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Edited: Jun 22, 2024

MacOS is Better

If you're going to start a war, strike hard, so this one should do the trick.

Seriously, as a life long "hater" of Macs and Apple in general, this conclusion has come as a great surprise to me. When you boil it down, there's really little difference between Windows and MacOS apart from the way they approach and accomplish the same task. For example, on the keyboard, CMD vs CTRL to invoke most of the same operations; File Explorer vs Finder (both excel in different areas; both suck in different ways); both use guardrails and limit your free wheeling to greater or lesser extents on both platforms...

BUT

The clear difference is the integration of software and hardware. Windows is everywhere on every conceivable hardware configuration, and now they've jumped to TWO different processor platforms. MacOS is the fence around Apple's walled garden, and is very tightly controlled by the mother ship, but that helps bring cross device compatibility and functionality that Windows owners can only daydream of. Above all, because Apple controls the OS and the hardware, the mantra of "it just works" has really come home to me as a frustrated Windows victim. I really wanted WOA to to succeed this time, and I knew there would be rough patches, but the brick walls (printing, scanning, pen performance in OneNote, etc.) and constant MS "push" (Edge; OneDrive; advertising; Copilot) brought back a lot of bad memories.

Am I beng a bit fanboyish - perhaps so - but it has only come of late (not more than one year). Keep in mind, I still hate Apple for what it is not doing with iPadOS. But the thing is, MS "owns" Windows and Surface, and yet the OS works no better or any more consistently on their own hardware than the OEM's - and it has been that way for decades.

Yes, you have to trade part of your computing soul (and coin) for that Apple experience, but is that any worse than MS stealing your soul (and coin) with every patch, upgrade, and OS design change? Was Goethe really forshadowing a bargain with Apple?

PS - if Desertlap's rumored 11" Surface Pro 11 drops (with 5g and replaceable SSD - or not less than 512gb if part of the SOC) will I be looking - OF COURSE!

13 comments

Comments (13)

Excalibur1814

Jul 31, 2024

No matter what Windows does, I still launch the same applications and do the same job. Other than a selection of nifty bits and bobs, I could still be on Windows XP (cries). However, they are making it suck a little more when it comes to networking and printing options. Something simple, has had a layer slapped on top which is slower. Grrr.

dstrauss

Jul 31, 2024

Replying to

"...However, they are making it suck a little more..."

My problem is they are constantly making it suck, and more than a little more. If it's not Copilot enabled, it doesn't matter to them; Surface started out as a clean "decrapified" Windows expereience - now it leads the way to advertise/interfere to the max; and don't get me started on updates that either break the system or reset services to their applications. I don't want ONEDRIVE, but they keep trying to enable it and move my files I WANT Adobe Acrobat Pro opening all PDF's - If I want Edge to open all PDF's then I WILL CHOOSE THAT, NOT NADELLA!

Don't get me wrong, Apple can be just as heavy handed, but so far in my year of imprisonment in the walled garde, if I change a setting the way I want it Apple doesn't badger me or reset it with the next update.

james!

Jul 31, 2024

Replying to

I wholeheartedly agree that they are consistently making it suck more and more. XP was fantastic, and in a lot of ways was similar to Mac now. It just worked. Every iteration since has added needless complications for the sake of trends, or bad UX research.

I used to make fun of Mac products for making tiny incremental changes, but otherwise just basically being the same thing for the past 20 years, but honestly, now I see the value of that. Yes, they don't usually have the latest and greatest, and are almost always behind 1-2 years on any trends or enhancements, but that gives them time to think it out and see how trends work out in the long run. When they come out with a foldable phone will it be any better than Samsung's offering? Most likely not. It will surely be missing several features. But it will work smoothly and consistently when it happens. (And it'll be "Magical" 🙄)

My point though is, yes, wholeheartedly at this point, MacOS is better than Windows, who just keeps making things suck. I'd much rather have consistency on my productivity machine.

Now on the phone side, Android blows iOS out of the water. Other than this recent AI trend, it gets better with every iteration, and is ahead of iOS in every way.

Steve S

Jul 26, 2024

<<...But the thing is, MS "owns" Windows and Surface, and yet the OS works no better or any more consistently on their own hardware than the OEM's - and it has been that way for decades...>>

Well put, and I have to agree completely. As Eltos says, Microsoft and Windows have devolved over the last few years so that every "improvement" in Windows capability seems to come with two or three depreciations. And I'm also seeing increasing issues with "New" Outlook which acts unpredictably and seems to be buggy in general.

I have also noticed the "just works" behaviour of Apple OS and it makes me feel sad that Microsoft has allowed Windows and Surface to become so... second rate. I didn't bite on the new Surface Pro and I guess I'm happy that I didn't. I'm sticking with my SP8 for now, but I have to confess that I'm starting to look at Apple a lot more seriously than I ever did before...

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Eltos

Jul 26, 2024

Yeah I have to agree. I tried (to see if I could) go back to Windows for my main machine (instead of just gaming) as it is so much more reasonable on the hardware side. Seriously cheaper when you factor deals in.

And what I discovered is that Windows is just in a bad place right now. They are so in the bag for AI that it isn’t great right now. Ah well…the walled garden beckons again. Just have to accept those hardware prices.

Eltos

Jul 26, 2024

Replying to

That was an absolute steal! I am looking at their refurbed site at an M3 15” MacBook Air 16/512 for $1439! Where did you go to get that steal? Swappa? eBay?

dstrauss

Jul 26, 2024

Replying to

Got it off eBay towards the end of last year. It was an individual, and I usually only deal with known resellers there, but he had good reviews and most importantly the AppleCare+.

I've been watching the M3 MBA lsitings on Apple refurb and they are still running pretty high. I've been thinking of downsizing to a 13" but still $1949 for 24gb/2tb and I give up the far better screen, TB4 x 3, SD Card and HDMI - that's WAY TOO MUCH of a sacrifice in features.

Eltos

Jul 26, 2024

Replying to

Right, I feel that. I need the large screen. I think that 15” is about as small as I can go. That means the even-more-overpriced MacBook Pro 16” is my only other option. I don’t really do anything that is going to require that level of overkill. Although I have thought about an older M1 or M2 16” if I could get a good deal on it.

dstrauss

Jul 24, 2024

Reason number 1,237,422 to abandon Windows:

Apparently MS' July 9 security update can cause your Windows 11 PC to open with the Bitlocker Recovery Screen - sure hope you have that recovery key handy or "No more Windows for you!"

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/latest-windows-11-bug-will-have-you-scrambling-to-find-your-bitlocker-recovery-key

Dellaster

Jul 24, 2024

Replying to

It's a feature not a bug! An almost precognitive tutorial feature that will save users from downtime in the extremely unlikely event that, say, their antivirus software causes a BSoD and locks them out somehow.

For example, all those IT folks wouldn't have had to do so much overtime last weekend if scrambling for the 48-digit bitlocker code was a common need and they learned to securely tape a printout of it on each individual computer.

Think of it as a fire alarm drill type of thing!

Nnthemperor

Jun 22, 2024

Thank goodness ITSavvy didn't respond to the problems with my pre-order. The SP8 is still going strong. MS managed to find a way to screw up what could have been their M1 (Apple) moment.

dstrauss

Jul 19, 2024

Replying to

I think MS' "M1 Moment" is being squandered. According to my blue shirt friends at Best Buy, not a lot of interest in the non-Surface SKU's, and return rates are high across the board for the Snapdragon X devices. Biggest complaints are incompatibilities with existing gear (PICK ME, PICK ME) and slow performance with some software.

Otehr than one reviewer's raving about 22 hour battery life on a Surface Laptop 7, I've seen no outstandning battery life gains. Another concern, HWY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH is there no 5g devices - this is the company that invented cellular modems (well, QC thinks so) and none in sight. Either the 5g capability sucks battery (thus killing MS efficiency argument) or it is just a major design screw-up not being ready for launch. Eithere way, another FUBAR moment in the name of Copilot uber alles...

Edited