You are frustrated because you are used to the keyboard shortcuts that Windows uses and on macOS they are different. This would also have been the case if you were familiar with macOS shortcuts and moved to Windows.
MacOS has retained its core key bindings since its launch in 1984, i.e. 41 years ago. Microsoft didn't settle on their core set of key bindings until Windows 3.0, which was released in 1990. Not having Apple's 'command' key Microsoft substituted the 'control' key to enable cut/copy/paste. Linux followed suit.
What I miss while using Windows:
- Command+N: New Window. This is up to the application to implement this functionality in Windows. Some do, many don't.
- Command+W: Close Window. Ditto for New Window.
- Command+Q: Quit application. Windows doesn't really have a notion of quitting an application. If you close all the application's windows, then the application is quit. Sometimes I want to keep an application open even though it currently has no open windows, and other times I want to close an application with one command and not cycle through and close every window.
- Command+backtick: Cycle through Windows of application.
- Spotlight: Would be really nice to have in Windows. There's a PowerToy providing similar functionality, but my employer doesn't allow for the installation of PowerToys.
- Gestures: PC trackpads just don't work as well as Macs (subjective). In my Windows setup I use a mouse and disable the trackpad because of so many ghost inputs while typing. I would never use a mouse with my MacBook, the trackpad and gestures are simply too good.
Overall, I much prefer using MacOS over Windows. Whether it's easier to use is subjective, but I find it to be much more productive.
MacOS hasn't evolved. It sticks with old paradigms because it's stuck in its ways.
With keyboards, that includes mappings that give RSI and finger strain for the sake of not adding a handful of keys.
For the window manager, that includes non-windowed applications, from a UI perspective never moving on from single application views - just giving an illusion of multiple apps.
Despite the strides NextSTEP brought Apple as an OS, some of which shows through at the command line, the UI and UX just hasn't moved on.
I've never found macOS easy to use, personally. I think that what's "easy to use" or not has as much to do with what UI paradigm you're used to as anything else.
Bless your spring heart: you have found something that doesn't work like Windows. That has worked the same way since the UI was made available to the public.
Why is Mac so crazy and inconsistent?! Was it developed by morons, imbeciles or idiots?
Why can't it be clear and easy to use? Like Linux!
Take Ubuntu: It's always CTRL-C to copy to clipboard.
Except in Terminal, where it's CTRL-SHIFT-C.
But please don't misunderstand me, I'm not judging others' abilities to adapt to trivial differences. Many of us in tech struggle with severe cognitive deficits. Besides, we're pros!
So here's a couple of tips:
Tip 1 - Use a mnemonic. Imagine your memories as a large castle with many rooms. After coming through the Linux foyer and through the Ubuntu hall, when you get to the Terminal room, think "I've got to SHIFT my thinking to use copy".
If that doesn't help, try admonishing yourself in the third person: "Buddy, it's SHIFT-ctrl-c. Do you wanna copy or not?!"
Back to Mac and why it's so shitty being trapped in its maze-like garden of walls... who can live like this?
MacOS is not easy to use. I don't know why people keep echoing the sentiment, it's opinionated in ways that make little sense and refuses to copy Windows' few features that are actually good. And whenever I find a legitimate OS issue, people say I should either spend $15/year on an app that works around the issue or wait for a MacOS update to fix it. It's a user experience that looks like a parody compared to Windows or even Linux.
I have to assume Apple just doesn't care about the Mac anymore. New Macs run the iPhone chips with mobile-tier UI padding, smartphone-grade driver support and the iPhone's design language.
You are frustrated because you are used to the keyboard shortcuts that Windows uses and on macOS they are different. This would also have been the case if you were familiar with macOS shortcuts and moved to Windows.
MacOS has retained its core key bindings since its launch in 1984, i.e. 41 years ago. Microsoft didn't settle on their core set of key bindings until Windows 3.0, which was released in 1990. Not having Apple's 'command' key Microsoft substituted the 'control' key to enable cut/copy/paste. Linux followed suit.
What I miss while using Windows:
- Command+N: New Window. This is up to the application to implement this functionality in Windows. Some do, many don't.
- Command+W: Close Window. Ditto for New Window.
- Command+Q: Quit application. Windows doesn't really have a notion of quitting an application. If you close all the application's windows, then the application is quit. Sometimes I want to keep an application open even though it currently has no open windows, and other times I want to close an application with one command and not cycle through and close every window.
- Command+backtick: Cycle through Windows of application.
- Spotlight: Would be really nice to have in Windows. There's a PowerToy providing similar functionality, but my employer doesn't allow for the installation of PowerToys.
- Gestures: PC trackpads just don't work as well as Macs (subjective). In my Windows setup I use a mouse and disable the trackpad because of so many ghost inputs while typing. I would never use a mouse with my MacBook, the trackpad and gestures are simply too good.
Overall, I much prefer using MacOS over Windows. Whether it's easier to use is subjective, but I find it to be much more productive.
MacOS hasn't evolved. It sticks with old paradigms because it's stuck in its ways.
With keyboards, that includes mappings that give RSI and finger strain for the sake of not adding a handful of keys.
For the window manager, that includes non-windowed applications, from a UI perspective never moving on from single application views - just giving an illusion of multiple apps.
Despite the strides NextSTEP brought Apple as an OS, some of which shows through at the command line, the UI and UX just hasn't moved on.
Change the modifier keys so alt/shift/control/caps/lock/cmd etc can all be changed:
Settings->Keyboard->Keyboard Shortcuts (it's a button)->Modifier Keys (it's a list on the left)
The Settings app sucks.
I've never found macOS easy to use, personally. I think that what's "easy to use" or not has as much to do with what UI paradigm you're used to as anything else.
Bless your spring heart: you have found something that doesn't work like Windows. That has worked the same way since the UI was made available to the public.
Fellow IT nerds!
Why is Mac so crazy and inconsistent?! Was it developed by morons, imbeciles or idiots?
Why can't it be clear and easy to use? Like Linux!
Take Ubuntu: It's always CTRL-C to copy to clipboard.
Except in Terminal, where it's CTRL-SHIFT-C.
But please don't misunderstand me, I'm not judging others' abilities to adapt to trivial differences. Many of us in tech struggle with severe cognitive deficits. Besides, we're pros!
So here's a couple of tips:
Tip 1 - Use a mnemonic. Imagine your memories as a large castle with many rooms. After coming through the Linux foyer and through the Ubuntu hall, when you get to the Terminal room, think "I've got to SHIFT my thinking to use copy".
If that doesn't help, try admonishing yourself in the third person: "Buddy, it's SHIFT-ctrl-c. Do you wanna copy or not?!"
Back to Mac and why it's so shitty being trapped in its maze-like garden of walls... who can live like this?
MacOS is not easy to use. I don't know why people keep echoing the sentiment, it's opinionated in ways that make little sense and refuses to copy Windows' few features that are actually good. And whenever I find a legitimate OS issue, people say I should either spend $15/year on an app that works around the issue or wait for a MacOS update to fix it. It's a user experience that looks like a parody compared to Windows or even Linux.
I have to assume Apple just doesn't care about the Mac anymore. New Macs run the iPhone chips with mobile-tier UI padding, smartphone-grade driver support and the iPhone's design language.
If you can't move one key over, you're a baby duck.
Also, fwiw, Mac had those keyboard shortcuts first and it was Windows who changed them.
Maybe because all you do is stare at a screen all day. I'm pretty sure I'd hate every OS if my life consisted of nothing but a screen and a keyboard.
Tune in. Turn on. Drop out. You'll soon realize your life to this point, has been a pointless waste.