Comments on: Mac annoyances

by: Keysaw

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 21:39:55 +0000

Terminal.app can easily be made to support Unix middle button paste. Simply install X11 and run it once. It modifes Terminal.app to support xterm-like selection-paste.

by: koreth

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:06:52 +0000

You can get rid of the need to type “fn” by going to the Keyboard & Mouse system preferences, Keyboard tab, and checking the “Use the F1-F12 keys to control software features” checkbox. That flips the use of “fn” so you have to use it for stuff like controlling the volume but not for typing function keys into applications. I find it more usable that way since I use a few apps that want me to hit f3, etc.

by: charlie

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:18:55 +0000

In the new beta of Firefox, command-backtick/tilde doesn’t work, and so there is no obvious way to switch between the active windows that you are browsing without resorting to using the mouse. This has been driving me crazy for about 3 hours now. Everything else about it is great, and so I can’t go back to my previous Firefox/Safari combo where I would gorw frustrated with one after 2 hours and switch to the other (repeat ad inifitum), so I spent a while searching for a solution.

The answer is: fn+ctrl+F4.

It acts like Alt-Tab for windows. Flips through active windows across all apps.
Solves my problem and yours!
(I prefer the Windows Alt-Tab behvaior as well, probably because I program in terminal windows and open a bunch of browswer windows that I consider almost separate apps.)

Now I just have to figure out a way to remap my keyboard so that fn+ctrl-F4 is something I can actually type with one hand.

by: koreth

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 15:06:30 +0000

Command-H is definitely helpful and makes Alt-Tab work closer to the way I want, but I still find myself doing more mousing around than I’d like.

I’ve come to realize the source of the problem is an app-centric vs. a window-centric view of the world. Which I guess boils down to what kind of application you typically use. If your typical app is something like Photoshop, where there are lots of little windows open when you’re working on just one document, then the Mac approach is just fine.

If, on the other hand, you often have a bunch of only somewhat related windows open (Terminal windows, in my case), then what you have is really a bunch of apps that happen to be the same underlying program. The fact that they’re the same binary is incidental. If I have five terminal windows open, each doing something completely different, I want the UI to give me quick ways to switch between windows and hide/show them, not quick ways to deal with all of them en masse. In fact, I don’t think I’ve *ever* wanted to hide all my terminal windows at once.

I wonder if it would work to make a bunch of copies of the Terminal app and run them separately. Hmm.

by: Aaron

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 07:15:53 +0000

Instead of minimizing windows, try hiding the app (i.e., command-H). This won’t work if you only want to hide one window in an open program, but that’s what command-tilde is for

by: Bob

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:32:23 +0000

you can switch through active windows of an application by using Command-~ (tilde). This is next to Z on my UK keyboard (next to 1 on a US keyboard, I think). Hope this helps!