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I think this paragraph sums up my thoughts:


Some points the MS site points out aren't particularly universal either:


I'm used to a PC, it's called a MacBook, runs standard PC hardware, and is a Personal Computer. When moving to Windows I'm confused because things don't work the same Heck, pick any other PC OS (Linux, BSD, SVR4, etc.) and Windows doesn't work quite the same...

This campaign just shows how bullish MS can be, IMO.

They are right about the keyboard shortcuts, heck the general layout on the Mac is totally bizzare! Especially as a lot of the commonly used characters (E.g. {, [, ], }, \, ~) aren't even shown on the keyboard, you just have to learn through trial and error, where they are to be found - and if you have a "normal" German keyboard, that doesn't help either, as Apple has put those symbols on totally different keys!

I can understand them moving the @ symbol from AltGr+Q to AltGr+L, as I can see a lot of people hitting Command instead of Alt, but the rest don't make any sense, other than eccentricity or not wanting to follow the norms.

Eh? They've been right here on my Apple keyboards for ages. Look: I can find them just by typing {[]}\~.

I don't understand.

Actually, how the heck do you even type accents on a Windows keyboard? Okay, they're hidden on the Mac, but they're reasonably logical to my way of thinking.

With a UK layout I didn't have a clue. Since it was replaced with a US one I found out by accident.

áéóú äöüë àòùè etc.

Type the accent first and nothing appears, then when you type the letter it comes along with accent.

As to the article:


Hmm, all the adverts here (O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile, 1&1, N24, Sat.1 etc.) all show Macs in their adverts and all support OS 10.4 and above). Okay, you need the external USB dongle, but it works - and 99% of the laptops I look after can't accept 3G SIMs either.

Likewise, TV tuner, none of my PCs ever had one, but I can buy them aftermarket for either Windows or OS X - integration with Windows Media Center is much better than on OS X, where they weren't allowed (until recently) to integrate with Frontrow.


Hmm, mine works exactly the same (Logitech MX1000 on Windows and OS X both work pretty much identically).


True, but the same is true, if you use OpenOffice and have to communicate with Microsoft Office users - and is the same in the other direction... But you can buy MS Office for the Mac, so Microsoft is at fault, if that doesn't work!


Hmm, iPhoto has a 1-button share with Flickr and MobileMe. iTunes found my AppleTV and shared my library automatically, same with my iPhone and iPod Touch... File share, between Macs is easy, Windows is also relatively easy, but you have to turn on compatibility in the networking system preferences. Printer sharing was much better than XP, XP could never find the network printers, OS X said, "oh, found this printer, want to use it?"


And you can buy different coloured slip cases for the MacBook, and if you want to ruin the look of your Mac, you can always paint it - I did it with my old PC, looked a mess. To be honest, the colour is pretty irrelevant to me, as long as it is fairly neutral and conservative, as I use them in a business environment as well. Most PC users prefer the look of the Macs; I know I do, I just can't justify the price difference on modern Macs.

The external Sony BD player works with the new Mac mini and the older model can be upgraded with an internal Sony BD player - although OS X refuses to burn CDs and DVDs thereafter (no problems wit the external drive). There are also third party software solutions for playing back BDs on OS X. It isn't as easy or cheap as doing it on Windows, but it is possible.


Erm, so most Macs can't hook up to your TV, without a dongle (HDMI convertor), but there again, neither can most Windows 7 PCs. Of the dozen or so we've bought this year, all but one of them needed a DVI-HDMI convertor.


True, and the Snap feature is very useful. But most of the rest of the features that make it easier to use are taken straight from OS X...


You can buy Macs with touchscreens, but it is a steep option! On the other hand, they all have (or with the Magic Touchpad, can be upgraded to) multi-touch, which doesn't leave greasy smears all over the monitor... Touch screens work well on 'phones, because you can quickly wiped them clean on your shirt, trying wipe a 24" monitor clean after every swipe is a complete pain, and even my shirts aren't big enough for that!


Our projectors all have HDMI and DVI as well... Although the new MBPs still need a dongle, whatever you use.


And? I have yet to see a single PC sold with Windows 7 Ultimate, they all come with Home Premium or Professional, so need a hefty upgrade (my 2 machines do have Ultimate on, but that was only because the upgrade from HP to Ultimate was 10€ more than HP to Pro on Amazon).

There are a couple of areas, where Windows 7 does have a genuine advantage, but most of the things quoted apply to a very small proportion of Windows 7 machines (Ultimate, touch screen or internal 3G SIM card slot)...

That said, look at the Apple keyboard and see if you can work out where you would find them!

Apple layout:


Standard layout:


As to accents, press the accent key, then press the relevant key. To have the accent symbol on its own, press space after pressing the accent - works on US International and all non-UK layout AFAIK.

Ah, you're using a German layout. That explains it.

On the UK and US layouts, those keys are in broad daylight, just under my right hand.

Incidentally, what you call a "standard" layout is only what has been perpetuated since the original PCs came out, I guess. Apple has always had their own layout since the start, too. Only, it's more logical for a DTP/text input world. For example, on the UK layout keyboard, " and ' are on the same key. On a PC keyboard, " is shift-2. Why separate the characters to separate keys like that? I don't know. It's just tradition, I guess.

You can see why programming languages were mainly designed by English speakers, no programmer in a country that doesn't use an "English" keyboard layout would ever use the [, ] and { and } characters!


It pre-dates the PC, but 2 = " is a UK thing, the American layout is more logical in that respect, it uses ' = ". The layout hasn't changed since the damn of time, Telex machines used the same layout, as did teletype terminals and terminals, the PC mainly carried on, adopting the IBM 3250 layout, which is why it also had keys for Sys Rq, Scrl Lock, Break etc.

In Germany, the layout comes from typewriters, with "unusual" keys them being given the symbol shift positions (AltGr+), again, that pre-dated Apple's entry into the German market, so they had to actually come up with their own layout, and it has nothing to do with DTP, it uses 2 = " and # = ' ... They follow the standard German layout for all the standard characters, it is only special characters which are layed out differently (and the common ones aren't even labelled!)...

Just noticed that this keyboard doens't have an AltGr, just Alt on either side.

Apple don't use the AltGr key, as they don't use the Alt key in the same way as Windows/Linux PCs. Therefore both Alt keys on a Mac keyboard, under OS X, work like the AltGr key on Windows/Linux machines - plug a Mac keyboard into a Windows machine and they take on the usual Windows rolls (Alt left of Space, AltGr right from Space).

The whole shift+2 for " may pre-date the 'PC', but as I've said before, old typewriters seem to have shift+2 to print @ (I've got one, and I've seen a few other very late nineteen and early twentieth century British typewriters).

Not sure why computing changed it...

I think at the end of the day, there's no real logic to the "standard" QWERTY layout anyway. It's just been set in stone since someone decided it was a good idea. All that's happened since is other characters have been added to the set, and the edges have to be adjusted to match.

I like it that Microsoft digs Macs. That means that they like, them, right?

Yup. I hate coding or typing up LaTeX docs on a French AZERTY keyboard. Everything's wrong! (8-p)

On my Dvorak layout I've got frikking everything available...

... including letters that are only useful to speakers of Ossitan ffs!

I may have to trim it back a bit.