The Unofficial Apple Weblog has posted a short story on the top five mistakes made by new mac users. It includes closing an application window, thinking it has quit, downloading software and then running it from the disk image (runs slowly, can't eject disk image), Windows .EXE files littered around the desktop after they've tried to download software and install it.
The comments attached to the article are entertaining, and pick up many other common mistakes.
The thing that strikes me is that most of these problems could be resolved by Apple. For example, when a user downloads an EXE file, Safari could easily give the user a quick warning that it's a Windows program and won't install on Mac. (Before you say, "ha! What if it's in a ZIP file?" Safari already checks inside ZIP files to see if something is a "program" that Safari should give a security warning about.)
Here's a precis list of things that TUAW and its users said in comments, and a few of my own:
1. Closing an application window, thinking it has quit.
2. Downloading an app and running it from the disk image.
3. Creating endless untitled folders
4. Using Safari's Google search to get to a website
5. Confusing the concept of wallpaper with screensaver
6. Double-clicking a window thinking it will maximise it, but instead sending it to the dock
7. Not understanding the usefulness of column view and leaving everything in icon view
8. Not using any keyboard shortcuts
9. Thinking that now they've got rid of Windows they won't have problems of _any_ sort on their Mac
10. Renaming desktop icons to random characters because they don't understand the difference between the enter and the return key on Mac. (Enter puts an icon into rename mode).
11. People trying to find the menus on a window, not realising they're always at the top of the screen
12. Trying to resize windows from the edge rather than the drag area on the corner
13. Trying to use the CTRL key rather than CMD key for shortcuts.
14. Thinking it'll be easy to get a stuck CD out.
15. Installing a program every time they want to run it because they think the installer _is_ the program.
16. Where's "the internet"? (looking for the Windows Internet Explorer "e" icon)
17. Repeatedly hitting the Apple key expecting the Apple menu to pop up (confused with Windows Key and Start Menu concept)
18. Thinking the green "+" button maximises a window to full screen (not realising that Apple's maximise philosophy is to only make a window as big as it needs to be to comfortably fit the width of content currently being displayed)
19. Looking in vain for an uninstaller app, because they don't realise that uninstalling an application on Mac is as easy as dragging the program icon into the trash.
20. Minimising windows all the time rather than using "hide", leaving the document section of the doc littered with forgotten minimised windows (that are quietly occupying system resources).
21. Double-clicking dock icons.
22. Inadvertant click-drags and removing programs from the dock in the process.
23. Saving everything to the desktop or somewhere on the hard drive other than their home folder
24. Trying to load documents or programs multiple times because they don't recognise the progress indicators (sound of hard drive grinding, CD spinning, Mac spinning beachball, browser status bar)
25. Not understanding that the dock is used to both launch and return to a program …
26. Inability to work with multiple documents on-screen at the same time, because they have only ever learned to use Windows' maximise mode which always makes everything full-screen
27. Confusing "delete" with "backspace" (because Apple has two keys named "delete" on the keyboard, one of which does forward delete and the other backward delete. Way to go, usability geniuses).
28. Expecting "home" and "end" keys to go the beginning and end of a line, rather than beginning and end of a document.
29. Not realising that when you copy a folder over an existing one, OS X -replaces- the destination folder rather than merging the contents, which is what Windows does.
30. Looking for the "complicated" way of doing everything. For example, trying to go into system preferences and right-clicking on the networking icon in order to find available wireless networks, rather than just clicking on the Airport icon in the menu bar and selecting the relevant wireless network.
- Fantastic collection of contextual menu items for Mac
- Very useful Apple tips
- Why do I get a second Firefox dock icon?
- Top 10 things all 'switchers' should know
- Groan. Apple IS the new Microsoft.
#1 by Jason The Saj on June 13, 2008 - 4:06 am
Two years ago, I'd have agreed with you. But hey, with Parallels, I am running OS X & XP.
And Vista…well…let's just say "Balmer" should be fired!
#2 by kevin on June 21, 2008 - 8:24 pm
Hello Dan
Yesterday I read your article about the top 30 mistakes made by new mac users. One mistake was not knowing the difference between the return and enter key. Last night I recall checking this on my macbook and finding that enter allows you to rename a file while return opens it; however, today they both rename the file. They seem to do the same thing. I'm not sure if I imagined the difference or not. So far my web searches show everyone saying that they both rename it. Will you please offer me some advice on this issue
Thanks,
Kevin
#3 by Tomm e on July 4, 2008 - 8:32 pm
Mistakes made by people switching from one car to another:
1. Thinking the reverse is in the same place as in their car.
2. Thinking the clutch goes just as deep as in their car.
3. Expecting all the buttons and knobs to be exactly in the same place…
…
it's not much of a difference but nobody makes this kind of list.
here's a few more:
Mistakes made when switching from one Microwave oven to another.
Mistakes made when switching from one remote tv control to another
Mistakes made when switching to a fountain pen from a ballpoint….
life is not flat. You got to keep on getting and honing skills… that's the big picture.
enjoy!
#4 by clara on July 16, 2008 - 1:54 am
OMG YOU ARE SO RIGHT.
#5 by Ford Prefect on October 14, 2008 - 5:50 pm
The main thing I've learned since I bought a Mac a year and a half ago is that while Windows tends to represent the general populate both good and bad and Linux tends to represent a great many dissatisfied Windows users and a great many more 'elitist pricks' that don't think you have any business using Linux unless you suffer may years of pain at compiling the OS yourself and doing everything from a command line, the Mac community is comprised of a lot of very smug follower types known inside the community as 'fanboys'. They tend to be intolerant of other people and individual thought and seem to prefer having Steve Jobs think for them, tell them what to buy and how to buy it (gotta love that unexpandable iMac thing that has you paying out for a new computer every other year and still not having enough GPU power to play a decent 3D game).
Still, the operating system itself is a nice piece of work. I hated the older Mac operating system (that would be OS9 and earlier) as it's stupifies the experience, can't multitask to save its life and yet manages to well represent the fanboy types by forcing you to be a borg and do everything the same way. OS X is actually Unix underneath (ok, BSD Unix) and therefore offers quite a different level of experience if you ever lift up the hood. Having used several flavors of Linux over the years, I find OS X quite refreshing in some respects. While it could use some theming options (I know; I know; Steve decides FOR you…although for awhile there he couldn't seem to make up his mind whether he liked Aqua or Brushed Metal… too bad… I kind of preferred Aqua myself), it does at least make the every day stuff relatively pain-free and software installation on both Windows and Linux systems alike look just plain STUPID by comparison. It's just too bad it's attached to a company that is run by a Megalomaniac and won't let its users own a simple mid-range expandable tower without having to hack together one themselves (witness the lawsuit against Psystar).
Thus, while I like the OS, I don't like about 50% of the community around it because they're pinheads. I have a similar distaste for most Linux users who also act like elitist pinheads…just nerdier ones. And while I generally despise Bill Gates and Microsoft, at least the Windows community represents people, not just pricks. You don't find them nit-picking about whether someone adjusts their windows from the corners or sides and get upset because someone likes to maximize a program's screen while using it to focus their attention, etc. whereas Mac users seem to think everyone should think alike (reminds me of fascism in some respects, actually) and Linux thinks everyone should have every choice imaginable EXCEPT the right to make money from software or a unified interface. So in truth, I find all three major operating systems and their users rather flawed. You really have to use them all for some time to get that impression and have the ability to think for yourself instead of being a puppet of someone else. I guess that explains why I liked the Commodore Amiga (it having things in common with all three in some respects and yet different from all as well, but sadly it was run by imbeciles, but that's another matter).
But don't think for a minute a list like this represents anything other than Mac users having too much time wasting time rather than doing something useful. For all the claims about forgetting about the computer and just getting to work, I find Mac users spend a LOT of time thinking about their computers and many even worshiping it or Steve Jobs in the process. It's pathetic, really.
#6 by MacSmiley on October 15, 2008 - 8:16 am
Wow, Ford. Doug Adams must be turning in his grave. He was one of those Mac "fanboys".
Remember, when you point your finger at someone else, there are 3 fingers pointing back at yourself.
#7 by david morris on October 24, 2008 - 9:24 am
It seems like there's a lot of confusion here. The article is about mistakes that PC users make when they switch to Macs–it doesn't purport to be a list of flaws of the Mac OS. And yet it seems like a lot of commenters are interpreting it that way.
#8 by Dede on October 27, 2008 - 11:54 pm
david– that was my thought exactly. I think the original description was a list of errors that former PC users make when converting to a Mac. These Mac folks are a little touchy aren't they?
#9 by Marco on November 3, 2008 - 8:41 pm
For a Windows user like me it seems weird to leave apps open; doesn't that gobble up precious memory, and slow down the OS, regardless of which OS you use?
I've used both OS's and the use of shotcut keys in Windows cannot reach the versatility of QuickSilver by a long shot, but neither OS demands or encourages you to use keyboard shortcuts.
#10 by MacSmiley on November 5, 2008 - 4:10 am
@Marco, re: leaving apps open:
I don't know Apple's rationale on this… and I don't know how far back the "tradition" goes. But I suppose the existence of the Menu Bar makes it at least possible.
From personal experience, I've closed browser windows I shouldn't have. And gratefully, it's faster to launch a new window that it is to fire up the app from scratch. With the Menu Bar sitting there waiting for you, you can just start where you left off right from the History.
You can not do this in Windows, because the menu is in the window's toobar instead of in a Menu Bar. No window = No menu, therefore, no reason to keep the app open in Windows.
In OS X, it's the windows which use most of the CPU cycles, the apps not so much. OS X's preemptive multitasking takes care of the remaining CPU and memory management. It does a pretty impressive job.
#11 by MacSmiley on November 5, 2008 - 9:07 am
I don't know Apple's rationale about leaving apps open… and I don't know how far back the "tradition" goes. But I suppose the existence of the Menu Bar is what makes it at least possible.
From personal experience, I know I've closed browser windows I shouldn't have, for example. Gratefully, it's faster to launch a new window right up from the History in the Menu Bar than it is to fire up the app from scratch and restore the session.
(Of course, Apple had this arrangement way before modern browsers could do such a thing as a session restore, so in the past it was even more of a godsend.)
This is impossible in Windows, because the menu is in the window's toolbar instead of a separate Menu Bar. (MSFT wanted to make it look like they weren't copying Apple.)
Since No window = No menu, there was no reason for MSFT to establish a pattern of keeping apps running with a closed window. OTOH, for Apple, keeping apps open with easy access to the Menu Bar makes sense for most OS X apps. (There are a few exceptions like utilities.)
As for CPU cycles, in Mac OS X, it's the windows which use most of the CPU power… the apps themselves not so much. OS X's preemptive multitasking does a pretty impressive job of CPU and memory allocation, even for running apps that running that are not actively being used.
Considering a Mac doesn't waste so many CPU cycles on anti-malware and anti-junkware, at the very least it's a wash. Some would contend this puts the Mac ahead.
#12 by Jeremy on December 1, 2008 - 2:08 am
nice comparison between OSes
#13 by Marko on February 2, 2009 - 1:59 pm
One of the biggest reasons why people make these mistakes is because they don't realize the ease of a Mac, like clicking once to open an app, drag n drop for almost everything, one-step installation for most apps, uninstalling apps, connecting to the Internet.
One thing about the E = Net, have you not used Firefox?
1. Closing an application window, thinking it has quit.
>>Can you not see the app name in the menubar? It means it's still running.
2. Downloading an app and running it from the disk image.
>>Read. It says "Drag to your Applications folder." (Most do, only a few don't) Even if you do quit the app, locate the disk image and mount it by double-clicking.
3. Creating endless untitled folders
>>WTF????
4. Using Safari's Google search to get to a website
>>Why would anyone do that?
5. Confusing the concept of wallpaper with screensaver.
>>Than what were you thinking with your Windoze box?
6. Double-clicking a window thinking it will maximise it, but instead sending it to the dock
>>This one's actually valid.
7. Not understanding the usefulness of column view and leaving everything in icon view
>>Again, valid
8. Not using any keyboard shortcuts
>>Weren't you a compulsive Ctrl-S-er?
9. Thinking that now they've got rid of Windows they won't have problems of _any_ sort on their Mac
>>Way less
10. Renaming desktop icons to random characters because they don't understand the difference between the enter and the return key on Mac. (Enter puts an icon into rename mode).
>>That's why there's Undo.
11. People trying to find the menus on a window, not realising they're always at the top of the screen
>>Are you blind? You've lost 1 cm of screen space, why don't you check that out?
12. Trying to resize windows from the edge rather than the drag area on the corner
>>How is this valid? This works on Windows too.
13. Trying to use the CTRL key rather than CMD key for shortcuts.
>>Like I said, Macs are designed for ease. The Ctrl is so hard to reach, it would be illogical that using Cmd would seem better. Common sense. Use it.
14. Thinking it'll be easy to get a stuck CD out.
>>How would this be a mistake?
15. Installing a program every time they want to run it because they think the installer _is_ the program.
>>The installer isn't the program on Windows. Why would it apply here?
#14 by Marko on February 2, 2009 - 1:59 pm
16. Where's "the internet"? (looking for the Windows Internet Explorer "e" icon)
>>Well there's O for Opera, the Fox for Firefox, the footprint for Flock. Have you ever thought that some software won't work on Macs as Mac software won't work on Windoze?
17. Repeatedly hitting the Apple key expecting the Apple menu to pop up (confused with Windows Key and Start Menu concept)
>>Uh, where's the key labeled "Apple"? Looks like there's a key called Command, but no Apple.
18. Thinking the green "+" button maximises a window to full screen (not realising that Apple's maximise philosophy is to only make a window as big as it needs to be to comfortably fit the width of content currently being displayed)
>>Which is right for Apple to do so because there's something called fullscreen mode which is also available on Windoze
19. Looking in vain for an uninstaller app, because they don't realise that uninstalling an application on Mac is as easy as dragging the program icon into the trash.
>>Again, common sense. On your mounted disk image, if there's no uninstall, use the Trash.
20. Minimising windows all the time rather than using "hide", leaving the document section of the doc littered with forgotten minimised windows (that are quietly occupying system resources).
>>If you're new to an OS, you play with it, including ways to quit your apps. You'll find "Hide" near "Quit"
21. Double-clicking dock icons.
>>Again, their lack of common sense. Macs work differently than Windows.
22. Inadvertant click-drags and removing programs from the dock in the process.
>>What are trying to do? Make a shortcut on your desktop? You drag the app onto the dock to add it, therefore you drag it off to remove it. Simple vice-versa.
23. Saving everything to the desktop or somewhere on the hard drive other than their home folder
>>You must love clutter.
24. Trying to load documents or programs multiple times because they don't recognise the progress indicators (sound of hard drive grinding, CD spinning, Mac spinning beachball, browser status bar)
>>Give me an example of a PC that has never made noise
25. Not understanding that the dock is used to both launch and return to a program …
>>If you can click it once, click it again
26. Inability to work with multiple documents on-screen at the same time, because they have only ever learned to use Windows' maximise mode which always makes everything full-screen
>>That's why windows on Macs open up smaller, so you can work with more windows
27. Confusing "delete" with "backspace" (because Apple has two keys named "delete" on the keyboard, one of which does forward delete and the other backward delete. Way to go, usability geniuses).
>>Note that one has an icon indicating it is right-delete
28. Expecting "home" and "end" keys to go the beginning and end of a line, rather than beginning and end of a document.
>>Apple actually implements this well. If you're at "Home" then you're at the beginning. If you're at "End" then your at the end of the document
29. Not realising that when you copy a folder over an existing one, OS X -replaces- the destination folder rather than merging the contents, which is what Windows does.
>>If you merge, what's the new folder name?
30. Looking for the "complicated" way of doing everything. For example, trying to go into system preferences and right-clicking on the networking icon in order to find available wireless networks, rather than just clicking on the Airport icon in the menu bar and selecting the relevant wireless network.
>>Just pure ignorance
#15 by Travis Seitler on February 2, 2009 - 2:26 pm
Marko,
For people who have only ever used Win PCs, "common sense" = "how Windows does it." *Of course* we're talking about things that are obvious to a Mac user. The problem is, Win PCs are so ubiquitous (even today) that people have a tendency to assume that the way Win does something is the way computers are "supposed" to do it.
Nobody here is really claiming that Apple has done anything wrong, except perhaps that they missed a great opportunity to help potential "switchers" avoid the frustration and confusion that comes the first time you faceplant on one of these cultural differences.
Which is exactly the sort of thing we're talking about. One of the top mistakes made by someone traveling out of the USA for the first time could be pointing at something using only your index finger (which is a rude gesture in many other cultures). While this can be called "pure ignorance," it's not willful ignorance; if your whole life was spent in a culture where you point with your index finger, you aren't even going to question the possibility that other cultures don't.
And that's the whole point of the article (a point which went right over your head, apparently): a collection of things that Windows users may never even consider might be handled differently in Macs.
I'm happy for you that you're so enlightened, Marko. It's a shame that you use that enlightenment to belittle others, rather than to aid their own understanding.
The rest of us? We're trying to help ease the learning curve.
#16 by Scoox on April 10, 2009 - 3:49 pm
I have been a Mac user for many years because that is what I got as a xmas present, and I have recently ventured into Windows. There are many things I like better in Windows:
1. Mouse acceleration feels more natural (this one is my favourite)
2. Windows taskbar allows me to see what's running at a glance, rather than a little dot under running apps, plus the name of running apps is shown on taskbar buttons.
3. Resize windows from any side or corner
4. Menus within active window better than single menu bar for multiple-display setups, plus I don't need to give focus to a window to access its menus, I simple click the menu directly.
5. No need to give focus to a window or app in order to click a buttton (Mac: click window, then click button; Windows: click button directly)
That's my two cents.
#17 by Lewis on May 12, 2009 - 9:27 pm
I use a PC, and the only mistakes I think I would make using a Mac, is always doing things the hard way, and always checking stuff, because as a PC user, it's very hard to come to terms with the fact that a computer of any kind can work without several tens of errors per day. You expect a computer to screw stuff up, even itself, and you just take it for granted. That's probably why you never get relevant search results for 'switch to windows', because it just doesn't happen. PC users are so happy about the lack of errors after they switch to Mac, and Mac users don't want a machine that has fatal errors on a regular basis.
#18 by Mac on June 8, 2009 - 11:14 am
Half the things you said were stupid or not true….im on a mac and it is easier to use than a pc in my opinion
#19 by Jas on June 13, 2009 - 8:07 pm
I recently bought a Mac within the last week. I switched over for many reasons, the main being that I work as an IT on PC's all day. Being and IT has helped me see many flaws and loopholes in the OS of the PC. That being said, I thought that switching over would be a lot easier than it has been. What I did not realize is that by working on PC's all day I had developed habits with shortcuts and just movements around the drive. While I have done almost everything on the list above, I am still learning by experimenting and playing around. What people don’t understand it that since they are two different Os’s they will be different. Whether you are switching from MAC to Windows or visa versa, you have to work for the computer before the computer can work for you.
#20 by connor norris on June 24, 2009 - 3:25 pm
whenever i download something , when i open the file , my mac says can not run is DOS mode with a load of random symbols how do i stop this happening and actually download the file???
send me an email if you know the answer :) bad-smell@hotmail.com
#21 by Xfactor on November 18, 2009 - 7:32 pm
Those 5 mistakes are only made by retards
#22 by Xfactor on November 18, 2009 - 7:32 pm
Those 5 mistakes are only made by retards
#23 by Xfactor on November 18, 2009 - 7:32 pm
Those 5 mistakes are only made by retards
#24 by micr05 on January 17, 2010 - 9:06 am
Fun way to recognize your own mistakes dude. The thing is that most of the mistakes mentioned are made by someone who has never used either a mac or PC in his/her life…
PS: I am a mac user
#25 by micr05 on January 17, 2010 - 9:06 am
Fun way to recognize your own mistakes dude. The thing is that most of the mistakes mentioned are made by someone who has never used either a mac or PC in his/her life…
PS: I am a mac user
#26 by blairo on February 6, 2010 - 11:23 am
This would have been really helpful if the author had explained how to actually do the things that the noobs were doing wrong instead of just pointing out what they were.
#27 by blairo on February 6, 2010 - 11:23 am
This would have been really helpful if the author had explained how to actually do the things that the noobs were doing wrong instead of just pointing out what they were.
#28 by Peter J. Mesyk on May 8, 2010 - 3:01 am
Thank you for showing me why Macs' superiority is… well… sorta fake.