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Comment by zwaps | Hacker News Reader

Conversely, switching from Windows/Linux to MacOS is also very painful.

For instance, why is there no way to minimize to desktop? Having to use Command+Button to go to beginning/end of a line? A horror for coding.

My favorite pain point: @ in some regional keyboard layouts for Win/Linux is ALTGR+Q, whereas the keys with the same physical action in MacOS close the program. Fun when writing emails, or using passwords and logins.

Also, whether its due to capability or lack thereof, MacOS has the most custom UIX apps/addons/plugins of any OS. Heck, our corporate Macs come with some of those preinstalled.

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Yes, of course migrating to macOS is equally painful.

But after doing that transition myself many years ago and then back to Windows now... I think that the macOS shortcuts are objectively better. The consistency across the whole system is hard to describe unless you have experienced it, and the distinction between Ctrl and Cmd is quite ergonomic.

I'm kind of sad that, in 1995, when Microsoft introduced the Win and Menu keys... these did not become _the_ keys to drive shortcuts. I think it's only until recently that extra shortcuts have been added to the Win key.

> Having to use Command+Button to go to beginning/end of a line? A horror for coding.

Cmd-arrow keys work fine for this, if you are willing to take your hands off the home row, which I am generally loathe to do.

The Mac inherited emacs keystrokes from the NeXT days, so control a (beginning of line) and control e (end of line) “just work” in any text widget. Likewise open a line, kill a line, previous or next line.. .with 40+ years of those wired into my fingertips I didn’t even notice that I was using them!

On Mac, ⌘ + M minimizes a window (like on Windows) and ⌘ + H hides all of an app's windows.

You can then use ⌘ + Tab [+ Arrows] to get back to both minimized windows and hidden apps. Combined, this window-access flow is simple yet powerful.

> For instance, why is there no way to minimize to desktop?

There is I think. Something like Cmd+F3? I use this a lot.

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