“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,” Dan Warne blogs for The Warne Account.
“The comments attached to the article are entertaining, and pick up many other common mistakes,” Warne writes.
The top ten from Warne’s list:
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).
Full article (Google cache) here.
We’re not sure why or how #4 is a “mistake,” unless Warne means mistakenly typing URLs into Safari’s Google search box (which actually still gives you usable results).
As per Warne’s #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).
Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros have a single “delete” key; “fn” + “delete” = forward delete. In his quest to get in a jab at Apple, Warne conveniently forgets to mention that on full-sized Mac keyboards (click for image), Apple’s “other” delete key also has a right facing arrow with an “X” in it which delineates it from the “delete” key.
I thought the right facing arrow on the other delete key was always pretty obvious.
My wife switched to a G4 iMac – several years ago – and I still chide her about “closing the program” with the “red dot”. “Dear, could you go back and KILL THE PROGRAM? Please? You only have a half-gig of RAM and that program is eating some of it.” “Oh. Yeah.” Can’t get her to use Apple-Q instead.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page Pod Cast
Hmmmm. Actually it all seems quite intuitive to me.
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I “close” / hide programs that I use all the time, like word processing, graphics, etc. When I need them, pop, they are there.
When I know that I will not use a program for a long time, I just use the quit function from the drop down menus. It just works. One step for a quick quit, two steps for a serious quit. Simple
JMHO.
en
I believe #4 is as MDN Take mentioned. Even on the PC side, people will search for a website rather than typing it into the address bar.
Application installation stuff still gets me from time to time, because some apps install from a package, some can be dragged and dropped and some run an installer.
#5 How would one confuse wallpaper/desktop and screensaver? I had those in Windows.
#7, do they mean the mode of view in Finder?
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice…
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The 9:35 post comments on the 9:36 one.
Do tell
DL,
My bride does the exact same thing. Otherwise, she dos pretty well.
“unless Warne means mistakenly typing URLs into Safari’s Google search box”
I think that’s what he means.
FWIW, I prefer to hide my Apps, visually it’s as if you’ve Quit them, but when you need them they appear instantly.
I just need more RAM so I can keep more open Apps hidden. 1.5GB isn’t quite enought for me
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Should be #1: Waiting so long to switch.
i think he means they type google in the search box…to go to google and then start their search…
Should closing a window exit the program?
To Microsoft, the answer is always “Yes””.
To Apple, the answer is “Maybe”. Most big apps don’t exit on closing the window, but some utilities (Dictionary, Software Update, etc.) do.
Microsoft is consistent. Apple makes sense. Take your pick.
After you’ve waited for (fill in your favorite huge program here) to launch, if you accidentally close all its windows, do you want it to exit, or to remain ready to open another window to continue working without repeating the delay?
I Winows, I’m constantly going D’oh after closing an Office window, when all I wanted to do was exit the document but not the program.
<rave>
There was a time when Apple’s “delete” key was named “backspace”, but only a fool would have changed it to “delete”.
Probably the same fool who changed the Home/End/PageUp/PageDown/Clear keys to hieroglyphics and removed the on/off button and shortened the left shift-key on the UK keyboard and moved the @, #, £ and ~ characters around and forgot to put symbols over FN 14-15 for brightness down/up and forgot to link the Help key to the computer/application’s built-in help system!
</rave>
In my experience, the number one mistake is assuming you don’t need any training! Any OS shift needs training, even XP to Vista. people open the box and assume that it will work like a washing machine. Then they bitch about the hardware and software.
*** For a guide to using Macs in schools, visit ***
*** http://web.mac.com/simon_elliott/ ***
Back to Macs:
This may be because IE for Windows did not put the “.com” on the end for you and jumped you to an MS search engine. Google was therefore easier. IE for Mac and Safari have always appended for you. I just typed the URL “Apple” into the latest FireFox for Win and it took me to a domain name site – its one more step twenty times a day.
Since Windows is the fraudulent copycat, the only correct version to any of this is found on the Mac.
23. “saving to the desktop .. instead of the user folder.” The desktop is in the user folder. Perhaps he meant to the documents folder in the user folder. (use with caution.. don’t mess with microsoft data etc.) If you don’t like saving to the desktop (neatness freaks?) make one of the untitled folders into a my work folder.
I know it’s been said before about Windows but what can you surmise about an operating system (sic) that has a buon called START which means everything else other than START?
I think MDN means “differentiates” instead of “delineates.” It’s a little more apropos to the description.
oops.. button.
5 years now, and my Mom still clicks the red button to close the program…Ugh!
Most of those issues are just learning curve matters. Once people have figured out that the function that they are doing isn’t giving them the results that they thought would happen – it’s time to learn something new. That rule doesn’t only apply to computers. Pretty simple really.
However, the number one (#1) in the list has always been an irritant to me when having to work in windows. Why must the application close with I close a window? That is the stupidest function in programing ever. But it goes along with everything else in Windows. What a total time waster to have to reopen the application again and again. Good thing I work mainly on the Mac.
Wish apple would make column view the default setting for the finder / hard drive window.
The concept of a disk image vs installed app took me a while to figure out a few years ago. Personally, I found it not to be intuitive.
#19 – Maybe I don’t understand it, but simply dragging an app’s icon to the trash does not seem to get rid of all of it. I spotlight search and have found letover bits hiding in various places in some cases.
“fn” + “delete” = forward delete. I didn’t know that, thanks!
Several years of the Mac and I admit, I still don’t use Column View as much as I could/should.. Heh heh… I like the Icon view..
This article should be titled “Top 30 mistakes made by morons switching from Windows to Mac.”
We’re not sure why or how #4 is a “mistake,” unless Warne means mistakenly typing URLs into Safari’s Google search box (which actually still gives you usable results).
Hell it works for me….
Am I doing someting wrong?
I don’t think so…
I’m sure I did NOT just see MDN *defend* the identical labeling of two keys with different functions.
Yes, most of us understand the difference, but to someone who’s new, ESPECIALLY someone coming from another platform, it’s just silly and unnecessary. Call the backspace key backspace and get on with it.
Yea, Google search works just like you went to googles own site. I hardly call that a mistake.
I saw someone use forward delete on a mac recently and it seems so geeky and peecee-ish. I have never used forward delete.
Am I alone in this?
@ PC Apologist
technically, “backspace” is also a misnomer, as going back a space does not intrinsically indicate deletion.
In the past three years, I have switched many people over to the Mac (over 15 and counting) and all of them get confused with the disk image for a downloaded app.
To be honest, I’m not sure I understand it myself, I hate the extra step of having first to copy it to the applications folder to then copy it to the Dock. All OS X apps should come with an installer option and within that installer option it should offer to put the application icon in the Dock for you.
Alansky – you are a moron. Have nothing intelligent to say than STFU
@ logonson
No you’re not alone I don’t use forward delete either!
Something of interest to those wishing to take part in a heated debate:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/110166/first-pc-pro-podcast-why-pcs-are-better-than-macs.html
I’ve already sent in my response via email, though there is a forum as well, which requires registration.
One warning about the podcast above, it is hard to understand what is being said even for an Englishman!
thelt –
Yep. But it’s the misnomer that the rest of word processing has been using since the invention of the arrow keys.
They’re all just remappable buttons. But when you’re trying to help someone over the phone, and you say “press delete,” there shouldn’t need to be a 5 minute discussion. Slash vs backslash is bad enough.
Surrender, Apple. Call it “backspace” for the sake of peace.
“I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.” — Steven Wright
I fail to see, MDN, how an article from February 2006 is a <u>headline</u> in April 2007. I cited this article the other day about the “It’s About Time” Windows to Mac tutorial application to illustrate that for some the learning curve for switching does not always go smoothly… Thus, the usefulness of the tutorial.
MDN should have updated that article with this link instead of re-creating an entire headline which I’m sure MDN reported on IN February 2006.
Regarding the delete/backspace keys:
First of all, regardless of whether you’re coming from Windows or not, the keyboard layout is exactly the same (both in size and location). Anyone who can type without looking knows where the backward delete key is.
Maybe it’s just me, but when I switched, I didn’t even give it a second thought. IMHO I never understood what “backspace” meant anyway. One thing I did get confused about was that to delete a file, you have to use command+delete instead of forward delete. I was dragging things to the trash for months before I figured that out!
Second, did Apple always have the key labeled as “delete” or was it something that came with the second coming of Jobs?
What you talkin bout? Enter and Return both work to rename an icon. Or click icon then click name.
“3. Creating endless untitled folders”
Not really. Windows users do this on their old Windows system. Not a reflection of OS X, but a reflection of a lame-ass user.
#10 makes no sense. I see gibberish filenames all the time on Windows desktopsand only rarely on Mac desktops. The “reason” listed also makes no sense, as both return *AND* enter put the Finder in rename mode.
To those who are deriding all switchers as morons or not paying attention or just plain unwilling to change – back off. It’s not as easy for some as you think. Believe me.
Take a second and think about something you’ve done, without thinking, for years. For example, brush your teeth or hair with your other hand. Pick up a pen or pencil in your other hand – try writing your signature – can you even write a coherent sentence following the lines on a sheet of paper with that hand that doesn’t look like a 5-year old wrote it? (I applaud those few of you who are ambidextrous in that way – poor analogy for you, but go with me, here.) Or, how about this – try driving on the streets of London after 5 or 10 or 20 or 30+ years of driving and see just how long it takes you to keep from causing an accident every time you turn a corner!
It’s not easy for some to change so quickly – and there ARE some things with the Mac OS and related programs that require a paradigm shift in thinking to actually “get”.
I’m currently working very patiently with my parents, who knew literally nothing about Macs until about 6 months ago, and they’re in their early 70s (had a Win98 box before). There are STILL things that drive them nuts – because that paradigm shift hasn’t happened yet – for some things it may NEVER happen. So I’ll just have to keep being patient about it.
I always thought the separate google search box was a stupid idea. The main text box should take you to the search engine if you type something other than website address.
Instead of posting a blog, it would be better if Apple improved their over-all support for Windows Switchers on their web site. There is a few pages dedicated for Switchers there, but I believe if you do a search on the Apple web site that one of the search results is a dead link.
I also think that there are a few good 3rd party web sites dedicated for Windows Switchers. Hey, the more, the merrier, I say. If you go to the Yahoo! Answers web site and see all of the questions from potential Windows Switchers gets answered by angry Windows guys giving them the wrong answer about Macs.
So, we need more support for Windows Switchers. Most definitely.
Drunk Cheney,
Why close and open the program over and over? Why not just close the document?
Other than IE I think every program has a close doc button “and” a close program button.
“6. Double-clicking a window thinking it will maximise it, but instead sending it to the dock”
My #1 peeve about having to work in both OS X and Windows is this one, because I’m ALWAYS double clicking the Window bar to minmimize the window like it’s supposed to do
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All programs on the Mac that are run from only one window will quit when the red button is selected. On the other hand, programs that can have 2 or more windows open at any one time will not quit when the red button is selected.
Me, too, Real IT Guy!!! All the freakin’ time at work – pisses me off.
Top 20 mistakes made by switchers, give me a break. that should be the top 20 flaws in Mac OS design.
If somebody designed a car with the pedals reversed compared to all other cars on the road, people would blame the car not the driver.
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