Im going to sound like a heathen but I bought a mac recently and I hate OSX. Things are just so counter intutive.
No they're not. You're just closed-minded and unwilling to take a minute to play around.
What kind did you get? Laptop or desktop? And do you have a mouse or trackpad? Apple's trackpads are phenomenal and I pretty much use mine exclusively. Haven't used a mouse in 3 years since my first MBP.
Why do I have to go from estoric button combination to rename a file?
What? Can you translate this sentence for me? What's bad about pressing Enter to rename a file? It's been that way since the beginning. Windows is the one that does it differently. And mainly because Windows came from DOS where Enter was always used to execute. So it carried over to Windows. Mac OS has always used Return (Enter) for renaming and Command+Down for opening. Which works with folders, files and applications. Command+Up will go up a level in the Finder as well.
why cant I make a window full screen without locking up the taskbar?
It's called Fullscreen for a reason. And the "taskbar" is still there. Place the mouse at the bottom (Or whatever side you have it on) and then drag towards the edge again to pop it up.
Why can't I highlight text and drag it around a document?
You can. Highlight the text, press and hold for half a second and move it where you want. It will move the cursor to show where it will go. You can also drag text, as well as images and other things between windows, drop them on the desktop to create clippings or save images from browsers and other applications. And best of all, if you use Fullscreen mode, you can move dragged data between spaces either by dragging to the edge of the screen and waiting for it to switch (About a second delay) or while still dragging just press Control+Left/Right to switch between spaces. You can also, if you're agile enough, use your thumb to hold the file as if it were on a mouse button and use your other three/four fingers to swipe between spaces as well. (If you're on a Magic Trackpad)
why is it so hard to have two windows side by side like windows 7 snap feature?
Do yourself a favor. Like everyone else new, you MUST download BetterTouchTool. It implements this feature (As do about half a dozen OTHER utilities) as well as so many other things.
whats the purpose of that widget screen? its just a pain in the ass.
You can disable it if you don't want it. Google for "disable dashboard".
why do I have to put a application in the appication folder manually when I install it?
You don't. You can put it anywhere, but it is more organized to put it there. Installing on Mac OS is different, some apps have installers, other are self contained. If you put it in Applications you get the benefit of it showing up in LaunchPad.
Why are the file view options so crap. Where Is my large thumbnails, small thumbnails etc? Sometimes preview isn't enough.
Play around in the Finder. Press Command+J to show options for a folder and Command+1, 2 or 3 to switch between views. Use the "Alwatys open in" options too.
But I'll admit the Finder is pretty buggy. It works well, but it has quirks. It has things over Windows' Explorer, but also lacks a few things Explorer has. If you want a replacement file manager, check out Path Finder.
I will give the actual hardware its props cus it is very well enginered, but Im this close to just installing windows and done.
Just take some time to play around. My dad had absolutely no trouble adapting to OS X as did my brother and sister. And they all came from Windows as did I. The learning curve is so small it's not even funny. It's only the people who are so set in their ways and unwilling to try different approaches that have problems. If you're going to write it off without even playing around then you probably shouldn't have switched in the first place.
Please take some time to get to know the OS before writing it off. If you still can't get used to it, sell the computer for a pretty penny and buy yourself another Windows machine. If you decide to stay, we welcome you to the family.