Advice for Windows/Linux users who’ve migrated to Mac
On the 23rd January 2014, exactly one day before the 30th anniversary of the Apple Mac, I took delivery of my first ever Apple computer – a late 2013 model MacBook Air. I still heavily use Windows and Linux machines at home and at work but the laptop I cart around with me is now a Mac and I like it a lot.
Until I bought the MacBook Air, I hadn’t used Macs very much and I quickly realised I had a lot to learn. As I figured things out, I kept notes and I’ve turned these notes into a .pdf document that may be of use to others. The document covers
- General Mac stuff – Some answers to various questions I had.
- Linux-centric tips – Things I am used to on Linux, and how to do them on OS X.
- Windows-centric tips – Things I am used to on Windows, and how to do them on OS X.
- Software – How-tos – General software-related questions I had.
- Software -Listed by task – The software I like to use.
- Mac OS X Environmental changes – Some changes I made to OS X
- Advice for Windows/Linux users who’ve migrated to Mac (from a recent migrant to OS X 10.9) – 23rd April 2014
I intend to keep this updated as I learn more and feedback is welcomed via the usual channels.
I recommend checking out BetterTouchTool: http://www.boastr.net/
It lets you do things like define a 3 finger tap as middle click and enabling Windows 7 style snap
Also The Unarchiver: https://itunes.apple.com/app/the-unarchiver/id425424353?mt=12&ls=1
It’s the easiest way to deal with extracting files from archive formats not supported natively
I realize that serious programmers may frown upon this but I found this very nice piece of software called FTranProjectbuilder by Nocturnal Aviation Software for my Mac. It has been a lifesaver for me when I need to build and compile fortran code with lots of files. It also has two add ons, an editor and a make file add on. Works with the gcc compiler I grabbed through maoports and the creator helped me get everything working as I was completely new to this.
Soon or later you will see, that OSX is very user limited OS. Very nice GUI, very good HW-SW integration, but very progressive efforts to limit the user’s ability to change anything, what is deeper than trivial “look and feel” configurations.