One of my main reasons for starting my own business was that I could no longer face the morale-sapping combination of a Windows computer and corporate IT.
Whatever you do, make friends with the IT people.
Why would that be a good thing? Just curious…
I always disable Cortana because it makes Windows key searches instant when they’re local only. At least, that was the case when I last set up a new Windows machine.
Wasn’t Cortana separated from the search bar a while back?
You’re right! Looks like they split that out around early 2019. The settings I used to use to keep search local aren’t in those preferences anymore. Great change.
Meant to reply earlier but the maintenance prevented it.
Some further points I came to think about here:
VNC. Jump Desktop seems to exist for Windows. I’m thinking of situations where I’d maybe use my iPad Pro and access the Windows laptop when needed via remote access.
Mind mapping. iThoughts seems to have a Windows version. I usually use MindNode but intermittently try iThoughts as it is part of my Setapp subscription.
MacOS Services. I’m sometimes heavily dependent on Brett Terpstra’s awesome scripts and services, mainly Markdown Service Tools and SearchLink, and can’t really say that I’m savvy enough to be able to replicate the functionality outside of MacOS.
VPN. I’ve in the past been able to configure the Shimo app (also part of Setapp) with a Cisco SSL AnyConnect account.
And yeah some of this still hinges on what IT allows to be installed on a device.
Having spoken with IT briefly this week, I appreciate them being upfront about the reason for using only Windows machines, which is to make their job easier, which I knew, but I do like that they were frank about it. They also said that they might be open to changes if that’s really needed.
@larryoh first congrats on the new job! I also run a Mac at home and Windows for work. There are lots of good suggestions in this thread. A couple people mentioned one note for note taking. One note is a great app and may also be a partial replacement for drafts. I have not used drafts, but if I understand it correctly you can create a new note instantly and convert that to some type of deliverable. One note allows something similar a “quick note” can be generated instantly when pressing windows key + n. You can fill in your text and either exit out or leave it in the background and your note is automatically filed in your “quick notes” folder of one note by default. Then you can clear out your quick notes later and file them as needed. I use this a lot during meetings.
Also, window management out of the box is simpler on windows. Windows key + left arrow will resize your current window to the left side of your screen and offer you the remaining applications to split the other side of your screen. Windows Key + right arrow does the same on the other side. There are lots of other stock functions for window management that you may or may not like. Sometimes windows snap into the wrong place for me but if you’re using a big screen it’ll be easier.
Good luck!
I had the same thing a while back and made a page with tips for Windows: https://windowshacks.net/. It has become much better in the last 5 years.
Thank you!
I’ll have to try that One Note shortcut, might be useful. ON is one of those apps (like Asana…) I try every one a while that doesn’t work quite the way my brain works but always worth a new shot:)
Oh this is nice, thanks! Also, cool site! Where do you host it?
Thanks. It’s on Github.
I realize this thread is a little old but I’ve been using Windows more so I figured I’d throw a few more suggestions in here.
- Spotlight replacement: FluentSearch
It’s not as elegant as something like LaunchBar, or Alfred, but it has a lot of features and it’s constantly improving. One of the features I’ve come to love is the ability to manipulate anything on the screen. You can see it in action: Screen Search.
- Keyboard Maestro replacement: Windows Power Automate Desktop
I’m still digging into this one, but it has a lot of power and seems to support much of the workflow available with a tool like KM.
- AutoHotKey
I know this was mentioned in the post already, but it’s a powerhouse. It’s really finicky to get setup, but once it’s done I’ve been able to create a pseudo “hyper” key and get most of my VIM bindings to work well enough. I also was able to remap many of the common macOS shortcuts for easier text manipulation between macOS and Windows. I need to finish documenting it all and then I’ll post the full config.
Overall I’ve actually been mildly impressed with Windows 10. The OS itself isn’t half bad and there is a lot to like about it. My only gripe has been in software quality. It feels like we’re living in a mirror universe from the early 2000’s. I remember my first Mac was like this. Everything Apple did was great, but there was hardly any other software available for it. This is what Windows feels like now. Tons of great stuff being done by Microsoft and a few limited partners, but everyone else is focused on the web and macOS.
Just tried FluentSearch and I like it so far. It’s far more responsive than PowerToys Run and it’s better on a 4K monitor than Launchy. The only issue I have with it so far is that it provides an admin prompt when starting on my work laptop as it tried to install Everything search as a service. However, on my home machine it works really well. Doesn’t seem to have the calculator issues so far that I ran in to with PowerToys Run as well.
How did you manage the Hyperkey with AHK? I tried it the other day, and found that Windows has assigned the Hyper key to a Windows Office key! So I’ve had to assign it to only three keys, rather than 4.
That’s the kicker. I had to settle for a “pseudo” hyper key. What I mean by that is that it’s not one in the traditional macOS sense. I’ve remapped it to ESC on single press, and then I have it set to VIM arrow keybindings (h / j / k / l) if I hold it down. Lastly I then set a bunch of one-off keys for things like opening specific apps, or triggering other macros. So it doesn’t work exactly like macOS.
Welcome to my world. As much as I would like to dog Microsoft, Office 365 is very solid. I really like OneNote. It does an excellent job of keeping me organized. Also, OneDrive is handy, too.
Windows 10 is also decent. It is usable. Albeit, not my favorite operating system. I still prefer my Mac.
Windows at work. But at least I have the leverage to get additional software installed (1Password, TextExpander) on it, so it’s OK. I use OneDrive/OneNote for stuff that needs to move between the “PC” and my Mac.
Ah, Ok. At least I wasn’t going mad and I’ve got a similar setup.
I’d only really just discovered it on the Mac, so only had two or three shortcuts setup with it and it wasn’t to over the top yet. It was mainly used to launch a script when the laptop was docked - either at work or home (so whether it will mount work drives or my NAS, as well as launch specific programs)