Here’s one that is truly mild — at least to most people. One, since most people aren’t Mac users. And two, since most Windows users probably don’t know about this Windows feature. But, onward.
One thing I like about the Mac is how it handles symbols. I’m a Mac user of about 2-3 years now, but I’ve been using Windows for over 30 years. On a Windows machine, I know if I hold ALT and strike 0151 on the number pad, it makes an em dash (—). But, on a Mac, just like on an iPhone or Android phone, you can get a lot of symbols just by holding a letter or number (on Windows, it just spams the letter or number). Making an em dash is a little different though, you hold Shift and Option and tap Dash/Hyphen.
I’m not sure if it’s because ChatGPT/other LLMs (AIs) have made use of the em dash or if people are talking about it more, but either way, it’s starting to make a comeback. (I’ve been using it all along — you can blame me for AIs using it.)
Anyway, Microsoft decided to copy the Mac shortcut using the exact same muscle memory shortcut. Shift is Shift on both keyboards, but where Option is on my Mac keyboard, is where the Windows key is on a Windows keyboard. I heard they were doing this, but I didn’t believe it until it happened. In Office programs (such as Outlook), if you hold Shift and Windows (key) and hit Hyphen/Dash, it makes an em dash. But, it only does it in Office. It works in Word, but not in Notepad. And I do use Word at work, and Excel, but I also use Notepad and StickyNotes.
So, it’s mildly infuriating that the shortcut I learned on my Macs works on Windows now — but only in some applications. Knowing which ones doesn’t help.
That said, if Microsoft could get away with copying how Apple/macOS handles symbols, it would just be good for everyone. Like how do you make the º symbol? I used to know the alt code? 0186? Something like that. IIRC it’s a hook or arc shape. On Mac it’s just Option+0. Option+3 makes £ (it would be Shift+3 on an en_GB keyboard, or painted above the 3 on a keyboard sold in the UK) and Option+4 makes ¢. It’s worth opening a text file and seeing what makes what and making note of what you might use. Or not, you could say degrees, pounds/GBP, or cents, and everyone knows what you mean. I just think it’s nice to know how to make the proper symbols.
I’m not convinced Microsoft would ever just take a feature, process, core concept, or entire method of operating from MacOS and then half-heartedly implement it in their Windows operating system without fully refining the user experience… /s
I wonder if this is a holdover from when you could navigate windows completely without a mouse using only the keyboard and shortcuts.
Obviously there might be some overlap between some keyboard shortcuts (and a very much targeted use of Apple’s shortcuts for certain programs that MS has ported to Mac). So office/365 programs get Mac shortcuts and everything else is using Windows standard shortcuts built up over time. There’s not reason for a mac user to use Windows version of notepad.
Either way, truly a mildly infuriating niglet so my upvote is yours.
I wonder if maybe it’s coming to the rest of Windows later. Microsoft 365 is a subscription service, so maybe it’s a test pilot thing?
People who use Macs at home most likely use Windows at work, if they use a computer at work. There are some jobs that do use Macs, but like usage outside of work, it’s a lower percentage.
I wonder if this is a holdover from when you could navigate windows completely without a mouse using only the keyboard and shortcuts.
You can absolutely still do that now. At worst, you install power toys and use the accessibility option to move the mouse with arrow keys.
There have been versions of windows where this wasn’t completely possible out of the box (looking at you windows ME). I was referring to when it was a native windows feature, no extra software of any kind involved. And you didn’t have to program hotkeys or anything.
Not to question anybody shitting on windows ME, but keyboard-only navigation is a core windows feature, since it’s a consequence of accessibility
No extra software needed; installing the power toys just makes it easier and a little more discoverable.
When applications get cross platform it sucks.
For example…in Windows id often use Ctrl+L to access the address bar in a web browser.
The Mac equivalent to this, I think, is Super-L. Super is the “windows key” on my keyboard.
So then…go back to windows after building up mac muscle memory…and I’m locking my screen every time I want to go to a new website.
The outlook keybindings are even more confusing…but outlook for Windows is shit tier (I’ve switched to PWA now). Somehow the macos version behaves better. I really don’t get it.
My MX master thumb wheel scrolls the wrong way on one application and I can’t fix it. Good and mild. Every time ‘ugh, fucker.’
On Mac or Windows? I’ve never had backwards scrolling on Windows.
Apple calls it “natural scrolling” and it’s kind of sublime on a MacBook, with the track pad. With a mouse it feels like shit for some reason. I guess opinions differ, but as a seasoned Windows user, I didn’t like “natural” scrolling. When I roll the wheel, I assume the bottom part is on the page where the cursor is, so as I roll down with my finger, the bottom of the wheel is rolling up, pushing the page up, scrolling down. That makes sense and now I can’t visualise why it’s fine the other way with a track pad, but it is. I have no justification for that.