Ever since I started using computers, they’ve been running a Windows OS. In school, at home and anywhere else. My first laptop was an HP running Windows 10, and later, Windows 11.

A couple of days ago, however, I bought my first MacBook (a 13-inch M2 Air) and set it up. I’d had an iPhone for the last couple of months because of breaking my last phone (an Android) and wanted to progress to an entirely Apple-based ecosystem of technology.

I thought it would be a nice change to write a quick piece about all the most interesting differences that I’ve found between working on Windows and Mac so far.

Some of the ones in this list might interest you, as they’re quite unusual, so stay tuned to see what I think of the technology of the most valuable company in the world.

Let’s dive in…

Installing apps

This might sound a bit ridiculous, but I’d only had experience installing programs on Windows before recently. Of course, I was able to figure out how to install programs from the App Store, but some of the tools that I like to use aren’t available there.

This meant that I had to figure out exactly how to install files that I’d downloaded from the internet. I’d never dragged the icon across into the applications folder before, and I made a hash of doing this the first couple of tries.

Once I got this under control I had to go about building a system that was going to allow me to create work efficiently on my Mac…

Stock apps vs normal tools

There aren’t any useful productivity offerings installed on Windows by default.

This is different on a Mac, which sports a native application for notes, calendar, mail and reminders/tasks to list just a couple.

I wanted to continue using the apps that I had done for productivity previously, but I’ve started to see the attraction of using the stock Mac apps.

They integrate nicely with each other using iCloud, and they’re quite simple so I’m not going to have to go to any effort to build a complex system for getting work done.

I’ll keep trying out other productivity offerings because this is what I write about a lot on Medium, but I think I’ll work in Apple Notes and Reminders in the future.

Key bindings

The option and command keys are new to me with this Mac too. I’ve used control, alt and the Windows key all my life, so I’ve been adjusting to using the new MacOS keys. There are some other little nuances that have taken some acclimatisation as well:

  • The red X button in the corner of an app minimises the window to the dock rather than closing it
  • The Finder remains constantly open on the system

I had the dock hidden for a while when I started it took me ages to realise how many apps I’d left open due to the above.

A lot of this article perhaps seems like complaints, although I’m simply remarking on what I’m noticing as someone who’s never used MacOS before. I’m very grateful to have gained access to some more powerful technology for my work.

There are a lot of things that are going to take some adjusting to on my new MacBook, but I think that’s what sets Apple’s technology apart from others. It’s something different and upgraded, so I’m looking forward to testing it out some more, especially when it comes to editing photo and video work in my projects.