Gyroscopic Investing

Actually buying my first ever mac laptop. Anything I should be aware of as a decades long Windows user (minus iPhones and iPads)?

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:21 am Actually buying my first ever mac laptop. Anything I should be aware of as a decades long Windows user (minus iPhones and iPads)?

You'll find the keyboard utterly deficient. Maybe the biggest problem is the lack of a delete key. They have one labeled delete, but it's actually backspace, and there's no delete.

I don't know if there is a way around it, but I hate having to click through all the file folders to get somewhere.

I really miss the windows address bar like this where I can cut and paste locations. But maybe there is a hack I'm aware of.

But aside from that, my old Mac air lasted 9 years until my daughter spilled a cup of water on the keyboard....and two years later it still runs (albeit sluggish) when plugged into the wall (I use it for transferring photos to an external hard drive).

That's why we just bought a mac mini and I plan on getting a mac air whenever I need a new laptop....However, I've heard some complaints about the new laptops not lasting as long...so caveat emptor.

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:21 am Actually buying my first ever mac laptop. Anything I should be aware of as a decades long Windows user (minus iPhones and iPads)?

I have a mid-2009 MacBook Pro that still works and a 2018 MacBook Pro that's 5 years old. Both have been trouble free. I updated the 2009 with more memory, an SSD hard drive, and a new battery several years ago. My 2018 and the newer laptops I don't think can be easily user upgraded so make sure to buy all the memory and SSD size you think you will need. If my current machine fails, I'd definitely buy another Mac laptop of some sort.

joypog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:32 am I don't know if there is a way around it, but I hate having to click through all the file folders to get somewhere.

I really miss the windows address bar like this where I can cut and paste locations. But maybe there is a hack I'm aware of.

But aside from that, my old Mac air lasted 9 years until my daughter spilled a cup of water on the keyboard....and two years later it still runs (albeit sluggish) when plugged into the wall (I use it for transferring photos to an external hard drive).

That's why we just bought a mac mini and I plan on getting a mac air whenever I need a new laptop....However, I've heard some complaints about the new laptops not lasting as long...so caveat emptor.

To go to a folder: shift-command-G

Or, from Menu in Finder, Go | 'Go to Folder'

I don't recall if I had to do anything to make this available, but I've got it, and I don't think it's new

Xan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:25 am

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:21 am Actually buying my first ever mac laptop. Anything I should be aware of as a decades long Windows user (minus iPhones and iPads)?

You'll find the keyboard utterly deficient. Maybe the biggest problem is the lack of a delete key. They have one labeled delete, but it's actually backspace, and there's no delete.

Fewer keys, yeah. No delete is a bit annoying as i jump from work Windows to home Macs.

(I've been liking minimal keyboards so my trackpad is closer)

There are keyboard shortcuts to learn -- fn-delete on Mac gets Windows forward delete

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:21 am Actually buying my first ever mac laptop. Anything I should be aware of as a decades long Windows user (minus iPhones and iPads)?

Gonna take a bit to get used to the small differences. I got OS X The Missing Manual back when I got my first Mac, and it helped

Definitely some differences on keyboard as folks have mentioned

I jump between Window for work and Mac at home and still have hair

Below has some info (overload), but, as always, comes with a bit of time.

A big one is to use the 'Command' key in place of 'Ctrl' for things like undo (Command-Z vs CTRL-Z)

https://www.macworld.com/article/233064 ... tcuts.html

If you're a Windows user, what steered you toward a Mac for your laptop purchase?

I love my mac. As someone who does quite a bit of web development, having a unix file system under the hood has proven useful.

As some have mentioned, there have been a few generations of MacBook where the keyboard was terrible. That design was taken to the scrap heap though. The new keyboards (and the old ones) are fine.

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 1:08 pm I love my mac. As someone who does quite a bit of web development, having a unix file system under the hood has proven useful.

As some have mentioned, there have been a few generations of MacBook where the keyboard was terrible. That design was taken to the scrap heap though. The new keyboards (and the old ones) are fine.

It's still missing a bunch of keys, no?

Xan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 1:10 pm

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 1:08 pm I love my mac. As someone who does quite a bit of web development, having a unix file system under the hood has proven useful.

As some have mentioned, there have been a few generations of MacBook where the keyboard was terrible. That design was taken to the scrap heap though. The new keyboards (and the old ones) are fine.

It's still missing a bunch of keys, no?

Oh, yeah, totally. I'm actually talking at cross purposes and should have specified. I just meant they got rid of those crappy malfunctioning butterfly switches and brought back a more traditional mechanism. It seems their reliability problems have been solved.

I remember back in 2016 I bought the 2015 model. Then the actual 2016 models came out and I was kicking myself for not waiting. Lo and behold it turned out I dodged a huge bullet reliability bullet.

Heck, what I'd really love is a MacBook with a built-in numpad.

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 1:18 pm
Heck, what I'd really love is a MacBook with a built-in numpad.

That would kill me. Once I had to work on a client's Windows laptop which did not have the numbers keypad as part of the keyboard. It was absolute torture for me and I told him we'd never do that again.

Be sure to check OWC http://link.macsales.com/q/_K4tzKuArldS ... Q269Y6j9U9 and https://eshop.macsales.com/. They sell a lot of Mac stuff and have good informational articles. I just read a comparison of the M2 vs M1 MacBooks at the first link above.

wait, does that mean that mac users wear masks?

calling @boglerdude....

Desert wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:41 pm Macs are leftist. Conservatives use PCs. It's true.

The Mac market is a monopoly while the PC market is open and competitive.

So... checks out.

glennds wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:13 am If you're a Windows user, what steered you toward a Mac for your laptop purchase?

Living on the edge???

I've thought about it for years but just never pulled the trigger. Unless someone is doing professional industrial grade hardware/software work everyone I've talked to seem to really like their Macs. The negative feedback has always been heavy users and they all tend to be Windows or straight Linux types...but at this point it could turn out great or be a big waste of money. We shall see.

I still want to have a Windows environment for some backtesting software I have so I'm hoping I can do the free VMWare Fusion install and it will work for me. Other than that most of what I do is handled by standard MS Office and a web browser. Parallels looks nice but I'm not up for $119 a year continual subscription. I have a MS 360 family subscription with unused seats so I'm assuming I can download MSO for Mac (or hop back over on the vm to use it if I can't download the Mac version.)

In the past couple of weeks both VMWare Fusion and Parallels started claiming M2 support...so seemed like as good a time as any to take the plunge.

And thanks for the tips and humorous commentary!

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:07 pm

Desert wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:41 pm Macs are leftist. Conservatives use PCs. It's true.

The Mac market is a monopoly while the PC market is open and competitive.

So... checks out.

Is this why I have a sudden urge to grow a pony tail and pull my grey hair back tightly??? Are daily Starbucks runs in my future?

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:29 pm

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:07 pm

Desert wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:41 pm Macs are leftist. Conservatives use PCs. It's true.

The Mac market is a monopoly while the PC market is open and competitive.

So... checks out.

Is this why I have a sudden urge to grow a pony tail and pull my grey hair back tightly??? Are daily Starbucks runs in my future?

Yes, and the ironic sticker on your MacBook that says "SMASH CAPITALISM".

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:31 pm

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:29 pm

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:07 pm

Desert wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 4:41 pm Macs are leftist. Conservatives use PCs. It's true.

The Mac market is a monopoly while the PC market is open and competitive.

So... checks out.

Is this why I have a sudden urge to grow a pony tail and pull my grey hair back tightly??? Are daily Starbucks runs in my future?

Yes, and the ironic sticker on your MacBook that says "SMASH CAPITALISM".

This is getting weirder and weirder...I just bought Das Kapital for my Kindle app. If you see some new guy show up with kgb as his screen name and it sounds like me...plan an intervention.

Kbg wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 5:40 pm This is getting weirder and weirder...I just bought Das Kapital for my Kindle app. If you see some new guy show up with kgb as his screen name and it sounds like me...plan an intervention.

lmao!!

> Macs are leftist. Conservatives use PCs

mm hmm. I'll fix it myself vs have some authority figure make it work

More seriously, once a company reaches a certain size, their patent protections should be dropped before considering breaking them up

I read Neal Stephenson’s “In the Beginning, There was the Command Line… while struggling with Linux. In that book, he compared Linux to free DIY tanks and Macs to expensive eurocars. (Windows: don’t ask ). On his website, he quietly appended, “As of the year ____, I’ve changed my mind. I like Macs now.” I think it had to do with the operating system, namely having Unix (or is it BSD?) under the hood. Very solid.

Dieter wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:06 am
A big one is to use the 'Command' key in place of 'Ctrl' for things like undo (Command-Z vs CTRL-Z)
https://www.macworld.com/article/233064 ... tcuts.html

• I swapped those in settings when I switched over from Windows in ‘09 and have never looked back. (Although, strangely, I did not change it on this ipad mini, and I don’t really notice the difference).

• Also, I have an extended keyboard with a Mac mini. It has both BACKSPACE and forward DELETE ⌦.

joypog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:32 am I don't know if there is a way around it, but I hate having to click through all the file folders to get somewhere.
I really miss the windows address bar like this where I can cut and paste locations. But maybe there is a hack I'm aware of.

•It’s ridiculously easy to find files and folders. I usually just type what I’m looking for in Spotlight (launched from the keyboard) or Finder and it pops up. You can Open in Enclosing Folder to leave search and see what else is in that folder, or just open the file.

dualstow wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:51 pm

joypog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:32 am I don't know if there is a way around it, but I hate having to click through all the file folders to get somewhere.
I really miss the windows address bar like this where I can cut and paste locations. But maybe there is a hack I'm aware of.

•It’s ridiculously easy to find files and folders. I usually just type what I’m looking for in Spotlight (launched from the keyboard) or Finder and it pops up. You can Open in Enclosing Folder to leave search and see what else is in that folder, or just open the file.

The problem is not about finding and opening a file. Though I do need to get used to using spotlight more often. It's more about a file that I want to "save as" to another folder. Now I have to click around to get to the correct folder on the hard drive, as opposed to cutting and pasting the address in the address bar.

joypog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:21 pm

dualstow wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:51 pm

joypog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:32 am … hate having to click through all the file folders to get somewhere.
I really miss the windows address bar like this where I can cut and paste locations. ...

…. I usually just type what I’m looking for in Spotlight (launched from the keyboard) or Finder and it pops up. You can Open in Enclosing Folder to leave search and see what else is in that folder, or just open the file.

The problem is not about finding and opening a file. Though I do need to get used to using spotlight more often. It's more about a file that I want to "save as" to another folder. Now I have to click around to get to the correct folder on the hard drive, as opposed to cutting and pasting the address in the address bar.

But you don’t have to click around. You can use spotlight to open the folder.
Or, you could open the Terminal.