8 ms·

Macs really are some of the best Windows laptops you can buy - and now with full UEFI support Windows boots as fast as OS X.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
pmelendez 11y ago
Maybe... Still my Yoga 2 Pro feels and looks better than any Mac laptop I have own or seen. Touch screen is definetely a must-have to me. It is specially useful if you are developing for touch devices.
- RexRollman 11y ago
  Touch screen on a laptop. Yuck.
  - WorldWideWayne 11y ago
    Yeah, who wants a touch screen on a laptop that converts into a tablet? That's just crazy. Man, fuck those people for adding functionality that I don't even have to use in laptop mode, but which is essential in tablet mode.
    - eropple 11y ago
      I don't want a touch-screen on a tablet, either, because I don't want fingerprints on it when I'm reading on it. Which is why my Surface Pro 3 is essentially only a laptop, because using Windows 8.1 (and 10) in pen-only mode is unpleasant and slow. I'd say the same about a phone, but I don't spend my day staring at my phone.
      - WorldWideWayne 11y ago
        Can't say I've had the same experience. On all of my touch devices, I can only see the fingerprints if the screen is off and if it bothers me at that point, I just wipe it off. Given the prevalence of touch devices these days, I'm surprised that I don't hear this complaint very often.
        eropple 11y ago
        I don't mind a touch screen on an iPad. But my Surface attracts fingerprints like nothing else (I have generally oily fingertips--it's not a function of washing, it manifests very shortly after I wash my hands), and it's really hard to keep it clean. If I use it for a full day, I probably wipe it down six or seven times. It's super distracting when I'm writing code or something.
  - pajaroide 11y ago
    What's the problem with additional functionality on a laptop screen?
    - coldtea 11y ago
      Nothing. I retroffited a soda fountain on mine.
      - nivla 11y ago
        Well if it as light as the increased weight from the addition of a touchscreen, I wouldn't mind having two! However on a serious note, its not as bad as you think. Just have to get used to it and once you do that, there won't be a going back. Think of it as something that is supposed to complement your existing workflow and not as something that would replace it. You know like have a voice assistant on your phone, you don't have to yell everything at it, just some quick look ups.
        eropple 11y ago
        I disagree, strongly. It is precisely as bad as he thinks, and what makes it worse is that it damages the viability of a pen-based workflow (which I am in favor of, because I do a lot of visual stuff and I use OneNote quite a bit). I want to be able to disable it entirely and not smudge the crap out of a screen I'm trying to work on, but it's effectively impossible and when you do disable it it all falls back to keyboard controls and leaves you with a garbage pen exeprience.
- peterhadlaw 11y ago
  Are the colors still messed up on the Y2P?
  - akhilcacharya 11y ago
    I was able to handle one yesterday, and yes, it seems so.
  - pmelendez 11y ago
    I haven't had any problems with colors so far (I compared them with my wife MBP and another HP Desktop we have at home). I did have weird color issues with my desktop XPS 2720 but were driver related.
bartekko 11y ago
For me, the only thing holding them back is not being able to switch between discrete and integrated graphics on Windows.
- pmelendez 11y ago
  You can switch between them, usually using the control panel setting of the discrete graphics card (Nvidia in my case)
  - UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
    Manual switching? Ouch. So that means by default high battery drain, heat issues, and having to manually switch on the discrete graphics card by hand every time you visit a 3D-utilising website. People have been complaining about no auto-switch in Windows on Macbooks for years, yet they haven't fixed it. Tons of other laptops already support it (inc. Thinkpads). Apple keep Windows "bad" on Macbooks on purpose. It is the only explanation for all the driver issues they have (but no other laptop manufacturer has).
danieltillett 11y ago
I 100% agree. My Mac Pro is an amazing machine to run Windows. While I still prefer the workflow on 10.10, I am far from unhappy when I have to switch to using Windows.
FreakyT 11y ago
Completely disagree -- the Apple trackpad drivers on windows are awful, and on a laptop, most of your time will probably be spent using a trackpad. Trackpad++, which the author of the article mentions, can help, but it's a horrible program for the following reasons: 1. The developer requires that you put windows into "test mode" (creating a non-removable desktop watermark) to install it at all, apparently to get around code signing restrictions 2. The developer requires that you install the completely useless "Power Plan Assistant" program in addition to Trackpad++ 3. The software itself is terribly buggy, causing random 100% CPU usage spikes
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  Apple's windows trackpad drivers are indeed not that great, but I haven't seen a windows laptop yet that can provide a better trackpad experience in spite of the bad drivers.
  - izacus 11y ago
    Oh pretty much all of them have better trackpad experience than Apple drivers on Windows provide. Under OS X the trackpad is stellar, but on Windows the drivers are just awful.
    - Artemis2 11y ago
      The multiple finger related functionality doesn't work that well under Windows, but simply moving the cursor feels a lot better than most Windows trackpads I've used.
    - FreakyT 11y ago
      You're completely correct, and it's unfortunate that you're being downvoted. I'm guessing this is due to idiots who have never used Windows on a Mac laptop and think they know more than they do.
      - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
        As a universal, parent's claim is patently false. I have an Lenovo X1 Carbon that is a testament to how crappy a trackpad can get. I have had a few PC laptops in the last 5 years (HP, Lenovo) but have never found one with an adequate trackpad. So, if could you please tell me which laptop I should try? This is quite easy to test. I've heard good things about the new XPS trackpad, but haven't been able to try one in the wild yet.
Scarbutt 11y ago
does Windows 10 still support old legacy BIOS?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

pmelendez 11y ago

Maybe... Still my Yoga 2 Pro feels and looks better than any Mac laptop I have own or seen. Touch screen is definetely a must-have to me. It is specially useful if you are developing for touch devices.

RexRollman 11y ago
Touch screen on a laptop. Yuck.
- WorldWideWayne 11y ago
  Yeah, who wants a touch screen on a laptop that converts into a tablet? That's just crazy. Man, fuck those people for adding functionality that I don't even have to use in laptop mode, but which is essential in tablet mode.
  - eropple 11y ago
    I don't want a touch-screen on a tablet, either, because I don't want fingerprints on it when I'm reading on it. Which is why my Surface Pro 3 is essentially only a laptop, because using Windows 8.1 (and 10) in pen-only mode is unpleasant and slow. I'd say the same about a phone, but I don't spend my day staring at my phone.
    - WorldWideWayne 11y ago
      Can't say I've had the same experience. On all of my touch devices, I can only see the fingerprints if the screen is off and if it bothers me at that point, I just wipe it off. Given the prevalence of touch devices these days, I'm surprised that I don't hear this complaint very often.
      - eropple 11y ago
        I don't mind a touch screen on an iPad. But my Surface attracts fingerprints like nothing else (I have generally oily fingertips--it's not a function of washing, it manifests very shortly after I wash my hands), and it's really hard to keep it clean. If I use it for a full day, I probably wipe it down six or seven times. It's super distracting when I'm writing code or something.
- pajaroide 11y ago
  What's the problem with additional functionality on a laptop screen?
  - coldtea 11y ago
    Nothing. I retroffited a soda fountain on mine.
    - nivla 11y ago
      Well if it as light as the increased weight from the addition of a touchscreen, I wouldn't mind having two! However on a serious note, its not as bad as you think. Just have to get used to it and once you do that, there won't be a going back. Think of it as something that is supposed to complement your existing workflow and not as something that would replace it. You know like have a voice assistant on your phone, you don't have to yell everything at it, just some quick look ups.
      - eropple 11y ago
        I disagree, strongly. It is precisely as bad as he thinks, and what makes it worse is that it damages the viability of a pen-based workflow (which I am in favor of, because I do a lot of visual stuff and I use OneNote quite a bit). I want to be able to disable it entirely and not smudge the crap out of a screen I'm trying to work on, but it's effectively impossible and when you do disable it it all falls back to keyboard controls and leaves you with a garbage pen exeprience.
peterhadlaw 11y ago
Are the colors still messed up on the Y2P?
- akhilcacharya 11y ago
  I was able to handle one yesterday, and yes, it seems so.
- pmelendez 11y ago
  I haven't had any problems with colors so far (I compared them with my wife MBP and another HP Desktop we have at home). I did have weird color issues with my desktop XPS 2720 but were driver related.

bartekko 11y ago

For me, the only thing holding them back is not being able to switch between discrete and integrated graphics on Windows.

pmelendez 11y ago
You can switch between them, usually using the control panel setting of the discrete graphics card (Nvidia in my case)
- UnoriginalGuy 11y ago
  Manual switching? Ouch. So that means by default high battery drain, heat issues, and having to manually switch on the discrete graphics card by hand every time you visit a 3D-utilising website. People have been complaining about no auto-switch in Windows on Macbooks for years, yet they haven't fixed it. Tons of other laptops already support it (inc. Thinkpads). Apple keep Windows "bad" on Macbooks on purpose. It is the only explanation for all the driver issues they have (but no other laptop manufacturer has).

danieltillett 11y ago

I 100% agree. My Mac Pro is an amazing machine to run Windows. While I still prefer the workflow on 10.10, I am far from unhappy when I have to switch to using Windows.

FreakyT 11y ago

Completely disagree -- the Apple trackpad drivers on windows are awful, and on a laptop, most of your time will probably be spent using a trackpad. Trackpad++, which the author of the article mentions, can help, but it's a horrible program for the following reasons: 1. The developer requires that you put windows into "test mode" (creating a non-removable desktop watermark) to install it at all, apparently to get around code signing restrictions 2. The developer requires that you install the completely useless "Power Plan Assistant" program in addition to Trackpad++ 3. The software itself is terribly buggy, causing random 100% CPU usage spikes

seanmcdirmid 11y ago
Apple's windows trackpad drivers are indeed not that great, but I haven't seen a windows laptop yet that can provide a better trackpad experience in spite of the bad drivers.
- izacus 11y ago
  Oh pretty much all of them have better trackpad experience than Apple drivers on Windows provide. Under OS X the trackpad is stellar, but on Windows the drivers are just awful.
  - Artemis2 11y ago
    The multiple finger related functionality doesn't work that well under Windows, but simply moving the cursor feels a lot better than most Windows trackpads I've used.
  - FreakyT 11y ago
    You're completely correct, and it's unfortunate that you're being downvoted. I'm guessing this is due to idiots who have never used Windows on a Mac laptop and think they know more than they do.
    - seanmcdirmid 11y ago
      As a universal, parent's claim is patently false. I have an Lenovo X1 Carbon that is a testament to how crappy a trackpad can get. I have had a few PC laptops in the last 5 years (HP, Lenovo) but have never found one with an adequate trackpad. So, if could you please tell me which laptop I should try? This is quite easy to test. I've heard good things about the new XPS trackpad, but haven't been able to try one in the wild yet.

Scarbutt 11y ago

does Windows 10 still support old legacy BIOS?