Mac-Techs.com

I love using my Mac for its great useability, stability, style and terrific technology. However, I find myself in the Finder at times wishing things worked a little differently than they do. Specifically, the Finder, the navigation box, and applications all seem to have a different idea where the action is at.

For example, I’m working in the Finder. I navigate to a nested folder, find a file and double-click it. The correct application launches and the document opens. Now, perhaps I want to open a related document in the same folder or create and save a doc there. You would think the application’s File/Open navigation box would put me in that same folder.

Wrong. More often than not, it puts me soemwhere else in the file hierarchy, like in the Documents folder, or in the last folder it opened from. Multiply this behavior by two or more applications, and the Finder and pretty soon you are using a large proportion of your Mac time traversing folder hierarchies mumbling under your breath and wishing for an upgrade for your abacus.

Okay, so there’s a solution. Default Folder X by St. Clair Software is a terrific piece of software which puts standard navigation boxes to shame. The least of the things it can do is set up default folders for specific applications, show favorite folders in the nav box, let you traverse folder hierarchies right in the nav box using nested menus and do drag and drop of folders into the nav box. Great stuff. Todd sez, check it out.

Do Macs cost more? There are various studies done out there that prove otherwise. The arguments are endless and prove little beyond the fact that there are a wide range of computer systems available in the retail market.
Yes, Macs do have a price point above the low-end systems of many PC makers. The question for the buyer…is it worth it when I could have a working PC for less?
I tend to look at it as a question of flow, like in getting into the flow. When you purchase a PC laptop or desktop, you are buying a hardware system made by one manufacturer and an operating system made by another company entirely. The match is not always a great one and it shows up in drivers that do not work, buggy hardware and software and a fair amount of time spent protecting your system from viruses, exploits and keeping drivers up to date.
Macs are not perfect in this regard, no computer system in all its complexity could possibly be perfect.
A Mac user does lose the potential to use some of the cutting edge systems available out there. A Mac purchase is pretty much bound by the choices made by Apple insofar as the Mac Mini, laptop and iMac lines are concerned. Owners of the Apple towers can mix and match aftermarket components at will if they are compatible and drivers are available.
On the other hand, the mix of hardware, design, Unix, interface and software make a powerful argument in favor of Apples. It’s really quite convenient to have a computer that simply works 99% of the time without having to go under the hood, install antivirus, antiexploit, latest patches, and still have a slow OS whose interface is based on OS X. We’re talking Vista here.
These are all just my opinions admittedly biased by my years of experience using Macs. I use Windows and Linux systems as platforms for serving software, not for the user experience. Macs, on the other hand, give me that experience of flow where things just seem to work, to come together, to function without needing a lot of time-consuming hacks or workarounds.

When I talk to PC using friends (or relatives) it can be somewhat of a difficult conversation trying to explain to them why I think switching is a good idea. Mainly it’s fear of the unknown. Most computer users regard their systems with the angst and awe typically reserved for the local shaman in prehistoric days. A computer uses ‘strange juju’ to get things done. One is better off not knowing too much about what’s under the hood or something might jump out and bite you. The same goes for cars, for electronic contraptions and various other things typically labelled with the rubric ‘technology.’ It’s a bit maddening, but then if everyone was good with computers there would be no need for consultants. So, hey, no problem.

With PC’s, the fear and angst is multiplied by the multiple barriers Windows puts in the way of understanding your computer. Merely navigating your file system is an exercise in futility. Where the bloody heck are my files located? In the name of making things easier, the file hierarchy has been totally obfuscated by the Start button plus windows shortcuts. I find it a bit maddening, but then I’m a Mac guy. Of course I do. It’s part of the package.

I use a PC almost daily now. You’d think I’d learn the ropes or become assimilated or something but nope, I’ve pretty much jumped the rabbit and gone straight to Linux. I’m actually getting work accomplished on Linux, something I usually find tedious and unproductive doing in Windows.

What’s the big deal? Why does the Mac make getting things done easier? In the main, the essence lies in the fact that a Mac is trying to get out of your way and let you get your work done. The menu bar at the top of the screen contains all the menu items you need whatever program you are in. And, they are ALWAYS in the same place. Want to cut or paste, or find a preference, or list your open windows. It’s always there in the menu bar.

Windows has this idea that every programmer can create their own interface, so each program tends to have its own set of quirks. If you want to see some truly wretched interfaces, open some Windows software. You won’t have to look long. There’s lots of great software in the Windows world but the interfaces don’t work all that well.

For an example, in the Mac operating system, you can pretty much cut and paste just about anything. In the Windows world, it’s kind of a crapshoot. Usually it works but then mysteriously not. Who knows why?

For the Mac user, the menu bar floats there always available, dependable, a touchstone of sanity and user friendliness than can always be depended upon. Likewise, dialog boxes that are clearly labeled with obvious choices. Have you ever found yourself in a Windows dialog with negative choices, as in ‘for something NOT to happen, click Okay.’ That’s not unusual.

Or how about wretchedly small type, or cramped windows filled with tiny buttons and no discernible way to access the program. It’s enough to make a user load Linux on their box.

Alas, we cannot simply turn our backs on Windows as it may morph into something even more ridiculous. Better to give it your full attention and ask for better.

More Mac plusses:

Today’s post is about getting organized on your Macintosh’s filing system, aka the Finder. A lot of folks have a filing system that is somewhat equivalent to dumping all their files on the desktop, moving them hither and thither, and hoping they never get lost.

When helping people as a consultant, it isn’t unusual to see the desktop be a blizzard of files and folders. The only thing guiding the user is their built-in kinetic sense of direction. I dropped the folder right ‘here’, so if I click in that general direction, the file should show up again.

Hopefully, there are better ways to accomplish this.

For years, I tried organizing my files in the Finder. Alphabetically, I would arrange and rearrange, hoping to find some state of nirvana where stuff would be available when I wanted it. Apple helped with tools like Spotlight, so that not only could I search for file titles, but also search their contents as well.

Programs like iTunes and iPhoto keep files organized out of sight in a directory system the user never directly interacts with (hopefully). After importing music or photos into the programs, iTunes and iPhoto copies them into special directories. The user is presented with a comprehensive interface for working with this data and never touches the raw files again, at least in the default operation.

This isn’t the norm though. For the most part, the tools Apple gives the user for controlling the folder/file hierarchy isn’t changed much from OS 9 days. Spotlight is a nice tool yet it has its own set of quirks and failures.

I found myself wishing there were ways to access my files and folders in a more elegant methdology than the Finder presents. For example, the common alias, or ‘shortcut’ in Windows-speak, is a file that acts as a pointer to the original. The icon looks like the original file except there is a small arrow in one corner denoting its status as a throwaway pointer, not the original file. You can place the alias anywhere in the directory, like on the desktop, as a shortcut way to launch the original file.

While shortcuts can be invaluable in standard Finder operations, as a tool for organization I found them wanting. Enter DevonThink.

Devonthink is a filing system that lives within the Finder. It’s basically a holding tank for files and documents. Once launched, DevonThink lets you create file and folder hierarchies just like in the Finder. You can drag and drop files and folders into the DevonThink hierarchy and the data copies into the program and appears there just like they would in the Finder. Click on a file and it opens, either within DevonThink or in the appropriate application in the Finder.

Why bother you might ask. Devonthink creates a new set of rules for organizing data that go way beyond what the Finder is capable of. Plus it gets my files and folders in a data space where it is out of my way, much like iTunes and iPhoto. If I need that piece of information, I can search for it and Devonthink’s sophsticated search utilities can cough up the file in seconds.

I can replicate a file or folder anywhere in the hierarchy, meaning the item can appear in two places  in the directory tree at once and it’s the original item, not a shortcut. Yet if I delete one of the replicants, the other remains intact.

DevonThink contains a full-fledged web browser, text editor, and PDF reader.

To me, DevonThink is a Super Finder, giving me the ease of use, the flexibility and the organizational tools I need to control an expanding mass of data. My files and documents have migrated almost totally into DevonThink, leaving out only the files I need for a few working project, or that another program needs to be out in the Finder hierarchy and not inside of a Devonthink folder.

There are some other utilities and programs that do similar things, but DevonThink pretty much does what I need. Check it out: http://www.devon-technologies.com.