Things I Could Do in Seconds on my PC, but not at all on my Mac

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Please forgive my newb-ousity. I just became a Mac after a lifetime as a PC, and I couldn't spare the $100 for One on One, so it's been largely trial an error this first 30 days. I am deeply in love with my new Mac, but I still cuss and scratch my head over these few things I struggle to do now, but were so easy back in the PC days….read on and advise if you can.

1. Search for files, and then sort the results by folder, or other factors.
I do love that the Finder provides a simple way for me to search my entire computer for things. It's very handy. My problem comes once the search results are displayed. For example, I want to search for every single picture on my computer, so I open Finder and enter jpg in the Spotlight. Viola, more than 10,000 .jpg files are listed almost instantly! But…

The only ways I can sort the files in finder are by Name, Kind, and Last Opened. And what I OFTEN want to sort by is what FOLDER the file(s) are in, so I can (re)organize things. However, headscratchingly, the only folder information for the files is displayed in a minuscule pathway beneath the search window that I can't manipulate. I can't select all of the jpg files from that folder without navigating to it from Places on the left, and often I don't want to visit the folder, I just want to move some or all of the things in it at once, by file type, without having to go to each separate folder. This sucks.

There are a couple of other columns that I often sorted search results by in Windows. Another missed one includes "Protected" (for music and other kinds of files), "Size", "Date Modified" (as opposed to last opened…or in addition to, rather)..and probably some others, but you get my drift.

2. Move a group of files from one place to a new or different folder, via cut and paste or drag and drop in the finder.
OK, so I've got my jpg search results in Finder again. Now, I want to select a group of them (or all of them), and MOVE (not copy) them to a brand spanking new folder I created in PICTURES. I highlight them all from the search results window, and….do nothing with them, because I can't SEE that nifty brand new folder I created for them in PICTURES from the Finder Window where my search results are displayed. My only "Places" options are the Desktop, my Home folder, Applications, or Documents.

Why can't my Home folder expand out to the other folders in it (kinda like Windows navigation) so I can easily drag and drop the selected search results into folders in it, MOVING them all into one place at once? If I want to move files, my options are to COPY them, then navigate to my special folder, and PASTE them there (thereby duplicating the files). Then, can I go back to those search results and delete the duplicates? No, because you can only have one Finder window open at the same time, the Finder killed the search when i navigated to the special folder, if I redo the search, I get a list of the newly duplicated jpgs, and all of the other ones, with no way to sort them by folder to see what is what…see #1.

So, everything just stays wherever it is on my Mac, or, if I must move something, it gets duplicated and since I can't easily find or distinguish original from duplicate anymore or sort in a useful way, gobs of my abundant hard drive storage go to waste.

3. Show the desktop/minimize all windows.

Surely there's some button or function to just take me back to serenity of a clean desktop, ala the "Show Desktop" button available in Window's Quick Launch toolbar?? I spend what I'm sure will add up to hours in a year, clicking the orange "minimize" button through windows I didn't even know or remember were opened.

4. See what windows/apps are open/running, and close some or all of them at once.
I LOVE the dock. I really do. But I HATE having unnecessary programs running, and I hate having lots of "windows" open at once. In Windows, you can see all the…well, windows, you have open at the bottom of your screen, and close to close them easily. Or, you can open Task Manager, and shut down applications and processes that way.

God only knows what is running and open on my Mac right now. The only time I seem to get a sense is when I am trying to minimize all the windows to get to my desktop. (See #3).

This is also headachy because I spend time searching/clicking/minimizing to locate active windows sometimes. Like, if I have more than one Safari Window open, you'd think that I could see and easily switch from window to window somewhere on my main screen. But no, I either have to minimize the present window (THEN it appears in the Dock on the right hand side) or I have to use the Safari "Merge All Windows" button, and click around.

5. Keep my internet surfs and searches organized.

Why the hell are so many Safari windows opening anyway? Can't I set it to somehow default to opening new tabs instead of new windows?

6. Delete text (the real delete, which sucks up text from the right, not backspace, which is what the Mac Delete key really is), easily go to the start of a sentence (Home key) or end of a sentence (End key), easily go to the top of a page (Control-Home) or bottom of a page (Control End)

Some forum surfing netted a way to replicate the features of the Home and End keys, but now I have to hold down 2 keys (Command and Arrow) instead of one, and my finger memory hasn't quite embraced that command key over the control key yet. Same goes for accessing Top and Bottom of page, while I struggle to master the multitouch swipe vs sweep etc…..

These are minor gripes compared to 1-5. Can anyone help with anyone of those??

Most gratefully,
Mistieyes:confused::)
 
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OK, as an update, I figured out how to show the desktop in a second by sweeping up on the multitouch pad with four fingers.
 

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