Mac OS Learning Difficulties

Spaces, gestures, and Mission Control: Work in multiple spaces on Mac - Apple Support. You can work extremely fast.

I can't remember the last time I "minimized" any windows. The entire "windows" metaphor is tired outdated and clunky for the exact reasons you describe. There are no "windows" in iOS. There shouldn't be any on a Mac, and perhaps one day there won't be.

The Control key is not used the same way on Macs. It has its purposes but generally speaking think of the ⌘ key as your new Control key. Forget about remapping keys. If you're trying to make your Mac work like a Windows PC, it will work like a Windows PC... poorly.

Here's a short tutorial made with your needs in mind: Mac tips for Windows switchers - Apple Support, and a more comprehensive guide: Are you new to Mac? - Apple Support.

The faster you can un-learn Windows, the happier you'll be.

Hi smcca945,

Thanks for the detailed post!

If you're using Cmd-Tab to switch between open apps, you can show all windows of an app by selecting the app in Cmd-Tab, then pressing the down or up arrow key (as you're still holding down Cmd). To return to the list of open apps, just press Tab again. Also, Mission Control can be very helpful: swipe up with three or four fingers on the trackpad, or press CTRL-up.

You can also switch between the windows of the active app by pressing CTRL-down.

In regards to CTRL-C vs Cmd-C, unfortunately I don't have a solution to that yet. That said, if you're using Microsoft Remote Desktop on your Mac to access your Windows machines, there is an option in the app preferences (on the Mac) to use Mac shortcuts for copy, cut, paste, select all, undo, and find. This allows Cmd-C (and the other mentioned shortcuts) to act as CTRL-C.

Some apps may allow you to use Command + Tilde to cycle through the open windows within a single app.

You can also add the Shift key to the Command + Tilde combination or the Command + Tab combination to cycle the windows or apps in the other direction. (Command + Tilde + Shift, and Command + Tab + Shift)

It takes some getting used to using the Command key instead of the Control key. I sometimes still make mistakes since I use both macOS and Linux (Linux uses the Control key just like Windows). When you start messing with too much with the core structure of macOS such as the Command key functionality you are likely asking for problems just like @John Galt mentions. macOS really does not like to be modified/customized very much or things may break especially anything near the core functionality.