My first OS X experience so far...

[Ichinisan]

• 24" iMac A1225 (early 2009)
• 1920x1200 display
• Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06 Ghz
• 8GB RAM (box says "4GB," but it actually has 8GB installed)
• 1TB HDD
• Apple Bluetooth slim keyboard
• No mouse (I happened to have a Magic Mouse already)

I found this iMac at my local Goodwill thrift store for $200. The store wrote "needs refurbish" on the box. This was about 2 days before Yosemite was released. I installed OSX Mavericks and it worked fine (I just happened to have the disc, probably from around the time I considered building a Hackintosh). However, it became unbootable again when I tried to install the public beta for Yosemite. Just like before, there was an Apple logo with a spinner and it would sit there forever.

Mavericks took waaaay too long to install both times. I suspected a bad hard drive, so I installed a 4TB HDD (thanks for the disassembly guide, iFixIt) and installed Mavericks again...but it took just as long to install. By this point, Yosemite was finally available to the public, so I installed the final Yosemite and it worked fine.

I rarely encountered Mac computers previously, but I understood just enough from my vague recollections to assist people over the phone with things like email configuration and IP settings.

I still haven't had much time to play around with it since I've had family members visiting me the whole time, but there are some annoyances that OS X gurus could probably help me with.

I thought the Magic Mouse would have gestures enabled by default, but I couldn't right-click or swipe back/forward through web pages or do smart zoom without enabling those features. I understand why Smart Zoom wouldn't be enabled by default (users might activate it accidentally and not know how to un-zoom). It just puzzles me that the Magic Mouse would have no touch features enabled by default. Is that normal?

I'm sure it's optional, but why did someone think it was a good idea to ship the OS with auto correct enabled when typing with a normal keyboard? I keep catching lots of things that it changed because it's just stupid. Ugh. It only makes sense to have autocorrect enabled by default with touch-screen keyboards and limited input devices.

My eyes have trouble tracking the mouse pointer when moving...especially the insertion point. Did Apple do any usability testing for this? The hand that appears when you hover on a hyperlink is tiny and it seems you have to position it *very* precisely to click on some links. Combined with the Magic Mouse's sometimes-imprecise tracking, it's frustrating to click a page number at the bottom of a forum thread. I don't have good eyes and I haven't tried reading glasses, but the default settings for these things in Windows just works better.

I can't find out how to delete something to the right of my insertion point with this condensed Bluetooth keyboard. I tried every modifier key in combination with the <DEL button to see if it would behave like DEL>, but it doesn't work that way.

It seems that I can't follow keyboard focus. In Windows, I usually hit the Tab key a couple times after typing a post and I can see that the "Submit Post" button has focus. At that point, I can press the space bar or Enter key to click Submit without taking my hands away from the keyboard. With OS X / Safari, it seems to jump to a couple of things and then to the browser's address bar without ever selecting the buttons for Submit / Preview.

Maybe this problem has something to do with the way I installed Mavericks, installed some updates, then installed Yosemite. The App store showed an iTunes 12.0.1 update that would not go away. I downloaded and installed it countless times. It kept adding entries to the history, showing that I installed it, but the update would not disappear and the "1" badge would not go away from the App Store. At first, I couldn't find anything through Google about this problem, but I tried again today and found a forum thread with a work-around. I had to download the DMG and re-install iTunes that way.

As I type this post and the text field is growing bigger and bigger, I keep encountering strange latency hiccups where my text doesn't appear immediately while I'm typing. I've experienced this on iOS, but I thought it's because mobile devices aggressively try to conserve resources. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that I'm using smart zoom in this page while I'm typing this...

If I select non-editable text in a web page and right-click, there's no "Copy" option in the context menu. I have to click the "Edit" drop-down menu or use command+C to copy. That's annoying because my mouse has to travel across the screen, or I have to switch to the keyboard.

I installed Adobe Flash Player (yuck!) so I could use speedtest.net and I also installed the DMG for iTunes (as mentioned before). I know this is basically mounting a disk image and executing an installer file from there, but I really don't know *why* is the standard way to distribute OS X software outside of the App Store. It's just awful. Why can't that file inside the disk image be the one you download? Why can't an installer have compressed resources? Anyway, I already conditioned myself to use [AppName] > Quit [AppName] from the drop-down menu (or command+Q), but it doesn't work to close the Finder window that showing the DMG contents. I have to use my mouse to carefully position the pointer over the red dot. Is there a better keyboard shortcut for closing a window? In Windows, I'm a keyboard fiend. There are about 6 ways I could close any program or Explorer window without clicking the "X" in Windows. So, even after I close the DMG contents window, I still need to right-click and eject the mounted disk image from my desktop.

I'm still familiarizing myself with OS X Safari, so I haven't installed Google Chrome yet. I was pleased to find that Safari supports ABP (the only extension I use with Google Chrome). Disappointed to find that there's no way to show a full title bar for the current tab, but Chrome has the same problem in Windows. It's also annoying that you can't see a link target by hovering the mouse pointer unless you enable the status bar, which occupies space on the screen all the time. Chrome handles this in a very elegant way. Safari needs to do it the same way

The box says it comes with iLife apps (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb), but I must have lost them during the hard drive swap and OS reinstall. It looks like they all cost money in the App Store. Also, I thought the WWDC keynote said something about iWork and iLife being free in Yosemite (or even Mavericks), but they also don't appear. I had already purchased all them through iOS (before they became free for everyone...ugh!). I guess they aren't "universal" apps because the OS X versions are outrageously priced compared with the iOS versions. It's just strange that I can use iWork through iCloud.com for free, *and* I purchased the iOS versions before they became free, but I still can't do it from my OS X desktop.

iOS Continuity was already annoying me even before Yosemite because my iPad would ring when I had my phone in silent mode. Now my computer does it too. Why can't it be smart enough to realize that I silenced the ringer? It should only show a notification in OS X and shouldn't play the ringer sound. Also, it uses a default ringer on all my other devices instead of the preferred one I selected on my phone. A call came through while I was typing this and the notification stopped me from typing in the middle of a word.

 

[Eug]

Uber score for $200.

A few of the things mentioned are just configuration items, or Windows norms.

Yes, you lost the iLife apps. Turn off Continuity.

 

[Ichinisan]

Oh yeah. Swiping back-and-forward through web pages with the Magic Mouse gesture is just as annoying as iOS. It doesn't work reliably unless you wait for each page to load a certain amount before you swipe again.

Oh yeah. I don't recall ever being asked if I want it to pop-up iPhoto every time I connect an iDevice. It just does.

 

[Printer Bandit]

iPhoto --> Preferences --> General --> Connecting camera opens --> No application

 

[Ichinisan]

iPhoto --> Preferences --> General --> Connecting camera opens --> No application

Strange. That's exactly what it's already set to.

[edit]
I changed the setting to open iPhoto (which it already does), closed Preferences, then went right back to the setting and switched it back to "No application" again. Now it works as it should.

Strange glitch...

 

[HeXen]

My first real experience with OS X was when I got this Macbook Pro last year. Never had any issues, works great and I like it better than Windows overall. My only complaint is that Window sizes don't stay where I want them. On a 15" screen, i prefer everything to stay full screen and just gesture to swap between them.

 

[Ichinisan]

I wanted to try replacing a PNG resource within an application I downloaded...

While browsing the application contents in Finder, I can copy the file, which creates a duplicate within the same folder, but I can't copy it to my desktop. When I try, it only creates a shortcut on the desktop.

I want to copy the file out to my desktop, then duplicate it, modify one of copies, and place the modified copy back into the application, replacing the original. That way, I'll still have a backup copy of the original in case it doesn't work like I expect it to.

Well, the only way I could get the file copied to my desktop makes me go "WTF?" I had to duplicate it within the Application's resource folder, delete the duplicate, then move it from the Trash to my desktop.

I have no problem at all copying the modified file back into the Application's resource folder. Why is it so easy in one direction and not the other?

 

[Zaap]

I have no idea what's going on with your Mac.

I view an application's contents- select a png resource (or any other) right click and copy/ paste to desktop, move it to the desktop, or drag-copy it to the desktop no problem.

No "copy" for non-editable text in contextual menus in what web browser? Copy is of course an option in Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

You can turn auto-correct off (although personally I've never had it mess with what I type).

I don't get the big deal with .dmg files. It's just a simple container so things like instructions "move to Applications folder" can be included- otherwise many computer noobs would probably just run every application they download directly from wherever they downloaded it to and never move it.

Command W closes Finder windows.

Toss that 'magic' mouse monstrosity and get a real mouse- Apple does a lot of things great, but IMHO, designing human-usable point devices isn't one of them.

 

[v-600]

Fn-delete is the one you need to delete to the right of the cursor.

 

[TheStu]

I can't find out how to delete something to the right of my insertion point with this condensed Bluetooth keyboard. I tried every modifier key in combination with the <DEL button to see if it would behave like DEL>, but it doesn't work that way.

fn+delete

It seems that I can't follow keyboard focus. In Windows, I usually hit the Tab key a couple times after typing a post and I can see that the "Submit Post" button has focus. At that point, I can press the space bar or Enter key to click Submit without taking my hands away from the keyboard. With OS X / Safari, it seems to jump to a couple of things and then to the browser's address bar without ever selecting the buttons for Submit / Preview.

System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > at the bottom there are buttons. I'm at work so I can't check for sure right now.

I installed Adobe Flash Player (yuck!) so I could use speedtest.net and I also installed the DMG for iTunes (as mentioned before). I know this is basically mounting a disk image and executing an installer file from there, but I really don't know *why* is the standard way to distribute OS X software outside of the App Store. It's just awful. Why can't that file inside the disk image be the one you download? Why can't an installer have compressed resources? Anyway, I already conditioned myself to use [AppName] > Quit [AppName] from the drop-down menu (or command+Q), but it doesn't work to close the Finder window that showing the DMG contents. I have to use my mouse to carefully position the pointer over the red dot. Is there a better keyboard shortcut for closing a window? In Windows, I'm a keyboard fiend. There are about 6 ways I could close any program or Explorer window without clicking the "X" in Windows. So, even after I close the DMG contents window, I still need to right-click and eject the mounted disk image from my desktop.

cmd+E to eject, with the finder window in question selected. My best guess is that DMGs are relics of the NEXT days.

I'm still familiarizing myself with OS X Safari, so I haven't installed Google Chrome yet. I was pleased to find that Safari supports ABP (the only extension I use with Google Chrome). Disappointed to find that there's no way to show a full title bar for the current tab, but Chrome has the same problem in Windows. It's also annoying that you can't see a link target by hovering the mouse pointer unless you enable the status bar, which occupies space on the screen all the time. Chrome handles this in a very elegant way. Safari needs to do it the same way

There's an extension you can get that will handle the status bar the same was that chrome does, but I recall it being a little kludgy, and I was used to have the status bar anyway.

The box says it comes with iLife apps (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb), but I must have lost them during the hard drive swap and OS reinstall. It looks like they all cost money in the App Store. Also, I thought the WWDC keynote said something about iWork and iLife being free in Yosemite (or even Mavericks), but they also don't appear. I had already purchased all them through iOS (before they became free for everyone...ugh!). I guess they aren't "universal" apps because the OS X versions are outrageously priced compared with the iOS versions. It's just strange that I can use iWork through iCloud.com for free, *and* I purchased the iOS versions before they became free, but I still can't do it from my OS X desktop.

iOS =/= OS X. Having the iOS version of an app doesn't entitle you to the OS X version, and the opposite is also true. Universal apps refer to apps that can run on both intel and PPC, or both 32 and 64bit Macs. Though really at this point, I think any new software should be 64 intel only, and call it a day.

iLife and iWork were made free about a year ago, for NEW devices. So if you bought a brand new Mac you could download them from the store for free. And the same for iOS.

 

[Childs]

My best guess is that DMGs are relics of the NEXT days.

There are other reasons to use dmgs. In this case, Mac apps are bundles (collection of folders and files), so people can use dmgs as a compressed archive like zip or rar. And even a few years ago it made sense when most software was delivered via media, so you could burn the dmg to disc or vice versa. I dunno, even on Windows people use iso images to deliver software. I know Microsoft does it for Windows. If you are going to deliver software digitally you will want some verification that the files are intact, and using dmgs for this is just as good as any other archival format.