What I see coming next is that you jumped to the opposite extreme, cheaped out on the PC build and you won't be able to live with it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Flip Flopping between macOS and Windows
- Thread starter LiE_
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
What I see coming next is that you jumped to the opposite extreme, cheaped out on the PC build and you won't be able to live with it.
That pc already out performs Mac Mini's anyways, so he should be good. More so if he tosses in a video card.What I see coming next is that you jumped to the opposite extreme, cheaped out on the PC build and you won't be able to live with it.
It's a lovely case, does look a little strange with no GPU, not that I can see it with the vented side panel on.
Nah not how he works. It's not just about performance. He has to be happy with it all.
I do like the NR200, very neat and compact.
The trusty Gigabyte M28U has let me down. Getting quite a bit of coil whine / buzzing when running the monitor at 144hz. Since my PC is very quite with the Noctuas this noise sticks out in a quiet room. So I've requested an RMA and going to try a different monitor. The HP Omen 27u. I've heard good things about it, an sRGB mode that doesn't lock you out of the controls is a must.
Yea this was top of my list if I was building an ATX tower again.
@LiE_ Quick question for nothing else other than my own mental health
What triggers you to retry macos when you're happily using windows? is it something lacking in windows? the lovely mac hardware? a nagging feeling that "it's nicer over there"? a feeling that "it's nicer and I SHOULD be able to do everything just as well on mac" or something else?
What triggers you to retry macos when you're happily using windows? is it something lacking in windows? the lovely mac hardware? a nagging feeling that "it's nicer over there"? a feeling that "it's nicer and I SHOULD be able to do everything just as well on mac" or something else?
I will drop my own take on flip flopping from macOS to Windows and back, as this has been me over the past 3 years or so.
I started using Windows back with 3.1 and then moved exclusively to NT with 4, so I didn't have to deal with loss of much software when 9x/DOS apps were mostly axed. Over time I built up a large catalogue of software solutions, some by big-name developers but mostly applications written by a single person or a very small team. These softwares became crucial to my productivity and entertainment setups. I did have Macs in the 90s and early 2000s, but mostly as a curiosity.
Things started to change as Vista development was taking so long, the superb quality of Panther and Tiger OS releases began to catch my attention. Once Intel transition was in place, I was on board completely. I moved to Mac as my main system at this point, since I could fall back on Bootcamp and eventually Wine became a tenable solution for some of my favored Windows programs. However, the important point was that I quickly found Mac-native apps that filled the void for a good chunk of them. This was excellent, and now I had a much more agreeable OS and hardware to work with.
Years went by with Mac as my main system with few complaints. I will say that coming from XP I found the Finder to have a lot of missing utilities and weird quirks, but other than that the rest of the system was superior. I dealt with the Finder. But then the rough patch of hardware releases in the late 2010s took its toll on me, as I found little in the way of an upgrade path. Then Catalina comes. Now 95%+ of those software solutions I had found when I migrated to Mac were wiped out completely. Most hadn't been updated for 64-bit support, as again they were only handled by one or a few developers (or were discontinued Apple products like the superb QuickTime 7 and Aperture). Now I'm left in the wilderness.
I tried to find alternative solutions and found few viable alternatives. I acquired a 2020 iMac in spite of this, knowing that it may be my last Mac. It ran Windows 10 for most of its life (still does). As it turns out, most of the softwares I had used back in the day still worked in Windows 10, even the 64-bit version. So I resumed business as usual back in Windows, and it was good to see the Explorer again. However, Windows has changed a lot since XP days and now is constantly screwing with my settings and changing things with updates, and I do not like that. I feel like there is much less user control over these things than there used to be, and less than a Mac.
But now that is the dilemma I'm faced with. A functional OS that nags me in Windows, and a glorified Internet access point with a file system on the Mac. I'm a minority in that I do not use any notable major software suites, so I am left using almost entirely stock Apple programs on my Mac mini, with a few odds and ends on the side. I still generally prefer the stability and stock quality of macOS (yet they still need to do a Snow Leopard-esque release again) and the quality of the hardware is superb. I do not much care for Windows as an OS these days but the software that's available to me is what matters.
I am in the Apple ecosystem in that I have never seriously tried Android, I don't use my phone for much beyond texting and calls, a smartphone at all is a luxury for me. I am tied to iMessage unfortunately, luckily I don't 'need' it to work on my desktop computer. I also use and enjoy an iPad for media consumption and quick internet access on a portable. But I don't ask much of my mobiles.
As I consider my next hardware purchase, I wonder if I will ever buy a Mac again. I like them as products, but they don't do much as a tool for me anymore. I don't quite know where to begin with a main PC; I will likely build my own for the first time in years. I will do so on the cheap as I am not a gamer. But perhaps macOS will call me back someday.
Long post but there's my story.
I started using Windows back with 3.1 and then moved exclusively to NT with 4, so I didn't have to deal with loss of much software when 9x/DOS apps were mostly axed. Over time I built up a large catalogue of software solutions, some by big-name developers but mostly applications written by a single person or a very small team. These softwares became crucial to my productivity and entertainment setups. I did have Macs in the 90s and early 2000s, but mostly as a curiosity.
Things started to change as Vista development was taking so long, the superb quality of Panther and Tiger OS releases began to catch my attention. Once Intel transition was in place, I was on board completely. I moved to Mac as my main system at this point, since I could fall back on Bootcamp and eventually Wine became a tenable solution for some of my favored Windows programs. However, the important point was that I quickly found Mac-native apps that filled the void for a good chunk of them. This was excellent, and now I had a much more agreeable OS and hardware to work with.
Years went by with Mac as my main system with few complaints. I will say that coming from XP I found the Finder to have a lot of missing utilities and weird quirks, but other than that the rest of the system was superior. I dealt with the Finder. But then the rough patch of hardware releases in the late 2010s took its toll on me, as I found little in the way of an upgrade path. Then Catalina comes. Now 95%+ of those software solutions I had found when I migrated to Mac were wiped out completely. Most hadn't been updated for 64-bit support, as again they were only handled by one or a few developers (or were discontinued Apple products like the superb QuickTime 7 and Aperture). Now I'm left in the wilderness.
I tried to find alternative solutions and found few viable alternatives. I acquired a 2020 iMac in spite of this, knowing that it may be my last Mac. It ran Windows 10 for most of its life (still does). As it turns out, most of the softwares I had used back in the day still worked in Windows 10, even the 64-bit version. So I resumed business as usual back in Windows, and it was good to see the Explorer again. However, Windows has changed a lot since XP days and now is constantly screwing with my settings and changing things with updates, and I do not like that. I feel like there is much less user control over these things than there used to be, and less than a Mac.
But now that is the dilemma I'm faced with. A functional OS that nags me in Windows, and a glorified Internet access point with a file system on the Mac. I'm a minority in that I do not use any notable major software suites, so I am left using almost entirely stock Apple programs on my Mac mini, with a few odds and ends on the side. I still generally prefer the stability and stock quality of macOS (yet they still need to do a Snow Leopard-esque release again) and the quality of the hardware is superb. I do not much care for Windows as an OS these days but the software that's available to me is what matters.
I am in the Apple ecosystem in that I have never seriously tried Android, I don't use my phone for much beyond texting and calls, a smartphone at all is a luxury for me. I am tied to iMessage unfortunately, luckily I don't 'need' it to work on my desktop computer. I also use and enjoy an iPad for media consumption and quick internet access on a portable. But I don't ask much of my mobiles.
As I consider my next hardware purchase, I wonder if I will ever buy a Mac again. I like them as products, but they don't do much as a tool for me anymore. I don't quite know where to begin with a main PC; I will likely build my own for the first time in years. I will do so on the cheap as I am not a gamer. But perhaps macOS will call me back someday.
Long post but there's my story.
With the new windows and intel your imessage "works" together now. I am in the same boat, I use iPhone as my main device, until beeper or sunbird comes online, then who know what I will be sporting that day. But I find windows better, more user friendly and a more powerful OS overall. Not to mention if anything fails in any of my systems it's easily swapped out and I don't have to jump through seven rings of hell just to try to fix it.
@LiE_ Quick question for nothing else other than my own mental health
What triggers you to retry macos when you're happily using windows? is it something lacking in windows? the lovely mac hardware? a nagging feeling that "it's nicer over there"? a feeling that "it's nicer and I SHOULD be able to do everything just as well on mac" or something else?
The reasons are varied, some I can't even really put my finger on. For the last few years I've been trying to recapture my love for PC gaming - I used to play a lot of PC games until my mid 20s - but each time I play games for a bit I realize it's not for me. I guess I've out grown PC gaming now. It's hard for me to accept, gaming was a big part of my identity. This usually brings me to the conclusion that I don't want a gaming PC and that for general computing having a mac is better. For a few years I was happily using macOS for work but slowly things started to become annoying; can't open an attached outlook mail on macOS, zoom levels and general responsiveness of office apps being lesser to Windows. So now when I make a trip back to Apple I'm just met with short comings compared to Windows, for my work.
Another big part of switching is I was a big Apple fan boy for years, I would get excited for the keynotes and want all the Apple things. Apple did a good job of making me think that life would be better with them. For years this was true, I would bash Android and look down on Windows. Then the desire to game crept in and of course I tried this on mac for a bit but it was frustrating (mac mini, bootcamp, eGPU). So when I switched my computer to Windows I would slowly get frustrated trying to access my digital life in the Apple ecosystem; I'd then have to either go back to macOS or convert to using lots of difference services on my iPhone. Something about me that is key to all of this is that I have this obsession with things having to be from the same brand. It irks me if I'm using mishmash of brands within a similar product category. All my car cleaning stuff is CarPro, all my computer fans are Noctua, all my smart home is Google Nest, all my home theater is Sonos, my mouse and keyboard for both from Glorious, all my PlayStation accessories are first party.
I've hopefully arrived at a point now where I can have a Windows machine and it not be used for gaming. I've had a weird mindset that if I'm building a PC then it needs to at least be able to play games, otherwise what's the point, may as well have a mac
the point now is that having a Windows PC enables me to do my job better and have a far more flexible set of hardware/peripherals.yep, great summary and same here.... and yet I keep booting up my mac for a day or two LOL for reasons, as you say, it's hard to put my finger on other than a vague feeling that it's "better"
I suspect for the majority that flipping comes down to the type of user you are. I would say that you can break Mac users down into 3 broad categories. Home User, Designer, and Developer. The tools on the Mac for most entirely meet their needs so Mac is all they need.
When you break out beyond that into users who have experienced Windows and its benefits for a wide variety of reasons that is when the waters start to get muddy. You have two very different options where each has big enough reasons on their own to use.
For most of us in this thread, we fall into the latter. We see the benefits of both and have a preference to use each for their benefits but ultimately it's not very practical or cost-effective. So flip, flop...
When it comes to iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and Watch I will likely never change as they are all either best in class or the alternative offers nothing that I am currently missing so I don't have the PC/Mac issues.
I have both PC and Mac, the Mac for most tasks, and the PC for the remainder. Tell me I have to choose one and forever forfeit the other and I will choose PC.
When you break out beyond that into users who have experienced Windows and its benefits for a wide variety of reasons that is when the waters start to get muddy. You have two very different options where each has big enough reasons on their own to use.
For most of us in this thread, we fall into the latter. We see the benefits of both and have a preference to use each for their benefits but ultimately it's not very practical or cost-effective. So flip, flop...
When it comes to iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and Watch I will likely never change as they are all either best in class or the alternative offers nothing that I am currently missing so I don't have the PC/Mac issues.
I have both PC and Mac, the Mac for most tasks, and the PC for the remainder. Tell me I have to choose one and forever forfeit the other and I will choose PC.
I think it is time to create an Excel document, and document costs of items, returns, exchanges and such.
Over time, you might find quite a bit has been applied, financially. Overall, it may help one decide which path to take, or both Windows & macOS.
Over time, you might find quite a bit has been applied, financially. Overall, it may help one decide which path to take, or both Windows & macOS.
I remember in my younger days, I was very much into gaming on my PC. As a teen, I had that new fangled device called the Atari 2600, and once the IBM PC came out, I was hooked. I don't want to go into much details, but I walked away from gaming for a large segment of time. I picked it up a little while ago, but I'm not a gamer, my play style is casual at best.
I was very much a fanboy, mostly during the Steve Jobs era. Maybe it was more hero worship, and with his stepping down, and Tim Cook putting his spin on Apple, I was less connected. It could have been the David vs. Goliath where in the early days of Job's return Apple was in a fight for survival and we always root for the underdog. When Cook took over they were a dominant force and they dictated terms and fought against underdogs.
Back to flipping, I'm more platform agnostic, less emotional, more analytical. I go with what best fits my needs. I think the Mac has a lot going for it, but not all of that aligns with my needs. So much so, its not used as much as I thought it would.
Make sure you use a PC to do it though, Excel on Mac is s**t.
yeah very true. Tim is far less engaging as a person in his keynotes too... an accountant v a passionate creator (showman etc.)
I still like the apple aesthetic and their stance on privacy amongst other things but it's far harder to be a fanboy.
completely sensible and logical. Wish I could convince my addled old brain to be the same! as is it, I'm typing this on my wonderful windows machine everything working great and I'm itching to use the mac instead.
Yeah it’s like there was a golden time in the late 90s through the 00s where Apple was it creatively. Programs came out as Mac only and were awesome. Combine that with the fact it was like Linux (UNIX actually) but it worked—I was a redhat and Solaris UNIX admin at the time. And Steve Jobs made it all so amazing. I used Windows desktops for gaming throughout, but I always had an iBook or a Macbook. It was so fun and each keynote made it more so. I loved my iPods and eventually my iPad and iPhone.
But now? Its like the soul is gone to a large degree. My iPhone occasionally needs a reboot—same with my iPad. All that sweet, sweet software is cross-platform or I have switched to something that is. I just don’t have a need for a Mac if I can’t dual boot it into Windows anymore.
I wish they would lure me back in with something compelling, but it is getting harder and harder to imagine. I see myself sticking with Windows 11 and coupling that with my iPad and iPhone for a while.
Edited to add: another weird point to all this I noticed is that because I am IT support for like EVERYONE in my family, Mac OS was one more OS to keep track of than I needed. Everyone else is Windows (including me for my day job). So giving up my mac is one less OS I have to remember. As I get older, I find that important.
But now? Its like the soul is gone to a large degree. My iPhone occasionally needs a reboot—same with my iPad. All that sweet, sweet software is cross-platform or I have switched to something that is. I just don’t have a need for a Mac if I can’t dual boot it into Windows anymore.
I wish they would lure me back in with something compelling, but it is getting harder and harder to imagine. I see myself sticking with Windows 11 and coupling that with my iPad and iPhone for a while.
Edited to add: another weird point to all this I noticed is that because I am IT support for like EVERYONE in my family, Mac OS was one more OS to keep track of than I needed. Everyone else is Windows (including me for my day job). So giving up my mac is one less OS I have to remember. As I get older, I find that important.
yeah exactly! I had solaris at work, unixware at home... people started using windows at work and I hated it. When I tried NEXT I really saw the massive potential... apple buying it was SUCH a great move and I was just so pleased.
No matter what Apple says, I still think ipados is where they intend "larger screen" computing to go and the cynic in me says, perhaps unfairly, that the lack of fixes/quality in macos is there to nudge us across.
COMPLETELY AGREE! And that’s somewhat fine if iPadOS were actually equal in functionality to Mac, but it is most definitely not.
Maybe the wonders of AR/VR will save us from having to worry and we'll all have wonderfully rich VR desktops spreading out to infinity in front of us
Gigabyte M28U packed up for RMA, apparently coil whine isn't an accepted fault by the manufacturer so I have to pay shipping. Mad that a high pitched squeal is considered fine.
I also cancelled my order for the HP Omen 27u, I'm going to ponder some more on the right monitor. Part of me is considering getting a 4K Dell ultrasharp and ditching the gaming monitors. This will further cement this PC as a work tool and not a play thing. I also may dabble a bit again in photography and so a good colour accurate monitor is useful.
I also cancelled my order for the HP Omen 27u, I'm going to ponder some more on the right monitor. Part of me is considering getting a 4K Dell ultrasharp and ditching the gaming monitors. This will further cement this PC as a work tool and not a play thing. I also may dabble a bit again in photography and so a good colour accurate monitor is useful.
yeah CRAZY. it drives me mad and I can't put up with it at all. RMA'd so many cisco routers/switches because of it
dell "work" I find their antireflection coating a bit sparkly but most people don't.
I eagerly await your photographic adventures and then we can discuss our leica-fuji, canon-nikon flip flops too