Chicago
Track Your Order
0
4 things Windows users can do to make using a Mac more tolerable
If you've ever tried to swap to a Mac after using nothing but Windows, you know that there are so many little things that stack up to make the experience full of friction. Both operating systems cover their bases pretty well, but there's a lot that doesn't translate well when you're swapping from one to the other. As someone that's used a ton of both macOS but considers themselves primarily a Windows person, I've made quite a few small tweaks to make myself feel way more at home on a Mac, and here are 4 of my favorites.
Remapping the keyboard
The command key can be a bit frustrating to use at first
Most, if not all, of the actions done with the Ctrl key on Windows are done with Command on macOS. Things like copy and paste, selecting all text, and even initiating a print are all done with Command instead of Control. This can be somewhat bothersome for new users of macOS, and for a while I used a tweak to remap some of the keys on my keyboard, known as Karabiner-Elements.
Karabiner-Elements allows you to remap essentially any keys on your keyboard, but for the purposes of making a Windows user feel more at home on macOS, remapping the Command key to be on Control and vice versa will help immensely with performing most keyboard shortcuts. In addition, you can create some other shortcuts that are pretty neat, as well as make side-buttons on mice usable, so it's worth checking out for that, even if you don't want to swap Control and Command.
Ditch the Dock
uBar makes macOS more Windows-like
One of the things that makes the swap from Windows to macOS particularly hard for a lot of people is the Dock. Apple's reluctance to use any sort of taskbar-based system when minimizing and closing applications has always rubbed me the wrong way. And perhaps even more puzzlingly, Microsoft has gone the same direction with recent versions of Windows, which is quite frustrating.
For those of us who like the classic look of knowing exactly what windows are open in what application, uBar is for you. Everything that's comfy and familiar about the old Windows taskbar is present with uBar. You get the classic taskbar look, complete with app progress and status indicators, multi-monitor support, and even a Start-like menu. Oh, and it gets rid of that annoying bouncing effect that Apple uses for when an app needs your attention. It is $30, but for some, that may be a fair price to get rid of the Dock and replace it with something much more versatile.
Set up your displays properly
Native display settings aren't very good on macOS
One of the things I hated the most when I started using macOS daily was the lack of display options, notably for scaling and refresh rate. When docking my MacBook, I had no control over how big the things were on my external display, only the resolution. Sure, you can just make things bigger by decreasing the resolution, but that defeats the purpose of having a high-resolution external display to use with my laptop.
BetterDisplay to the rescue. BetterDisplay is just one way you can get access to many scaling settings and other overrides of macOS nonsense. There is a paid Pro version that gives you cool features like PIP, but for the basic settings you'd normally see on Windows, it's not necessary to buy it. There are other tweaks that perform similar actions to BetterDisplay, but I've found that this one is the best for this specific use case.
Use Alfred
Some things included are even better than Windows
I love Spotlight search on macOS, but there are certain things it simply can't do. Alfred fills those gaps, and brings a lot of Windows-like features to macOS. Alfred acts a lot like search, but also enables Run-like capabilities. Launching apps, scripts, and opening specific hidden folders. There are additional features like clipboard history, but those are a part of the paid "Powerpack" edition of the software. It's really a transformative way to use your Mac, a lot like uBar, but pretty different in the way you interface with it.
You can't fully transform it to a Windows machine
My workflow is pretty split down the middle between macOS and Windows, and after a few years of using both, I can't say there are many things that truly bother me when you compare the two. At the end of the day, there are some things that will always be different between Windows and macOS, but there are tweaks you can make to make yourself feel more at home.