Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Switchers, Education
Common Mistakes Made by New Mac Users
We've all seen the common mistakes made by people new to Mac OS X:1) they close an application's windows thinking the program has quit.
2) they'll download Firefox and then run the browser from the disk image and then not be able to throw away the disk image because the program is still running. See number 1.
3) .exe files lie scattered around the desktop from aborted downloads of Flash Player or some screensaver-cursor-spyware doodad.
4) untitled folder. untitled folder 2. untitled folder 3. untitled folder 4...
5) Using Safari's Google search field to get to hotmail.com.
6) Desktop Picture or Wallpaper is not a synonym for Screensaver.
I could go on, but you get the idea. What have you seen that are common mistakes made by people using Macs?
Note: Discussing common mistakes that people make doesn't have to be an exercise in meanness or criticism. In fact, I firmly believe that a problem can't be solved unless it's first discussed or pointed out.. Also, remember that comments are owned by the people who leave them, not by the author of this post. For more info, see comment #31.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
daenney said 7:16PM on 2-08-2006
Well as a Mac switcher I can proudly say I only ran into the green maximize button problem..
Ohw, one I found other switchers have problems with, the fact that the task bar becomes the file bar and changes as you switch applications. I saw a windows user freak out because he couldn't find the file menu :|
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Neil Barham said 7:34PM on 2-08-2006
Not catching a virus everytime you open a email!
PDFs on the fly!
Having not to reinstall the system in over 2 years!
Having all the ports and a real video card!
Having a machine that was designed not put together by accountants!
- Priceless!
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Matt said 10:10PM on 2-08-2006
I have set up one corner of my screen to trigger Expose as I use it all the time. It's amazing how whenever anyone else uses my machine they almost always trigger it the moment they start to use the mouse. It's like their first reaction is to calibrate their feel for, and use of, the mouse by suddenly throwing the pointer into the corner of the screen. This is a common occurence with PC users. Even more common is their "WTF?" reaction.
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David Cheong said 10:31PM on 2-08-2006
Great guide and tips
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CK said 2:49AM on 2-09-2006
I do IT for small businesses (windows users) and I have a powerbook. I'd say everything but #1 and #2 are common mistakes made by 90% of the computer-using public.
Someone mentioned the "Enter" key to rename thing- my friend accidentally renamed his girlfriend's System folder... not so good.
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Peter Leonard said 3:05AM on 2-09-2006
I'm not new to Macs but 16 happens to me now and then. (Inadvertent click drags) Sometimes I don't know where the file or folder has gone to, I just hear the sound effect and assume that something has vanished (thankful for "Apple Z").
The green "+" is also a major problem. In some apps (like iTunes) it minimizes, in others it repositions and stretches a bit. It's a bit like lucky dip sometimes and I can see how it would catch out newbies.
Other mistakes that I've seen made include:
- Using IE 5 in preference to Safari!
- Using Windows Media Player.
- Rebooting the computer after making changes or installing new software (even when not required).
- Using MSN messenger.
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Alex Boboc said 3:27AM on 2-09-2006
1 )Many people do not understand what is the difference between "make alias" and "create shortcut". Do you ?
2) Trying to take out the CDROM from a Mac with a screwdriver thninking that CD drive stuck when it was so simple to drag the CD icon to Trash.
Long long time ago(PC 286 era) I tried myself do the same thing with a floppy disk on an old Mac Performa.
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Michael said 4:21AM on 2-09-2006
All the comments above are so true!! especially Saving millions of things on to the Desktop all the mistaken exe's, pdf's to the point where they overlap each other on the top right hand corner of the desktop often overlapping the Macintosh HDD icon and & I panic where's the Mac HDD its gone!!!.
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Jorge said 4:56AM on 2-09-2006
Oh, and this one, quite common: not knowing which application is running/has the context.
Hint: next to the blue apple [ever since OS X] there's the name of the active application. If it says 'Finder', you're in the Apple system context. 'Finder' is also the name of the smiley face on the left hand side of the dock [if you have the dock located at the default location at the bottom of the screen -you can change its position-.
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Huw Morris said 5:23AM on 2-09-2006
Speaking as a fairly recewnt Mac convert (from linux) my main issues were:
1) the disk image. wtf!?
2) trying to use the Finder effectively (still havn't figured that one out yet!)
3) how to find how to launch programs without a 'Start' menu (still haven't got a good solution to that one either.) Quicksilver isn't so useful when you can't remember what that rarely used app is called!
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Djam? said 7:06AM on 2-09-2006
you forget the ones who switch from linux to mac os X (I was a die hard fan of gnome 2.2 WITH enlightenment 16 so here're mine
typing "best camera france" on the url bar of safari and using tab then enter to search it (as in mozilla)
looking for the arrow to get the list of the last url I typed
and the most horrible ones:
using alt +click mouse to move winwows
double clicking on the title menu to get it one lined (as in windows maker, e16 and even mac classic)
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Rem said 8:37AM on 2-09-2006
When I first got hold of a classic Mac way back 1995, I was also creating lots of untitled folders like crazy. I don't know, but there's this sort of fascination when you first got hold of folders that you don't store in filing cabinets. :P
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SL said 3:23PM on 2-09-2006
Something I would do frequently when I switched to mac: trying to figure out why none of my maximized windows were in the dock. Then I discovered Expos?and the easy way to put in accented letters!).
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Smoke Tetsu said 4:21PM on 2-09-2006
In theory the way zoom works in OS X is better for me than how maximize works in windows because when you have a large screen with a lot of real estate in my opinion it's not as usefull to always maximize to fill the whole screen. I practically never used to maximize any windows in windows. In general when you hit the zoom button in OS X it's supposed to zoom the window to fit the content. So if you have for example a finder widnow with four icons and you have it stretched out real big when you hit the zoom button it actually should shrink the window to fit the icons. Sometimes though that doesn't work so well in particular with finder windows but if you don't understand that then I can see how one would think it's just an unpredictable button. I find that I use the zoom button a lot more than I used the maximize button and I have used both macs and pcs for many years.
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deathshadow said 5:01PM on 2-09-2006
I've repeatedly seen people not be able to find the programs menu, saying there isn't one because of the stupid 'one menu for all programs' thing.
#1 is great when they ask you why it's running so slow, you look at memory use and realize they have a hundred or so applications still running - just with no program windows. (Which I STILL say is the most counterintuitive thing in MacOS)
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wspiff said 8:03PM on 2-09-2006
You guys make it sound like the transition to Mac is full of headaches for those poor PC-users. No? If the switching cost is obvious, why not provide a list with "how to ... on PC" and match it with "how to ... on Mac"?
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Keith F. Kelly said 2:47PM on 2-10-2006
I think this article just shows that OSX's usability really isn't all that much better than Windows'. If Apple is smart, they will listen to user complaints/feedback like this and tweak their UI to address these common problems, even if it flies in the face of what Steve Jobs dictates. I don't have a lot of faith that this will happen though -- Apple products are very much "Steve's way or the highway".
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MacShaman said 12:52AM on 2-14-2006
They'll also not realize that Safari's default location for your adding a bookmark is on the bar and not in the Bookmarks menu. They'll just simply fault Safari for not having a Bookmarks menu at all if they can't seem to open their eyes and suggest that one be added there instead.
They also love to call CPUs hard drives. Gotta love that.
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Josh Morales said 5:09PM on 4-12-2006
looking for the Alt key on the key board for ctrl+alt+Del to quit applications when not responding
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narco said 4:08PM on 1-25-2006
I particularly like the untitled folder one. Why on earth do they feel so compelled to create new folders? It's a strange phenomenon.
Fishes,
narco.
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