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Do you actually use macOS? It actually works. Unlike most of windows these days. There is near parity across all platforms on all apple apps and functions. I ca

by gw99 4y ago

Do you actually use macOS? It actually works. Unlike most of windows these days. There is near parity across all platforms on all apple apps and functions. I can transition from any device to another one smoothly. People don’t care about that. They want the computer to go away and actually stop bugging them.

jacobr1 4y ago
One of the other complaints you here on HN is that software is changing for sake of change rather than remaining relatively stable once the core feature-set has been built out. Well, MacOS strikes a pretty good balance on that score. They introduce new features, but haven't radically changed anything in a long time ... and that enables people to get work done.
Hasu 4y ago
Eh, I use macOS, Windows, and Ubuntu pretty regularly, and they're all pretty much fine. macOS gets in my way the most, but it's not significant trouble. Other workflows than mine would probably have different results.
danielrpa 4y ago
No it doesn't, not for me. I don't work at MSFT and I own both a Windows machine and a Mac M1 for work. Simple things like my gaming mouse and wanting larger fonts on my 1440p monitor don't work without cumbersome hacks through buggy hobby software. My windows computer works flawlessly among other advantages such as a large software library right out of the box. I respect people who prefer Macs to PCs, but stop speaking about it like it is some universal truth.
- marcodiego 4y ago
  > Simple things like my gaming mouse If your gaming doesn't work correctly on an OS other than windows, it is probably the manufacturer fault.
  - koluna 4y ago
    Ah yes, the good ol' Linux "You're holding it wrong" mantra. Look, I don't know about you, but I don't have unlimited time to go fiddle with whatever emulation layer is there to make some game from 2017 work well on a modern Mac. Not only that, but Apple has proven, time and time again, that they completely do not care about backwards compatibility, which is crucial for games, so let's not pretend that the "manufacturer" (assuming you're talking about the game developers here) is at fault - nobody has unlimited time to adjust their product on the whims of the folks in Cupertino. Here's the reality - on Windows, I can still play DOS games. On macOS, with the latest OS release, 90% of my Steam library cannot be used (that were all perfectly fine before the update) because Apple decided to remove support for 32-bit apps. So sticking to Windows for gaming is the logical choice if you want access to the latest and greatest titles and not a selection of a few that are "hacked around".
    - gw99 4y ago
      100% agree with this as a Mac user. But the mouse, if it doesn't work and it says it does on the box then that is the vendor issue.
    - isaacremuant 4y ago
      You're being unfair to Linux if you think Windows doesn't do the same "you're not supposed to do that" every time you step out of a nice path. Or even with the nice path it'll suddenly decide it's time to worsen your experience to improve their marketing or data mining. There's awesome Linux experiences out there and the Steam deck is starting to show what's possible giving varying levels of control. We live in exciting times. The more choice, the better.
      - pie_flavor 4y ago
        On Mac, your apps reliably break. On Windows, they never break. It's not whether there's a right way and a wrong way, it's whether the right way stands at complete odds to how anyone actually wants to use the computer. Sure, Linux has a reasonable experience most of the time - that has nothing to do with Mac, and in fact has very little to do with Linux or its community either; Steam has nearly single-handedly made it work. The same way Windows tries to make it work, and the way Mac notably tries not to.
trap_goes_hot 4y ago
In your own way, you are correct, but so are people who have the completely opposite experience. In our industry (biotech manufacturing) we rely Windows for everything. All the apps we use are Windows only. For us, there is no "parity across all platforms".
- gw99 4y ago
  Yeah it's the same in my industry for some parts of it as well. But that doesn't mean it works. It's literally only there because it is entrenched. A lot of the time it doesn't work and has an extremely large support cost.
  - trap_goes_hot 4y ago
    Sure, that is your view. But that isn't the only viewpoint. We don't seem to have any major issues with our systems, but I'm not an IT expert.
    - gw99 4y ago
      It's not really just my view. You might be a lucky outlier. I get to sit on a lot of calls with tens of large and small organisations who have serious troubles on a daily basis. I've seen some real horrors out there. Independently everyone just thinks this is the status quo.
      - trap_goes_hot 4y ago
        Okay, we just have a disagreement. Its no big deal. I appreciate your perspective.
dmitriid 4y ago
I've been on MacOS for 15 years now. The iOSification and changes for changes' sake in the past years is evident to everyone. As for incompetence, it's enough to look at the new settings app that they shipped basically unchanged since the clusterfuck during betas and fixing only the most superficial of bugs.

by gw99 4y ago

jacobr1 4y ago

One of the other complaints you here on HN is that software is changing for sake of change rather than remaining relatively stable once the core feature-set has been built out. Well, MacOS strikes a pretty good balance on that score. They introduce new features, but haven't radically changed anything in a long time ... and that enables people to get work done.

Hasu 4y ago

Eh, I use macOS, Windows, and Ubuntu pretty regularly, and they're all pretty much fine. macOS gets in my way the most, but it's not significant trouble. Other workflows than mine would probably have different results.

danielrpa 4y ago

No it doesn't, not for me. I don't work at MSFT and I own both a Windows machine and a Mac M1 for work. Simple things like my gaming mouse and wanting larger fonts on my 1440p monitor don't work without cumbersome hacks through buggy hobby software. My windows computer works flawlessly among other advantages such as a large software library right out of the box. I respect people who prefer Macs to PCs, but stop speaking about it like it is some universal truth.

marcodiego 4y ago
> Simple things like my gaming mouse If your gaming doesn't work correctly on an OS other than windows, it is probably the manufacturer fault.
- koluna 4y ago
  Ah yes, the good ol' Linux "You're holding it wrong" mantra. Look, I don't know about you, but I don't have unlimited time to go fiddle with whatever emulation layer is there to make some game from 2017 work well on a modern Mac. Not only that, but Apple has proven, time and time again, that they completely do not care about backwards compatibility, which is crucial for games, so let's not pretend that the "manufacturer" (assuming you're talking about the game developers here) is at fault - nobody has unlimited time to adjust their product on the whims of the folks in Cupertino. Here's the reality - on Windows, I can still play DOS games. On macOS, with the latest OS release, 90% of my Steam library cannot be used (that were all perfectly fine before the update) because Apple decided to remove support for 32-bit apps. So sticking to Windows for gaming is the logical choice if you want access to the latest and greatest titles and not a selection of a few that are "hacked around".
  - gw99 4y ago
    100% agree with this as a Mac user. But the mouse, if it doesn't work and it says it does on the box then that is the vendor issue.
  - isaacremuant 4y ago
    You're being unfair to Linux if you think Windows doesn't do the same "you're not supposed to do that" every time you step out of a nice path. Or even with the nice path it'll suddenly decide it's time to worsen your experience to improve their marketing or data mining. There's awesome Linux experiences out there and the Steam deck is starting to show what's possible giving varying levels of control. We live in exciting times. The more choice, the better.
    - pie_flavor 4y ago
      On Mac, your apps reliably break. On Windows, they never break. It's not whether there's a right way and a wrong way, it's whether the right way stands at complete odds to how anyone actually wants to use the computer. Sure, Linux has a reasonable experience most of the time - that has nothing to do with Mac, and in fact has very little to do with Linux or its community either; Steam has nearly single-handedly made it work. The same way Windows tries to make it work, and the way Mac notably tries not to.

trap_goes_hot 4y ago

In your own way, you are correct, but so are people who have the completely opposite experience. In our industry (biotech manufacturing) we rely Windows for everything. All the apps we use are Windows only. For us, there is no "parity across all platforms".

gw99 4y ago
Yeah it's the same in my industry for some parts of it as well. But that doesn't mean it works. It's literally only there because it is entrenched. A lot of the time it doesn't work and has an extremely large support cost.
- trap_goes_hot 4y ago
  Sure, that is your view. But that isn't the only viewpoint. We don't seem to have any major issues with our systems, but I'm not an IT expert.
  - gw99 4y ago
    It's not really just my view. You might be a lucky outlier. I get to sit on a lot of calls with tens of large and small organisations who have serious troubles on a daily basis. I've seen some real horrors out there. Independently everyone just thinks this is the status quo.
    - trap_goes_hot 4y ago
      Okay, we just have a disagreement. Its no big deal. I appreciate your perspective.

dmitriid 4y ago

I've been on MacOS for 15 years now. The iOSification and changes for changes' sake in the past years is evident to everyone. As for incompetence, it's enough to look at the new settings app that they shipped basically unchanged since the clusterfuck during betas and fixing only the most superficial of bugs.