"The Unofficial Apple Weblog has posted a short story on the top five mistakes made by new Mac users. It includes closing an application window and thinking it has quit, downloading software and then running it from the disk image (runs slowly, can't eject disk image), and Windows .exe files littered around the desktop after they've tried to download software and install it. The comments attached to the article are entertaining, and pick up many other common mistakes. Here's a precise list of things that TUAW and its users said in comments, and a few of my own."
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Member since:2005-07-06
Most of the others are plain retarded and probably made up. i.e. 4. Using Safari’s Google search to get to a website
Nah,my boss does that in Firefox on Windows...
Most of the problems mentioned are just basic newbie problems, the same sorts of people do the same sorts of things on Windows.
The few issues left over are Apple design flaws. If a bunch of users are making the same mistakes then the problem does not reside with the user.
One of the things mentioned in the article was people double clicking on dock items. If I have a shortcut on my desktop that looks exactly like the shortcut in my dock, how am I supposed to know that one requires a double click and the other a single?
Many of the things listed contain the phrase "failing to understand...". Understanding comes with experience, it is not that the user is failing to understand, it is that the OS is failing to convey information.
A lot of what Apple does is non-evident. For instance, I used Safari for 2 months before I found out that if you click and hold the back and/or forward icons that you could choose which page in your history to jump to. I had tried right clicking, command clicking, command option clicking, etc...
I guess, the Mac won't change anything for me, I'm doomed to stay a dumb windows user and will have to bear snide articles like this forever.
Member since:2006-01-05
One of the things mentioned in the article was people double clicking on dock items. If I have a shortcut on my desktop that looks exactly like the shortcut in my dock, how am I supposed to know that one requires a double click and the other a single?
One of the things mentioned in the article was people double clicking on "quick launch" items. If I have a shortcut on my desktop that looks exactly like the shortcut in my "quick launch", how am I supposed to know that one requires a double click and the other a single?
There I fixed your mistake. Every windows computer has a quick launch bar, and System Tray Icons, both of which require single clicks to active functions.
As for the article, a numer of them are just how Mac's work. Not Better or Worse but different. If you can't deal with the minor difference's between OS's then pick one and ignore the others.
Oh and I have worked on hundreds of windows PC's with hundreds of entries in the start Menu forcing it to scroll several pages in width. People don't understand how they can sort and adjust that menu.
End result is that most users are to stupid to use a computer. Actually most users are to stupid to use a thermostat let alone more complicated machinery.
Member since:2005-07-06
Most of the others are plain retarded and probably made up. i.e. 4. Using Safari’s Google search to get to a website
That's definitely not made up. I used to run a small specialized search engine for auctions, and you'd be amazed at the number of people that would put in "www.ebay.com", or "auctions.yahoo.com". 
Member since:2005-07-25
'That's definitely not made up. I used to run a small specialized search engine for auctions, and you'd be amazed at the number of people that would put in "www.ebay.com", or "auctions.yahoo.com". '
Actually, I usually think that that's because they set it as their home page and the textbox steals focus... so their typing enters the search box. Just my 2p.
Member since:2005-11-10
guess you can blame Stevie for this one. He thinks you're stupid and can't handle a multi button mouse
No he doesn't. Ever heard of the Mighty Mouse? It ships with all new Macs (except the mini which doesn't come with a mouse), it's touch-sensitive to detect left and right clicks, it's got a 360-degree scrollwheel, and two additional buttons on the sides.
Having converted many ex-Windows users to the Mac in the last few years, let me add to my own list the mistakes I see people make all the time.
1. Looking for the CD/DVD eject button on the Mac itself. That's just funny to watch. I remember when I was a new Mac user it did take me an embarassingly long time to realize the eject button is on the keyboard.
2. Accidentally dragging an icon off the dock when attempting a very sloppy double-click. It disappears in a puff of smoke and they have no idea how to get it back. I think Apple should have the "lock icons in the dock" option turned on by default and force users who don't change this default to do the right-click "keep in dock" to add an icon to the dock. Drag and drop causes too many problems.
3. The Windows keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy and paste for some reason on a Mac are Apple+x, Apple+c, and Apple+v instead of ctrl+ x, c & v. This even causes me problems because I need to go back and forth between Windows and OS X several times a day and it always screws me up. I really wish Apple would change it to use ctrl instead. The location of the ctrl key vs. the Apple key makes the ctrl combinations easier to use and it would help everybody out if there were just one standard on this. I think these are the keyboard commands people use most often.
4. A lot of new Mac users think that they can't choose the exact location to save a file, since by default the Save dialog opens in a simplified mode that only lets you choose the Desktop, the Home folder or the Documents folder and some others. You have to click the little down arrow next to the file name box to switch the dialog box to advanced mode to be able to select the exact folder to save the file to. To a Windows user, that little down arrow looks like the Windows down arrow in the Windows save dialogs that no one uses (because it's useless), so they never think to try clicking on it.
5. iTunes ships with very junked-up interface by default now, what with all those ugly arrows next to every title, artist and album that represent links to the Music store, and that new Mini-store window taking up the bottom of the screen, and a bunch of stupid playlists no one wants. New users fail to turn these annoying "features" off for themselves so I always have to do it for them. Maybe that one's not a mistake, more of my personal preference, but I think Apple should strive to keep iTunes looking clean and simple and not turn it into a Frankenstein's monster like RealOne or Windows Media Player.
Member since:2006-01-09
"4. A lot of new Mac users think that they can't choose the exact location to save a file, since by default the Save dialog opens in a simplified mode that only lets you choose the Desktop, the Home folder or the Documents folder and some others. You have to click the little down arrow next to the file name box to switch the dialog box to advanced mode to be able to select the exact folder to save the file to"
So that's where the Gnome guys got that stupid idea from!
This is one of my biggest pet-hates of Linux at the moment, it's such a stupid system to automatically save to the Desktop (what a stupid place to put files!) and what's worse is that to save it elsewhere - like in a subfolder of your $HOME directory - requires a couple of extra clicks to unhide the option!
Oh and the "using Google to go to websites" thing is very odd to me, I know at least 4 very computer-literate people who do that, CAN'T YOU SEE THE URL BAR? Don't you hate having to type a url and then click a link before going to every site? This annoys me so much I remove the fast search thing from their Firefoxes and stop the default homepage being Google, I mean come on, Google knows every site you visit if you do this....
Member since:2006-01-06
"3. The Windows keyboard shortcuts for cut, copy and paste for some reason on a Mac are Apple+x, Apple+c, and Apple+v instead of ctrl+ x, c & v. This even causes me problems because I need to go back and forth between Windows and OS X several times a day and it always screws me up. I really wish Apple would change it to use ctrl instead. The location of the ctrl key vs. the Apple key makes the ctrl combinations easier to use and it would help everybody out if there were just one standard on this. I think these are the keyboard commands people use most often."
I find that very easy, the "Apple" (actually called Command) button is the Mac equivelent of CTRL. It's used in all the same places as CTRL on Windows. If you think about it that way then it becomes very simple to understand. The CTRL button on the Mac keyboard is almost never used.
Member since:2005-07-08
>29. Not realising that when you copy a folder over an >existing one, OS X -replaces- the destination folder >rather than merging the contents, which is what Windows >does.
>
>Ah, yes. We've been over that one several times here
you wanna laugh ? nautilus still has it...
they were not even consistant since gnome 1.4 through gmc had the merge option by default (at least, it asked)
nautilus just don't care...
at least mac os X is consistent since finder 1.0
Member since:
2005-07-06
8. Not using any keyboard shortcuts
I guess you can blame Stevie for this one. He thinks you're stupid and can't handle a multi button mouse, but he thinks you should remember all the 100+ shortcuts.
27. Confusing “delete” with “backspace” (because Apple has two keys named “delete” on the keyboard, one of which does forward delete and the other backward delete. Way to go, usability geniuses).
Way to go, usability geniuses.
29. Not realising that when you copy a folder over an existing one, OS X -replaces- the destination folder rather than merging the contents, which is what Windows does.
Ah, yes. We've been over that one several times here
Most of the others are plain retarded and probably made up. i.e. 4. Using Safari’s Google search to get to a website