There are a number of methods, which may or may not sound acceptable to the non-Mac user:

First select your text, image, file, whatever in the appropriate way (clicking on it, clicking and dragging, typing the first few letters of the filename, holding down shift and using the arrow keys to highlight, using the arrow keys to move between files in a window etc. etc.). Then choose one of the following, listed in order of my preference:

  1. Resting your free hand gently on the keyboard, choose the appropriate keyboard shortcut: Command + X for "Cut", Command + C for "Copy" and Command + V for "Paste". (The Command key has an Apple symbol and a cloverleaf symbol on it)
  2. Lift your mouse ever so slighty from your mousing surface and flick it sharply forward so that the pointer flies up to towards the Edit menu (which is conveniently located in the same position on the screen at all times). You can then choose the desired command from this menu.
  3. Hold down the control key and click for a contextual menu, from which you can choose the desired command. If you install FinderPop, you can bring up a contextual menu just by holding the mouse button down.
  4. Choose one of the application-specific buttons or widgets that correspond to these commands.
  5. Acquire one of the dozens of multi-button mice and trackballs available for the Mac, and map your additional mouse buttons to whatever functions you require.

This may sound like dreadful hardship to users of multi-button mice, but I'm a Cut-and-paste maniac and I don't miss those extra buttons.

Actually, as both a windows, and macos user (among other OSes) I must say that I see nothing particularly convenient about being able to right click to select copy and/or paste. It is much faster to use the keyboard shortcuts than to have to be bothered with the mouse. Let's compare the difference between copying and pasting when using a PC and a Mac.

PC
Copy - Control + c
Cut - Control + x
Paste - Control + v

Mac
Copy - Command + c
Cut - Command + x
Paste - Command + v

If anything, the command key is located in a slightly more convenient place on the keyboard so it is actually easier to copy and paste on a mac than on a pc.... but that's just nitpicking.

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