For anyone moving across from Windows to using a Mac the first few days can feel a little strange. The interface is superficially the same but fundamentally different. The Mac operating system, OS X has a number of really useful features and shortcuts that Windows lacks that can make working on a Mac really easy. While Windows has many functions not present on Apple's operating system this article will focus on a few tips to help transitioning over to a Mac a little easier.



The first thing to note is that Macs are far more shortcut driven with the user able to do a lot more things more easily through cunning use of the keyboard. On a Mac the Apple key replaces the functionality of the Ctrl key on a Windows keyboard. Notice that is where the Alt key is on a PC keyboard, so start using your thumb rather than your little finger to start using the keyboard shortcuts. There is no Windows key and in its place is the Alt button, with Ctrl and shift remaining in the same places.

A lot of the most widely used Windows shortcuts are replicated on a Mac, so Apple+C is for copy, Apple+V is for paste and Apple+X is for cut. Learning these keys and making full use of them is an excellent time saving tool when doing long, boring repetitive tasks that don't require much thought but a lot of clicks. In a similar fashion Apple+F is useful for finding and searching through documents and web pages, much like the Windows variant.

What is much easier on a Mac than a PC is taking screenshots of areas on your desktop. Simply hit the key Apple+Shift+4 and your cursor will change to a crosshair that you can use to drag a box. When you're done dragging, a screenshot will be created of the area inside the box that you made, creating an image on your desktop. Very simple and easy and something that Windows lacks in such an easy format.

So if you need to see your desktop you'll notice how easy it is in Windows, you can simply click the show desktop button on the taskbar. OS X does not have this button as the taskbar works differently. However they have what I consider to be the best feature of the Mac operating system, and that is hot corners. To see the desktop just drag your mouse cursor into the bottom right or bottom left hand corners of your screen. You'll notice all your windows are minimised and you can view the desktop to open up any files that you need.

Another great feature of hot corners is the ability to move the cursor into one of the top corners of the screen to be able to see every window you have open at the time. You can then just click the window you want and it's brought to the front. This feature is a really great addition if you tend to work with a lot of windows open at one time and need to switch between them a lot. This one feature is what Windows is really lacking and is the only thing that I miss from OS X when working on a PC.

Hopefully these tips will help you a little when changing to using a Mac for the first time as it can be a little unsettling at first. In time you'll come to appreciate the different features of each operating system and only wish that someone would bring together the best features of both into one system that you could use.