7 ms·

Why I'm Switching from Mac to Windows (2009-2018)

32 points by stargrave 8y ago

yayana 8y ago
(2009) and back when a 3.5 year old Mac was worse than a current Mac.
chrisper 8y ago
The title should have a (2009) in it. Then the website and the article make more sense.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  There’s an update to the article that is somewhat recent; perhaps that’s what the poster wanted to showcase?
saagarjha 8y ago
This is interesting to look back on from our current perspective. I don’t think I agree with the author’s recent addendum, though.
- pingec 8y ago
  Which part don't you agree with?
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    Most of it. > Like, never plug in a usb from a stranger. This will not give you malware unless you actually run something from the USB, AFAIK. > And linux is always some years behind in supporting any bleeding edge tech, Such as any hand writing recognization, speech recognization, voice to speech, addon devices, display port 2 monitors, USB 3.1 (or whatever latest), etc. That’s an interesting definition of “bleeding edge tech”. Usually I treat Linux a place where operating system experiments are tested first. > As far as using, now softwrae on Microsoft Windows is as good as Mac. Disagree strongly, but that is my opinion. > Apple is now as evil as every one, intentionally make your iphone slow when new iphone is out, etc. Whether Apple is “evil” is a personal opinion, but saying Apple makes iPhones slow is a gross misrepresentation at best. > also, new is the sinister social justice warrior. Apple and Google are representatives. What?
    - pingec 8y ago
      > This will not give you malware unless you actually run something from the USB, AFAIK. https://github.com/hak5darren/USB-Rubber-Ducky/wiki/Payloads https://github.com/hak5darren/USB-Rubber-Ducky/wiki/Payloads > That’s an interesting definition of “bleeding edge tech”. Usually I treat Linux a place where operating system experiments are tested first. I don't know about bleeding edge but even simple things like mic, camera are a hassled to get working - a friend has been using his phone for hangouts meetings for the last month because the mic or the camera would not work on his zenbook running Ubuntu. Don't get me started on audio on linux :(. >> As far as using, now softwrae on Microsoft Windows is as good as Mac. > Disagree strongly, but that is my opinion. Depends what software you want to use.
eksemplar 8y ago
I’ve made the opposite switch this year, completely abandoning windows for my personal use. I still use it professionally, being in the European public sector you’re married to MS and it’s quite honestly a healthy relationship for a lot of reasons, but boy have I never grown used to Windows 10. I really love unix, I probably should be using Linux instead of a Mac, and I did earlier in my life. But with age I’m growing fonder and fonder to things just working, like when my wife sends me an iMessage and I pops up on my Mac. We could probably get something similar working with some other setup, but as long as we stay working the Apple ecosystem, well, it just happens automatically. Just like popping a thunderbolt cable in hooks me up to my 4K monitor with no setup required and no problems when I swhixh between different modes. Something that took ages to get working in Linux and didn’t really work for all the apps that didn’t support the change of resolution. It wasn’t always like this, I actually really liked windows especially 2000, XP and 7, but since then it’s been a struggle to stay with it. So my story is almost the polar opposite. Like hardware, where do you find a decent high quality windows laptop with a trackpad that works for the price tag of a 13” MacBook Pro? Sure the surface book is a sexy machine, but it’s almost twice as expensive and it can’t connect to my 4K monitor or an external egpu? Sure the xps13 would make Linux easier, but it’s trackpad is worse and it’s build quality is risky (coil whine). I’m not really a Apple fanboy. I hate the walled garden, as much as I love what it does, but everything else is just so much worse. What I really can’t imagine though, living within a windows 10 environment, even with git bash.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  I worried about the walled garden but to be honest it's been pretty benign since it was introduced. If I look at the software I've bought in recent years its nearly all been outside the store. The only downside for me is the cost although you can mitigate that by avoiding new and selling on carefully when you have finished with it. I did try quite hard to switch to Linux but it lacks the polish of macOS. It was better than Windows in most respects though.
  - FabHK 8y ago
    > walled garden In particular, it seems to me you can get all your data out if desired. Contacts are .vcf; Calendar is .ics or whatever; pictures in Photo are good old jpeg (and explicit exporting is supported); Music is mostly pretty standard formats and not DRM'd anymore IIUC (videos - don't know, never used); documents, ok, Pages/Numbers/Keynote you'd have to export into some other format, while MarkDown and LaTeX etc. of course are ok. Getting passwords out of Keychain Access might be a bit tricky?
gronne 8y ago
TL;DR Switched to Win in 2009. Switched to Linux 2011. 2018 - still don’t like windows and osx.
cyberferret 8y ago
TL;DR precis - Author switched from Mac to Windows about 9 years ago, but is now back on Mac.
projectramo 8y ago
These days windows + Ubuntu 18 on a virtual box are a great substitute. Some might consider it better if you need to use excel (one of the greatest pieces of software ever)
- vtesucks 8y ago
  And OneNote which was hands down the only thing keeping me on windows until wsl came along.
  - projectramo 8y ago
    I love OneNote too so I have to ask: what is WSL?
    - vtesucks 8y ago
      Microsoft if you're reading this this is your fault for not marketing enough. WSL is windows subsystem for Linux. Think of it like this- say you have an 'ls' binary from UNIX machine. You have WSL enabled on your machine in Windows. Windows will start the ls process and the UNIX calls will be handles in windows. (the kernel has mappings). It's possible, and actually its wonderful experience, to run full "linux" environment right from windows at native speed. It's not perfect and one of the biggest issues has been file system speed but besides that and some other smaller issues its the absolute best of both worlds- OneNote + excel + outlook + i3
- odiroot 8y ago
  It's the opposite for me: Linux (first Gentoo, now Ubuntu) with Windows in a VM for specific apps (tax software, AoE 2 etc.) I'm super satisfied with such setup for last 10+ years.
robin_reala 8y ago
I guess people really plug this much stuff into a computer, but I must be a low-end exception. Things that gets plugged into my Mac: 1) USB-C to lightning cable to charge headphones and backup phone 2) USB-C to Displaylink at work for screen and networking 3) TB3 -> TB2 (dongle) to Thunderbolt display at home 4) USB-C power cable That’s a total of one dongle for my entire work and home life. Everything else is wireless by now.
- manicdee 8y ago
  Things that I plug in: - headset adapter (no headsets use the Apple TRRS plug) - scanner - USB keyboard - USB mouse - foot pedals (designed for transcription tools, I use for gaming) I could get wireless mouse and keyboard but my experience has been a never ending dance of swapping and charging batteries, which is probably why Apple moved to integrated batteries.
vtesucks 8y ago
I'm a very satisfied WSL user after having made a switch 3 months back and I cannot imagine going back.
hugh4life 8y ago
This is more relevant for people like me that use Linux as their main desktop, but you don't have to choose just one. Both Mac Minis(and Apple Laptops) and NUCs have good resale value. Get a monitor that can take multiple inputs and then get keyboard and mouse sharing software.
cauldron 8y ago
Still rocking Windows 7, the fonts of Windows 10 just hurt my eyes.
tangue 8y ago
FYI it's an old post and there is an update at the bottom of the page where the author says he is back to Mac...
thehnguy 8y ago
Author switched in 2009, then switched back in 2018. Author believes Apple is becoming evil because they intentionally slow their devices to force upgrades—not true, or, at the very least, not that simple. The only thing “evil” about Apple is the pricing. No way around it, it’s getting expensive. But you also get a transparency and simplicity for your money (no telemetry, no ads, just dongles :) ).
- karmakaze 8y ago
  I won't buy a Mac because of the hard-wired obsolescence. It doesn't help that newer models fail more frequently.
smileypete 8y ago
These days consumer Win10 seems to be a data harvesting tool and ongoing beta test. This might be controversial but for me personally I switch off updates (and all the other telemetry), and make sure to have comprehensive backups; so far so good. Preventing Win10 from installing updates isn't always easy. I guess these days exploits could come via from 0 day browser vulnerabilities delivered via '3rd party frames', uBlock origin is your friend here...
- em3rgent0rdr 8y ago
  Switching off updates is very insecure.
  - smileypete 8y ago
    Sure, so I would strongly recommend against it for everyone else. That said I feel it gives me a more stable machine, the time between reboots is typically 3 to 6 months. I try to use as little software by MS as possible to keep the 'attack surface' to a minimum, ideally only using the OS itself. Even my home LAN only has IP enabled these days.
  - manicdee 8y ago
    Which is less secure: turning off updates and potentially falling victim to zero day in the wild, or turning on updates and having Microsoft install arbitrary crapware on your computer without your explicit consent?
- WalterGR 8y ago
  Win10 seems to be a data harvesting tool What data specifically does Windows 10 harvest?
  - smileypete 8y ago
    I'd like to know more about the telemetry myself, but I'm not that bothered as it doesn't apply to me.
ykevinator 8y ago
Can't believe this is flagged
- SuperNinKenDo 8y ago
  I'm guessing it was flagged for not having a date. It was indeed a little confusing to read at first because of that. Also, it's just considered good practice.
cgora 8y ago
He takes time to mention that Apple is bad because it “represents” social justice warriors? Is this article a joke?
jpiabrantes 8y ago
Windows 10 + Windows Subsystem for Linux did it for me.
ubittibu 8y ago
Windows 10 can’t sort folders by size.. in 2018. You need a third party application.
bsg75 8y ago
> Linux basically sucks the most. Most difficult to use. You spend several hours per week to get things to work. And linux is always some years behind in supporting any bleeding edge tech, Such as any hand writing recognization, speech recognization, voice to speech, addon devices, display port 2 monitors, USB 3.1 (or whatever latest), etc. You always have to spend few hours to research everything. Lots problems. But hey its free. What can you say. Except for handwriting and speech recognition, I can't recall having problems with any mainline Linux DE in some time. Have a workstation with two monitors on an Nvidia 1050Ti both via displayport, a Logitech wireless keyboard through Synergy to both a MacBook Pro and Linux, and the Mac is mostly there for MS Office (which could be the web versions). Have not had to seek out drivers or do anything onerous config wise, except for when I went with i3 and wanted a specific look and feel. This is all on CentOS 7.5. Ubuntu and derivatives make it even easier, and even Arch is straightforward with Manjaro. This does not mean that a Linux DE is as convenient to set up as Mac or Windows, but the author's description of desktop Linux is a bit dated.

32 points by stargrave 8y ago

yayana 8y ago

(2009) and back when a 3.5 year old Mac was worse than a current Mac.

chrisper 8y ago

The title should have a (2009) in it. Then the website and the article make more sense.

saagarjha 8y ago
There’s an update to the article that is somewhat recent; perhaps that’s what the poster wanted to showcase?

saagarjha 8y ago

This is interesting to look back on from our current perspective. I don’t think I agree with the author’s recent addendum, though.

pingec 8y ago
Which part don't you agree with?
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Most of it. > Like, never plug in a usb from a stranger. This will not give you malware unless you actually run something from the USB, AFAIK. > And linux is always some years behind in supporting any bleeding edge tech, Such as any hand writing recognization, speech recognization, voice to speech, addon devices, display port 2 monitors, USB 3.1 (or whatever latest), etc. That’s an interesting definition of “bleeding edge tech”. Usually I treat Linux a place where operating system experiments are tested first. > As far as using, now softwrae on Microsoft Windows is as good as Mac. Disagree strongly, but that is my opinion. > Apple is now as evil as every one, intentionally make your iphone slow when new iphone is out, etc. Whether Apple is “evil” is a personal opinion, but saying Apple makes iPhones slow is a gross misrepresentation at best. > also, new is the sinister social justice warrior. Apple and Google are representatives. What?
  - pingec 8y ago
    > This will not give you malware unless you actually run something from the USB, AFAIK. https://github.com/hak5darren/USB-Rubber-Ducky/wiki/Payloads https://github.com/hak5darren/USB-Rubber-Ducky/wiki/Payloads > That’s an interesting definition of “bleeding edge tech”. Usually I treat Linux a place where operating system experiments are tested first. I don't know about bleeding edge but even simple things like mic, camera are a hassled to get working - a friend has been using his phone for hangouts meetings for the last month because the mic or the camera would not work on his zenbook running Ubuntu. Don't get me started on audio on linux :(. >> As far as using, now softwrae on Microsoft Windows is as good as Mac. > Disagree strongly, but that is my opinion. Depends what software you want to use.

eksemplar 8y ago

I’ve made the opposite switch this year, completely abandoning windows for my personal use. I still use it professionally, being in the European public sector you’re married to MS and it’s quite honestly a healthy relationship for a lot of reasons, but boy have I never grown used to Windows 10. I really love unix, I probably should be using Linux instead of a Mac, and I did earlier in my life. But with age I’m growing fonder and fonder to things just working, like when my wife sends me an iMessage and I pops up on my Mac. We could probably get something similar working with some other setup, but as long as we stay working the Apple ecosystem, well, it just happens automatically. Just like popping a thunderbolt cable in hooks me up to my 4K monitor with no setup required and no problems when I swhixh between different modes. Something that took ages to get working in Linux and didn’t really work for all the apps that didn’t support the change of resolution. It wasn’t always like this, I actually really liked windows especially 2000, XP and 7, but since then it’s been a struggle to stay with it. So my story is almost the polar opposite. Like hardware, where do you find a decent high quality windows laptop with a trackpad that works for the price tag of a 13” MacBook Pro? Sure the surface book is a sexy machine, but it’s almost twice as expensive and it can’t connect to my 4K monitor or an external egpu? Sure the xps13 would make Linux easier, but it’s trackpad is worse and it’s build quality is risky (coil whine). I’m not really a Apple fanboy. I hate the walled garden, as much as I love what it does, but everything else is just so much worse. What I really can’t imagine though, living within a windows 10 environment, even with git bash.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago
I worried about the walled garden but to be honest it's been pretty benign since it was introduced. If I look at the software I've bought in recent years its nearly all been outside the store. The only downside for me is the cost although you can mitigate that by avoiding new and selling on carefully when you have finished with it. I did try quite hard to switch to Linux but it lacks the polish of macOS. It was better than Windows in most respects though.
- FabHK 8y ago
  > walled garden In particular, it seems to me you can get all your data out if desired. Contacts are .vcf; Calendar is .ics or whatever; pictures in Photo are good old jpeg (and explicit exporting is supported); Music is mostly pretty standard formats and not DRM'd anymore IIUC (videos - don't know, never used); documents, ok, Pages/Numbers/Keynote you'd have to export into some other format, while MarkDown and LaTeX etc. of course are ok. Getting passwords out of Keychain Access might be a bit tricky?

gronne 8y ago

TL;DR Switched to Win in 2009. Switched to Linux 2011. 2018 - still don’t like windows and osx.

cyberferret 8y ago

TL;DR precis - Author switched from Mac to Windows about 9 years ago, but is now back on Mac.

projectramo 8y ago

These days windows + Ubuntu 18 on a virtual box are a great substitute. Some might consider it better if you need to use excel (one of the greatest pieces of software ever)

vtesucks 8y ago
And OneNote which was hands down the only thing keeping me on windows until wsl came along.
- projectramo 8y ago
  I love OneNote too so I have to ask: what is WSL?
  - vtesucks 8y ago
    Microsoft if you're reading this this is your fault for not marketing enough. WSL is windows subsystem for Linux. Think of it like this- say you have an 'ls' binary from UNIX machine. You have WSL enabled on your machine in Windows. Windows will start the ls process and the UNIX calls will be handles in windows. (the kernel has mappings). It's possible, and actually its wonderful experience, to run full "linux" environment right from windows at native speed. It's not perfect and one of the biggest issues has been file system speed but besides that and some other smaller issues its the absolute best of both worlds- OneNote + excel + outlook + i3
odiroot 8y ago
It's the opposite for me: Linux (first Gentoo, now Ubuntu) with Windows in a VM for specific apps (tax software, AoE 2 etc.) I'm super satisfied with such setup for last 10+ years.

robin_reala 8y ago

I guess people really plug this much stuff into a computer, but I must be a low-end exception. Things that gets plugged into my Mac: 1) USB-C to lightning cable to charge headphones and backup phone 2) USB-C to Displaylink at work for screen and networking 3) TB3 -> TB2 (dongle) to Thunderbolt display at home 4) USB-C power cable That’s a total of one dongle for my entire work and home life. Everything else is wireless by now.

manicdee 8y ago
Things that I plug in: - headset adapter (no headsets use the Apple TRRS plug) - scanner - USB keyboard - USB mouse - foot pedals (designed for transcription tools, I use for gaming) I could get wireless mouse and keyboard but my experience has been a never ending dance of swapping and charging batteries, which is probably why Apple moved to integrated batteries.

vtesucks 8y ago

I'm a very satisfied WSL user after having made a switch 3 months back and I cannot imagine going back.

hugh4life 8y ago

This is more relevant for people like me that use Linux as their main desktop, but you don't have to choose just one. Both Mac Minis(and Apple Laptops) and NUCs have good resale value. Get a monitor that can take multiple inputs and then get keyboard and mouse sharing software.

cauldron 8y ago

Still rocking Windows 7, the fonts of Windows 10 just hurt my eyes.

tangue 8y ago

FYI it's an old post and there is an update at the bottom of the page where the author says he is back to Mac...

thehnguy 8y ago

Author switched in 2009, then switched back in 2018. Author believes Apple is becoming evil because they intentionally slow their devices to force upgrades—not true, or, at the very least, not that simple. The only thing “evil” about Apple is the pricing. No way around it, it’s getting expensive. But you also get a transparency and simplicity for your money (no telemetry, no ads, just dongles :) ).

karmakaze 8y ago
I won't buy a Mac because of the hard-wired obsolescence. It doesn't help that newer models fail more frequently.

smileypete 8y ago

These days consumer Win10 seems to be a data harvesting tool and ongoing beta test. This might be controversial but for me personally I switch off updates (and all the other telemetry), and make sure to have comprehensive backups; so far so good. Preventing Win10 from installing updates isn't always easy. I guess these days exploits could come via from 0 day browser vulnerabilities delivered via '3rd party frames', uBlock origin is your friend here...

em3rgent0rdr 8y ago
Switching off updates is very insecure.
- smileypete 8y ago
  Sure, so I would strongly recommend against it for everyone else. That said I feel it gives me a more stable machine, the time between reboots is typically 3 to 6 months. I try to use as little software by MS as possible to keep the 'attack surface' to a minimum, ideally only using the OS itself. Even my home LAN only has IP enabled these days.
- manicdee 8y ago
  Which is less secure: turning off updates and potentially falling victim to zero day in the wild, or turning on updates and having Microsoft install arbitrary crapware on your computer without your explicit consent?
WalterGR 8y ago
Win10 seems to be a data harvesting tool What data specifically does Windows 10 harvest?
- smileypete 8y ago
  I'd like to know more about the telemetry myself, but I'm not that bothered as it doesn't apply to me.

ykevinator 8y ago

Can't believe this is flagged

SuperNinKenDo 8y ago
I'm guessing it was flagged for not having a date. It was indeed a little confusing to read at first because of that. Also, it's just considered good practice.

cgora 8y ago

He takes time to mention that Apple is bad because it “represents” social justice warriors? Is this article a joke?

jpiabrantes 8y ago

Windows 10 + Windows Subsystem for Linux did it for me.

ubittibu 8y ago

Windows 10 can’t sort folders by size.. in 2018. You need a third party application.

bsg75 8y ago

> Linux basically sucks the most. Most difficult to use. You spend several hours per week to get things to work. And linux is always some years behind in supporting any bleeding edge tech, Such as any hand writing recognization, speech recognization, voice to speech, addon devices, display port 2 monitors, USB 3.1 (or whatever latest), etc. You always have to spend few hours to research everything. Lots problems. But hey its free. What can you say. Except for handwriting and speech recognition, I can't recall having problems with any mainline Linux DE in some time. Have a workstation with two monitors on an Nvidia 1050Ti both via displayport, a Logitech wireless keyboard through Synergy to both a MacBook Pro and Linux, and the Mac is mostly there for MS Office (which could be the web versions). Have not had to seek out drivers or do anything onerous config wise, except for when I went with i3 and wanted a specific look and feel. This is all on CentOS 7.5. Ubuntu and derivatives make it even easier, and even Arch is straightforward with Manjaro. This does not mean that a Linux DE is as convenient to set up as Mac or Windows, but the author's description of desktop Linux is a bit dated.