • The MacBook Pro battery SUCKS. I mean really, seriously sucks. I get 2.5 hours, tops.

Not a bad list – all very fixable with software with the exception of the battery. I can’t imagine how long a list of PC/Microsoft complaints would be…

  • http://www.dot-font.com John D. Berry

    Julie –

    “There’s no (at least I think there’s no) way to view thumbnails or previews of images in directory windows.”

    There is, actually. In the Finder, if you display a window as columns (which is actually more like the Windows style of organization, though it’s one I dislike and rarely use), then when you click on a particular image, its thumbnail and essential info will show up in a new right-hand column.

    For viewing a thumbnail from a Place dialog box, though, I think you’re at the mercy of individual applications. (I’ve been getting used to using Adobe’s Bridge, which is very handy for things like this. I’m usually placing images into InDesign.)

    JDB