Originally Posted by pgalore
I hate to say it, but it has been a frustrating experience for me to use the apple powerbook after using windows, and I think I'm going to have to send it back.
How long have you been using the Powerbook? Have you read any books for switchers, or books/tutorials going over OS X and how to navigate it? There are ways to use/set up OS X that will not result in most of the issues you've brought up. It just takes a little time to become familiar with them and to learn the best ways to navigate the GUI.
1) Not all of the websites that I have to go to for my work will accept safari (even hidden as something else with the debug menu changed). So I end up having to use several different browsers, instead of just one (yes, I've tried them all, and not one will work consistently accross the board)
I get by with Safari about 97% of the time and Exploder the other 3%. Personally, I don't find it difficult to use two browsers at one time when needed. Since both can be open at the same time, it has very little impact on my workflow. It sounds like you have the advantage of knowing which browser you need to use to access the site you're going to (most have to try in one browser and then try in the other, but since these are sites you go to regularly, that's one step fewer for you). If both browsers are open, it adds one additional keystroke to switch to the other browser. You'd probably need to do this anyway if you were using another application before accessing the web site.
2) It seems to be impossible to open a window and size it exactly to the screen size on opening, as you can with windows. You have to resize it/move it around, etc. Who has the time for that, and why I ask you would Apple build computers with large screens if the windows only open to half the screen size??
Have you made use of the "Zoom" command? That will, in one stroke, set a window to whatever size it was last. That said, the fact that you can resize the windows like you can, and that they don't by default take up the entire screen is because the gui is designed to be more conducive to multitasking. The idea is that you can have several applications, several windows open at one time. Windows users are more used to looking at one window at a time. That's why, by default, each window occupies the entire screen. The Mac OS gui was designed to work more like the desktop, with several layers of documents that you can switch between, maybe with another document off to the side that one refers to while working, iTunes minimized in the corner, etc.
I typically have my iChat buddies on one side of my screen, 6 SAP windows cascaded across my main work area, an Excel spreadsheet below them, iTunes in the corner, a Real Audio stream of This American Life going above iTunes when iTunes isn't playing, mail either stashed in the dock or at the bottom of the screen, and other, less frequently used applications stashed in the dock. Works great for me. I switch between them all using Exposé if they're hiding under too many windows.
3) The "finder" window is the only thing similar to windows explorer, and isn't half as easy to use. Another thing, once you change settings in the finder window (ie: move things around so you can see the whole name of a file), it "forgets" them, and doesn't save the next time you open it.
There's no solution to this one yet, but the next version of OS X is coming out in January, and it may address it. If it doesn't there may be a third party app that does.
Since my productivity depends on the computer I use, I am going to have to send this one back. I am really disappointed that it isn't as easy to use/user friendly as I was led to believe.
When changing platforms, it's inevitable that one's productivity will be affected for a while. Eventually, the things one can do faster on the new platform will equal or surpass the things that may take longer.
It's all pretty subjective though. Everyone's going to have a different solution that works best for them. Maybe you've given it time, looked at the books, tutorials, etc, and it's still not for you. That's cool. But if you haven't and are willing to try out a few things you haven't yet, there are some resources out there.