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Shall I keep my Macbook Air M1? Missing apps from Windows.

M

madonnaragu

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 13, 2021
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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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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.

Save frequently used print settings for routine printing on Mac

On your Mac, save your print settings as a preset so you can quickly use the same settings again.
support.apple.com

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:

Bare Bones Software | BBEdit 15

www.barebones.com
 
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chabig said:
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.

Save frequently used print settings for routine printing on Mac

On your Mac, save your print settings as a preset so you can quickly use the same settings again.
support.apple.com

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:

Bare Bones Software | BBEdit 15

www.barebones.com
Click to expand...
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?
 
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.
 
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madonnaragu said:
- Fully maximise a window WITHOUT going full-screen
- Terminate apps when the last open window is closed
Click to expand...

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.
 
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madonnaragu said:
how do I set them up so different presets print in different folders?
Click to expand...
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:

www.macobserver.com

OS X: Adding a Folder to the PDF Services Menu

See that little “PDF” drop-down? That’s where all the coolness is. So what you can do with this menu is save what you’re looking at—a webpage, for example, or a document—as a PDF or send a PDF of it to someone else. The options here may differ slightly depending on what programs you have...
www.macobserver.com
 
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CheesePuff said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
BrianBaughn said:
For most apps and the Finder option-clicking the green maximize button will make a window fill the screen under the menubar.
Click to expand...

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.
 
madonnaragu said:
- PDF printer with profiles. For example, I can assign different printing preferences and folders to print to for PDF Printer 1/2/3 etc.
Click to expand...

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

madonnaragu said:
- Simple text editor with macro
Click to expand...

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

madonnaragu said:
- Fully maximise a window WITHOUT going full-screen
Click to expand...

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.

madonnaragu said:
- Terminate apps when the last open window is closed
Click to expand...

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

madonnaragu said:
- Move the top menu bar OR adjust the auto-show delay
Click to expand...

Not officially.
 
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Spudlicious said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
madonnaragu said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
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...
 
BrianBaughn said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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
 
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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.
 
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Brian1230 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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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