Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Mac Questions

K

kona0197

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2010
63
6
Well I decided to buy a 2018 Mac Mini. Long story short I've always been a Windows user but I just can't wrap my mind around all the changes Microsoft has made in Windows 11. So far I am enjoying the Mac, just had a few questions. I would rather hear from the group who has first hand knowledge then spend hours on Google. Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help.

First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper.

Will Pages and Numbers work flawlessly with my Microsoft documents or do I need to convert them all to a different format?

And I was curious how to arrange apps in the Launcher alphabetically? Do I need to manually arrange them?

And lastly, what apps do you all recommend I use that you can't go without?
 
kona0197 said:
Well I decided to buy a 2018 Mac Mini. Long story short I've always been a Windows user but I just can't wrap my mind around all the changes Microsoft has made in Windows 11. So far I am enjoying the Mac, just had a few questions. I would rather hear from the group who has first hand knowledge then spend hours on Google. Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help.

First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper.

Will Pages and Numbers work flawlessly with my Microsoft documents or do I need to convert them all to a different format?

And I was curious how to arrange apps in the Launcher alphabetically? Do I need to manually arrange them?

And lastly, what apps do you all recommend I use that you can't go without?
Click to expand...

  • MacOS renders the desktop at 2x intended resolution internally and then scales to fit your monitor. Maybe check in settings what desktop resolution it is attempting to use and maybe try either "larger text" or "more space". "More space" on my 4k monitor is basically native resolution and looks sharpest.
  • Pages and numbers won't work flawlessly, but they may be good enough depending on how complex your docs are. If needed, MS office is available for Mac.
  • There's no automated way to sort apps in the launcher unfortunately, they appear basically in the order they were installed (as as on an iPhone or iPad). However if you open finder and then browse to the applications folder, you can sort apps alphabetically in that view. Another way to launch apps is to press cmd+space and then just type the name of the app and spotlight will find it. If you're using a PC keyboard, CMD will be the windows key, and "alt" will be the Mac "option" key)
  • Apps I really like and would recommend to a new Mac user:
    • 1Blocker (read the setup instructions!)
    • BBedit (if you work with text a lot)
    • Anylist (share lists between Mac/phone/partner/etc. for thing like shopping, tasks, etc.)
    • Magnet (if you're on a version of MacOS before Sequoia) - gives you window snapping left/right/quarters etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: apple contributor, leifp and ThailandToo
I've had moderately complex MS Word and Excel files that didn't even open perfectly in Word and Excel... so I have my doubts that Pages and Numbers will be flawless with everything you can possibly throw at them. Personally, I always use MS Office because of work and opening and saving files for coworkers and business associates. But plenty of people swear by Apple's apps and I've opened many Word and Excel apps without any problem with them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Allen_Wentz
Alameda said:
I've had moderately complex MS Word and Excel files that didn't even open perfectly in Word and Excel... so I have my doubts that Pages and Numbers will be flawless with everything you can possibly throw at them. Personally, I always use MS Office because of work and opening and saving files for coworkers and business associates. But plenty of people swear by Apple's apps and I've opened many Word and Excel apps without any problem with them.
Click to expand...
Apple's apps are great for home / personal / small apple-only teams, but if you need to work with office docs shared with other people running office, you really should get office in my experience - they just work too differently and you'll run into too many document problems. Especially numbers - numbers is great for the things it can do - it's just that the things it does are quite different to excel and it works very differently.

But it depends how often you're working with office documents really.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isengardtom, Mac mini power user, T'hain Esh Kelch and 2 others
throAU said:
MacOS renders the desktop at 2x intended resolution internally and then scales to fit your monitor. Maybe check in settings what desktop resolution it is attempting to use and maybe try either "larger text" or "more space". "More space" on my 4k monitor is basically native resolution and looks sharpest.
Click to expand...
Where do I find "More Space" or "Larger Text"? Honestly the lack of sharpness makes me want to go back to Windows.
 
throAU said:
Apple's apps are great for home / personal / small apple-only teams, but if you need to work with office docs shared with other people running office, you really should get office in my experience - they just work too differently and you'll run into too many document problems. Especially numbers - numbers is great for the things it can do - it's just that the things it does are quite different to excel and it works very differently.

But it depends how often you're working with office documents really.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%. I just don't want to throw doubt on Numbers & Pages.

I used Macs in a 99% Windows company for over 10 years using Office. I had no problems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mac mini power user and throAU
kona0197 said:
First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper.
Click to expand...
Seriously consider getting an Apple Studio display. If you can’t afford that, look for an LG 5K monitor. A 1080P monitor is going to be painful to look at on a Mac compared to a 5K display. I did this for over a year not knowing any better. Then I went to an iMac that has a proper Apple display and I can never go back. I understand if you’re on a tight budget. You might try to tweak some settings, but it’s not going to be great. It shouldn’t be blurry, but it’s not going to be sharp either.

kona0197 said:
Will Pages and Numbers work flawlessly with my Microsoft documents or do I need to convert them all to a different format?
Click to expand...
I used Microsoft office 365 subscription for a while but now just use Pages because it’s included with the Mac. If you work with spreadsheets on a daily basis, and you are familiar with Microsoft office, it’s probably worth just paying the subscription. You have to learn different things with Pages and I don’t believe it has all the capability. I occasionally use spreadsheets so it’s not worth paying the subscription for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: throAU and Alameda
Try pressing Option on the keyboard while left mouse click on the general area that says Default/More space. It should open a drop down menu with more options.

Screenshot 2024-12-01 at 5.41.22 PM.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: apple contributor
kona0197 said:
First of all how do I make the display as crisp and sharp as I can? Everything seems a little bit blurry. I have a HP M24H monitor running at 1080P and 60Hz via a HDMI connection. I know my eyes are getting old but it seems the Windows output was way sharper.
Click to expand...
I highly recommend BetterDisplay. It should help with the scaling and make it as sharp as possible. That said, 1080p is fairly low res, and you might consider getting a 4K display at some point. They're getting pretty cheap these days! People are recommending 5K displays, but they can get pretty pricy. You're running a 2018 Mini, so I'm guessing budget is a factor here and you're not out to spend four figures on a display...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jhonjhon236 and Alameda
goodthymes said:
Try pressing Option on the keyboard while left mouse click on the general area that says Default/More space. It should open a drop down menu with more options.
Click to expand...

I don't have that option. Here is a screenshot of the Display options:

Screenshot 2024-12-01 at 6.42.11 PM.png

Fraserh02 said:
What spec and how much did you pay for the Mac Mini? I’m interested as you can get inexpensive Apple Silicon Macs these days.
Click to expand...

2018 Model. Intel Core I3 CPU, 8 GB memory, 128 GB SSD. $233 from Newegg.
 
Kinda curious if I installed a flavor of Linux the display would be better.
 
throAU said:
^ thats quite odd. I haven't seen macOS display settings like that, but to be honest I haven't run it with a non-high DPI display for about 10 years now.
Click to expand...
I think the OP needs to do a YouTube search. 1080p on a 24” monitor shouldn’t look bad on MacOS. It’s a learning curve. Way easier than Linux.
 
kona0197 said:
I don't have that option. Here is a screenshot of the Display options:

View attachment 2457946


2018 Model. Intel Core I3 CPU, 8 GB memory, 128 GB SSD. $233 from Newegg.
Click to expand...
Hello kona0197,


In your screenshot, activate the slider on "Show all resolutions." Then, experiment with the possible resolution options which are given until you are satisfied with one.


Good luck!



richmlow
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mac mini power user, Night Spring, kitKAC and 1 other person
I recommend getting an 1440p display that is 27" (it will be 110 ppi at 1440p) because of how macOS scales the display. Retina is 220 ppi and the official non Retina for macOS is 110 ppi.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Timpetus
I have a Mini 2018 and a PC connected to the same monitor and they both look the same. May be worth checking Refresh Rate and Colour Profile are correct for your monitor?

I also don't know how relevant it is but personally i have always found that DisplayPort is better for computers rather than HDMI (particularly on Macs)

HTH :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Timpetus and leifp
kona0197 said:
HP Monitor, Model M24H, 24"
Click to expand...
That’s a 1080p display and macOS does best with “retina” (in the 220 dpi range). Without a shadow of a doubt, if you’re not on a Retina display Windows handles text way better. I have no issue computing on my 42” 4K OLED on Windows, while my 32” 4K display on the Mac annoys me (I cannot justify a 32” 6K Pro Display XDR starting at $6299 CAD +tax for myself). I also have the regular Studio Display (27” 5K) but I find it too small. But that’s my problem, not yours.

I imagine that price sensitivity drives your computing decisions but I’m going to suggest this anyhow: replace your monitor with a used 27” 4K. There should be many about, reasonably priced. Dell has one on their site for $220 new https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...1qs/apd/210-axlg/monitors-monitor-accessories (Dell makes great monitors, in general)
 
Last edited:
With regards to apps I would budget for $50 and buy Pixelmator right away. You can always make use of a Photoshop-alike somewhere in your workflow and this is by far the best on the market.
 
  • Like
Reactions: leifp
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back