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Ask HN: Move to Mac OS or Stick with Windows?

3 points by martin_a 10y ago

Hey! My boss offered me a hardware upgrade and I am thinking about switching from my Lenovo notebook to a Mac Book Pro. As I am working in a media company, I know MBPs quite well from my colleagues, but I´ve never owned or used one because I´m kind of a "Windows child". Nevertheless I like the design and I know that those things are rock-solid working devices. I am working in a project leader/developer position so I need the Adobe Creative Cloud, standard office applications, but also a small web development stack. Mostly git, Notepad++, MySQL Workbench, things like that (not really stuck to those tools, just using them right now). I think I might be better off for the whole web development thing by using Mac OS, because of the underlying CLI and its unix roots and because quite a few nice apps might be exclusivly available for OS X. On the other hand I´m worried about switching from Windows (which I know for about 15 years now) to a new operating system which I had the last "real" contact with in 2009 during my apprenticeship. Will I get around Mac OS or will I struggle with everyday tasks? Did anyone of you make the switch? Would it make sense? Any questions you want to ask me or I should ask myself? Edit #1: I told my boss I am concerned about leaving Windows because there might be some software I could be missing. He said he is running Parallels on his MBP for our ERP/CRM tool and it just works fine. So nothing to worry about?

lhorie 10y ago
Some things you'll probably find annoying: macbook shortcut keys kinda suck (in windows they're pretty much always ctrl+something, in mac, some are ctrl+something, some are command+something, some are option+something, some are fn+something, and combos w/ 2 or 3 modifier keys are fairly common. Learning those shortcuts is a pain in the ass too because you have to mentally translate the cryptic icons you find in menus into actual words, as opposed to just reading the words as you would in windows). I have yet to find a good drop-in replacement for notepad++ for mac. Atom is ok, but it lags noticeably, if you're used to n++ snappiness. Other editors I've tried in the past had similar issues. Finder is significantly underpowered compared to explorer. For example, you can't cut and paste, or setup default file associations with the same level of ease as windows. Also, navigability kinda sucks. Tabbing between windows of a same app (e.g. multiple finder windows, or going from a chrome window to chrome incognito window) is impossible via any modifier+tab combo.
- stephenr 10y ago
  Wat macOS keyboard shortcuts have always been better - more consistent by default and fully configurable for apps with a native menu bar. Finder.app has had support for "move to here" after a copy since 2011 Cmd-tab cycles apps, Cmd-Tilde cycles windows of the app. Why are you so stuck on it being the tab key?
  - lhorie 10y ago
    It's annoying (to me) because of muscle memory. Maybe it's "better" for you if you're already used to the way mac does things, but the OP mentioned 15 years on windows, and this is my opinion on the transition experience, coming from the same place. > macOS keyboard shortcuts have always been better - more consistent by default In windows, cut+paste is always ctrl+x > ctrl+v. In mac chrome/atom, it is command+x > command+v, but in finder it's not. In explorer and in apps, select via up/down > enter opens things, in finder it enters rename mode. In windows, app-level tabbing is ctrl+tab, in mac sometimes it's alt+`, sometimes ctrl+tab. In windows, show desktop is a one-handed shortcut, in a MBP it's not (fn+f11). In windows virtually everything is right-clickable. In launchpad, for example, right click doesn't do anything, and some icons can't be removed via the hold > jiggle flow. In mac chrome, command+shift+n is incognito mode, but command+option+i opens console. command+shift+i of course opens mail. etc etc etc
    - stephenr 10y ago
      > in finder it's not The finder doesn't have cut. It has "move" as an alternative to "paste". App level window switching is always command-~ (tilde). Any app doing otherwise is non standard. Macs have had a show-desktop keyboard button for years. Virtually everything is righ clickable in macos. You've picked one case where it isn't. macs have multiple modifier keys, that's a fact. For most technical users I'd say that's a positive. There's only so many combinations you can make with one modifier key.
      - lhorie 10y ago
        > Macs have had a show-desktop keyboard button for years. My MBP definitely doesn't have one :( > macs have multiple modifier keys, that's a fact. For most technical users I'd say that's a positive. There's only so many combinations you can make with one modifier key. True. Personally, I feel like windows has put more thought into it, since the vast majority of commonly used shortcuts are ctrl+something there (and some are even easier, being simply f1-f12), which makes them very easy to memorize them. I get the rationale for things in macs if I stop and think about it (like the move vs paste thing), but that's the thing, I need to stop and think about it, because it's not ingrained in muscle memory :(
mee_too 10y ago
Switching OS is not an easy task. I'd say go for an MBP only if you have a lot of passion to play with OS X. If you don't like the Apple OS, you have the option to use an MBP as a native Windows laptop. IMHO in the last few years HP, Lenovo and especially Dell have caught up and overtaken Apple laptops. I'd recommend you buy a Dell with high resolution screen (from Full HD to 4k), upgradable components - RAM, PCIe disk, WiFi module, LTE module, and extended battery. For the price of MBP you'll get more memory, more disk and the option to upgrade down the line. The Bash/Ubuntu/Windows Subsystem for Linux has pretty good Unix CLI on Win 10. In the end both Win and Mac suck, go for Linux or BSD :)
- martin_a 10y ago
  I´m open to learn anything new, so Mac OS is just another step of learning something. Nevertheless I will have a look into the Dell options, I heard they are building great laptops, too. (Pure Linux/BSD is the next step, once Adobe has ported its CC to Linux... ;-D)
  - akulbe 10y ago
    You're probably going to be waiting a looooong time for that last piece. :)
    - martin_a 10y ago
      Never give up! ;-D
akulbe 10y ago
I just made the switch from macOS back to Windows. (after being a Mac user for ~14 years.) If you're a power user, stick with Windows. My general feeling is that Apple prioritizes thin and light over what is important to most power users. If you don't care, broaden your horizons. The argument about dev'ing from UNIX environment is almost moot with Windows Subsystem for Linux now. It's not fully-baked, but 99% of the pain I thought would be there from doing a UNIX -> Windows workflow switch, it's just not there.
- martin_a 10y ago
  Hm, I think I read about someone going back to Windows from Mac because of that. It was quite popular here on HN, were you the guy? I will have a look at the Linux Subsystem anyways. Can´t be wrong to check that.
  - akulbe 10y ago
    Maybe? It's been a popular discussion lately, across multiple posts. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13751510 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13751510 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13726186 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13726186 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13673925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13673925 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13695894 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13695894