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Anyone else abandoning ship?
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Believe it or not, that is the way forums work. Oddly misplaced comments about staring at trees... not so much
This was my reason for jumping ship and here are a few more...
1. Cost about $1,000 less
2. More ports
3. Being able to upgrade hardware
One - just one of many - problems with the registry is: it tends to bloat itself up.
More specifically: during installation you can set a registry key, e.g.
HKEY_whatever/..whatever.../MyCompanyName/MyProduct1
then, you could install a second product, setting the key
HKEY_whatever/..whatever.../MyCompanyName/MyProduct2
Now, assume you deinstall product 1. You deinstall it and remove the registry key path set during installation, right? So let's remove path
HKEY_whatever/..whatever.../MyCompanyName/MyProduct1 ...
Ooops, you realise you can't do that, because it would also remove part of the path to product2's key. So you just remove the key and leave the rest of the key path as is.
However, this is also a bad, because you don't know if product2 (or any other product) is installed at all, so you got a dangling key/path.
To sum it up, you have two choices:
1 - remove the path/key. You don't want that.
2 - leave the key/path as is and ignore it. You don't want that either.
Either way, each installation inflates the registry, leaving stubs, dangling keypaths, etc.
This is also why so many registry cleaners exist - and cause problems, more or less: because they either remove paths they shouldn't. Or they leave dangling paths alone, which is not exactly the intended purpose of a registry cleaner.
Whatever you do, you can't get it right. By design.
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This is a discussion forum and as such we are discussing the topic, if you don not want to interact in the thread, you can simply move on.
Yes. It IS a problem. If you ever had the displeasure of having to program an installer/uninstaller (or having to provide support) you'd not that relaxed about it. Its also the reason why many users still reinstall their Windows once a year. Its because there really is no way fix the registry, slowing the system down, sometimes causing issues. Unfortunately the registry will become screwed up and bloated over time; its just the question how quick it happens, it is unavoidable.
And yes, Windows is market leader. What can we conclude from that? Nothing really. Tata sells way more cars than Rolls Royce. This hardly means Rolls Royces are bad cars or inferior in comparison to Tatas, does it? The millions and millions you mention prove exactly no technicalities, just sales figures.
In my opinion Windows is market leader not because of its features or quality, but despite. Anyway, just my 2 cents. You asked for problems with the registry - I explained some to you.
We'll never find this one out - but it'd be interesting to see what the Microsofts (or Apples; Linux' or the BSDs') market share would look like if computers were invented today and all known operating systems tomorrow. I'd assume the operating system landscape would look quite a bit different.
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I am abandoning the Apple ecosystem bit by bit.
For me the turn-offs are cost to performance ratios and, to some degree, the iOS-ification of the operating system and hardware (I don't need my machines glued and soldiered together just to be thinner - I actually need them repairable and customizable). That said, I still prefer MacOS to any other OS. But preferring it does not mean I am willing to put up with these two issues in the long run.
At the moment I spend 90% of my time in Linux (on a Dell XPS15 and an older 12 core XEON desktop for my 3D work). In both cases, the PC systems replaced older Macs that were no longer up the tasks I needed. I tried Windows but it really isn't set up for the kind of work I do and it really seemed like it hit the sweet spot (in a negative sense) of complexity and yet still exhibiting a lack of utility for my specific needs. I know that Linux is a nightmare to manage for less technical users, but I figured it would be worth investing the time to learn as it is (by orders of magnitude) a more popular OS than anything else on this planet (leaving even windows in the dust).
I think all three (desktop) OS's have their place. My wife will probably still stick with MacOS for the time being because it really is the most seamless user experience out of the three big ones as far as I am concerned. I personally have mostly switched away for the reasons I mentioned above - I just need to be way further along the value/power axis than Apple seems willing to build. Windows is useful, I guess, due to its large market share?*
This is just what works for me. But my switch away from Apple seems irreversible to me unless they radically change their trajectory of the past 10 years or so.
*If linux could just stop its internal warfare about software installation strategies (snap? flatpak? appimage? tar? repo-maintained?) I think they would have a chance to take a bite out of this Windows market share. But as much as I like the OS, the chances of that happening are not too different from Apple building the kind of machine that appeals to me.
For me the turn-offs are cost to performance ratios and, to some degree, the iOS-ification of the operating system and hardware (I don't need my machines glued and soldiered together just to be thinner - I actually need them repairable and customizable). That said, I still prefer MacOS to any other OS. But preferring it does not mean I am willing to put up with these two issues in the long run.
At the moment I spend 90% of my time in Linux (on a Dell XPS15 and an older 12 core XEON desktop for my 3D work). In both cases, the PC systems replaced older Macs that were no longer up the tasks I needed. I tried Windows but it really isn't set up for the kind of work I do and it really seemed like it hit the sweet spot (in a negative sense) of complexity and yet still exhibiting a lack of utility for my specific needs. I know that Linux is a nightmare to manage for less technical users, but I figured it would be worth investing the time to learn as it is (by orders of magnitude) a more popular OS than anything else on this planet (leaving even windows in the dust).
I think all three (desktop) OS's have their place. My wife will probably still stick with MacOS for the time being because it really is the most seamless user experience out of the three big ones as far as I am concerned. I personally have mostly switched away for the reasons I mentioned above - I just need to be way further along the value/power axis than Apple seems willing to build. Windows is useful, I guess, due to its large market share?*
This is just what works for me. But my switch away from Apple seems irreversible to me unless they radically change their trajectory of the past 10 years or so.
*If linux could just stop its internal warfare about software installation strategies (snap? flatpak? appimage? tar? repo-maintained?) I think they would have a chance to take a bite out of this Windows market share. But as much as I like the OS, the chances of that happening are not too different from Apple building the kind of machine that appeals to me.
I foresee macOS being more locked down, whether we're talking about requiring the T2 (or T3 or what ever Tx is out) chip to boot or their move to ARM based processors. It all point to a iOS like experience imo.
I don't think Linux will be anything other then a niche OS on the desktop. Wasn't the year of Linux first bantered around in 1998? The market is just to mature, and developers are set with macOS and Windows to even embrace a third alternative. I've used and enjoy Linux, and use it at times at work, but I don't it will ever be anything other then a niche. Btw, I'm planning on installing Linux on my Thinkpad, but since a number of my apps don't run on linux, I'll be dual booting
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devices as 
Moderator Note:
Several posts comparing Windows vs macOS as operating systems have been removed as they were dragging the thread off-topic. If you would like to debate Windows vs macOS as operating systems, please start another thread or use an existing thread on that topic.
Several posts comparing Windows vs macOS as operating systems have been removed as they were dragging the thread off-topic. If you would like to debate Windows vs macOS as operating systems, please start another thread or use an existing thread on that topic.
I'm on my third Macbook Pro 13" TB keyboard repair.
However i'm not jumping ship to any Windows OS based machine.. I spent a week with the Dell XPS 2018 and it was the most frustrating thing I ever had to use ever since my old Toshiba laptop due to that horrible trackpad alongside the frustrating crappy 4h-6h battery life
There's no going back for me, plus having linux as base makes it so simple for me to RDP to most of our virtual machines easily without the need of a 3rd party app like Putty.
However i'm not jumping ship to any Windows OS based machine.. I spent a week with the Dell XPS 2018 and it was the most frustrating thing I ever had to use ever since my old Toshiba laptop due to that horrible trackpad alongside the frustrating crappy 4h-6h battery life
There's no going back for me, plus having linux as base makes it so simple for me to RDP to most of our virtual machines easily without the need of a 3rd party app like Putty.
so what will you be using if not a MBP or a Dell, unless I misunderstood your post.
Regrettably, I too have (for the moment) jumped ship, after a near 10-year run with two macbook pro's. One being a Late 2008 and a Late 2016.
2016, Worst MacBook Pro, EVER. Don't get me started with the problems.
1. GPU overheating, causing graphics distortions (I didn't personally experience this, but saw it in several videos less than a month after the MacBook Pro 2016 released). But I have seen minor distortions (flashes of white lines while watching YouTube videos, and other sites too.
2. Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports are an absolute disgrace to the open standard. The ports become loose over time, from simply plugging and unplugging the cables, and the fact you have to charge the system with these ports makes it much, much worse. This happens because Apple lines the in
side of the ports with bendable plastic (PCB?), instead of metal usually found in normal USB Type-C ports.
Edit: Oh and it gets better, the ports are loosening, "Because I'm using non-Apple USB-C/TB3 cables." What an awful answer for a company to give their customers, they can't expect you to use 100% Apple-authentic cables all the time.
Because of the awful design, I have had the ports replaced twice in less than 3 years, with the 3rd pair already loosening AGAIN.
3. The Butterfly 2nd generation keyboard is the worst keyboard I have EVER used, keys get stuck constantly, and is just awkward key placement in general, hard to get used to type on (for me at least). Last year I had one of the keys snap off while using it.
Back in 2017 I had the computer repaired for the first time--admittedly due to carelessness on my part, dropped it, which didn't go so well.
First repair set me back about $1,200 (monitor and USB-C ports)
Second repair was mid-November 2018, $825 at CityMac (Traverse City, MI), Apple-authorized/certified repair shop, replaced entire top case (top case is everything but the monitor, for those who don't know) for one miserable key, and new USB-C ports, AGAIN.
Third repair, upcoming...Probably another $1,200? At the end of January this year, I set the computer down, gently to eat my food, the computer went to sleep, monitor turned off, no big deal, right? NOPE. I went to go pick the computer up, turn it back on, and next thing I know, the monitor is dead. No abuse whatsoever, since my first incident back in 2017.
I have tried absolutely everything to revive the monitor, NVRAM/PRAM/SMC reset. All to no avail. The computer still works, can use it but only with a USB-C to HDMI cable hooked up to an external monitor. Reinstalled macOS, pulled all data off to be fully safe.
So in short, $3,400 or so initially for the computer, plus all these repairs. When I get the funds to do so, I am going back to the Apple store and raising nothing short of hell about all of this.
Also it should be noted, doing a(n) SMC/PRAM reset on this machine is next-to-impossible without a monitor, there's NO way you can know if the system is on or not, due to how quiet it is, and also the absence of the classic startup chime makes it even harder, and you don't have any video signal at all until just before you're presented with the Apple Login Screen.
2016, Worst MacBook Pro, EVER. Don't get me started with the problems.
1. GPU overheating, causing graphics distortions (I didn't personally experience this, but saw it in several videos less than a month after the MacBook Pro 2016 released). But I have seen minor distortions (flashes of white lines while watching YouTube videos, and other sites too.
2. Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports are an absolute disgrace to the open standard. The ports become loose over time, from simply plugging and unplugging the cables, and the fact you have to charge the system with these ports makes it much, much worse. This happens because Apple lines the in
side of the ports with bendable plastic (PCB?), instead of metal usually found in normal USB Type-C ports.
Edit: Oh and it gets better, the ports are loosening, "Because I'm using non-Apple USB-C/TB3 cables." What an awful answer for a company to give their customers, they can't expect you to use 100% Apple-authentic cables all the time.
Because of the awful design, I have had the ports replaced twice in less than 3 years, with the 3rd pair already loosening AGAIN.
3. The Butterfly 2nd generation keyboard is the worst keyboard I have EVER used, keys get stuck constantly, and is just awkward key placement in general, hard to get used to type on (for me at least). Last year I had one of the keys snap off while using it.
Back in 2017 I had the computer repaired for the first time--admittedly due to carelessness on my part, dropped it, which didn't go so well.
First repair set me back about $1,200 (monitor and USB-C ports)
Second repair was mid-November 2018, $825 at CityMac (Traverse City, MI), Apple-authorized/certified repair shop, replaced entire top case (top case is everything but the monitor, for those who don't know) for one miserable key, and new USB-C ports, AGAIN.
Third repair, upcoming...Probably another $1,200? At the end of January this year, I set the computer down, gently to eat my food, the computer went to sleep, monitor turned off, no big deal, right? NOPE. I went to go pick the computer up, turn it back on, and next thing I know, the monitor is dead. No abuse whatsoever, since my first incident back in 2017.
I have tried absolutely everything to revive the monitor, NVRAM/PRAM/SMC reset. All to no avail. The computer still works, can use it but only with a USB-C to HDMI cable hooked up to an external monitor. Reinstalled macOS, pulled all data off to be fully safe.
So in short, $3,400 or so initially for the computer, plus all these repairs. When I get the funds to do so, I am going back to the Apple store and raising nothing short of hell about all of this.
Also it should be noted, doing a(n) SMC/PRAM reset on this machine is next-to-impossible without a monitor, there's NO way you can know if the system is on or not, due to how quiet it is, and also the absence of the classic startup chime makes it even harder, and you don't have any video signal at all until just before you're presented with the Apple Login Screen.
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I'll continue to use the MacBook Pro, my Dell is given to me every 3 years by my work.. It's my wife who uses it.
I wish I could get my wife to use a Dell, but she prefers the Macs. I can't say I blame her.
I have a couple Dells from 2002/2003 that will still boot up and work, but later ones along with HP is what drove me to Apple and the Macbook Pro
I took some looong looks at the XPS 15", but I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger with my past history with Dell.
I wish I could get my wife to use a Dell, but she prefers the Macs. I can't say I blame her.
I have a couple Dells from 2002/2003 that will still boot up and work, but later ones along with HP is what drove me to Apple and the Macbook Pro
I took some looong looks at the XPS 15", but I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger with my past history with Dell.
I have used all the Dell XPS from the last couple of years and everything is a disappointment outside of the keyboard and displays.
Man battery life is terrible on any of the 2k and 4k display ones.
Personally for me I'm sticking with my 2017 until the 2nd generation of the next redesign.
So what you are saying is my wife, being the better voice of reason in our household, probably saved me from a disappointment she was sure would have been coming ")
Abandoning? Not entirely. I’m still using a 10 year old MacBook.
Avoiding? Yes. I’ve been dreaming about an upgrade for years. Now that I’ve finally come into some extra money that would allow an upgrade I won’t proceed. I want a MacBook with the durability of my existing machine. I may or may not choose to keep my next unit that long but I would like it to be a possibility.
Avoiding? Yes. I’ve been dreaming about an upgrade for years. Now that I’ve finally come into some extra money that would allow an upgrade I won’t proceed. I want a MacBook with the durability of my existing machine. I may or may not choose to keep my next unit that long but I would like it to be a possibility.
Trust me she did. Unless you need Windows and CUDA I'd stay the hell away from that thing
Do you have the larger battery in the XPS? I believe Dell offers two battery options when configuring the laptop. How many hours do you manage on the dell?
I've heard good and bad with Dells, I think it may be the luck of the draw in some respects. The throttling issues with the last couple of generations were enough for me to cross them off the list when I was in the market to buy a laptop.
I had the larger battery models with the biggest configurations in terms of SSDs/CPUs...
I mean I don't dislike the machine for causal use it's fine, but for professionals who either work in IT or video editing it's a pain for us because it slowly starts biting you back in terms of throttle, battery life and actual performance on the damm thing.
These days I do IT Consulting and the Macbook Pro 13" is more than enough (even thou I should have picked a 15" because of the screen size and additional power for extra monitors)
3:30 into the video he describes about how he's been missing out on great keyboard user experience. I agree that assessment completely. You don't realize how bad it is, until you start using a quality keyboard.
I do wished my Thinkpad had a matte screen like the X1 Yoga though
I didn't have my MBP for long, but I like the keyboard. Yes, it's different and if you are used to traditional keyboards, then it can be an issue, but at least for me, the keyboard is good. I hope only that it will be reliable too..
I guess that the MBP keyboard has been the cause of much controversy and many people hate it, but I think that Apple will never go back to the old keys.
I guess that the MBP keyboard has been the cause of much controversy and many people hate it, but I think that Apple will never go back to the old keys.