Flip Flopping between macOS and Windows

[Madhatter32]

So in my case the issue is as follows:

1: rationally: There is no need to get another MacBook. I hardly won't find any use case where it will provide advantages over using windows. Also Mac is more expensive (what isn't really an issue as my employer pays for the equipment)

2. emotionally / visual: I just don't like the look of windows. Also windows is stressing me more than macos. (Think this is caused by some bad projects with my last employer which ended in a burnout / fatigue syndrome.
So my brain associates windows with stress. Don't know if this is a real issue or a strawman argument.

You know I am glad I am not the only one. I spent at least 10 years at work sometimes over 12 hours per day staring into a windows computer. Drudgery. Throughout that time, I always used a Mac at home -- even after trying to use Windows at home (when it made more sense to do so). I really wanted a different experience on my on time. So, for me, the Widows interface represents stress, pain, and inefficiency. MacOS always represented the opposite. So that's just me -- emotional/psychological issues I suppose. I figure I worked long and hard enough to use what I want on my own time even if it costs a few dollars more.

 

[bobcomer]

Don't know if this is a real issue or a strawman argument.

Sounds like a real issue for you. You might look at Stardock's Start11, it can change things enough that you might not be bothered -- Windows is much more customizable than what Apple lets you do.

I'm kind of in the middle, for work, I use Windows and am comfortable and happy with it, but for home, I use and intel iMac. An intel one that can run x86 Windows in a VM if I need to do work.

I have a Windows PC if I need to do a lot of work and I have an M1 Studio Max, but those sit unused most of the time.

 

[1BadManVan]

Sounds like a real issue for you. You might look at Stardock's Start11, it can change things enough that you might not be bothered -- Windows is much more customizable than what Apple lets you do.

I'm kind of in the middle, for work, I use Windows and am comfortable and happy with it, but for home, I use and intel iMac. An intel one that can run x86 Windows in a VM if I need to do work.

I have a Windows PC if I need to do a lot of work and I have an M1 Studio Max, but those sit unused most of the time.

Kind of in the same boat, i use windows for work but a macbook at home for personal use. Never been an issue for me going back and forth between the two systems. I just like being able to pick up the macbook and just use it, not worrying about a random update breaking it etc.

I havent had too much issue with my newest windows laptop yet but still some annoyances, like when lenovo turned on bitlock in windows and i forgot to check that and almost was locked out from logging into windows over a simple firmware update lol. Cost me a half hour trying to track down the key

 

[maflynn]

using windows for roundabout 25 years

I'm a life long PC user, I started out using PCs in the 1980s, with the IBM PC, but I've used Macs not terribly long after that.

have issues with some external displays,

Yes, Apple made some decisions with macOS that altered how subpixel antialising occurs, the downside is the majority of monitors look rather poorly on a mac. I've had many a conversation in the forums here, people acknowledging it, some apple fans denying it, and some fans making excuses for apple. Finally there's some apple fans that blamed me, because I own MBP, and I cheeped out on not buying a new expensive monitor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1: rationally: There is no need to get another MacBook.

For me, (and I've said this many times in the forum), I use the right tool for the job. I still own a MBP, it's a great tool. I don't generally have it hooked up to a monitor but I do use it. I have a desktop and razer laptop as well, so I have the luxury of picking the best option.

2. emotionally / visual: I just don't like the look of windows.

Sometimes when we use somethin for so long, things get stale. This may be one of those cases. I don't mind Window's UI, though its horribly inconsistent. I do the flexibility and options to customize the look and feel of the Windows - something that you really can't macOS. I also don't like the flat icons that is present has been present in windows.

In summary, I think you get or use the best machine that checks off the most boxes and to me the PC/Windows does that. I try not to get emotionally tied to my decisions, but in a sense we all do to some degree.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I'm a life long PC user, I started out using PCs in the 1980s, with the IBM PC, but I've used Macs not terribly long after that.

Yes, Apple made some decisions with macOS that altered how subpixel antialising occurs, the downside is the majority of monitors look rather poorly on a mac. I've had many a conversation in the forums here, people acknowledging it, some apple fans denying it, and some fans making excuses for apple. Finally there's some apple fans that blamed me, because I own MBP, and I cheeped out on not buying a new expensive monitor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


For me, (and I've said this many times in the forum), I use the right tool for the job. I still own a MBP, it's a great tool. I don't generally have it hooked up to a monitor but I do use it. I have a desktop and razer laptop as well, so I have the luxury of picking the best option.

Sometimes when we use somethin for so long, things get stale. This may be one of those cases. I don't mind Window's UI, though its horribly inconsistent. I do the flexibility and options to customize the look and feel of the Windows - something that you really can't macOS. I also don't like the flat icons that is present has been present in windows.

In summary, I think you get or use the best machine that checks off the most boxes and to me the PC/Windows does that. I try not to get emotionally tied to my decisions, but in a sense we all do to some degree.

I agree with all of this, sir. Especially the monitor sub-aliasing thing. I used to have to go to a link and run a terminal command unless I was using my trusty 4k monitor.

Now, however, I have a Dell S2721DGF for gaming and in my home office. I use my M1 MacBook Air connected on the weekends, and it looks fantastic. Very oddly fantastic, like better than my Windows desktop (3060Ti) fantastic. I did do one thing though. I loaded the little displaylink software and have to keep that running because I go through a usb-c dock. And I only use Displaylink through that dock. If I use HDMI, it looks terrible.

Weird, huh?

Edited to add, I am still VERY tempted by the upgraded Surface Laptop Studio coming out (supposedly) with a 4060 or even that Asus Rog Z13 Flow tablet that might be able to replace my MBA and iPad Pro combination. I am going to see what Apple does with this year's WWDC first. Maybe I get Mac OSX-lite for my iPad or something and I can weep tears of joy.

 

[lcseds]

I find Windows MUCH prettier and more modern than MacOS. So we are opposites I tried MacOS for over a year and did not hate it (except for the 3 colored dots, I HATE those) But compared to a nice Win 11 machine (with Start 11, of course!) I just like Windows better.

The first Mac I had the mac guru at my workplace said when you click the red dot, the program disappears but is still running. I'm like, WTF? So I have to open it again and then quit? I cannot see the logic in this. Full Screen, Minimize and end program seem more simple choices.

 

[LeeW]

I've had many a conversation in the forums here, people acknowledging it, some apple fans denying it, and some fans making excuses for apple. Finally there's some apple fans that blamed me, because I own MBP, and I cheeped out on not buying a new expensive monitor ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Been there with the Apple crew and have even been accused of lying on here about the antialiasing to tarnish Apple. Ended up buying a 4k monitor so that macOS would look better. And it did. My old monitor worked perfectly with Windows.

 

[1BadManVan]

The first Mac I had the mac guru at my workplace said when you click the red dot, the program disappears but is still running. I'm like, WTF? So I have to open it again and then quit? I cannot see the logic in this. Full Screen, Minimize and end program seem more simple choices.

lol! that one still baffles me a bit as well but its closed enough for me, closed enough that it just keeps it in the ram to load back up faster for the next time but not actually actively running in the background. Like when I close safari, it doesn't reopen with all the tabs still there. And it only keeps it in the ram if there's room, it won't hold back another active program im using just to keep a spot open for a closed program. If that makes sense

 

[unrigestered]

yes, it's weird.
doesn't bother me much though as i'm using CMD+Q, CMD-W and CMD+TAB->Q pretty much exclusively.
you'll need CMD+W for Finder though, as CMD+Q won't work there

 

[Cape Dave]

The first Mac I had the mac guru at my workplace said when you click the red dot, the program disappears but is still running. I'm like, WTF? So I have to open it again and then quit? I cannot see the logic in this. Full Screen, Minimize and end program seem more simple choices.

Exactly. But what really bothers me the most is that they are so microscopically SMALL that I needlessly burn out fine motor control nerves trying to get the cursor to such a teeny tiny space. God, I hate that so much. That is, in a nutshell, the reason I went back to Windows. I hate it that much. Been way to cludgy for way too long.

 

[c0ppo]

CMD + M = minimize
CMD + Q = Quit
CMD + H = Hide

I try to avoid using mouse/trackpad as much as possible. Why move a mouse cursor around, when you can finish something in less than a second with kb shortcut?

But what I can't avoid is full screen apps. On MacOS they are the most stupidest thing ever! Who ever came up with that design decision needs to be fired. ASAP.

 

[JuicyGoomba]

Been there with the Apple crew and have even been accused of lying on here about the antialiasing to tarnish Apple. Ended up buying a 4k monitor so that macOS would look better. And it did. My old monitor worked perfectly with Windows.

Weirdly I still prefer the look of Mac OS on my 1440p monitor over Windows. I think it's due to the way truetype messes with the shape of the text, actually makes it harder to read sometimes.

MacOS text is undoubtedly "blurrier", but looks a hell of a lot better than the standard linux rendering. The whole OS just looks more natural if that makes sense, Windows defnintely sharper throughout though.

 

[maflynn]

You might look at Stardock's Start11

I have Stardock's utility suite and there's really some nice little apps. I use start11 and Fences. I latter allows me to organize my desktop. I initially thought it was a bit of fluff but it takes a desktop filled with too many items and cleans it up.

Start11 offers a lot of flexibility and control over your start menu

Its these sort of utilities that I really like and show the flexibility of windows over macOS. I remember back in the day that we used to be able to theme and alter the look and feel of macOS, but then Apple shut that down. It was a budding cottage industry and it really had some cool things, but sadly, its apple's way or the highway This was pre-Cook and so Jobs was still running the show

 

[JuicyGoomba]

I have Stardock's utility suite and there's really some nice little apps. I use start11 and Fences. I latter allows me to organize my desktop. I initially thought it was a bit of fluff but it takes a desktop filled with too many items and cleans it up.

Start11 offers a lot of flexibility and control over your start menu

Its these sort of utilities that I really like and show the flexibility of windows over macOS. I remember back in the day that we used to be able to theme and alter the look and feel of macOS, but then Apple shut that down. It was a budding cottage industry and it really had some cool things, but sadly, its apple's way or the highway This was pre-Cook and so Jobs was still running the show

You keep items on your desktop?! You monster

 

[maflynn]

Nice and neat

 

[StellarVixen]

Nice and neat
View attachment 2174563

I loved the Outer Worlds and can't wait for a sequel.

 

[JuicyGoomba]

Nice and neat
View attachment 2174563

Fair play. The folder layout really does help. I wish Microsoft would take the folder implementation they added to the W11 start menu and allowed that folder to be placed on the dock. Similar to how you can have folders in the dock on iOS. Such an implementation would move your desktop folders there down to the bottom and it would be so clean as well as functional.

Go a few years back and I'd have happily used your desktop folder solution, but after using a MacBook Air for a couple of weeks before returning, it was enough to mould my muscle memory into using spotlight search (or windows key before typing).

I'd pay the £6.99 for the Start11 app, but honestly for what I actually use the start menu for it's probably not worth it. This is how far I got with the "pins" and it seems to work fine for the ocassions I forget how to access EQ APO's config editor.

 

[Annv]

We shouldn't need to buy new monitors with every new computer, like Apple tries to force us with no support for lower resolution displays.

That's a tech that doesn't age like graphic cards and can easily last for 15 years or more.

I use two 19-inch monitors from 2007, and I don't intend to upgrade them ever. They look great on Windows, so easy on the eyes, and they aren't even HD. One of them has a CCFL backlighting, and only a VGA port — and that's my favorite one to work with the text.

 

[maflynn]

We shouldn't need to buy new monitors with every new computer, like Apple tries to force us with no support for lower resolution displays.

Shhh, that makes too much sense

 

[LiE_]

Update time. Strong flip incoming.

So we had an all hands call at work end of last week where it was mentioned we should be using our work laptops over our personal devices. I had to act quick because I had just sunk a chunk into a new desktop. Luckily most of what I had bought was from Amazon and I was within 30 days return window. So I set about taking my PC apart, putting them carefully back into the boxes and shipping them back. There were a few items I had bought from other retailers so I listed those for sale and some have sold already. The Gigabyte M28U being a gaming monitor was also returned thankfully.

Come Monday afternoon I noticed on a Teams call on my work Lenovo my battery was very lower and it was asking to be plugged in. Except it was already plugged it! I scrambled around trying different USB-C chargers but nothing worked, the light next to the USB-C port wasn’t lighting up. The laptop ran out of juice and died. I now had no device to use for work, so off to IT support I went and booked in for a motherboard replacement on this coming Monday. That left me with nothing to do my job.

While this is going on I decided that if my work laptop is purely my work laptop then I need a personal computing device to do admin for a business I help run for my wife and other day to day stuff. I concluded that Apple was where I wanted to go. So I bought a couple items from Apple refurbished; Apple Watch Series 7 and an iPad Pad Pro 11“ M1. Since I had decided on 120hz for my iPad I wanted my phone to follow suit so grabbed a used mint condition iPhone 13 Pro in silver. The iPad is now my personal computing device and I have been using it as a stop gap to do my job until my Lenovo is repaired.

To complete my work setup I’ve ordered a very reasonably priced Lenovo 4K 28” monitor and a UGreen USB-C dock. It will be refreshing having a very clear separation from work and personal computing. For as long as I can remember they have been the same devices.

 

[c0ppo]

@LiE_

You give me hope that I'm not the worst one out there 😂

 

[JuicyGoomba]

@LiE_

You give me hope that I'm not the worst one out there 😂

As someone who was set on getting an iPhone and Apple watch today but decided to stick with Pixel and Windows for a bit longer I completely agree haha

 

[keithop]

While this is going on I decided that if my work laptop is purely my work laptop then I need a personal computing device to do admin for a business I help run for my wife and other day to day stuff. I concluded that Apple was where I wanted to go. So I bought a couple items from Apple refurbished; Apple Watch Series 7 and an iPad Pad Pro 11“ M1. Since I had decided on 120hz for my iPad I wanted my phone to follow suit so grabbed a used mint condition iPhone 13 Pro in silver. The iPad is now my personal computing device and I have been using it as a stop gap to do my job until my Lenovo is repaired.

very interesting indeed. I've long wondered if I would be able to use an ipad as my personal computing device... I could leave my windows desktop/laptop as work only and say ok time to stop, over to the ipad.

When discussing this with my other mac owning pals, they all said NO WAY! ipados is only good for light browsing and some apps, it'll really annoy you with its full screen (mostly) attitude etc. You'll be better with your MBP.

So the other evening I was at a restaurant and the owners children + some of their friends where doing college work on their ipads. Wow is all I can say. It made me feel extremely ancient in my use of tech to be honest. They were amazingly productive on those ipads using keyboards, pens to write formulae, multiple tabs for research everything I would do personally and more all with complete ease and speed.

I said to them, how come you don't have laptops.... they all laughed and said they didn't like macos, prefered ipad/iphone and if they had to use a desktop/laptop they used windows but when they did they missed the ipads.

It really made me wonder if I need to give the ipad a fair chance!

 

[LiE_]

It really made me wonder if I need to give the ipad a fair chance!

I guess it really depends on what you need from personal computing. For me it’s browser, email, basic Excel, cloud file storage and occasionally writing/editing some Word docs.

I’ve used an iPad Pro in the past with Lightroom and it’s very capable.

Saying that I still prefer macOS to do those tasks.

 

[powertube]

I find Windows MUCH prettier and more modern than MacOS. So we are opposites I tried MacOS for over a year and did not hate it (except for the 3 colored dots, I HATE those) But compared to a nice Win 11 machine (with Start 11, of course!) I just like Windows better.

I think it's a matter of taste, but I have the subliminal feeling that microsoft UX pretends to be modern but lacks lacks fundamental design principles. F.e. look at the icon in the search box which just reappeared in win 11 after the last update: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/pK3xeQmtXxPsYdBSToB8rZ.jpg

Honestly, ms designers how are responsible for this icon should ask themselves if they have the right job.