[Swordmaker]

Have the object bar (which btw, I run on my Vista via Stardock's ObjectDock) set to auto-hide? Then you can't drag-and-drop to it.

My Dock is auto-hide... and I drag and drop to and from it all the time. Perhaps you don't really know how to use a Mac?

Have the program window open, like Photoshop, and want to drag your image from your Finder window? Nope - you've got to drag it down to the icon on the Dock.

Photoshop, yes, but that was a choice that Adobe made—to ignore Apple's user interface standards—in any Apple application dragging from the Finder to the application window, or between application windows, or from an application window to a Finder window works fine. Universal dragging and dropping is something that the Mac does very well.

You can also drag and drop from any application into Photoshop with no problem.

Want to replace the shell with a different one? Nope.

There are a number of Finder replacements including Quicksilver.

Want to change the look and feel of the GUI? Nope. Maybe add a background image to your Finder windows, but that's about it.

Yes, you can. I can understand that the University might not allow you to do that to their computers, though.

Use a custom cursor? Nope.

You can do that, too.

But why would you want to do those things? Every Windows machine I've seen with Themes and fancy cursors is almost impossible to use accurately... finding the active point on a custom pointer that's a swinging gorilla can be very difficult. In my opinion, they all get in the way of productivity. And for God's sake - someone please tell me how to go to 'home' and 'end' of a sentence in a browser window! Really - I have to use their Macs I want to know.

You can use Command Left and Right arrow to move to the beginning and ending of a line.

[the anti-liberal]

"My Dock is auto-hide... and I drag and drop to and from it all the time. Perhaps you don't really know how to use a Mac?"

Or it may be that their OS version doesn't support it.

".. but that was a choice that Adobe made.. Universal dragging and dropping is something that the Mac does very well."

That's good to hear, though I prefer what you call the 'option click.' And yes, I know that can be done in Macs now - I use it with the graphic tablet stylus (Wacom, on their Macs and on my PC) and, I'll admit, the function of the option click in the Mac tends to be frustrating (and with limited functionality), but it may just be their Wacom tablets - I'm using the Bamboo, cheaper, but it seems to work better).

"There are a number of Finder replacements including Quicksilver."

There are tons of little explorer replacements like that for Windows - I stay away from them, they're interesting little gimmicks, but who cares? These are not shell replacements. Litestep, for example, replaces explorer.exe with litestep.exe in the boot menu, runs much lighter than explorer.exe and is far more configurable.

"Yes, you can. I can understand that the University might not allow you to do that to their computers, though."

Well that's news. I looked it over and I see they're many limitations, not the least of which is the small number of themes available. There are literally thousands of Stardock Windowblinds themes - and it doesn't matter what version of Windows you run them on. But it's nice to see that the Mac is making it possible for their users to set-up their own workspaces they way they, the users, want it.

"But why would you want to do those things? ... a custom pointer that's a swinging gorilla..."

If that's you're notion of a custom cursor, I don't blame you - I'd be loath to use one too. Cursor FX themes. They're not all good, in fact, only a few are, but the ones that are, are. And very usable, imo.

"You can use Command Left and Right arrow to move to the beginning and ending of a line."

Thanks! Every Mac user I've asked, including my teachers - who were ostensibly supposed to be teaching me how to use the Mac - hadn't been able to answer that. So really, thanks (though it's still less convenient then simply pressing 'home' or 'end').

In the end, I'd say the many things they've done (Mac), such as add support for 'option clicks,' have made the Mac much more usable, but the many quirks still steer me away.

I suppose those quirks are beloved by the Mac user the way the old Porsche's quirks are beloved by the Porsche driver but which, to everyone else, are just quirks.

For me, I've disliked Windows, but disliked the Mac more. Now I continue to dislike Windows and dislike Macs just a little less then before, but can use it if needed.

Thanks for your sincere and considered response, btw.