Comments on: My Quest For The Mac’s Keyboard Shortcut Soul

By: Thing

Thing — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:54:45 +0000

Hi Angus,

I’m new to Mac and I totally agree with your mouse-centric impression. I am also a windows-keyboard-focused guy and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the Mac way…

But after a week I am starting to realize that the two systems are based on different usability guidelines and long-time users of each system will suffer switching from one paradigm to the other. I’ve seem Mac geeks flying through the keyboard shortcuts as they already know all the combinations, and they tend to learn new keys quickly too. Windows is more forgiving, you just need a glance at the menu to remember the shortcut you are looking for, so we (Windows users) are not imprinting all these combinations in our memories as Mac users does.

A few days ago I was furious about “Mac right-click menu is an alias to commands already available in the menu, so there is no need for a keyboard shortcut”. That felt like a very weak excuse to me but that seems to be true for die-hard Mac users.

So my conclusion is that switching system is actually a more complex task than one would expect. The two systems are similarly comparable as far as keyboard accessibility is concerned, but Windows-minded users will have a hard time memorizing the combinations instead of reading the mnemonics from the menus.

In this sense, I should say that ‘as a Windows user, Mac seems more keyboard oriented’. It’s a big semantic difference, but in practical terms I’m suffering a lot :)

By: Greg G

Greg G — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:54:26 +0000

Hide Others is the way to go for me, though Backdrop + Quicksilver is probably what would serve your computing style best in a Mac environment.

By: Angus Kidman

Angus Kidman — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:17:31 +0000

Maybe with one book — but if there are 20 things on your desk, then it’s a mess and you get distracted. Some people aren’t bothered by that, other people are. Of course, there are several ways you can deal with that (on a Mac, you could use hide, I imagine), but for writing in particular, I just don’t like other stuff popping up underneath.

By: Tooth DeKay

Tooth DeKay — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:17:08 +0000

I never really understood the “but It cant full screen” crowd!
Think of it as your desk at work, when you write a letter do you get out a piece of A1 paper to fully cover the desk? No, you get out an A4 notepad and write away while still being able to refer to a reference book next to the note book.

By: Jayphen Simpson

Jayphen Simpson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:28:32 +0000

I believe that Keyboard Maestro may solve your issues with the keyboard shortcuts you otherwise can’t achieve – http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/

It’s a shame that you haven’t had a chance to try out Quicksilver, as I think you may be impressed with what it can do. As a relevant example, you can use it to quickly access ALL application menu items for any open application. Here’s a video demo – http://www.themerlinshow.com/ep/008-howto-quicksilver-application-menus

By: verimaz

verimaz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:33:13 +0000

I’ve always worked on PCs and have my k/b shortcuts down pat. I have been a Mac person at home for the last 3yrs.
For casual browsing i have no issues with macs but when i actually need to do work on it i struggle. Especially with the seemingly simple Home and End keys – lack thereof. I haven’t found a comprable shortcut on the mac for selecting some text and shift-home or shift-end to get the whole line or more.

i don’t consider pressing 3 keys a short cut…

By: Anthony Agius

Anthony Agius — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:53:22 +0000

If you ever decide to get some proper hands on experience, I’m more than happy to give you a MacBook and an iPhone, so you can turf the non-Apple gear for a week and write about it. I’ll even be your on-demand support line for any questions that pop up during the week. :)

By: Angus Kidman

Angus Kidman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:14:44 +0000

The sales guys knew about right-click via two-finger tap — what he couldn’t provide was a keyboard equivalent. And since it seems clear there isn’t one, that’s probably fair enough.

By: jaysee

jaysee — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:08:35 +0000

I get that you’re probably over your Mac experimentation (and I think it’s really cool that you even did it) but should you wish to have another go, I’d suggest heading off to your local Mac reseller (not Harvey Norman, and small business specialising in Macs). The lovely thing about the Apple shops is that they are forced to toe the company line 100%. A reseller is usually a) staffed with humans and b) able to interact openly about the flaws of the OS.

Check out mactalk.com.au for some suggestions of where (not all resellers are built the same).

Oh, and btw. if the Apple employee couldn’t point you towards “two finger tap” for right-click then he needs some serious retraining; once set up it’s: put index finger on trackpad and navigate as you would normally. When the time to right click comes, put middle finger on mousepad as well. “Tap” or “click”. Right (or “context”) clicking should ensue! Moving on the trackpad with two fingers on it will scroll up/down/left/right/diagonal, as well.

It might not be set up out of the box, but it’s the first thing I teach customers in my training sessions – if little old ladies can get it, I’m sure you can too!

And yes, not being able to access the menu’s from the keyboard *still* drives me batty 3.5 years into Mac-using and 2.5 in Mac sales. QuickSilver has *some* ability to replicate it but it’s not perfect. The best bet is just to set up custom shortcuts via System Preferences for your most used things.

By: Angus Kidman

Angus Kidman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:23:40 +0000

I like maximised windows so I can concentrate on the task at hand — if I’m writing, I don’t want other stuff in the way. And as I’m a notebook user, multiple monitors aren’t an issue. And since I’m personally all about not using the mouse when possible, whether that make dragging or clicking easier or harder doesn’t really come into it — but the lack of consistent menu bar shortcuts does.