Windows user to Mac - Tips, Suggestions & Apps

Nimz said:
Any power bank suggestions?
Specifically for load shedding etc
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Generally it's about > R1000, if you see something cheaper just make sure it's PD 3.0. The marketing tries to conflate it with QC 3.0.

I know of the following:
Aukey PB-XD26, personally have this but not sure if it's still out of stock locally. Works with Intel MacBook Pro.
RAVPower RP-PB095, a friend has this. Works with Intel MacBook Pro.
Yoobao 30Book, I'm going to be honest I was a bit doubtful especially with the price. I haven't tested this on a MacBook, but it works with my Lenovo laptop.

If it's just for emergencies, then get the Yoobao, it's cheap. I've bought 2.
 
Nimz said:
Any power bank suggestions?
Specifically for load shedding etc
Click to expand...

How long are your sheds then, the M1 lasts like 10 hours on a single charge for me for work. I wanted one for my intel MB, but complete waste of money for the M1.
 
CranialBlaze said:
How long are your sheds then, the M1 lasts like 10 hours on a single charge for me for work. I wanted one for my intel MB, but complete waste of money for the M1.
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Way easier to replace a power bank than a battery if you wreck it.
 
CranialBlaze said:
How does on wreck a battery by using it the way it was intended?
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Not over night, but you’ll see the effect quicker than anyone else.

Running it down close to 0% and letting it stay there, the inverse is also true but that’s fixed by software.
The charge cycles would increase, but it isn’t caused by normal usage.
 
DA-LION-619 said:
Not over night, but you’ll see the effect quicker than anyone else.

Running it down close to 0% and letting it stay there, the inverse is also true but that’s fixed by software.
The charge cycles would increase, but it isn’t caused by normal usage.
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Yeah but you don’t leave it on over night and load shedding is seldom done with 5 minutes notice so it’s easy to make sure there’s enough charge to last the 2 hours.

Also Apple can be left plugged in, it has overcharge protection which disconnects the battery once it hits 100% and then it runs over mains. Still not leaving it overnight, but it is technically safe.

Given the battery life and the ability to prepare, a backup power bank is likely to be noticing more than an expensive paperweight unless of course you choose to not be bothered to prepare.

I had load shedding at like noon the other day, had fully charged it the day before and plugged it back in again the day after, got 2 full work days on it. On a heavy work day I’ll get 1 out of it, will run it down in a little over 10 hours, but that still 8 more than a shed.
 
CranialBlaze said:
Yeah but you don’t leave it on over night and load shedding is seldom done with 5 minutes notice so it’s easy to make sure there’s enough charge to last the 2 hours.

Also Apple can be left plugged in, it has overcharge protection which disconnects the battery once it hits 100% and then it runs over mains. Still not leaving it overnight, but it is technically safe.

Given the battery life and the ability to prepare, a backup power bank is likely to be noticing more than an expensive paperweight unless of course you choose to not be bothered to prepare.

I had load shedding at like noon the other day, had fully charged it the day before and plugged it back in again the day after, got 2 full work days on it. On a heavy work day I’ll get 1 out of it, will run it down in a little over 10 hours, but that still 8 more than a shed.
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Okay, I get where you’re coming from.
2 hours is really minimal, I don’t know @Nimz usage or how long loading shedding is experienced.

Having been in back to back situation, >16 hours, it’s been handy there.
 
DA-LION-619 said:
Okay, I get where you’re coming from.
2 hours is really minimal, I don’t know @Nimz usage or how long loading shedding is experienced.

Having been in back to back situation, >16 hours, it’s been handy there.
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Then it would be invaluable definitely.

Was wanting one when I still had the intel Mac, unless it was at absolutely 100% there was an abysmal chance it would last a 2 hour shed.
 
Not specifically load shedding only. We've had multiple cable thefts near the substation that provides us with power - sometimes for 24 -30 hours at a time.

Can't install an inverter / solar as i'm in an apartment for now, so my only other option is portable power in form of a power bank
 
Anyone else having issues with trackpad preferences resetting on Big Sur?

So I'll untick tap to click and change the mission control finger gesture from a 4 to 3 finger swipe up.
These preferences will somehow reset back to the default and I can't figure out why.

This is also the case with the 3 finger drag to move windows. It will untick soon after setting it.
 
So no mention of any M1 successors at WWDC just yet.

@Bryn, keeping the M1 for a little while longer?
 
@Bryn … Some software suggestions:

Keyboard Maestro. Seriously, the godfather of automation on the Mac. MacOS’s Automator, but on acid. And speed. Be careful of their forums — once you start seeing what Mac users are doing with KM, that’s a rabbit hole of automation fun that can lose one weeks of time.

Alfred was mentioned. Yes please, working on a different Mac without it feels broken. But do yourself a favour, and have a look through their forums to see what the PowerPack unlocks. Life-changing.

BetterTouchTool was mentioned, and is a no-brainier. Think trackpad gestures on steroids, and then some.

TextExpander (or equivalent), for anyone whose job revolves around plenty of repetitive text/queries.

Hazel by Noodlesoft. For automating file manipulation and much more. Hazel was my gateway drug when coming over to the Mac. I had it trawl through 1,5k PDFs to confirm which ones were not OCR’ed, sorted them accordingly, and then feed those +/- 900 PDFs through PDFPen, to OCR each of them, over the course of a few hours, all through an automated workflow. Saved me weeks (if not months) of time.

Default Folder X. If you are frequently saving files, this will make your life far easier.

Popclip. Text selection workflows. Kind-of.

Yoink. Drag shelf and share “portal”.

SnappyApp. I use this simple app all the time, every day. So simple, so incredibly useful.


That’s off the top of my head. Hope that helps.
As an aside, the standard Apple apps, and running macOS vanilla is a perfectly acceptable way to go. But in my view, using the aforementioned apps really brings home the potential of macOS, and how much more integrated productivity/automation apps are within the Mac OS, compared to Windows.
 
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@Cassady

Shortcuts are coming with macOS Monterey, which presumably renders Maestro and other shortcut apps obsolete:

www.apple.com

OS - macOS Tahoe

macOS Tahoe with a new design, more ways to work seamlessly across devices, and new features to turbocharge productivity every day.
www.apple.com

I eventually uninstalled the free version of Alfred because I just didn't use it. Spotlight is more than sufficient for my simple needs. BetterTouchTool is great and I use it via Setapp. I recall that Yoink is on Setapp too. I'll check out the recommendations you made that I'm unfamiliar with. Thanks!
 
Bryn said:
@Cassady

Shortcuts are coming with macOS Monterey, which presumably renders Maestro and other shortcut apps obsolete:

www.apple.com

OS - macOS Tahoe

macOS Tahoe with a new design, more ways to work seamlessly across devices, and new features to turbocharge productivity every day.
www.apple.com

I eventually uninstalled the free version of Alfred because I just didn't use it. Spotlight is more than sufficient for my simple needs. BetterTouchTool is great and I use it via Setapp. I recall that Yoink is on Setapp too. I'll check out the recommendations you made that I'm unfamiliar with. Thanks!
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The problem with Alfred is they a bit daft, the tool is worthless in its free form, 99% of its power comes from the paid version, for which there is no trial.

I had downloaded a paid version from a 3rd part source and only then decided it was worth paying for. Like what’s the point in a free version that completely disables to only feature that would make people consider buying it…
 
CranialBlaze said:
The problem with Alfred is they a bit daft, the tool is worthless in its free form, 99% of its power comes from the paid version, for which there is no trial.

I had downloaded a paid version from a 3rd part source and only then decided it was worth paying for. Like what’s the point in a free version that completely disables to only feature that would make people consider buying it…
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I kind of agree, they need to offer a 7 day trail with full functionality. Alfred is much more than just shortcuts. I eventually bought mine because I've watched videos on YT about workflows and the other stuff and thought it could be really useful. It is a tad pricey though imo
 
prOd said:
I kind of agree, they need to offer a 7 day trail with full functionality. Alfred is much more than just shortcuts. I eventually bought mine because I've watched videos on YT about workflows and the other stuff and thought it could be really useful. It is a tad pricey though imo
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Agreed, but if you take advantage of that full power it does pay for itself, i took mega supporter so that’s a 1 time payment for as long as I don’t loose my license key.
 
Bryn said:
@Cassady

Shortcuts are coming with macOS Monterey, which presumably renders Maestro and other shortcut apps obsolete:

www.apple.com

OS - macOS Tahoe

macOS Tahoe with a new design, more ways to work seamlessly across devices, and new features to turbocharge productivity every day.
www.apple.com

I eventually uninstalled the free version of Alfred because I just didn't use it. Spotlight is more than sufficient for my simple needs. BetterTouchTool is great and I use it via Setapp. I recall that Yoink is on Setapp too. I'll check out the recommendations you made that I'm unfamiliar with. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I’m not holding my breath on what Shortcuts might have to offer. Whilst it will no doubt make basic automation much more viable, and will allow some scope for more advanced automation, given how it will subsume Automator eventually, there is a day and night difference between what Automator offers straight out if the box (in the absence of AppleScript/other scripting), and what the apps I mention, particularly KM bring to the party.

That said, Shortcuts will undoubtedly overlap to some extent with what the others offer at a basic level, but would be suprised if it allows for more advanced functionality. Of course, scripting language incorporation will change that, but it is quite remarkable what can be done via KM, Hazel, Alfred without having to go that route. KM conflict palettes, for example — the greatest thing since sliced bread, imo!! And when you do use scripts, it ramps up exponentially.

But regardless, does make sense to wait a few months to see what the Mac version of Shortcuts offers, and then decide from there. Maybe Apple gets serious about automation on the Mac again, and blows it out of the water!
 
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