[madking]

Hello everyone,

I am not sure if this is the right forum but if you can help me out
I'd be grateful. I have been working on the Mac and Unix platforms
since 1996. Got a new job recently and everything is done on
Windows.

While I have managed to maneuver around, I find the whole
experience very tedious, takes many many clicks to get something
set up. I have installed firefox (IE has no tabs?!?) and itunes
to make it less painful. Any suggestions on how I can make the
transition with less frustration?

Thanks!

[Macola]

I'm not sure if there's much you can do. There are several themes that mimic an OS X Aqua look and feel, but obviously, they're not the real thing.

That said, XP is not a bad OS (for Windows). Turn off the ugly GUI and use the Windows classic appearance, and that will help.

[Xeo]

It's just a matter of getting used to it. I still have that fumbly, uncomfortable feeling when I sit at Windows. I just don't use it enough for it to get easier.

[Randman]

If you have .mac, you can sync your bookmarks, which is nice. And even with XP, you can access your iDisk.

[Gavin]

get a decent desktop image from macdesktops or some place. Believe it or not that actually helps.

there is an alternate appearance that is not as cartoonish, I think it's called sliver or something. fish around in the control panels for it.

I also drag stuff into the start menu the way I'd drop things into the old apple menu; applications and folders I use, etc. If I remember right you can right click on an icon under applications in the start menu and there is an option that lets you drag it into the area above the green button. Way easier than hunting every time.

There is a control for the application bar (try right clicking on it). you can turn off some of the annoying crap at the bottom and lock it so it doesn't move around. you can also add an area next to the start button for application icons kind of like the dock.

There are ways to stop some of the junk applications from starting up when you log in.
you can also turn off the weird thing where it sorts stuff on the desktop by name.

I think there are keyboard shortcuts for dismissing all the 'are you sure' pop ups. And may be a way to cut down on them with system settings. you'll have to ask a windows guy cause I could never figure that stuff out.

This is all for XP, which to be fair I find tolerable. If they stuck you with 98 then my advice is to quit.

You should know that it is the nature of windows that any changes you make will mysteriously disappear one day. It does things on it's own because it secretly hates you.

[powermacj7]

Yes, the silver theme is a color scheme in the windows->appearance settings. Changing the default theme is highly recommended. I clear the icons on the desktop and use the quick launch bar on the bottom. I find, especially on a network, that windows wants to be turned off at night. Overall, I find the experience the opposite of Mac. I unfortunately have to use windows at work, and hate it. In short, I find XP bloated and overdone, the interface is awkward and counterintuitive. Good Luck!

[leperkuhn]

Been using windows at work 3 or 4 days a week for 8 months.

Terrible OS.

There are a few good features though. Till I found quicksilver I wanted the equivalent of the start menu.

[Yakov]

well, i'm a longtime Windows user, probably going to switch in the other dirction next spring, so if you have specific questions (what exactly are you trying to do that's so hard?) post 'em!

myself, i actually just updated my home computer to XP, turned off the "new" interface, installed FireFox and WinAmp 5 [the tiny version with the "classic" skin system -- I find Windows iTunes to be just hopeless on my 5-year-old Dell] plus RealJukebox for ripping... i got WMP 10.0 as well, although i rarely use it (also too slow)... and I'm actually liking my current setup quite a bit, to be honest...

you might want TweakUI, Alt-Tab extender, etc. from XP Powertoys... there's a lot of customization. one powertoy i find to be very useful is Explore From Here and SendToX, both of which are Windows 95 Powertoys that work fine on XP. (Yes, Microsoft's web site is a hopeless labyrinth. But there's a lot of useful things.)

whatever you do, try to steer clear of MSIE, but you knew that already.

if you want info on how to do a particular task, post it... that will actually help ME learn about OSX, which is one of my goals on this forum...

-yakov.

[His Dudeness]

Oh good grief. Stop instilling fear into this guy. Moving around XP is no more difficult/easy/tedious/whatever than in OS X. If you can figure out one, you can figure out the other. I did it, so it can't be all that difficult.

[Randman]

Difficult or cumbersome? At my new job, this is the first real time I've had to work on a PC and even Quark is different than the Mac version. Remember, not everyone came from the world of Windows either.

[madking]

Hello all,

thanks for the suggestions. I did the following to make it more
bearable to work on the machine:

- made some GUI changes to make it less "cartoony",

- added a desktop picture with a big apple icon,

- remove all that was placed on the desktop everytime I install
something, and deleted as many shortcuts as possible on the
start-menu,

- placed often used apps on the left side of the taskbar,

- installed firefox, itunes, gvim and gaim.


I have two main irritations now.

First, when I need to change some settings/preferences,
I find the dialog box extremely verbose. Had to read a lot,
and still not understand what the changes are made. Maybe the
years of using Mac OS have "dumbed" me.

The second has something to do with the pull-down menu. The
system would present a concise version of the menu-items, and
if you dont find what you want, then you click an additional arrow.
As a result, I always have to do one extra click to get to where I
want. Is there any way to turn this "clever" feature off?

Thanks for your help.

[DarwinX]

Originally posted by madking:

The second has something to do with the pull-down menu. The
system would present a concise version of the menu-items, and
if you dont find what you want, then you click an additional arrow.
As a result, I always have to do one extra click to get to where I
want. Is there any way to turn this "clever" feature off?

Thanks for your help.

Fellow life long Apple fan here, though PC Tech by trade. Since you didn't specify in which Application you were referring to, I'm going to assume you mean Office. To turn this feature off, open Microsoft Word. Go to the "Tools" menu. Choose "Custimize...". Then click the "Options" tab. And then check the box that states "Always show full menus"

One other suggestion would be to right click on the "Start" button and choose "Properties" While under the "Start Menu" tab click the "Custimize" button. Be sure to check the box "Scroll Prorgrams" and also UNCHECK "Use Personal Menus".

Hope that helps! Stupid Windows