Flip Flopping between macOS and Windows

[The point and shoot pro]

And I see you also opted for the red accessories. Nice choice. The Surface Go is probably (strangely) my favorite device. It's a great little travel computer; fits into any bag so as not to add luggage and the kickstand/keyboard design allow it to be used in some "untraditional" positions. I frequently have the kickstand straddling my leg while I set with it crossed.

Has just enough power for me (probably comparable to a 5 year old mainstream laptop i3), although battery life could be better. An ARM version is supposedly coming next year though, along with an 11" Surface Pro (which will be interesting provided they don't take away all the bezels so you can't hold it).

Nope, it's an MSI. But it's a well known issue with the CPUs that happens on every make of motherboard. Hopefully the change I just made to the power settings in the BIOS fixes it. We'll see.

I had the surface 3 when it came out first. Bought the 128gb LTE versions. I purchased red accessories for my wife and blue for me, had the dock so it was my main computer for a while and it worked great at the time. I love windows. I don't know why, it just works correctly for me.
I bought the ipad 10th gen last month for both of us. It's a great system, but I did enjoy the surface more. The ipad with the Logitech keyboard is close though so it will work for me.

 

[LiE_]

iPhone 13 Pro arrived yesterday, happy with it overall for the price (£617) as it has 99% battery health and no marks.

The Series 7 Apple Watch however was not what I would describe as "excellent condition" so that's being returned. I've bagged a stainless steel space grey 45mm series 7 cellular for £300, hopefully that comes in good condition and I'll be happy with that.

So one day with the iPhone and I was having regrets. I've become far too comfortable and accustomed to Android and the Goldilocks Pixel 5. The iPhone 13 Pro felt heavy and unwieldy in the hand I was reminded every time I took it out my pocket and every day I put it in my joggers pocket, I could feel the weight. I didn't realise how much I appreciate the slim and light Pixel 5. Add in some of the usual frustrations with my regular apps I wasn't feel too good about my decision.

I think it's a bit deeper than that though, the changing from this to that, the flip and the flop. So I've made a decision to return my recent Apple purchases and asked my wife to step in and cut off my enablers e.g. my credit card and PayPal account. I need to break the cycle and not having easy access to funds is the first barrier that needs to happen.

I'll be sticking with my Pixel 5 for a while and I'm OK with that. It's old, didn't cost me anything, it's already scratched, it runs everything I need smoothly and it's very light and comfortable.

 

[The point and shoot pro]

So one day with the iPhone and I was having regrets. I've become far too comfortable and accustomed to Android and the Goldilocks Pixel 5. The iPhone 13 Pro felt heavy and unwieldy in the hand I was reminded every time I took it out my pocket and every day I put it in my joggers pocket, I could feel the weight. I didn't realise how much I appreciate the slim and light Pixel 5. Add in some of the usual frustrations with my regular apps I wasn't feel too good about my decision.

I think it's a bit deeper than that though, the changing from this to that, the flip and the flop. So I've made a decision to return my recent Apple purchases and asked my wife to step in and cut off my enablers e.g. my credit card and PayPal account. I need to break the cycle and not having easy access to funds is the first barrier that needs to happen.

I'll be sticking with my Pixel 5 for a while and I'm OK with that. It's old, didn't cost me anything, it's already scratched, it runs everything I need smoothly and it's very light and comfortable.

Resistance is futile. You will be back! ha ha. I have tried to tell myself "what you have is working, save your money". But...yeah whatever..ha ha. I do have more important things to buy right now, so I do have myself cut off as well. But, I can always buy for others right? I got my son a new 9th gen iPad 256gb to replace his 6th gen 128gb model that could not be put on our data plan because it's locked to a carrier and they do not unlock them.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

So one day with the iPhone and I was having regrets. I've become far too comfortable and accustomed to Android and the Goldilocks Pixel 5. The iPhone 13 Pro felt heavy and unwieldy in the hand I was reminded every time I took it out my pocket and every day I put it in my joggers pocket, I could feel the weight. I didn't realise how much I appreciate the slim and light Pixel 5. Add in some of the usual frustrations with my regular apps I wasn't feel too good about my decision.

I think it's a bit deeper than that though, the changing from this to that, the flip and the flop. So I've made a decision to return my recent Apple purchases and asked my wife to step in and cut off my enablers e.g. my credit card and PayPal account. I need to break the cycle and not having easy access to funds is the first barrier that needs to happen.

I'll be sticking with my Pixel 5 for a while and I'm OK with that. It's old, didn't cost me anything, it's already scratched, it runs everything I need smoothly and it's very light and comfortable.

That’s funny. I have more-or-less had my wife do the same thing, but with my iPhone. I can’t get a foldable phone or anything because with Android I feel a need to root it to improve the software and why can’t I uninstall this stupid program from Verizon? And, etc., etc., Plus I don’t trust Apple (I have the e2ee enabled on my account), but I really don’t trust Google and Android.

The iPhone is what it is. It gets better apps and is relatively boring. But it always works. And so that is what I have.

 

[transmaster]

And I see you also opted for the red accessories. Nice choice. The Surface Go is probably (strangely) my favorite device. It's a great little travel computer; fits into any bag so as not to add luggage and the kickstand/keyboard design allow it to be used in some "untraditional" positions. I frequently have the kickstand straddling my leg while I set with it crossed.

Has just enough power for me (probably comparable to a 5 year old mainstream laptop i3), although battery life could be better. An ARM version is supposedly coming next year though, along with an 11" Surface Pro (which will be interesting provided they don't take away all the bezels so you can't hold it).

Nope, it's an MSI. But it's a well known issue with the CPUs that happens on every make of motherboard. Hopefully the change I just made to the power settings in the BIOS fixes it. We'll see.

The Keyboard is from my Raspberry Pi setup. I normally just use the touch screen as I normally run FT4, or FT8 but you do get text messages through Gridtracker so I keep it close.

 

[transmaster]

I want to update my old and now retired iPad to an iPad pro, M3??? Looking at the ham radio side you just don't get much software. Example I cannot plug my SDRPlay into the Mac its OS SDRUNO has not been compiled for macOX yet. Nobody to my knowledge has tried to run it using it with Rosetta. Forget the RasPi they are fun but a total pain PIA plus SDRUNO doesn't run on a RasPi either. The Surface it sweet but looking a laptops sales are not good and I can get a ASUS ROG laptop with very deep discounts. I am in no hurry.

 

[LeeW]

I think it's a bit deeper than that though, the changing from this to that, the flip and the flop. So I've made a decision to return my recent Apple purchases and asked my wife to step in and cut off my enablers e.g. my credit card and PayPal account. I need to break the cycle and not having easy access to funds is the first barrier that needs to happen.

A lot of us need a bit of control, not giving that to my wife though..

 

[GalileoSeven]

Anyone here ever use a Surface Laptop? Started a new job about a month ago and the whole office from what I can tell (aside from IT and maybe some dev folks?) are on Surface Laptop 4s (forget the processor, but know my particular machine's got at least 16GB of RAM).

In terms of aesthetics and basic day-to-day functionality, it's pretty damn slick IMO - about as close as you could come to the MS equivalent of the MBA. If I wasn't a gamer, already invested in the Apple ecosystem and looking for something to handle the same day-to-day stuff that I leave to my MBA, I'd give this thing a serious look.

 

[circatee]

Anyone here ever use a Surface Laptop? Started a new job about a month ago and the whole office from what I can tell (aside from IT and maybe some dev folks?) are on Surface Laptop 4s (forget the processor, but know my particular machine's got at least 16GB of RAM).

In terms of aesthetics and basic day-to-day functionality, it's pretty damn slick IMO - about as close as you could come to the MS equivalent of the MBA. If I wasn't a gamer, already invested in the Apple ecosystem and looking for something to handle the same day-to-day stuff that I leave to my MBA, I'd give this thing a serious look.

I tried it for a few weeks. On its own, it is fine, to me. But, with a dock and two monitors and such, I felt it was a serious pain (losing connections, display issues, undocking and redocking issues - when going to a meeting and then coming back to my desk). I barely lasted two weeks using the thing...

 

[LeeW]

One thing I love about the surface is the keyboard, sweet spot for me, better than the MBA/MBP. I still have a surface keyboard to use when I am on PC although I use it less since I got the current Logitech one that switches between all my devices.

 

[keithop]

Anyone here ever use a Surface Laptop? Started a new job about a month ago and the whole office from what I can tell (aside from IT and maybe some dev folks?) are on Surface Laptop 4s (forget the processor, but know my particular machine's got at least 16GB of RAM).

In terms of aesthetics and basic day-to-day functionality, it's pretty damn slick IMO - about as close as you could come to the MS equivalent of the MBA. If I wasn't a gamer, already invested in the Apple ecosystem and looking for something to handle the same day-to-day stuff that I leave to my MBA, I'd give this thing a serious look.

What are the fans like just doing normal day to day office stuff?

 

[eltoslightfoot]

So…anyone see anything that helps them choose definitively Mac or Windows?

I didn’t…although it may make it easier to give up my iPad Pro in favor of a Surface when the time comes to do so reasonably (Probably when the SP10 comes out, I would look at an 8)…

 

[TheOtherAndy]

So…anyone see anything that helps them choose definitively Mac or Windows?

I didn’t…although it may make it easier to give up my iPad Pro in favor of a Surface when the time comes to do so reasonably (Probably when the SP10 comes out, I would look at an 8)…

Just my own tendency when using my Mac Mini this past week to want to buy more crap; accessories, iPhone, better specc'd Mac, etc. That same consumer drive is present with my Windows/PC systems, but reduced. And certainly cheaper; I can build several cheap systems a year for the price of an iPhone.

Currently attempting to make a Dell G15 laptop my daily driver, but laptops are ergonomic disasters so I expect this will fail.

 

[dmr727]

So…anyone see anything that helps them choose definitively Mac or Windows?

No, I use whatever makes sense. Right now it's a Windows desktop for games, and my MBA for everything else.

 

[transmaster]

No, I use whatever makes sense. Right now it's a Windows desktop for games, and my MBA for everything else

I am the same. Windows for the radios, MS for everything else.

 

[bobcomer]

So…anyone see anything that helps them choose definitively Mac or Windows?

For work, I use Windows, for home, I use a couple Macs, and couple Windows machines an 10" iPad Pro, and a Samsung android tablet, an iPhone, and an android phone (Flip4). I'll never just use one platform/ecosystem.

 

[The point and shoot pro]

For work, I use Windows, for home, I use a couple Macs, and couple Windows machines an 10" iPad Pro, and a Samsung android tablet, an iPhone, and an android phone (Flip4). I'll never just use one platform/ecosystem.

I get suckered in by the hoopla, sleep on it and sit down and use my windows systems and feel at "home". When I use a mac I feel like I am in a foreign land, can't speak the language, try to assimilate but ultimately fail. I will save my money and buy good windows systems and just be at home. I bought a 10th gen iPad, and I use iPhone right now, but I think, next go round, sunbird will be out for android and I will get a surface/type device for my tablet system.

I am not tied to apple in any way other than friggin imessage.

 

[keithop]

I get suckered in by the hoopla, sleep on it and sit down and use my windows systems and feel at "home". When I use a mac I feel like I am in a foreign land, can't speak the language, try to assimilate but ultimately fail.

very much the same for me!

 

[The point and shoot pro]

very much the same for me!

Good to know I am not the only one. I looked at the wife, while we were watching the event and said, we are getting all of that. New mac pro etc. Slept on it, and said....NOPE!

 

[keithop]

Good to know I am not the only one. I looked at the wife, while we were watching the event and said, we are getting all of that. New mac pro etc. Slept on it, and said....NOPE!

yeah my life is spent swapping to windows and just doing work, fine, unremarkable but very familiar and easy. Whilst looking at the mac and thinking that's SO shiny and wonderful, I should be using that and buying more of it!

 

[The point and shoot pro]

yeah my life is spent swapping to windows and just doing work, fine, unremarkable but very familiar and easy. Whilst looking at the mac and thinking that's SO shiny and wonderful, I should be using that and buying more of it!

I know I won't be happy using mac, My wife knows I won't be happy using mac. I look at the new macs and think, I want those. then I say, remember...MacOS is a mess and run the other way.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I get suckered in by the hoopla, sleep on it and sit down and use my windows systems and feel at "home". When I use a mac I feel like I am in a foreign land, can't speak the language, try to assimilate but ultimately fail. I will save my money and buy good windows systems and just be at home. I bought a 10th gen iPad, and I use iPhone right now, but I think, next go round, sunbird will be out for android and I will get a surface/type device for my tablet system.

I am not tied to apple in any way other than friggin imessage.

Yes to all of this. Other than android. I don’t trust Apple with my data, but I really don’t trust Android with my data. At least Apple has to say they give me e2ee (ADP)…Android doesn’t even do that.

But Android aside, I am really debating a Surface Pro 8 once the SP10 comes out and I can get a deal.

 

[solq]

For a long time I've thought that Macbooks are the best laptops, and a fast Windows PC is the best desktop.

I still think this about the desktop - and I really like Windows 11, no issues whatsoever and I run a 3 monitor setup, one 5k, one 4k and one 4k+, HiDPI scaling is now perfect, I have a 5.1 surround sound setup through a SoundBlaster which I can easily swap to my USB headphones, no issues, no crashes.

With the Macbook though, I like my 2015 Macbook Pro, it still works, but it doesn't get new OS releases. I am very, very reluctant to switch to Apple silicon. And then the new Macbook Pros are a little too thick and not that portable, and the Airs lack ports. I was hoping with the 15" Air to get maybe a microSD and a third USB, but nope. It's gonna be tough to upgrade the laptop...

 

[bobcomer]

I get suckered in by the hoopla, sleep on it and sit down and use my windows systems and feel at "home". When I use a mac I feel like I am in a foreign land, can't speak the language, try to assimilate but ultimately fail. I will save my money and buy good windows systems and just be at home. I bought a 10th gen iPad, and I use iPhone right now, but I think, next go round, sunbird will be out for android and I will get a surface/type device for my tablet system.

I am not tied to apple in any way other than friggin imessage.

Yeah, I'm most at home with Windows too, but I do like a little variety.

 

[dmr727]

For a long time I've thought that Macbooks are the best laptops, and a fast Windows PC is the best desktop.

I still feel this way, but the strength of my conviction ebbs and flows.

I'd upgrade that 2015 MBP. I had one too and replaced it with an M1 MBA awhile back. You'll be blown away by the speed and battery life. The newer M2 machines are just that much better. I worried about a lack of ports too, but in practice it's been a non-issue (just had to buy a USB-C SD reader). And the new Airs have Magsafe, so that frees up an additional USB-C port while charging.