I love my Macs, but I know they can be a little frustrating for the uninitiated, particularly those who come to the platform from Windows with absolutely no experience on the Mac. My goal with this blog entry is to help ease the transition a bit by addressing some of the frustrations that I've seen Mac neophytes rant about. I should say that 99% of the Mac converts I've seen can use their computer as-is, out of the box. The stuff I'm talking about here are the devils lurking in the details; the little things that can drive people nuts.

Solving the Frustrations

1. I love the Mac, but this single-button mouse thing has to go.

I'm right there with you. Fortunately, you can ditch your Mac mouse in favor of the two-button variety found in Windowsland. Any USB-based, multi-button mouse will work just fine under Mac OS X (and heck, even under earlier versions). You don't even need to install any extra software (though that maybe useful in order to extend your mouse's capabilities). And yes, even your scroll wheel will work.

I use a Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical Mouse. Runs about $25 nowadays; I recommend buying it, and then downloading the drivers from Microsoft's Mac site. Or you could wait until Apple comes out with its rumored multi-button mouse.

2. How do I say "Mac OS X"?

Technically, the proper way to say it is "Mac OS Ten", since this is the tenth version of the Macintosh operating system. In truth though, lots of people -- including confirmed Mac addicts like me -- also refer to it as "X", as in, "Mac OS X". That said you may draw the ire of Fanatical True Believers if you call it "X" instead of "Ten". Just tell