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My older Dell XPS Windows 10 laptop was due for an upgrade, and it was new enough that it supports Windows 11. Microsoft's end-of-life of 10, constant prodding

My older Dell XPS Windows 10 laptop was due for an upgrade, and it was new enough that it supports Windows 11. Microsoft's end-of-life of 10, constant prodding to upgrade and Dell's terrible redesign of the XPS series made me look at my options. I ended up with an M4 MacBook Air and couldn't be happier.

bjackman 1y ago
It seems like if you aren't gonna use Linux and you aren't severely cash-constrained, Macbooks are almost the only credible choice at this point? Pretty annoying coz Linux is non-negotiable for me. I've just bought a laptop and it feels like I'm getting much worse value for money than I would with a Mac. If you really need something cheap... Seems you are basically just screwed at this point, unless you are able to use Linux. Admittedly, I installed Ubuntu for my 70 year old mother a few months back and I haven't had a single support request so far. She's on a 2013 MacBook Air.
- rraghur 1y ago
  Was in the market for a Linux laptop for son who's entering college.... Dug through lenovo and saying that it's hard to find decent info on Linux support is an understatement... Finally got an e14 g6 AMD.... It's not supported by lenovo for Linux but everything got Auto detected and worked except fingerprint The bummer: suspend to ram is terribly broken and for a laptop that's a deal breaker Yeah I'm aware of framework and system 76... They aren't here. The pricier lenovo options exist but at that point is just go with a mac
- cbm-vic-20 1y ago
  Ubuntu is an easy transition for older folks more comfortable with Windows XP through Windows 7. The desktop experience is much more familiar than Windows 11, and they aren't getting spammed with ads for Microsoft services and AI slop that they're skeptical of and not interested in.
sedatk 1y ago
some Dell XPS series come with "Intel PTT" option in BIOS which provides TPM 2.0 functionality. That might open up the upgrade path, FYI.
- hypercube33 1y ago
  All depends on what Microsoft allows - my Thinkpad with a Ryzen 2500u Pro has a TPM but they blanket blocked "Ryzen 2500" because the non pro doesn't always have a TPM.
  - sedatk 1y ago
    Sure. They block older generation CPUs too regardless of TPM 2.0 support. There's just a possibility for some newer CPU models.
guiriduro 1y ago
I decided a Macbook pro M4 pro was the right option for me, 48gb/36 accessible to the gpus with very decent tokens/s throughput for (increasingly impressive) offline midrange open LLM inference and huge battery life. Nothing in the windows world to touch it. But a few windows-only bits of software I occasionally use now run very happily in a Windows 11 arm vm on a free VMware fusion 25H2 on my mac, with a 5 dollar win oem license.

bjackman 1y ago

It seems like if you aren't gonna use Linux and you aren't severely cash-constrained, Macbooks are almost the only credible choice at this point? Pretty annoying coz Linux is non-negotiable for me. I've just bought a laptop and it feels like I'm getting much worse value for money than I would with a Mac. If you really need something cheap... Seems you are basically just screwed at this point, unless you are able to use Linux. Admittedly, I installed Ubuntu for my 70 year old mother a few months back and I haven't had a single support request so far. She's on a 2013 MacBook Air.

rraghur 1y ago
Was in the market for a Linux laptop for son who's entering college.... Dug through lenovo and saying that it's hard to find decent info on Linux support is an understatement... Finally got an e14 g6 AMD.... It's not supported by lenovo for Linux but everything got Auto detected and worked except fingerprint The bummer: suspend to ram is terribly broken and for a laptop that's a deal breaker Yeah I'm aware of framework and system 76... They aren't here. The pricier lenovo options exist but at that point is just go with a mac
cbm-vic-20 1y ago
Ubuntu is an easy transition for older folks more comfortable with Windows XP through Windows 7. The desktop experience is much more familiar than Windows 11, and they aren't getting spammed with ads for Microsoft services and AI slop that they're skeptical of and not interested in.

sedatk 1y ago

some Dell XPS series come with "Intel PTT" option in BIOS which provides TPM 2.0 functionality. That might open up the upgrade path, FYI.

hypercube33 1y ago
All depends on what Microsoft allows - my Thinkpad with a Ryzen 2500u Pro has a TPM but they blanket blocked "Ryzen 2500" because the non pro doesn't always have a TPM.
- sedatk 1y ago
  Sure. They block older generation CPUs too regardless of TPM 2.0 support. There's just a possibility for some newer CPU models.

guiriduro 1y ago

I decided a Macbook pro M4 pro was the right option for me, 48gb/36 accessible to the gpus with very decent tokens/s throughput for (increasingly impressive) offline midrange open LLM inference and huge battery life. Nothing in the windows world to touch it. But a few windows-only bits of software I occasionally use now run very happily in a Windows 11 arm vm on a free VMware fusion 25H2 on my mac, with a 5 dollar win oem license.