Differences Of Excel For Mac And Windows

Additionally, a number of the plugins that are available for Windows Excel do no operate in the Mac environment, which is a sad loss. Given the choice of operating systems, Mac wins all the way, but given the choice of Excel versions, Windows definitely has the upper hand.

If you are new Mac users coming from years with MS Windows, some minor adjustment is necessary due to the differences in respective operating system, but none is too intimidating. The following 14 differences highlights the essential ones to get you up to speed with Mac OS X.

[Command ⌘] Key There is no [Windows] key in Mac off course. Instead you have the [Command ⌘] key. Usage however is entirely different. In Windows, the Ctrl key is used for keyboard shortcuts for the graphical user interface elements.

For example [Ctrl-c] to copy, [Ctrl-x] to cut and [Ctrl-v] to paste. But Mac has kept the Ctrl key to its default usage as per its Unix heritage, and use the Command ⌘ key instead for graphical user interface. Thus you use [⌘-c] to copy, [⌘-x] to cut and [⌘-v] to paste.

If you’re coming from Unix background, it is more logical and less confusing by not mixing Ctrl key for graphical usage. This is especially true for those who are used to using Ctrl keys, for example [Ctrl-c] to end a process, [Ctrl-a] to move to beginning of line, [Ctrl-e] to go to end of line, [Ctrl-k] to erase line etc. [Enter] key does not open document in Finder When a file or folder is highlighted in Finder, hitting the [Enter] key lets you edit the name of the file or folder, similar to hitting the [F2] key on Windows Explorer. A single click on the file/folder with the mouse will also lets you edit the name instead of opening the item. Many new Mac users are surprised at this behavior. Instead you use [⌘-o] to open the file/folder, or double-click the item with mouse. One menu bar The Mac has one menu bar which is always at the top of the display for all applications.

With application content in one or more windows below the menu. Best web design software for mac 2017. You can not ‘minimize’ and get rid of the menu. This is a very different design philosophy between Mac OS X and Windows.

Under Windows, the menu is ‘attached’ to the application window. In some Windows application that support multiple documents such as Photoshop, each document window is tied to the main window with the menu, sort of window-within-window design. If you have multi-monitor setup, this type of application will make viewing two documents side by side on two different monitors difficult.

Each application window on Mac OS X is independent of each others, and is a natural fit for multi-monitor setup. Maximize vs size to content If you are a Windows user that tends to maximize every window while you work, you might find it frustrating that Mac OS X behave differently for its “maximize button”. On the left top corner of each Mac OS X window are three buttons in red, yellow and green. The red button is to close the window and the yellow button is to minimize the window to the Dock. The green button however is “size to content” button instead of maximize. It’s size to content behavior is dependent on the implementation by individual app.

Application will determine the best maximum size to present the content. Not all apps will maximize to fill the entire screen like in Windows. Good examples are the Finder and Safari, which will give you larger view of the window instead of filling out the entire screen. Closing last window does not close the application In Windows, application will exit once you close the last window of the application.