Mac OSX (Part 2)

[benthehutt]

I have another question about general Mac OS v. Windows architecture, but it must be prefaced w/an example:

Say I'm typing away in JEdit on a mac and I want to go to the beginning of the line, I type COMMAND + ARROW.  Then I switch to Text Edit and I have to type CONTROL + ARROW to get to the beginning of the line.  Some other programs you type HOME, some dialog boxes are HOME and some are COMMAND + ARROW.

On a windows box, though, HOME works for everything.  In every dialog box, every program, HOME works.  (Most every program)

This is just one example, but my question is "Why are commands on a mac non-uniform, and on a pc uniform"?  Ctrl-C is always copy, but COMMAND-C is not always copy.  Surely it is not up to program writers on PCs to use the same shortcuts, they would of screwed up long ago.  I don't know why anyone would know this, but in the development cycle somewhere is a mac less rigid than a pc?

I don't know really how to ask this or what I'm asking for, but if anyone knows what I'm talking about, or could if I gave more info...

[Tazinator]

With Windows, just about all applications use the MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes) to interface with the OS which is where the standards come from. They dont nessisarily "have to" but it makes it easier for developers and if they used Visual Studio to make the app, its damn near automatic. Im sure we all remember getting "MFC**.dll" errors in Windows in the past, well, thats what that was.

If you notice, some Java applications those hotkey combos in Windows dont work. Try doing the copy/paste shortcut on a Java app and most of the time, it wont work.

There are more coding language options with a Mac. With Mac's you have Applescript, Cocoa, Objective-C, Java, etc and they all have their own way of interfacing with the system thus results the variations.

[benthehutt]

Ooooohh...  It's all coming together now, all the MFC C++ applications I made in Windows, aha!  Thanks Taz, I wasn't expecting someone to be able to answer so thoroughly from my mess of words.