Premise
MacOS has a ton of features that it gets loaded with straight out of the box. But for someone who is used to a Windows computer, there are some features that do not come natively with the operating system. For some, this might be all they need to make excuses not to switch to macOS. However, there are easy fixes to these seemingly “missing” features, and this article will tell you exactly how to fix those problems.
- Premise
- 🪟 Alt+Tab
- 🪝 Snapping Windows
- ↕️ Scroll Direction
- 🆕 Right Click → Create New File
- 🔬 Running Windows Apps
- Closing
🪟 Alt+Tab
On a Windows computer, you can hit Alt+Tab to switch windows. On a Mac, you can do a similiar thing, but it only lets you switch between apps, not individual Windows:
Windows
Mac
Fix for missing “Alt+Tab”:
You can use a free program called “AltTab”:
The best part about this program is it’s COMPLETELY FREE. There is no premium version.
This will make it so you can now see previews of every window instead of just the top one of each app.
Using Alt-Tab:
🪝 Snapping Windows
Out of the box, you cannot snap windows by dragging to the left or the right or dragging to the top of the screen.
Windows:
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The fix for this is downloading one of these apps:
- BetterSnapTool (this is what I use) - 2.99$
- Magnet - 7.99$ (seems to have the most features).
- Rectangle - free (also has a pro version for 10.99$)
↕️ Scroll Direction
If you are like me, you are used to the scroll directions on a Windows computer. While out of the box you can configure the scroll direction to match a Windows computer experience, if you change the touchpad direction, you will also change an external mouse to be the OPPOSITE direction. (for some reason, Apple has NOT made these seperate.
There is a free program you can download to fix this:
- Scroll Reverser - Free
🆕 Right Click → Create New File
This is the newest one for me. When you right-click on a Windows computer, you can create a new file, new text document, rich text document, folders, etc. However, on a Mac, you can only natively create a folder.
To fix this, there is a program you can download from the AppStore called “New File Menu”.
- New File Menu (Free or 2.99$):
Before:
After:
🔬 Running Windows Apps
You have multiple options for running Windows applications on macOS. If you have the Apple Silicon chip (2020 and newer), you have to use an emulator (BootCamp doesn’t work with newer models)
There are multiple options for you:
- Parallels - 99$ (this is what I use)
- UTM - Free
- VMWare Fusion - 199$ (this is geared toward business environments)
Closing
That should be a lot to get you started. I’ve found that there is almost always a way to make the macOS experience more tailor-made for yourself in a way that is useful. Try out these tips, and let me know if they helped.
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Seeya tomorrow,
Malachi Corliss
