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madonnaragu

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 13, 2021
125
35
It's really light, fast, beautiful and silent. But I'm missing apps from Windows that I use on a daily basis:

- PDF printer with profiles. For example, I can assign different printing preferences and folders to print to for PDF Printer 1/2/3 etc.
- Simple text editor with macro

Also, is this possible on a Mac:

- Fully maximise a window WITHOUT going full-screen
- Terminate apps when the last open window is closed
- Move the top menu bar OR adjust the auto-show delay

I am new to Macs so thanks for your help!
 
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chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,432
9,289
Your questions are very common. Some of the things you're asking ("Also, is this possible...") are really just trying to make your new Mac act like a Windows PC. The best advice I can give to those questions is "don't". Macs and Windows are different, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Trying to make one behave like the other is usually a fool's errand.

For the printer profiles, investigate Presets in the printer dialog. You can save settings there.


For the text editor, check out BBEdit, one of then favorite text editors on Macs since probably 1984. It's available stand alone and on the App Store:

 

madonnaragu

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 13, 2021
125
35
Your questions are very common. Some of the things you're asking ("Also, is this possible...") are really just trying to make your new Mac act like a Windows PC. The best advice I can give to those questions is "don't". Macs and Windows are different, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Trying to make one behave like the other is usually a fool's errand.

For the printer profiles, investigate Presets in the printer dialog. You can save settings there.


For the text editor, check out BBEdit, one of then favorite text editors on Macs since probably 1984. It's available stand alone and on the App Store:

Hi! Thanks for that. I get it. It's a Mac, it's different. But if my daily workflow ends up being more complicated or time-consuming, that's a bit of hassle.

I'll check out BBEdit. I can't see if it has macro or not.

I did try the built-in presets. But how do I set them up so different presets print in different folders?
 

CheesePuff

macrumors 65816
Sep 3, 2008
1,454
1,574
Southwest Florida, USA
For maximizing windows without going full screen I highly recommend the app Magnet available in the Mac App Store, it is 99¢ but allows for what you are used to using in Windows for snapping windows, maximizing, etc.

For quitting an app when its last window is closed, that is up to the developer to support that functionality so each app will behave differently and there is no universal setting.

There is a way to speed up the dock auto hide animation, but it appears in newer versions of macOS you cannot change the auto hide animation speed for the menu bar.
 

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,466
6,563
US
- Fully maximise a window WITHOUT going full-screen
- Terminate apps when the last open window is closed

Not sure I can help with the others but for these I'll say:

I typically double-click the top frame of an app and it'll maximize to the screen height and that handles most of my need for that -- on other occasions I'll just grab the corner and pull it to fill the screen. Maybe there's another way.

As for terminating apps when last window is closed, this is IMHO a different paradigm than you're used to. On macOS you'll find that Command-Tab switches between applications and Command-` switches between windows of the app you're in. Contrast to windows where Alt-Tab switches between everything open with apps/windows commingled. When I want to close an app I just use the Command-Q keyboard command.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,432
9,289
how do I set them up so different presets print in different folders?
I think you want to set things up so your print output can be sent directly to different folders. Here is how to set that up:

 
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RachelleK

macrumors member
Feb 4, 2021
35
14
DC
For maximizing windows without going full screen I highly recommend the app Magnet available in the Mac App Store, it is 99¢ but allows for what you are used to using in Windows for snapping windows, maximizing, etc.

For quitting an app when its last window is closed, that is up to the developer to support that functionality so each app will behave differently and there is no universal setting.

There is a way to speed up the dock auto hide animation, but it appears in newer versions of macOS you cannot change the auto hide animation speed for the menu bar.
Magnet says it is $7.99 on the App Store. Seems a bit high to me for what it does but I guess it doesn't seem that way for everyone.
 

Spudlicious

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2015
936
818
Bedfordshire, England
For most apps and the Finder option-clicking the green maximize button will make a window fill the screen under the menubar.

Oooh yes - you're a real expert! I bet you know why it is that when I open Word on my Mac it appears centre screen but when I've opened a document in Word it displaces to right and downwards?

* Apologies to OP for slightly hijacking thread.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,494
19,631
- PDF printer with profiles. For example, I can assign different printing preferences and folders to print to for PDF Printer 1/2/3 etc.

As others have mentioned, this is standard OS functionality? Are you missing something specific?

- Simple text editor with macro

Depends on what you mean by "macro". TextMate 2 is pretty good.

- Fully maximise a window WITHOUT going full-screen

The problem is that macOS does not have a concept of "maximized window" since it is not part of the UI paradigm. What it has instead is "optimal window size" (triggered by opt+click the green icon or double-clicking the toolbar) — this will tell the application to change its window size so that the content fits optimally; and the fullscreen mode that allows the application to take control over the entire screen and adjust it's UI accordingly (aka "focus" mode), but not many apps take advantage of it properly.

So, no, it's not possible.

- Terminate apps when the last open window is closed

This is application-specific behavior. I don't know of any way to enforce it system-wide.

- Move the top menu bar OR adjust the auto-show delay

Not officially.
 

BrianBaughn

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2011
9,821
2,493
Baltimore, Maryland
Oooh yes - you're a real expert! I bet you know why it is that when I open Word on my Mac it appears centre screen but when I've opened a document in Word it displaces to right and downwards?
My Word documents open in the middle of my screen.

Also, my Word behaves differently (their coding) with an option-click of the green dot. I don't know what Word does on a Windows machine. What Word does probably depends on what version it is.
 

jerryk

macrumors 604
Nov 3, 2011
7,421
4,207
SF Bay Area
Hi! Thanks for that. I get it. It's a Mac, it's different. But if my daily workflow ends up being more complicated or time-consuming, that's a bit of hassle.

I'll check out BBEdit. I can't see if it has macro or not.

I did try the built-in presets. But how do I set them up so different presets print in different folders?
It is a different OS with different ways of doing things. It can take weeks to transition and requires shifting your way of thinking about how a task is accomplished. I work and develop in Windows, MacOS, and Linux every week. Each is different and does the same thing in different ways.
 

MBAir2010

macrumors 604
May 30, 2018
6,975
6,354
there
i think these apps can be found for free, Mac has Text Edit which does alot an dis with big sur
I'm confused and have found Windows10 on the Dell XPS needs more mac-apps and i need more time, as the same as you, but i like windows and found out i can use windows mail which is much cleaner, easier and better than outlook mail just minutes ago!
i guess we need more time on out great laptops!

about the macro thingee, i have no idea what that does anymore, like a vector graphic i just have no idea how to explain that concept to anyone, including myself but have about 2000 vector graphic i created...
 

Spudlicious

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2015
936
818
Bedfordshire, England
My Word documents open in the middle of my screen.

Also, my Word behaves differently (their coding) with an option-click of the green dot. I don't know what Word does on a Windows machine. What Word does probably depends on what version it is.
To further slightly hijack the thread, in fact documents open centrally on my M1 Air but offset on my iMac (Mojave), both running the 365 version of Word. Perhaps we'd best leave it there.
 

LuisN

macrumors 6502a
Mar 30, 2013
737
688
Torres Vedras, Portugal
option+double click corner of the window will maximize the windows. Option+double click lateral border of the window will increase width to full, and option+double click top or bottom of the window will increase to full height. You can find all this "tricks" and much more nicely explained at Macmost channel in YouTube
 

Brian1230

macrumors member
Jan 7, 2021
74
36
I made the switch to Mac a few years ago, it was confusing at first, but after I accepted the fact that at that time mac's os was called OS X behaved much different than windows, and stopped doing things the way I did with windows, I found that Apple's operating system was much more user friendly and easier to use and things just worked. I just bought a new m1 MacBook Air, last night and I am very impressed with it so far. only used it for a few hours so far but it is awesome.
 

satcomer

Suspended
Feb 19, 2008
9,115
1,977
The Finger Lakes Region
I made the switch to Mac a few years ago, it was confusing at first, but after I accepted the fact that at that time mac's os was called OS X behaved much different than windows, and stopped doing things the way I did with windows, I found that Apple's operating system was much more user friendly and easier to use and things just worked. I just bought a new m1 MacBook Air, last night and I am very impressed with it so far. only used it for a few hours so far but it is awesome.

As a switcher you need to also get apps from the website MacUpdate.com. Also a great uptake Mac website is exlr8yourmac.com.
 
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