From PC to Mac - stuff you should know
July 20th, 2006Having moved from a PC to an Apple Mac in the last 3 years, I found that the migration process was a little slow, and a little painful, for example, I only recently learnt what this symbol: 
meant!
So, 3 years later, I've taught myself those basics, and I thought it would be worth sharing my Mac tips.
Note come disclaimer: this article isn't intended as comprehensive, just a starting point to help answer some questions you may have in your migration to your new Mac.
Symbols
Apple have different names and symbols for the keys, so here's a quick intro:
- ctrl is called Control, and the symbol is
- alt is called Option, and the symbol is
- The 'apple key' is called Command (cmd), and the symbol is
- shift is called Shift, and the symbol is
- The backspace key is called Reset, and the symbol is
- esc is called Escape, and the symbol is
The Operating System
Example dock with open apps
- The hash (#) is alt + 3.
Editor's note: yeah: random, I know.
- The ticks under the icons on the dock mean the application is open.
- Finder is always open (it's what the desktop runs through for example).
- iCal's default icon is July 17th - it only changes when it's open!
Keyboard Navigation & Shortcuts
Since this article is for PC users, I'm going to keep this simple and refer to the keys in PC talk rather than Mac.
apple + tab: cycle open programs - not open windows.
apple + ` (backtick): cycle open windows within a program.
apple + shift + 3: capture the screen to a file (saved to the desktop).
apple + shift + 4: capture a selected area of the screen.
apple + down in Finder: open the selected file or folder.
apple + up in Finder: go to the parent folder.
alt + left (or right): move the cursor left or right one word at a time (add shift to select).
up and down, or apple + left and apple + right in a text field: put the cursor at the start or end of a field respectively, i.e. equivalent to the home and end PC keys.
space and shift + space in Safari or Mail (and others): page up or down respectively.
Drag & Drop
Drag and copy
By default dragging and dropping a file moves the file.
To drag and copy a file, hold the alt key down.
To create a shortcut to the file, hold down apple + alt keys.
This is so useful. I've had my Mac only 1 week and have been jotting down keyboard shortcuts like crazy as I find them. Am disappointed that a list of all keyboard shortcuts doesn't come as a (printable) file with OS X. At least I couldn't find it anywhere using Finder or Spotlight. Thanks.
I have discovered that many of the Windows shortcuts are similar except that you use the 'Apple' key instead of the Windows Ctrl, for example apple+x cuts and apple+v pastes. Same goes for S, Z, C, N and possibly some others. Apple+Q quits the active application.
@Inish - Apple shortcuts, that link may help you. It's also worth having a root around in the system preferences under the keyboard section. It holds a few more hints as to what keyboard shortcuts are in there.