I'm using Notes 8.5 on the Mac since two days for my daily work. This means I write much more stuff with a Mac software than before, as I used Notes on Windows in a Parallels session.

And for the first time, I am really frustrated with the Mac. That much that I have a hard time to continue using text writing software on the Mac and not going back to the Parallels session.

Why? Because I cannot execute menu commands with the keyboard.
For example, I'm writing a mail and want a bullet list. On Windows, I hit CTRL-T, L, ENTER and that's it. My hands stay on the keyboard and in less than one second I have my list. On the Mac, I need to use the mouse!
Or changing the color - same thing. On Windows, I can do it entirely with he keyboard, on the Mac I always have to move my right hand to the mouse, click here, click there and then return to the keyboard.

It does not matter if I use Notes or OpenOffice or anything else. There are always a couple of keyboard shortcuts for certain features, but still there are many functions not reachable by shortcuts. On the Mac that costs me time and effort because I need to bother the mouse.

So, did I overlook something? Why can't I reach menu items with the keyboard like on Windows? What is the solution?