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On second thought, as a user, Windows itself is…fine. Even as a developer with VSCode + WSL, it’s…fine It’s more about x86. Using an x86 laptop feels archaic

On second thought, as a user, Windows itself is…fine. Even as a developer with VSCode + WSL, it’s…fine It’s more about x86. Using an x86 laptop feels archaic in 2025. Compared to my M2 MacBook Air or my work M3 MacBook Pro. The only thing that makes MacOS much better for me is the ecosystem integration

forrestthewoods 2y ago
Windows laptops are genuinely atrocious. I don’t think that’s really an x86 vs ARM things. That’s a red herring.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  x86 laptops can’t be as hood as ARM processors as far as performance per watt. Mac laptops using x86 processors the same atrocious battery life, heat issues and fan noises as x86 Windows laptops.
  - forrestthewoods 2y ago
    Again, I don’t think that’s a fundamental x86 vs ARM issue. That’s more of a “Intel mobile chipsets from 2019 were terrible” issue. There’s like 3 big factors at play. 1. x86 vs ARM 2. Apple Silicon Engineers vs others 3. Apple’s TSMC node advantage I think the x86 vs ARM issue is a relatively small one. At least fundamentally.
lelanthran 2y ago
> It’s more about x86. Using an x86 laptop feels archaic in 2025. Compared to my M2 MacBook Air or my work M3 MacBook Pro. From the user PoV, isn't that one of those things that are irrelevant? The users, even the very technical ones, neither know nor care that the computer they are using is x86 or ARM or ... You might say that the battery life is part of UX, so, sure, I get that, but while, in practice, battery life on the M1/M2/M3/M4 is superior, as a trade-off the user gets a limited set of software that they can run, which is also part of the UX. So the user gets to choose which UX trade-off they want to make.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  If I want the balls to the wall fastest computer that I can buy at a given price, it’s going to be an x86 PC with an Nvidia based video card. If it’s a desktop, I don’t really care about performance per watt. I personally care because I travel a lot and I need a laptop. For non gamers of course Mac desktops including the new base Mac Mini is good enough.
  - forrestthewoods 2y ago
    I mostly use a 32-core Threadripper. But I’d kill for an M4 Ultra + 4090 setup. Or I guess now 5090. The upcoming Nvidia Linux AI boxes are interesting.

forrestthewoods 2y ago

Windows laptops are genuinely atrocious. I don’t think that’s really an x86 vs ARM things. That’s a red herring.

scarface_74 2y ago
x86 laptops can’t be as hood as ARM processors as far as performance per watt. Mac laptops using x86 processors the same atrocious battery life, heat issues and fan noises as x86 Windows laptops.
- forrestthewoods 2y ago
  Again, I don’t think that’s a fundamental x86 vs ARM issue. That’s more of a “Intel mobile chipsets from 2019 were terrible” issue. There’s like 3 big factors at play. 1. x86 vs ARM 2. Apple Silicon Engineers vs others 3. Apple’s TSMC node advantage I think the x86 vs ARM issue is a relatively small one. At least fundamentally.

lelanthran 2y ago

> It’s more about x86. Using an x86 laptop feels archaic in 2025. Compared to my M2 MacBook Air or my work M3 MacBook Pro. From the user PoV, isn't that one of those things that are irrelevant? The users, even the very technical ones, neither know nor care that the computer they are using is x86 or ARM or ... You might say that the battery life is part of UX, so, sure, I get that, but while, in practice, battery life on the M1/M2/M3/M4 is superior, as a trade-off the user gets a limited set of software that they can run, which is also part of the UX. So the user gets to choose which UX trade-off they want to make.

scarface_74 2y ago
If I want the balls to the wall fastest computer that I can buy at a given price, it’s going to be an x86 PC with an Nvidia based video card. If it’s a desktop, I don’t really care about performance per watt. I personally care because I travel a lot and I need a laptop. For non gamers of course Mac desktops including the new base Mac Mini is good enough.
- forrestthewoods 2y ago
  I mostly use a 32-core Threadripper. But I’d kill for an M4 Ultra + 4090 setup. Or I guess now 5090. The upcoming Nvidia Linux AI boxes are interesting.