Choosing between Macbook Air or Windows laptop?

[gaanee]

I am considering between Macbook Air and Windows laptop and would like to get opinions regarding the 2020 Air. I would have preferred the Pro but its base version is still using 8th gen Intel processor and I am looking to keep this new laptop for 5-6 years, so future software compatibility is also a priority.
I have been using Windows for most of the work so would prefer it since switching to Mac would be a bit of learning curve, on the other hand it will be easier to sync with iPhone. I do a lot of coding and connecting to remotely Linux servers and MacOS with its terminal would be useful but new Windows also offers terminal though it may not as full fledged as on MacOS. Most of the days, the laptop is on 6-8 hours continuously though not heavy load.
Both Macbook Air and Microsoft Surface laptop 3 are around $1000 range, Air looks tempting because I can dual boot Windows which I guess I will be using until I get familiar with MacOS. Surface laptop has Wifi6 which would make it more future proof and there are posts on this forum regarding the Air overheating and also YouTube videos causing overheating because of codec incompatibility.
So is the Macbook Air good choice in this case?

 

[IngerMan]

My experience with boot camp is negative, Outdated drivers and constant problems with windows updates. Now VMware like parallels is great but you want the max 16 gb of ram for this to run two operating systems at the same time.

I would not by an Apple laptop to run windows. It should be more like I have a few windows only programs I have to run. So add another $200 for ram and $80 for VM and $30 for Windows 10 OS. For me it’s worth it, I have not seen too many $1000 windows laptops last 5+ years but I have seen many Apples.

 

[darkmatter343]

Touchy subject

My take, I use Mac’s for a few reasons... Primarily because I Spend all day working on Windows PC’s and Servers, so it’s refreshing to use Apple for my own system. Something different. 2nd, it’s based off of Unix/BSD, and I love using Linux so MacOS and the shell make me happy. 3rd, although I get everyone is gathering telemetry data, I can’t stand the lengths MS goes, especially when you consider you pay Over $200 for a Windows 10 Pro license... And lastly... I find MacOS much cleaner.
There are things Windows does better, and there are things MacOS does better. To each their own. I just prefer MacOS.

 

[glenthompson]

After using and supporting Windows for years my wife & I decided that we would switch to Macs when we retired. I had to run Parallels for awhile as I was supporting some custom software for an organization I was involved with. After I weaned myself off that I dumped it entirely. About the only Windows like thing I still use is MS Office. Too many years of Excel use to switch.

My wife has a cheap Windows laptop to run some sewing machine software for embroidery. Easier and cheaper to buy the laptop off a Woot deal than to hassle with Parallels and Windows.

My MBP is now over 8 years old. Hard to find a Windows laptop that will last that long under heavy use. Our Lenovo laptops at work were showing their age after 3 to 4 years.

 

[ctjack]

Basically i5 in the Surface 3 is the same CPU as in $1799 MBP 13.
Going Win route will offer you twice the performance for the same price.
Apple was always cramped in terms of specs when compared to others(no wi-fi 6, less powerful CPU for money).
If you can live with the power which Air offers, then go ahead with it and you will be happy.

 

[nill1234]

if you dint need Mac OS get a nice windows machine. I use windows every day and seldom i had any problems.

 

[Seanm87]

If longevity is a concern I wouldn’t buy a MacBook now. They are transitioning to ARM next year so who knows how long intel will be supported.

 

[sundialsoft]

If you want a windows machine then don't buy a Mac. I did have parallels and it worked fine but upgrades are expensive.
I was windows for a very long time and switched to Mac when I was nearing retirement. My wife also switched so we do not use windows regularly any more. My wife uses Office 365 on Mac.

 

[macintoshmac]

Touchy subject

My take, I use Mac’s for a few reasons... Primarily because I Spend all day working on Windows PC’s and Servers, so it’s refreshing to use Apple for my own system. Something different. 2nd, it’s based off of Unix/BSD, and I love using Linux so MacOS and the shell make me happy. 3rd, although I get everyone is gathering telemetry data, I can’t stand the lengths MS goes, especially when you consider you pay Over $200 for a Windows 10 Pro license... And lastly... I find MacOS much cleaner.
There are things Windows does better, and there are things MacOS does better. To each their own. I just prefer MacOS.

Making it slightly more touchy, does MS still show ads in Windows?

 

[rdubmu]

If you wanted to you could dual boot a thinkpad into Linux and windows.

You will get more bang for your buck from Windows. Thou another user said their thinkpad showed wear and tear after 4-5 years. Thinkpad usually last very long.

Dell makes some great hardware with the XPS 13 and 15. I currently have an
2015 X1 Carbon Gen 3(gave it to my wife)
2018 X1 Yoga Gen 3 (16ram, 1 Gig hard-drive)
2018 MacBook Pro 15 inch, with 16gigs of Ram.

The battery life on my 2015 x1 still gets about 8 hours