Top 5 Windows User Gripes about my new iMac

I thought I would kick things off by explaining my setup.  Here are the specs on my iMac...

  Model Name: iMac (late 2013 model)

  Processor Name: Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed: 3.5 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total No. of Cores: 4

  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

  L3 Cache:         8 MB

  Memory:         8 GB

  Storage:              3 TB fusion drive

How did I get that information without looking at my bill? 

1. Click on the Apple Logo on the top left of your desktop
2. Click on the "About this Mac"
3. Click on "System Report"

For me, the more screens the better, so I attached my older LG monitor which required a Thunderbolt to HDMI converter.

Before I go into my initial grudges let me say this: The Apple ethos shines through from the moment you open the box.  I have owned some premium computer in my day but Apple has really nailed it in terms of how they package and present their products.  Maybe there is something to this minimalist design thing? This beast is absolutely stunning.

That being said, what fun is it to spew compliments at the cool kid on the block? So here is my top 5 list of Window User Grudges in no particular order:

1. All of the ports are located on the back of this gorgeous machine.  So a simple thing like plugging in my headphones to drown out the sound of my kids, or plugging in my Camera to download photos, requires spinning the entire computer around. 

2. The Magic Mouse.  This thing has some major flaws.  First, the right click is very buggy and does not always register.  Is the context menu a Windows thing?  Perhaps that explains it.  The other problem on the 27 inch iMac is that the mouse moves so slow in relation to the size of the screen.  The only solution I have found so far is to install third party software called BetterTouchTool. It's a great app (that's what programs are called on Macs - Apps) that allows you to control every aspect of your mouse and track pad.

3.The Dock.  I have to say that the Windows start bar is just cleaner and less distracting then the little shelf of bobble heads floating at the bottom of my desktop. A couple of hints for minimizing this skeuomorphistic anachronism:

 a) Under Settings--> Dock - you can shrink the size to something a little more palatable. 

 b)Settings--> Dock - you can set the dock to hide and peek out when you mouse over the bottom of the desktop. Problem here is that the hide and peek behaviour is buggy and does not always work. (You can try slowly moving the cursor at the bottom of the screen or double bouncing off the bottom - all suggestions I have read in support forums -  but remember the Dock won't appear if you are in full screen mode)

4. Windows behaviour. Unlike Windows, the windows in OSX do not truly maximize when you hit the little + button.  It will make the window bigger but it does not always fill up the entire screen.  To be honest I'm not sure what the intended behaviour is but I am sure it has some logic behind it.  Also, there is no Windows Snapping.  This is a very useful feature of Windows7 to automatically size windows when you drag them into the corners and edges of the screen.  If you have used it you will know what I mean.  But once again BetterTouchTool comes to the rescue and does a good job emulating this great Windows7 feature. Another shortcut to keep top of mind is the keyboard shortcut for full screen mode (Control, Command, "F"). This will take any active window into full screen mode and back out to reveal the desktop.  It actually creates a second desktop that you can see when using the Mission Control feature - I love this concept and I will cover it in another post.  

5. (I am reaching here) but I'll have to say the Camera.  I just expected a little more from such an expensive  machine - I find it kind of grainy when using FaceTime.  But this is a minor point and a real stretch just to fill out my list...

So there you have it.  My first top 5 list on the Deviationist blog. 

Don't get me wrong. I am looking for any excuse to make this work... so I will be looking at all the annoyances as an opportunity to learn a new way of doing things. After all, I now use full screen mode way more because of the great implementation of full screen and swiping between desktops on OSX Mavericks.

Every Journey...

There were many reasons:

• Doing a three year JD degree in my mid thirties
• Having three kids during said 3 years
• Owning an iPhone4, my first Apple device 
• Having a home computing ecosystem three Windows 3 laptops and an HP Media Server

I'll chalk up my decision to jump wholesale into the Apple world to the above factors.  Even if I am misguided or mistaken they are as good reasons as any.  Let me explain how I think each of these pushed me closer to pulling the trigger.

Rewind three and a half years ago to my first day of law school.  The first thing that really shocked me was the Apple adoption rate.  I would say that no less than 80% of the class was using MacBooks. It's not that I overly vulnerable to peer-pressure - clearly I stuck with the PC and Windows world until year of 2013...  But seeing all of these people having the "magical" experience I have always heard about - gesturing their way around the OS like they were mind-melded with their laptops - made me curious. How far had Apple come since 1976 when Steve Jobs sold his first computer? They must be doing something right... right?

Speaking of doing something right, owning my first Apple product was a very positive experience.  Coming from a Nokia N95 to an iPhone4 was a joy.   The Nokia was smaller, lighter, and probably had more features but some of the most important features never really worked.  Browsing pictures and videos on the phone was choppy and video playback was sketchy.  The iPhone was not perfect but for the most part it did what it set out to do.  I am not a major user of Apps but the ones that I had worked well.  The iPhone also led me to purchase an Apple TV and once again it was nice to have two devices work seamlessly.  I had (and have) no problem shelling out 5 bucks to rent a movie once or twice a month and doing so required zero technical expertise.  It was also great to be able to share photos on the big screen instead of having them sit unused on some hard drive.

Creating, managing, and consuming media is where Apple shines.  This is where having 3 kids comes in because each new kid requires about 250GB of storage per year for all the photos and videos my wife and I end up taking.  I needed a way to enjoy all of those memories and to share them with others.  I found that the combination of iPhone, iTunes, and ATV was a great way to do this.  I can't even tell you how cumbersome and complicated it was attempting to do the same with my HP media server. 

So on it goes, three years of using the iPhone and the ATV and the iPhone4s and iPhone5 pass me by and I am still happy using the same phone.  That says a lot about the quality of the product.  I like my toys and yet I was content to use the same phone for three whole years.

So I finally decided to throw down the gauntlet.  The new 27 inch iMac has arrived, and the old hardware is going up on Kijiji (I might hold onto one Windows laptop as a safety net).  I've also finally upgraded my iPhone4 to a 5s and added another ATV to the house.

The Verdict? I'll let you know once I get accustomed to things. 

In future posts I intend on documenting my transition with all of the ups and downs, all of the frustration, and all of the fun. Which brings me to the name of this Blog.  Spending 20 years or more on Windows has created certain expectations about what personal computing should be; About how things should work.  These are not easy habits to break.   I am definitely a fish out of water, a stranger in a new land.  But I do know a few words in the local dialect.   The iPhone and ATV has provided some insight into the ways of Apple. I know how to use iTunes.  That should be enough. Right?

Anyone out there thinking about making the leap?  Recent converts? What are your thoughts?