Switchers Guide: Getting used to OS X

Macworld - Though neither Microsoft nor Apple would care to admit it, Windows and OS X are in many ways strikingly similar. That's good news for switchers: If you're familiar with Windows, adjusting to OS X is less like learning how to drive than figuring out the controls in a new car. Windows XP is Mac-like in many ways; Windows Vista is even more so; and Windows 7 is the most Mac-esque version to date.

Some features in the two operating systems, such as Windows Vista's search and OS X's Spotlight, are practically identical. Keyboard commands you know from Windows tend to work in OS X, too, as long you hold down the Command key instead of Ctrl. Even Alt-Tab app-switching is nearly identical, except that you use Command-Tab instead.

What's different As familiar as OS X may feel in many ways, a few fundamental differences can trip up anyone accustomed to Windows.

For instance, in Windows, menus are attached to application windows. But in OS X, there's a permanent Menu Bar affixed to the top of the screen. Specific items on that Menu Bar may change, depending on the app you're using. But many of its elements (particularly those on the right side) stay the same no matter the app.

The left-side menu with the little Apple logo stays the same no matter which app you're using. It contains some essential system-management features, including Software Update (a less intrusive counterpart to Windows Update) and the Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down options that Microsoft puts in Windows' Start menu. It's also where you'll find System Preferences, OS X's equivalent to Windows' Control Panel.

The buttons in the upper-left corner of each window are also different. If you click the red circle (which would seem to be the same as clicking the X in the upper right-hand corner of a Windows window), you'll close that window, but leave the application open. To shut down an entire app in OS X, you have to press Command-Q, or select Quit from the menu named after the app you're using. (If, for example, you're using Microsoft Word, you'd select Word -> Quit.) If you forget that the red circle only closes individual windows and not the application itself, you may belatedly discover that your Mac's memory is bogged down by programs you thought you'd closed.

As in Windows, OS X's yellow button minimizes the window. But by default, minimized windows are tucked into the right-hand side of the Dock where they're easy to miss. To minimize them into their icons on the left side, go to the Dock's settings in System Preferences and select Minimize Windows Into Application Icon.