PC Fanboy Uses MacOS For 3 Weeks 

Photographers: everything is currently for sale in our store; www.Fstoppers.com/store

Windows user using macOS: WTF is this? macOS user using Windows: WTF is this?

What's funny is expecting Premiere to be crash free in any operating system.

It is unbelievable how calm he talks about these things. I would explode.

Stumbled on this series. You did a great job holding back your bias. Almost every single thing you said is spot on about problems with Mac.

I agree with almost everything you said. However, when it comes to Adobe performance, as a designer I can tell Adobe makes the worst softwares in terms of size and optimisation so I wouldn't just blame the computer. Love this series though!

2:20 - Drag and drop onto windows brought up by hovering over Dock icons: The secret is to wait until the blue highlight around the entire Premiere window disappears, then drop the item. If there were two Premiere windows it would be much more obvious what is happening. It’s subtle when there is only one window, but if you continue hovering for a couple more seconds over the Premiere window you should see it expand slightly larger and it will no longer have a blue border around the entire window. In other words you’re dropping the file at the stage when the Finder is asking you which window to bring into focus as the drop target. It literally just takes about two additional seconds of hovering. I know, it’s confusing because there is only one window so the choice should be obvious. But the drop simply won’t work until you let it “select” the window.

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! I went through similar and a bunch of other issues with my M1 McBook Air... In the end I came to the same conclusion as you. I work on a Windows PC and when I travel I use a Mac. Fortunately or unfortunately, I don't travel often. Thank you for this video :)

I daily drive macOS and love it. That said, I really appreciate you pointing out the problems you personally found. In particular, the issues with multiple monitors drives be bat-poop crazy. REALLY frustrating not being able to interact with an application on another monitor without first focusing something on that monitor. Hopefully, the truly fair public critiques will help make someone at Apple take notice. Thank you sir!

For the issue with dragging and dropping into Premier: I noticed the first time that the Premier window was still highlighted (had a blue halo). This means you’re in window selection mode. Wait a little longer and it will “settle” and the halo will go away. Then you’ll be able to drop it. You can also command-tab to Premier while you have files grabbed with a mouse cursor and just drop them in. Not seeing these in the first couple dozen comments, so hoping it they get through and are helpful.

I think the struggle you have with MacOS is that most Windows users go into it the with the same preconceptions that all design elements or methods for completing tasks that you use in Windows is universal for all GUI OSes. You would face the same issues going into KDE or Gnome (in the case of Linux). Each GUI has different rules and features that influence the workflow. Sometimes I feel Windows users have the preconception that the Windows approach is the "standard" but in fact all operating systems approach user interactions differently and have their own hang ups. I generally approach any new operating system with the goal of learning how it works not how it mimics another OS.

A bit late with the conversation but as a dev who regularly switches between Mac and PC. I practiced using gestures on touchpad. I also set up hot corners. It made my life easier. FYI, those 3rd party apps that make your MacBook feel like Windows desktop chugs too much resources which will eventually beat up your device. These apps only prey on us, users that transitioned from PC. Either deal with what Apple gave you (and practice) or just go back to PC.

I know this is an older video but, this reminds me of my transition to MacOS from windows. I am a power user and had used windows exclusively for a good 15 years, then work switched to Macs. I was a mess for about 6 month plus, I couldn't figure out how to do things I did everyday, and I was always finding a way to make my Mac look and work like windows. Eventually, I started to understand and become a Mac power user, when I stopped trying to do things the windows way. Now I am in the opposite camp, I sit at a windows machine trying to swipe my fingers in all directions trying to move windows around or flip screens or even just delete emails and get frustrated at the lack of what I would call quality of life gestures. If I had any advice it would try to go all in and not half way, the issues your having in each of these videos is pretty much just trying to do windows things on a Mac and not learning the Mac thing to do. I will say there is one thing I never let go of in my transition and that was the scroll direction of a mouse, I still just toggle that "natural" setting off. Keep it up, I enjoyed this little series.

About the "virtual desktops" you said it doesn't make sense when you have multiple real monitors... but Lee, when you have mutliple monitors, mission control doesn't bring all windows to one monitor making all thumbnails all super small like you said. It does that thumbnail thing to each individual monitor and with the windows that are in each corresponding monitor only. Unless, I'm not understanding what you're complaining about regarding mission control and multiple monitors. I agree that there are some things that Windows does much better and vice versa. I am not a fanboy and there are advantages to both. I own Mac laptops and custom builtmy own PC. I have a windows based storage server. but it seems like you're frustrating yourself by trying to make Mac OS look and behave 100% like Windows does.

This confirmed what we knew: don’t try to make macOS be Windows, and Adobe Premiere is still the worst editing software lol

I've been a Mac user for years but I also kept using a desktop Windows computer alongside my macbook pro. When I first bought a Mac I was amazed how much better than Windows was (at the time there was Windows Xp or Vista version which I hated so much). But time has passed and I think Mac OS progressed very little if not at all, while Windows improved dramatically. Now I still use a Mac because I love the overall experience, but Windows is way better in usability now.

It's been interesting watching a windows user go through Mac, and I'm just want to say sometimes like you're trying to get Mac to do windows things that just don't make sense. Still great to see how differently people use each OS and even differently within a particular OS. At 11:56 when you are trying to send the timeline to export it didn't work because you didn't have the timeline selected in Premiere. This is not a window issue with Mac but just how Premiere works to tell it that you want to export a timeline. You can see in the video the Effect Controls panel is selected when you try to do the export and is indicated by the blue box around that panel. Switching between applications: Hold Command + Tab to switch between applications. Switching between windows in a an application: Hold Command + Tilde to switch between windows in same app. Switch between tabs in window: Hold Control + Tab. If you really want to use the dock to see what windows are open: Click and hold on app icon / Show All Windows. This will only show the windows of that application and show them on the respective screen that you have them on.

I"m not sure this is the right approach: learning a new OS trying to make it fit the way your old OS works. I understand the desire to move to a new OS without too much trouble (trying to do everything the same way) however in trying to do so you may miss out on some cool features. I liked your review in general because that is what is a natural impulse when moving to a new OS. thanks for sharing

This is an excellent series. But it seems really clear - you should stick with Windows. First, because you don’t edit with Resolve or Final Cut. Second, because you don’t like MacOS. It seems like you’re encountering the same thing as people who try to make iPad their only computer - they try to recreate the experience they’re accustomed to on the new device/software. But if you’re open to switch, the idea is to do things differently, not imitate the old way in the new system.

I was a Windows guy who switched to Mac, despite hating the transition persisted for 6 years. Then my MacBook Pro died and I switched back to a vanilla Lenovo Windows. Man, it feels SO good.

I haven't ever used Macs for a large enough time to face these problems, but some of these problems you mention are major head scratchers. A lot of these issues you point out are really valid and Apple should consider taking your feedback.

1. Mac is not a windows replacement. It does things differently. Get with it, or get out of it. 2. With all the add-on’s that you’ve installed, it makes sense it’s crashing all the time. I’ve used both, and I don’t see mine crash nearly as much.

I randomly stumbled on your video. I kind of enjoyed seeing this perspective again. I was actually like you. I was a huge Windows/PC fanboy for most of my early young adult life. One day I found myself buying a Macbook off of someone because it was a really good deal and I planned on flipping it. After I took it home, I figured I'd mess with it and explore what was to me at the time, the "Unknown". I was mainly a Mac hater because it wouldn't play my games, and I watched a lot of youtube that was very much anti Apple. But after getting to use the Macbook and getting to know it better.... I kind of liked it. It was different sure. And there was a lot to learn. But I really liked the machine. It did a lot of things well. After I sold it I realized I wanted another one. Possibly to keep. After a few Macbook/Macbook Pro flips I ended up with a 27in iMac as my work computer. Fast forward 10 years, I still have that same 2011 iMac 27in. It still works great. But I still have my monster gaming PC at home. After 12 years of running both Windows and MacOS machine and using them daily I have to say... I like them both for various reasons. I should note though that I do think you're going about this the wrong way. You're trying to do things a specific way that Windows does them, and then getting a bit upset when MacOS does them a different way. This is similar to owning a Ford Fusion for many years, then getting upset that the new BMW 5 series sedan you're driving has the A/C buttons in a different location than in the Fusion. You just need to take the time to figure out the quirks instead of relying on muscle memory. Anyway, this video just kind of brought me back to when I went through this for the first time. It's good content!

After the last few years of being on a Mac I still have those frustrations. When I first started on Mac I would dual boot into Windows using Bootcamp and then I used Parallels but those ended up being more of a pain so I have been Mac only. I did install Ubar after watching your last video and in spite of its short cummings it has been welcome change to the Mac dock that I have always hated. If it causes issues in the future I may have to go back but for now I am happier with it. As an app dev I am forced to use Mac for developing iOs apps.

This was a great video. I've used Windows since the 3.1 days although I primarily use Ubuntu and other Linux distros now. I did just break down and pick up an M1 Macbook Air the other day and I spent all of today trying to establish a good workflow with it, so I feel your pain. Well, some of your pain. I'm a coder, not a creator, so the software I use is much less demanding. I'm also something of a minimalist when it comes to open applications so I never really have trouble finding where I left things. I also use a single ultrawide monitor rather than multiple monitors, so I can echo back that it's a better workflow for macOS (and Ubuntu, for that matter). I'm also used to using a dock and don't have a problem with it. Ultimately, I agree with your assessment of Macs. Hardware-wise, since the advent of the M1, they are 2-3 years ahead of the competition. OS-wise, they are 2-3 years behind. macOS is the clunkiest of the three major operating systems and it's been that way for a while now. Magnet is a great example. Sure, it works for window management, but that should absolutely be built into macOS. Ubuntu is a free operating system and they figured it out. Apple has no valid excuse for failing in that regard. There is a lot I like about the Air. Once I had it set up and working well I could really sit back and enjoy the superior hardware quality and the ridiculous amount of power those machines pack for their pricepoint. They compare well against laptops twice their price and all without even having a fan. That's amazing. I'll close by saying I get really jealous of all you RU-vidrs having an excuse to buy a ton of different computers. I have no such excuse and it hurts me.

There is definitely something true in your point of view. What I think is you're approch is wrong. Like when you learn another language you don't just translate word by word from your native language to the other but you need to change drastically your way of thinking and the structure of the sentence to have something that sounds "natural" and not google translate. My point is that, to get the best out of Mac OS you have to forget the way you are use to do things and learn the new ways. Making Mac os acting like windows will not work. Most of the things you are complaining are based on your habits with windows and the way you are used to work with that. My best advice would be embrace the Mac os system if you want to stick with it and change your habits, or just stick with Windows OS. P.S try keep pressing "command" and then press "TAB" multile times to swap between application windows. It's the easier way for me. You don't need to touch the mouse and the most recent app used are always the first.

Lee.. like you I’m a long term windows “power” user. My ex (a high level programmer with IBM, is a Mac fan, despite (because of) her work predominantly on windows machines. Sharing this background so the following comes to you with perspective…. My ex got me working on Mac back in 2009. Like you I hated it for all the reasons you’ve note. HOWEVER…. slowly, over time I began gravitating to Mac for certain activities (I have an iMac on my desk, opposite my multi-monitor PC set up). Put simply, windows is as flaky with multi-monitor dongle set up (I run 4 connected direct to graphics card, plus 2 by USB to HDMI dongles). Anyway… here’s my take-away… as I’ve become used to the Mac was of doing things I now see tons of things I hate in Windows. Basically the strengths of one system make the flaws of the other insanely apparent, so much so that I now kinda hate both. And I now treat my computer systems like my camera systems (I use Canon for event, Fuji for lifestyle and Sony for video). Use Mac more and focus on its strengths and I think you’ll come to similar confusions. Whether you want to introduce that complexity at the cost of your leaning curve is, we’ll, up to you. For me the choice is Mac for personal and creative; windows for work and finance. Hope this helps you.

Thank you so much for making these videos. I am so close to giving the Mac a try. Yet, I know it will drive me crazy. And you have just saved me from this madness!!

Super helpful video as I'm in the process of switching from Windows to using Mac Os for the first time in my life. Thank you!

You need to go to mission control and uncheck displays have separate spaces. This eliminates the need to click the display before interacting with the window on that display in most cases. And great videos. Exactly my experience when switching to Mac after years of using and building PCs. I don’t regret the switch when I try to go back to windows.

Pye is right: Windows as a desktop, Mac as a portable. You get the best from both worlds.

Very good unbiased review! Was really fun to watch. Keep up the good work 👌🏻

This video sums up why i went back to Windows after having a macbook for 2 years.

Lee : "it's enfuriating! Makes me mad! How do people not complain about these features? It's a mess" also Lee : "so I've decided to keep this MacBook..." 😂😂

Thanks a lot for this series! Everyone else is talking about the battery, the screen, the price and other generic features aside performance which can easily be read from the product specification. But these kind of real-world usage scenarios and comparison which you have covered are rarely talked about. Such information is invaluable for making informed decisions on getting new tech or switching ecosystems. Well done on keeping your opinions objective and explaining the rationale. Thank you for going through with this and sharing your experiences!

Have to agree with most of this content. I’ve been using macs since the first ever made. Back when I used a g3 power Mac and G4, Mac OS upto 10 was super easy moving files around and felt intuitive and every time they updated the Mac OS it just got worse in navigating for files. Yes things have massively improved in reliability but it’s the file management that is important to most users as that’s the biggest head ache you don’t want. Dongles are a real pain especially for myself being a photographer so good they have brought back the micro sd slot back. But there are two sides to every coin and pcs do things I hate to and I find them more complicated in a lot of ways. I think apple should listen to your videos as even as a Mac user we have the same issues too I just wish they would listen and change those simple things that you love on your pc and be able to do that to on a Mac. I guess it’s the same with all tech there’s never a perfect one as one tv may have better features where as another has better quality screen or build quality. It drives me insane reading reviews and choosing tech because there’s always a downside and upside and rarely one piece of tech to rule them all and it being an easy choice when buying something. The biggest thing I loved with older OS was the ability to colour code files which highlighted the whole strip of a file, which you still can do but it’s just a little dot which dosnt feel the same to me.

@Fstoppers Not sure if you got this answer already but as it relates to revealing multiple windows in a single application, you’d need to use the app exposé and as long as it is turned on in the trackpad settings, the shortcut can be either a 3 or 4-finger swipe down. And I’m not sure if I missed it but which configuration of the M1 Pro MacBook Pro are you using?

I’m enjoying this experiment. As a Mac user for about ten years I both love and hate the MacBook at the same time. You’re absolutely right when it comes to Adobe Premiere, in fact, it’s not just with Premiere, it’s with almost all of the Adobe lineup. I’ve come to the conclusion that Adobe is stuck in its old ways, and when presented with hardware that could help to make their software the best in class, they just fall short. Every. Single. Time. How can Apple’s Final Cut run so well when Adobe’s platform can’t? Adobe, in my opinion, just doesn’t have what it takes to write good code. I’ve experienced the same crashes as you. The whole system software grinds to a halt. It’s very, very rare that the system does this on its own, as it only seems to happen when I have Premiere or Lightroom open. They simply suck. Anyway, it’s come as no surprise to me that you’re experiencing poor performance with Premiere. They should be embarrassed to put out bad software time and time again. Please don’t confuse my views as defending the MacBook, I get as equally frustrated with some things but at the same time I love it for other reasons. Adobe is just the worst.

After 20+ years as a Windows user (I started with Win3.1), it took me three months to really get to like macOS. Now I love it and only use Windows for gaming.

I really enjoyed this video comparison. I am a long time user of both Windows and Mac. The struggle is real. I constantly jump back and forth due to one OS being better at something then the other. The ecosystem is a big factor. I was issued an iPhone for work. I bought an iPad for work and certain apps that are only available for iOS. Keep the vids coming.

** I just realized this video is over 6 months old. I hope by now you've figured all of this out, but in case there's anyone new reading this, let me try and help you. 1. You've been using a PC for decades so you're used to it. Now, you're leaning an entirely new operating system and you expect to be proficient at it in a few weeks. Give yourself a break and be patient. You not only have to learn a new operating system, you have to *unlearn* the old one. It takes time. 2. Most of the issues you're having can be solved with simply learning how the operating system works. Those videos your grandma watches are the same videos you'd watch if you were learning on a PC for the first time. For example, the cut & paste issue you're having was solved by learning what the shortcut is. The reason you can't cut and paste something like you can on Windows is so you don't move a file accidentally. The same goes for your multiple monitor issue. Did you know you can set up different desktops *for each monitor* you have? I *highly* suggest going onto the Apple website and simply read the full keyboard shortcut list. It will be eye opening. Conclusion: Switching from a PC to a Mac isn't like going from a convertible to a Jeep, it's like going from a car to a boat. You just need to learn the controls. Be patient; know that you're learning something new. I wish you all good things.

I used a Mac for most of my life, but switched to Windows a while ago. Part of the reason was that for work I use a lot of programs that are only available on Windows, so I was having to run Windows anyway. The other reason was that it seemed like Apple stopped making any real updates to Mac OS. I can't remember the last time they have shown off a new version that had a feature I thought was useful. They sure do spend a lot of time reskinning it though! I really hope that Apple will have their Mac team sit down and go over the usability and productivity portions of Mac OS seriously. The dock came out over a decade ago and they haven't made any substantial updates to it since! It is hard to believe that no one at Apple has realized how antiquated it is.

This series is exactly how macOS users feel when trying to use Windows

The multiple monitor problem with MacOS is why I switched to one 32” curved. All your points are spot on. If there was the same market for making Mac apps like there is for iOS, I think these problems would be resolved rather quickly

That Mission Control issue you brought up about getting lost in a sea of indecipherable window previews might be ameliorated somewhat in macOS Ventura's headline feature, Stage Manager, which seems to do a better job of focussing in on a certain app or desktop grouping, while casting others off neatly to a little index on the side.

I use windows at work but Mac at home. I don’t find it hard bouncing back and forth between the two. My mind just separates the peculiarities of each OS. A lot of premier users now use Divinci resolve. That may be something to consider.

I made the switch a few years ago, and I too had many of the same frustrations. The key was just to keep at it, and forget what I knew either Windows. Eventually I found myself used to macOS. By adding all of the miscellaneous utilities to make it look like Windows, you really make the experience worse.

2:16 Right there, it looks like you didn’t wait long enough for the premiere window to be actually active, you let go of the files while it was still in mission control. Using Command tab would help with this a lot, so you can switch to other apps really quick. Like alt tab in windows. Or, just keep your finder window a little smaller, it really doesn’t need to be that big

Hi, there. Congrats on trying this. I used windows and built my PCs for many years, until I switched to Macs completely starting 2012. I love the hardware and love the software, but Mac Os used without third party softwares to improve it, it can be quite frustrating. The multiple display features is still a nightmare and the finder is just a mess. But still, even with that, I can't go back to windows without feeling sick. To improve my mac experience, I use Pathfinder to replace finder. It save me so much time with queue copy. And by the way, cut-paste file can be done more easily (even on finder), just drag & drop and move the file to where you want to put it. If you drop your file to another hard-drive, it will copy. If you drop it on the same disk, it will move it. If you want to move (cut/paste) your file for sure, just drag & drop the file wherever you want and holding alt key before. Another third party i'm using is Hyperdock, in order to see different windows of the same app. Hope it can help. Mac Os is to me clearly the best computer OS (I'm industrial designer), but still, it's far from perfect (multiple displays is a mess, for example and you should always wait 1 or 2 versions of Mac Os, rather than directly jump to the last version, or suffer many annoying bugs). But still, to my experience, Mac Os goes far & beyond windows UX and UI. At least, so far. Your version of Mac Os might be the last one available when you did the video, so you got tons of bugs. That is so annoying, reason why I never jump to the last version.

2:10 When dragging files to an app you don't need to do the extra step of dragging to the window after dragging to the dock. Just drag to the dock and let go, done (power tip: you can also drag to icons while holding down command-tab). The application is supposed to know what to do with that file and open it or add it to its library, whatever. Not all programs do this correctly and Adobe products are notorious for getting this wrong. But dragging video files to the dock icon of Premiere and letting go should do it. Power tip 2: If that doesn't work you can "force open" by holding down command-option just before you let go of the mouse button hovering over the icon. That'll force the app to try to open the file even if it thinks it doesn't recognize the file type. Sometimes this results in an error if the program really can't open the filetype or can't figure out the file type.

I've been a windows user all my life, and I had to move to macOS due to my new job.... Afer a year, this guy has the exact words that I've been looking for to describe my transition exprience... Yes. Macs are awesome... But my real personal laptop, will still being a windows machine.

Fair assessment. I've not experienced some of the lockup issues with my Macbook Air and iMac. Hopefully, that is just a software update. I've been a Mac user for quite a while and had been a Windows user (FanBoy) prior to that (my last name is Gates!). Working around some of the quirks is just something I've become used to. I hope your (and all of our) experiences get better with both OSs. I think it shouldn't be one is better than another but just a preference. Power on bro.

I have had some similar experiences to yours. I used the M1 MacBook Air for half a year and switched back to the Surface Laptop 3. The trackpad of Surface Laptop 3 is great too. Gestures on the trackpad can also work efficiently. In my opinion, Surface Laptop 3 does a better job in daily office work, for example, managing files.

System Preferences, Notifications, choose "Banners", "None", or disable "Allow Notifications" all together control/right click app on Dock, Options, "Assign To...", app will always open in that Desktop/Space never Dock for app switching, CMD+TAB System Preferences, Mission Control, disable "Automatically rearrange Spaces" System Preferences, Keyboard, Shortcuts, Mission Control, assign or use shortcut for "Application windows", or in Mouse/Trackpad preferences assign a shortcut to App Exposé (Exposé is like a Mission Control for windows of the foreground application) CMD+~, switch between windows of the foreground app CTL+TAB, switch between tabs of the foreground app useful when app windows are in different Desktops/Spaces

drag & drop is actually possible. You just have to wait a second for the target window to become active. It's a bit annoying

I don't know if you had tried this or if anyone else has already said this but longclicking the icon with your mouse or double tapping/right clicking (Depending on how and if you turned on right clicking), you can see the different instances from the dock natively inside that menu and if you don't know what is inside each instance (if you cannot judge by its title) then you can click on the view all in the bottom section of the menu that pops up with the hold click or right click.

Thanks for both videos. I am a heavy Windows for work and was on the fence on whether to get the new M1 vs the Surface 8 I7. After seeing your video, I am going with the Surface and a curved monitor. PR

I love that you're having same issues as me. this is great and thank you for researching for me or giving me places to look. i am an Apple fan boy but my work software has kept me in Boot Camp up until now. MacOS is painful but hoping it will get easier. Really waiting on Autodesk to sort out a mac copy of Revit and my work life would be close to perfect.

Loved your input and feedback. It’d be awesome to see you try and link up with MKBHD and compare workflows. Also one thing that has helped me use macOS regarding the dock - I get rid of all the app icons in the dock except launchpad and then any icons I see are ones that are open. To open apps I use launchpad and organize the apps how I want them.

For drag and drop files, you need to wait the blue box on the window disappears after hovering your mouse on the window for a second or so, or press space key to immediately select the window

Thank you for your honesty and candid review.

One of the main issues concerning the freezing, is that some apps are still not fully Arm compatible. This is not excusing the Mac, but there is a reason why these are still not perfectly fluid. One thing I have yet to experience on my Mac is a complete desktop lock out or BSOD. Sometimes an app may freeze up, but my Mac is still useable while that app gets its sh1t together in the background. In the last year of using my Intel Macbook and the new M1 Max Macbook, I can't remember a single time when I had to hold the power button to reset it, while both my Windows laptop and desktop have had to be force reset at least a dozen times. You mileage may vary, but I have been satisfied with how MacOS handles any software glitches.

I hear you loud and clear on the dock issues, particularly when it comes to data transfer. I’ve learned the hard way to just juggle the tb3 ports on my Mac with 1 for the dock/charging and non storage items and one for either my raid 5 backup or my sample libraries. I nuked a 4tb tb3 ssd earlier this year with an expensive tb3 dock and won’t trust it again for daisy chaining storage.

Been watching these waiting on my first macbook. Thanks for these videos

Hey! So my two cents on viewing multiple instances of an application on macOS. The three-finger swipe down while using any application actually brings up a mission control type view of all instances open of that particular application (plus shows the minimised instances in smaller tiles at the bottom as well). Additionally, if you mouse over any icon in the dock and do a three-finger swipe down when your cursor is over an icon, it will again bring up the same kind of mission control type view for that particular application. (I honestly have no idea how this would work with multiple monitors, never tried it). Personally, I've been using Ubuntu for my work primarily. I did get to use macOS for a couple of years recently and actually loved it . Felt like a great middle ground between Ubuntu and Windows, but then again I write code so we are naturally biased towards Unix based operating systems haha.

The absolute worst thing in macOS is the "mistery meat navigation" on the menus, where pressing "option" enables a whole different set of menu entries that you have no idea existed until you press the option button. So every time I have a new software or I need to do something in the finder, I just keep pressing option and releasing it to see what is changing.

Been a Windows user for almost my entire work life, like a decade and a half. I am a tech nerd, computer science, I build my own PCs, I like to do DIY solutions to help my productivity routines on Windows, etc... When I switch to Mac, Like Lee, the beginning was a lot of frustration. But then I realized I was expecting Mac OS to work exactly like Windows. Then the switch became a *transition*, which at least for me lasted almost a month. Of course, there were plus and minuses. I do miss things that I got accustomed with Windows. But the things that I gained with the switch greatly outweigh those bits. I can honestly say I am more productive after the switch to Mac than I was with Windows. I can focus on things that matter more, and less on things that have nothing to do with my routine. Free OS updates? Not bad. All I can say is that the whole experience with the MacOS is an enabler.

I know this would get buried but thank you thank you so much for these videos. You have exactly the same perspective I have on almost every level and I don't consider myself a power Windows user. This is the second time in my life I have been seriously pondering switching OSs and once again I couldn't find a detailed video of all the issues and frustrations I will find with the apple OS, until now. This will greatly help with my choice.

Dragging and dropping into Premiere has never been a problem for me. I’m surprised you’re having trouble. It is also possible to drag a file to the new location, which will totally move it, effectively cutting and pasting.

😂 love your unfiltered reactions to the MacBook 💻.

It is insane how absolutely aligned we are on literally every single thing here.

Very informative I love this video. I'm done watching your other videos regarding this.

Thanks for the review. I going back and forth between a MBpro and XPS 15 2020, as my next notebook. This helped me decide. Stay safe,

I tried to switch from Windows to MacOS for 3 times, your frustration is exactly what I had. Just amazed that other people don't talk about them, until I saw your videos.

editing in adobe premiere: this by itself is a recipe for frustration. Adobe still has not made a decent app for Mac. Many issues I saw was with Adobe. So ... if you , for whatever reason want to stay on Adobe, wait fro Adobe to make a decent application. It is not Mac's fault. The evidence that the difference in your experience comes from the app developer lies with Davinci. Regarding the restart just uncheck the autoupdates install. does Mac has some frustrated things, Sure , no doubt. I blame Apple for not having a thumbnail preview on the dock, or not having a simple indicator for what your copy-paste transfer speed is. And there are others as well. One thing I cannot blame Apple though is Adobe's poor developed apps. You might never be a MacOS guy, and that is fine.

Nice follow up. I commented on your first video, and you were just reliving my life after switching from PC to Mac. I grew up on mainframes, got the first PC where you could chose DOS or CPM, and years later, ended up being responsible for supporting thousands of PC desktop and laptop users, up through Windows 7. I moved to Windows 10, but absent thunderbolt, it was build a new PC with Windows 11, or try an M1 Mac, so yes, I'm a windows guy. Cut and paste was the first crazy issue. Yup. Now I use both a 2020 M1 MacBook (basic) and an M1 Mini with 16/512, and my gaming keyboard with the cherry switches has a backspace key, and yes, there are still things that bug me, from a UI standpoint. I still won't rule out windows, but I forget I'm on a Mac now, and it's kind of like my phone, iPad, and Computer all in one environment, just as Apple planned it. Personally, I think their support is hit and miss, and maybe a bit more miss these days. The SOC performance is mind-blowing, and I'm on the 2020 model, so I beachball once in a while, but I'm on Monterey, and Rosetta gets in the way a bit, but to be able to do DAW recording, stream 4K, surf the web, do email and messages, and never see a strain on the CPU is very unwindows like. There's also a setting somewhere to fix all the stuff I complain about, but I've gotten used to it, and said goodbye to the registry for now.

@fstoppers do you mind if I ask why you decided to use a MacBook laptop instead of a Mac mini or another desktop since a desktop is mainly what you use? Just curious..

Hi Lee. I loved your video, it was balanced and fair. I use both Mac and PC myself and there are definitely things I do on or the other but not both. I also relate completely with what you said being set in your ways and ignoring new features in Windows but after learning about new things in MacOS you want to see if you can do them in Windows now. Am a software developer and whenever a new version of Visual Studio / C# comes out, I ignore the new features and continue doing what I know and have always done. Recently I started getting into Python, and there were so many really cool features I liked I found myself immediately saying "Man, I wish I could do that in C#" and would go searching, and lo and behold would find out it was added in a previous version and I could actually do that in C# as well. One thing that has irritated me the most about the new M1 architecture though as been the fact I can no longer run a Windows VM, which means no more "One laptop to rule them all" when I travel, so I had to buy a Windows PC as well and now travel with both if I have to do Windows related things on the go (like Windows development or Blender). Thanks for the video. It will be interesting watching your progress in this experiment.

As I moved to Mac and macOS, first thing I did: Buy a magazine about what to expect when moving from Windows to macOS. It is a professionally made magazine here in Germany and after reading I never thought about Windows. I’m also a photographer with similar Workflow. Don’t make a Windows Machine out of your Mac! Or stay with Windows, because you seem to have a short fuse…

I don't know if you will read this, as it is an old video, but there is actually a native graphical preview for seeing which window you are clicking on. 1. Go to settings and under trackpad gestures enable app expose. It will be under more gestures 2. Perform this gesture while your mouse is over the icon to see your open windows for just that app. Also under mission control enable grouping by application. Hope this helps!

It’s probably too late but you can swipe down with 3 fingers on the trackpad to reveal all windows from the same app on each screen (or CTRL down arrow). You can see open apps using command tab, and you can hide the dock. If you are using a non apple mouse you can activate hot corners too to invoke certain actions.

In relation to your (software) dock woes, there is an option in the settings to make the dock very small and then magnify when you mouse over the icon. Actually, I dunno if the dock size is in settings also, but there's a black/grey bar on the dock you can use to change its size. As for multiple windows, you can click and hold on, say, Safari's icon and it'll show you a text list all the windows open. Also, Mission Control will give you a title of the window when you mouse over it.

The SD card unplug notification is mainly due to the background indexing / thumbnail creation. Unlike Windows which is usually safe to unplug SD Card at any time, macOS keeps writing and writing and writing new files to your SD Card. If you unplug without ejecting, it will be way easier to corrupt the filesystem

Loved your videos lee abt the review of the mb. And, honestly, i was thinking abt getting a macbook with the (rumored) m2 chip coming out later this year. However, after watching this video, i had a change of heart and will stick with my windows desktop which i got a yr ago. What is a simple software to edit photos and videos on a window machine? dont want capture one or lightroom or adobe premier, since they dont fall in the simple category. Also i dont want a subsctription model software. Thank u so much in advance.

I've been on Mac since around OS Tiger in 2004/2005. Back in the dark ages when both Mac and Windows had some glaring issues (and really, I was coming off an atrocious PC and Windows 98 or XP at that time. Vista?) One thing I love about Macs is the power of the keyboard shortcuts. CMD+Tab and CMD+` (tilde) are obvious if you hate the dock or need to find apps/windows. Opening tabs, windows, closing tabs and windows are also super quick. CMD+Space for spotlight is still great. CMD+Option+Space for popping open a Finder Search window is also great. CMD+L has various functions in apps, including Music and Safari. Safari also has a nice CMD+Shift+L for the side tab. In Finder, you can cycle between the view modes using CMD+1/2/3/4 (icon, list, file tree, carousel). Navigating folders in Finder is also quick with CMD+Up or CMD+Down to enter and exit folders, super handy. Oh, and the Help menus are all searchable, which is great. And, helpfully, many of the shortcuts are displayed in the Toolbar menus, so it isn't too hard to figure out what you need to learn. Oh, and on the smaller laptop keyboard, Fn+Delete is the "erase-forward" command. And when you pair that with the trackpad gestures that are customizable, it's really possible to fly around tabs and windows and spaces and desktops. I've done this on multiple monitors, on a laptop on the go. I'm most comfortable on a desktop with my bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. I don't think Mac is AS usable only with a mouse. Certainly usable, but it'll be basic and slow. Mac doesn't loudly advertise all of these shortcuts as they prefer to market these as "simple to use machines". But these shortcuts have always been there and they're plenty solid and useful for those who want to use them. I think one MAJOR thing that Windows users have to learn on a Mac is how it treats Apps and windows as separate things. In this case, I actually think Minimizing windows can be super confusing and I never do it. Instead, I'd say CMD+H to hide a full app is your friend! Mac is at its best when you can keep things as neat and clean as possible, and they give you many different tools to keep the workspace neat and tidy, which works much better for me than Windows which, at the very least, doesn't discourage clutter, and maybe even enables clutter. I did use Windows 7 quite regularly at work -- pretty dull machines we were issued. Certainly nothing that would please this video's host either. Cheap Dell cubicle machines. Corporate crap. Still, I thought it was fine. Can't beat Excel on a Windows. But I did find myself having to use my mouse quite a bit more because I didn't find the shortcuts to be quite as comprehensive. Instead, right clicking was often the quick way to do things in lieu of a keyboard shortcut (thankfully, the right clicking/two finger clicking in Mac has also gotten much better over the last decade). For the most part, there were many equivalents, especially when typing or navigating around a word processor (e.g. CTRL or OPT or CMD deleting full words or full lines) or getting to the search/address bar in a browser, etc. I think I could get off the ground running in Windows quickly, too. And I'm glad they're working hard to make it better. MSFT really really needs to clean up its Settings/Preferences app -- whenever I have to help an older relative with their machines, I can tell it's cuz that thing still feels built for IT professionals, primarily. And Windows 10 had two different types of OS Preferences views of that app, one new and one legacy, and some things were on one but not the other. Nightmare!

I was using my Mac today and I realized why Windows users tend to minimize windows a lot (something that frankly isn't a great experience on MacOS) and that's because they probably haven't engrained command-h to hide the current app. I do it so automatically that I don't even think about it. CMD-H hides the current app and all its windows, not just the current window. It's vastly superior in almost all cases to minimizing. I use this in place of spaces/virtual desktops. CMD-TAB and CMD-H are my window/application managers.

man, i’ve bought that laptop 3 days ago and your video is like watching myself 2 weeks in the future. that thing that you can’t shift select in thumbnail view is bonkers. I enjoyed the video a lot. Very sensible and unbiased. Keep us updated!

For docks I use Caldigit’s and OWC’s (Thunderbolt 3/4’s) and have had very good results for years. For hubs, I have used Sabrent’s with great results.

FWIW, to switch between instances of an application, swipe down with three fingers (instead of up) or use ctrl + down arrow to show all the open windows for the current application. You can also use CMD + ~ and CMD + shift + ~ to move forward and backward between instances.

Virtual desktop work amazing on windows too, I use them a lot on my pc too. Keeping apps with study and work related stuff on one and any other thing on the other. Keeps you focused, it's a feature I loved in linux but gotta say windows also does it great without any problems or lacking features.

This is such a detailed and well thought-out review and helpful for someone who is planning to make an OS switch. Good job.

May be by now you already know, but just in case, the tackpad can be configured to three-finger drag down to show all the instances existing for a given app (the one being focused at the moment)

Drag and drop fix for Premiere not importing video is either… 1. Once you've started dragging use cmd-Tab to switch to Premiere and then drop 2. Assign mouse buttons to Missions control, so you can grab the file, hit the mouse button to show all app windows, hover to select the Premiere window and then drop. I *think* this will work too, but I haven't specifically tested against Premiere. It definitely works with other Mac apps. The main point is, don't involve the Dock because I think it sucks up the "drop" before it can be passed into Premiere.

As a life long Mac user, I understand the underlying reasons to why things work in a specific way on MacOS. Everything has a reason and it all becomes incredibly intuitive once you know it, since everything works the same way. I've also been trapped into making windows look like MacOS on my school PC, and no, it's not a good idea. Just try to get used to the new way of doing things and you'll be way happier than trying to make Mac work like Windows.

As a former Windows user, I love some of your observations about MacOS quirks and differences. Most of what you are complaining about are non Apple software issues like Adobe and Chrome. I put up with Chrome, but thankfully, I don't have to use Adobe for my work. I think Adobe is sub-standard software at best and have never preferred it. Thankfully, my dev tools, MS Office, Drawing tools all work without issues. I have a Windows laptop for work, which is a whole other ball of wax. Windows 10 has just finally gotten stable, for the most part, and MSFT is EOLing it for Windows 11, which is currently in "piece of junk" mode. Linux is good for certain things, but I have to flow back and forth between Windows and the MacOS and after 30+ years of Windows (v2.01 thru v10+)and 12+ of Mac, I have ended up preferring MacOS.

Learn the difference between mission control and app exposé! I just figured that out and it helped a lot. Shows you all instances of one application

Cześć, wiem że dawno dodawałeś ten film ale też jestem przed zakupem mojego pierwszego Macbooka i używając kiedyś systemu MacOS w pracy przez tydzień odczuwałem takie samo zdenerwowanie jak ty. O wszystkim o czym mówisz ja także miałem te same problemy i dostawałem szału a w szczególności to o czym mówisz w 11:15 Na jakim komputerze pracujesz teraz? Sprzedałeś już Macbooka i korzystasz znów z Windowsa czy przyzwyczaiłeś się do MacOS?

This content is 10/10. As a heavy user of Linux, Windows and MacOS, I can say there are a lot of frustrations on all fronts. I have resigned to a windows desktop for daily home use, Mac laptop for mobile use and Linux homeserver (this is kinda obvious).

Hey! Around the 11:30 min mark, when you were trying to edit in Premier on one screen but going in the menu on the other, did you try using the menu on the screen you're working on? That should work IIRC. Haven't used my macbook pro in about a year now so I might be mistaken but that should've worked whenever I was running multiple desktops of Logic or Protools.

Totally agree with this video. Love windows, even more so after almost a week with MBA M2. Can't even find how to turn the contrast level of the screen down (eye strain and headache).