Monday, June 11, 2007
Mac vrs. Windows
Here's a few more observations about the Mac/Windows tales. Updates - one of these days this weekend when I logged on, I had a notice about updates. One for iTunes and one for part of OS X. Something like 50MB or so. And about the stability of the platform. I'm using 10.4.9 and as I understand it, the dot numerals aren't all that compatible with each other. For example, when Apple goes from 10.4.9 to 10.5, there's going to be some major changes. Like from Win 95 to Win 98 or XP to Vista. I guess there's also some pretty in 10.3.9 from previous versions as well. Even to things as simple as keyboard shortcuts.
Right-clicking. I really miss the Windows right-click and what you could do with it. I'm sure there's some esoteric keyboard combination in OS X that replicates it, but I haven't found it yet. Close, but not the same. With the Win right-click I can send the file to other programs - text to NoteTab, gifs to irfanview etc. One thing I was unable to do yesterday was to right-click on a fake URL link in a phishing email and then copy the underlying actual URL to the clipboard. I tried ctrl-click to get the menu, but when I copied the shortcut, it was the fake one and not the link it actually connected to. For instance, copy this link http://apple.com/ and see where it really goes before trying it.
I finally discovered the magnetic remote holder on the right side of the screen. I'm not too crazy about having magnetic fields near my computer table - yes, a lot of that is 5.25/3.5" disk paranoia, but I'm still not too crazy about it. That's probably why the magnet is also so weak - doesn't seem to keep a very secure grip on the remote.
We did fix the jumping cursor problem. I found it mentioned in some forum online. It seems that the "mighty mouse" isn't too happy creeping about on strongly contrasting mousepads. I replaced the black and white pad (ironically Dell - Apple didn't supply one) with a piece of neutral gray-blue matt paper and the cursor has settled down nicely. Which makes me wonder about the market for decorated mousepads and iMacs.
And speaking of "mighty mouse," I'm not too happy with the side buttons. They don't seem to have any kind of tactile feedback when used. I can't seem to get the hang of pressing one without pressing both.
Labels: apple, computers, tech
