Flip Flopping between macOS and Windows

[Velin]

The iMac has always been a great value to get into Macs and I think that a lot of folks are sad that they have to go the piecemeal route.

The 27" iMac was a great deal, we've bought a bunch of them. Still have two in the house right now. But in certain key areas, the iMac is falling behind, and this new Studio and Display aren't geared for the regular user, it seems like they are for Final Cut Pro offices. We do lots of work, but editing utube videos isn't one of them.

Foremost is price. Latest Studio stuff is way too expensive. $400 for a stand, on top of a monitor price of $1600/$1900? Just no. And the more powerful Studio box is $4,000. You can buy a stunningly powerful PC system for that, including a leading-class monitor. The Studio SSD prices are off the charts absurd. You can buy M.2 storage for a fraction of the price; for example a bleeding-edge Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD, 2 TB, is just $300. Studio is at least double the price. You can buy a very nice 4TB PNY M.2 SSD for $500. Mac Studio is more than double; 4TB is $1200. I'm starting to hate the markup.

5K is really nice. But OLED screens with HDR are way better for many use cases, including content, media, games. And 60 herz on Apple monitors is really starting to suck, wheras in PC-land they have amazing monitors pumping out 240 and even 360 herz. PCs now even have QD-OLED screens.

It seems like we're going through one of these cycles again where, unless you are a video editor, a PC may have more of what you need it for, at a much, much better price per watt/herz/gig/TB.

 

[slitherjef]

Back at the stage again where I'm thinking about a Mac again to have something mainstream for mainstream software, mostly photo editing when I actually take them. A mid range M1 MacBook air has gotten me thinking.

I got a windows 10 laptop. Barely use it. It's almost useless since it's air gapped to prevent obnoxious updates from not being used daily. Found even not connected to the internet, it still likes to pop out notifications. The Lenovo bloat and other nags like the antivirus I didn't ask for (doesn't windows 10 include defender? That from my understanding works somewhat okay?) Also thinking eventually if it's connected to the internet it'll eventually force windows 11 on me like 10 with others.

Think I might yank the drive and go Linux on it again.

Uh, going Mac I think I'd also need an apple ID however? Ugh, sigh.

Really hate this new standard of computing... ?

 

[GalileoSeven]

Back at the stage again where I'm thinking about a Mac again to have something mainstream for mainstream software, mostly photo editing when I actually take them. A mid range M1 MacBook air has gotten me thinking.

I got a windows 10 laptop. Barely use it. It's almost useless since it's air gapped to prevent obnoxious updates from not being used daily. Found even not connected to the internet, it still likes to pop out notifications. The Lenovo bloat and other nags like the antivirus I didn't ask for (doesn't windows 10 include defender? That from my understanding works somewhat okay?) Also thinking eventually if it's connected to the internet it'll eventually force windows 11 on me like 10 with others.

Think I might yank the drive and go Linux on it again.

Uh, going Mac I think I'd also need an apple ID however? Ugh, sigh.

Really hate this new standard of computing... ?

When I got my gaming laptop, had to establish a Microsoft account as part of the setup process.

Am thinking along the same lines - am going to be doing some traveling this summer and dusting off my camera. Curious to see how Photoshop/Lightroom run on a fresh install of macOS on my iMac. A photography buddy on the other hand threw together a gaming type rig specifically for photo editing though.......and since my laptop is 3yrs newer and has double the RAM, am debating on whether or not to try it on there instead (esp. since I'll probably use it just 2-3 times the rest of the year)

 

[pshufd]

Back at the stage again where I'm thinking about a Mac again to have something mainstream for mainstream software, mostly photo editing when I actually take them. A mid range M1 MacBook air has gotten me thinking.

I got a windows 10 laptop. Barely use it. It's almost useless since it's air gapped to prevent obnoxious updates from not being used daily. Found even not connected to the internet, it still likes to pop out notifications. The Lenovo bloat and other nags like the antivirus I didn't ask for (doesn't windows 10 include defender? That from my understanding works somewhat okay?) Also thinking eventually if it's connected to the internet it'll eventually force windows 11 on me like 10 with others.

Think I might yank the drive and go Linux on it again.

Uh, going Mac I think I'd also need an apple ID however? Ugh, sigh.

Really hate this new standard of computing... ?

I think that you can just disable TPM if you're worried about Windows 11 auto-install.

 

[kamikazeeMC]

eventually force windows 11 on me

How to Stop Windows 11 Update (Block It Forever)

How can you stop the automatic updates on Windows 11? Microsoft may not offer a one-click solution to stop the auto-updates in Windows 11, but you can disable the automatic updates with a few nifty tricks. Read on and you can learn how to stop Windows 11 update in every way.

www.easeus.com

I'm using the Group Policy block method, just have to remember to change '21H2' if there's a newer version.

 

[GalileoSeven]

My fiance has a HP Laptop that she uses for couchsurfing and such, but I recently replaced her desktop with my old (mid 2011) Mac Mini (she was using an old gaming rig I had put together yrs ago - thing was noisy, heated up my office like a furnace and stuck on W10).

I bought an SSD for it to boot off of, installed High Sierra again and its more or less as speedy as my iMac. She definitely loves the integration between macOS and her iPhone 11 and is slowly getting the hang of things. Can't quite tell yet, but perhaps in a year or two she might switch over all the way (she's a very casual user though - does a little web browsing and some occasionaly word processing, but uses Facebook on her phone more often than either of these two computers)

 

[circatee]

My fiance has a HP Laptop that she uses for couchsurfing and such, but I recently replaced her desktop with my old (mid 2011) Mac Mini (she was using an old gaming rig I had put together yrs ago - thing was noisy, heated up my office like a furnace and stuck on W10).

I bought an SSD for it to boot off of, installed High Sierra again and its more or less as speedy as my iMac. She definitely loves the integration between macOS and her iPhone 11 and is slowly getting the hang of things. Can't quite tell yet, but perhaps in a year or two she might switch over all the way (she's a very casual user though - does a little web browsing and some occasionaly word processing, but uses Facebook on her phone more often than either of these two computers)

My partner uses a Samsung Chromebook, when that thing dies, I might convince my partner to obtain a MacBook Air. It will be interesting if they quickly adapt to the integration with iOS, etcetera...

 

[MBAir2010]

When I got my gaming laptop, had to establish a Microsoft account as part of the setup process.

Am thinking along the same lines - am going to be doing some traveling this summer and dusting off my camera. Curious to see how Photoshop/Lightroom run on a fresh install of macOS on my iMac. A photography buddy on the other hand threw together a gaming type rig specifically for photo editing though.......and since my laptop is 3yrs newer and has double the RAM, am debating on whether or not to try it on there instead (esp. since I'll probably use it just 2-3 times the rest of the year)

Microsoft has a quick but stable photo editing program, well the W10 edition that run circles around iPhoto.
I used photoshop on my  computers mini for important photos that appear online,
but the photo editing on a Dell XPS is much better than using a "photo" on the Mac mini, which now crashes.

hope this info helped!

 

[GalileoSeven]

Microsoft has a quick but stable photo editing program, well the W10 edition that run circles around iPhoto.
I used photoshop on my  computers mini for important photos that appear online,
but the photo editing on a Dell XPS is much better than using a "photo" on the Mac mini, which now crashes.

hope this info helped!

Thanks! I don't use anything to manage my photos at the moment - just keep them stored in iCloud. Am thinking about an SSD/RAM upgrade for my iMac, so I think I might give that a go on this when the time comes.

 

[MBAir2010]

this last month of March I took a full month of of using the internet
Using the Dell XPS 13" was a joy as well as my MacBook air form 2010.
just not thinking what was better was very refreshing.
both laptops served me well!

now i realize how problematic Edge is and slow Safari can be.
Bing is useless and duck duck go still does the job without the overload of useless info.
waterfox plays videos safari 14 can't while edge and windows 10 still is up to date.

as far as Windows vs Apple, i don't think there is a difference, internet wise.
and both systems will work, just what we are comfortable with is the key.

 

[Bodie CI5]

While I consider ease of use pretty much even between Windows & MacOS, there's still something about the latter that draws me in - can't quite put a finger on it.

This right here is why I hate coming over to this thread for a read every once in a while. Your words are exactly how I feel (I guess on PC for me it's actually just gaming). In other words, I have been going through a computing existential crisis lol ??

 

[LeeW]

I bought the Mac Studio to Upgrade my M1 Mac Mini. It arrived 11 days ago. For 11 days it has sat behind me in the box, unopened. So I have just done the return for it to be collected on Monday. ?‍♂️

 

[pshufd]

I bought the Mac Studio to Upgrade my M1 Mac Mini. It arrived 11 days ago. For 11 days it has sat behind me in the box, unopened. So I have just done the return for it to be collected on Monday. ?‍♂️

So you just wanted to be sure?

That will make someone happy if they can pick it up at the store the same day.

 

[LeeW]

So you just wanted to be sure?

I had two things in mind, The extra RAM because I run a lot of Virtual Machines and the extra grunt for gaming.

Recently I have changed my VM activity to cloud providers, not quite convenient but it's cheap and I can fire up as many as I need with as many resources as I want, not limited at all by 16GB or 32GB which the Studio would give me.

On the gaming side, I have decided I don't want my main productivity device to be a gaming capable device. I have been very focused the last couple of weeks. If I really want to game I need to fire up the PC. Too much hassle. If the Studio makes gaming better, which it clearly will I will just get distracted. So I want to leave things the way they are.

So on that basis, I just left it there, if I couldn't leave it, fair enough, but if it got to this point and it was still in the box, I don't need it. And there is £2,199 back into my savings account.

I will wait, there is a better, cheaper (than the Studio) Mac Mini coming, maybe this year, maybe next. I can wait.

 

[Bodie CI5]

If the Studio makes gaming better, which it clearly will […]

Honest question: In what way? PC is usually seen as THE gaming platform.

 

[LeeW]

Honest question: In what way? PC is usually seen as THE gaming platform.

It absolutely is and always will be. My gaming needs are not that intense. I mostly play WoW but only casually these days. The M1 Mac Mini handles it pretty well in fairness but if I am going to game I want to do it at max everything in terms of quality, I like going about the world doing whatever I am doing with the most detail. The Studio likely gets close to that and far closer than the standard M1. This is why I will stick to the PC for gaming as my current rig is pretty well specced out and delivers for that purpose.

 

[Bodie CI5]

It absolutely is and always will be. My gaming needs are not that intense. I mostly play WoW but only casually these days. The M1 Mac Mini handles it pretty well in fairness but if I am going to game I want to do it at max everything in terms of quality, I like going about the world doing whatever I am doing with the most detail. The Studio likely gets close to that and far closer than the standard M1. This is why I will stick to the PC for gaming as my current rig is pretty well specced out and delivers for that purpose.

Understood!

 

[Bodie CI5]

Finally decided: going back to my PC and getting another Pixel and that’s it.

 

[circatee]

Finally decided: going back to my PC and getting another Pixel and that’s it.

What was the final straw?

 

[LiE_]

Finally decided: going back to my PC and getting another Pixel and that’s it.

Pixel 6 just looks like a bad phone. I really wanted to like it but it’s plagued with issues.

 

[Bodie CI5]

What was the final straw?

It’s a culmination of things and yet I’m in a fair bit of strife.

Fairly old man rant follows:
At the end of the day, I’m just not an apple guy (I think!). I took my iPhone 12 in today for a direct sale, but I reneged and have it back in my possession. I come from a long line of PC usage (almost 25yrs usage) and before that Amiga (more on this in a moment) and before that C64.

The first time I bought a Mac was in 2014 (MBA -> iPhone 6 -> iMac -> iPad Air 4 then MBP 2015)

The whole M1 thing was like a revelation(!) in that just like the old post-Commodore Amigas that were being released this thing had integrated endocers/decoders on PPC processors etc.

So, after all that, I was spellbound by all the Techtubers, mag reviews etc. 8BG RAM “was more than enough” and for many things yep, it is. However, it’s not enough for Astrophotography (software and workflow).

In any case, I love the Mac and Apple platforms. So what were those things that ultimately made me move?

a) I thought I got out of gaming. Looks like I still have a yearning to play some PC games that consoles don’t cover.
b) Not sure how much I am in need of a Mac to begin stitching up a few pictures of galaxies etc for short video slides.
c) Kinda sick and tired of paying $100AUD for Parallels as well as Microsoft 365 when I don’t get access to Access and Publisher.
d) Not sure how much I like the convoluted mess iOS apps are displayed on screen. Same goes for my iPad.
e) It seems as though apart from the electricity bill, running an Apple platform is on average, for someone like me, somewhat dearer than an Android/PC scenario. I do know that when I was PC/Android, I was way less inclined to begin looking into ‘services‘.

So, right at this moment, this is where I am, kinda in limbo land, might still seem the iPhone but not yet sure.

What is it with Apple that I find so hard to give up??

 

[Bodie CI5]

Pixel 6 just looks like a bad phone. I really wanted to like it but it’s plagued with issues.

I’d used a Pixel 3, 4 and 5 in the past and really loved them. They all had some sort of issue however (3: microphone issue, 4: battery, 5: underpowered in some situations), but I did love them.

I went to our local dept store and saw blue shift on the P6(!). I have been reading of Touch ID issues on the P6 as well as other things such as buggy camera, buggy OS, quickly depleting battery etc.

I’m still thinking if I do move over entirely I just bite the bullet and go P6. But, I do confess, seeing the blue shift today, did make baulk.

I hate this flip flopping ?
LOL ?

 

[Bodie CI5]

I guess the following video may sum me up, obviously without the humour, but I’m not too sure!

I’m all over the place 😟

 

[circatee]

It’s a culmination of things and yet I’m in a fair bit of strife.

Fairly old man rant follows:
At the end of the day, I’m just not an apple guy (I think!). I took my iPhone 12 in today for a direct sale, but I reneged and have it back in my possession. I come from a long line of PC usage (almost 25yrs usage) and before that Amiga (more on this in a moment) and before that C64.

The first time I bought a Mac was in 2014 (MBA -> iPhone 6 -> iMac -> iPad Air 4 then MBP 2015)

The whole M1 thing was like a revelation(!) in that just like the old post-Commodore Amigas that were being released this thing had integrated endocers/decoders on PPC processors etc.

So, after all that, I was spellbound by all the Techtubers, mag reviews etc. 8BG RAM “was more than enough” and for many things yep, it is. However, it’s not enough for Astrophotography (software and workflow).

In any case, I love the Mac and Apple platforms. So what were those things that ultimately made me move?

a) I thought I got out of gaming. Looks like I still have a yearning to play some PC games that consoles don’t cover.
b) Not sure how much I am in need of a Mac to begin stitching up a few pictures of galaxies etc for short video slides.
c) Kinda sick and tired of paying $100AUD for Parallels as well as Microsoft 365 when I don’t get access to Access and Publisher.
d) Not sure how much I like the convoluted mess iOS apps are displayed on screen. Same goes for my iPad.
e) It seems as though apart from the electricity bill, running an Apple platform is on average, for someone like me, somewhat dearer than an Android/PC scenario. I do know that when I was PC/Android, I was way less inclined to begin looking into ‘services‘.

So, right at this moment, this is where I am, kinda in limbo land, might still seem the iPhone but not yet sure.

What is it with Apple that I find so hard to give up??

Thanks for taking the time to share.

I too currently run Windows and macOS (Mac Mini M1). And, to be honest, I use the Mac as my daily. I typically connect to Windows via TeamViewer or Microsoft RDP from the Mac, if I need a Windows application, or something as simple as changing subject lines in emails, via the Outlook 365 for Windows. Not being able to do everything I need to on macOS is what frustrates me.

Every now and then, like this week, I use Windows to play PC games, like The Division 2. Currently they are running an event, Reanimated. So, just enjoying taking down NPCs to mentally relax after work.

But, when I do things like this, I think, why not just remain solely on PC. However, the ease of being able to process my Reminders, Messages and the ease of sharing things via the Messages app without needing to grab my iPhone, is what keeps me using my Mac Mini M1 more and more. I even tend to communicate more with friends and such when typing from the Mac using Messages. From my iPhone, my communication is often less, and responses are much, much shorter.

A tad bit annoying, as I feel tied to Apple at the moment. Albeit, all my own doing...

 

[Danfango]

What is it with Apple that I find so hard to give up??

I use both Windows and Mac on a regular basis.

The thing that makes me prefer Mac is that if you stay between the rails, it is a stress free, productive life. On Windows it's not; it's an eye gouging Crhulhu hellscape that has crushed my soul to dust over 30 years of writing windows desktop software and makes me hate my job and my existence on a regular basis.

So the reason I find it hard to give up myself is not because it's good but because it's less bad than the alternative. Even if I spent 30 minutes earlier arguing with my Airpods which would not connect to the mac...