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Comment by jasode | Hacker News Reader

>It's shocking to me how far ahead MacOS is in terms of keyboard shortcuts compared to all other operating systems. [...] Everything just makes sense logically and mnemonically [...]

I get your point but macOS still has inconveniences for many tasks:

- maximize a window: on MS Windows, it's Winkey+UpArrow. On macos, it's more complicated: https://superuser.com/questions/718600/keyboard-shortcut-to-...

- bring up file manager: on Windows to bring up File Explorer, it's Winkey+E. On macos, it took until Yosemite 10.10 to provide a non-intuitive keyboard shortcut for Finder: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/114933/is-there-a-...

- view active process list: on Windows, it's Ctrl+Shift-Esc to bring up Task Manager. On macOS to bring up Activity Monitor, it's more complicated: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/1520/is-there-a-ke...

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Bring up Finder: ⌘␣ "finder" ⏎ Bring up Activity Monitor: ⌘␣ "am" ⏎

Hardly difficult, especially for the pros who tend to be touch typists.

There's also ⌥⌘esc if you just want to quickly kill an app.

Also for Finder, you can enable the "Show Finder search window" Spotlight shortcut and set it to whattever pleases you.

>Bring up Finder: ⌘␣ "finder" ⏎

That's 9 keys (including "return" key) pressed vs just 2 for Winkey+E.

>Hardly difficult,

Well, we're on HN so I don't claim things are "difficult" for any of us techies. I say it's "inconvenient" -- especially relative to other operating systems since this thread is making comparisons.

>Also for Finder, you can enable [...]

Sure, there are often workarounds for various inconveniences. The Superuser links I cited mentioned some too.

On a Mac, you can switch to the Finder and ⌘N. Not possible on Windows because on Windows, an application cannot be in the foreground if it does not have any windows.

Once you have the Finder window open you have column view, and you can browse the filesystem with nothing more than arrow keys (and no modifiers). Preview any document with space. Rename documents without reaching over to the F-keys.

>switch to the Finder

Is there a quicker way to do this than clicking the dock icon or using spotlight?

Command-Tab switcher. Command-N for a New Window if you don’t already have one open.

For a more advanced trick, use the Command-Tab switcher, after taking your finger off of tab once the application you want is selected, but before you take your finger off the command key, press the option key, and then take your finger off the command key and then take your finger off the option key. This sounds more complicated than it is but once you get used to it, it’s straightforward and the following behavior will execute.

1. If there are no open windows, the most recent minimized window for that application will unminimize and take focus.

2. If there are no open windows and no minimized windows, a new window will open, as in the Finder, Terminal or Safari.

In an application like BBEdit or TextMate, it will create a new file, and in the case of TextEdit or Pages, the Document chooser or whatever Apple calls this dialog will pop-up. In an application like Notes, the main window will appear.

This all sounds complicated, but if you know your applications well, and what type of application it is, you’ll quickly suss our the pattern that it is basically a Command-N shortcut from the switcher except for some of those newfangled iCloud-aware and/or Database-centric apps.

Command Option Space

Or consider Alfred App which has fuzzy search:

“Command Space” then “fd”

Will find finder. That’s around 3 or 4 keys

The huge problem (in my experience) with the Windows key and associated shortcuts is accidentally hitting it when you don’t intend. Like you want to hit control but hit Windows key and your context gets totally messed up

Command option space opens a search window in the Finder. Or you can use command tab, or use the gesture / button to show desktop and click. Lots of options.

> Bring up Finder: ⌘␣ "finder" ⏎

I had a finder window open still on another workspace. Doing this still does not give you a new finder window. You then have to press cmd+n...

> Bring up Activity Monitor: ⌘␣ "am" ⏎

If I wait a second before pressing enter, spotlight decides that instead of Activity Monitor, Dropbox.app is now the top hit for this query.

You need to turn off the Siri suggestions and Web results in Spotlight. That’s what caused it to go so bad some five years ago. Disable it I tell you.

I did this in Safari too hoping to fix their race condition bugs with the autocomplete. Sometimes I can even paste a full URL, see it in the entry field, hit enter, and Safari just loads the previous address again as if I had just pressed enter. Crazy that these types of bugs are sneaking in.

To be clear, that first one is pretty outdated, and while Yosemite was not day one, it was over 6 years ago now.

>maximize a window

Control-Command-F: Use the app in full screen, if supported by the app.

>file manager

Option-Command-Space brings up a Finder window from anywhere I believe, but defaults it to search mode, so you may have to chain the shortcut for a particular directory or Go to Folder after that.

I'm guessing the Activity Monitor thing is more that there is not a dedicated shortcut for launching any single app in macOS (that I can think of).

Command + Shift + g in Finder brings up a "Go To Folder" window so you can type in a folder and go directly to it. Bonus 1: it supports tab completion. Bonus 2: this also works in file open dialogs.

Another plug for Alfred App and fuzzy search:

“Command - Space” then “av” gets me to Activity monitor instantaneously

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