What would I gain or lose by moving from PC to Mac

[miktec]

I appreciate your attitude, but I spend so much time on computers, they have to be a nice experience for me.

10 inch ex chrome books running linux will be a shit experience, great if you like punishing yourself.

Actually a lot better than I remember TBH. I have a 32bit version of Debian 10 running on my very ancient Samsung netbook (NC10) and it does a very fair job surfing the web and playing tunes/radio via VLC. I bought the Aspire as it has an AMD 64 bit capable chip which will be a step up as there are a lot more apps available - including Audacity which I use occasionally. Installing apps is also no longer the chore that it was back in the old days - a breeze in fact.

Have also trialled 64 bit Debian 11 on a Mac Mini 2012 and there is very little to miss over Mac OS for my particular uses - was quite surprised that VLC is not really that much of a step down from Audirvana for file playback - in fact not a step down at all IMV.

Once you find the right distro and GUI, Linux is a long way off from the daft cartoon experience it used to be

 

[garyi]

I never liked VLC, but its been years since I looked. I am intrenched in roon now, but if I was not using roon then it would be Daphile for me.

Of course I have linux running various guises on my server, as a desktop operating system its not for me.

 

[miktec]

I think the dell ones are as good as any, better than mac thats for sure.

Mac peripherals have always been over-priced shite IME and I stopped using them yonks ago - initially used cheap wifi sets from Maplin and finally settled on Logitech BT combos about 5 years ago, perfection

 

[Tony L]

To the OP wins and losses

The ability to be unbearably smug on any computer thread, to use the phase "windoze" as often as possible, declare that Mac's are soooo much better for creatives and finally claim that Windoze© users spend all their time pretty much unable to switch on their computers due to barrages of viral attacks and BSOD's

On the negative side they are expensive.

Indeed, though annoyingly Apple users can’t abbreviate Microsoft to M$ anymore for blindingly obvious reasons, plus we’ve all ended up living in that bizarre alternative reality where Bill Gates turned out to be the good guy.

Mac peripherals have always been over-priced shite IME and I stopped using them yonks ago - initially used cheap wifi sets from Maplin and finally settled on Logitech BT combos about 5 years ago, perfection

Not always. The current headphone adapter is an absolute bargain. It costs just nine quid and is actually a cable, DAC and ADC in one, i.e. just the same as an AudioQuest Dragonfly, and arguably better quality. Review here including X-ray pic (Audioreviews). Obviously a loss-leader, no way even slaves in China could produce that for just £9.

 

[Sloop John B]

Plenty of food for thoughts on this thread.
The surface pro I have is from November 2014 so it’s given seven years service and apart from maybe four or five times where I had to do a full emergency reboot procedure it has been very stable with no BSOD.

In all the posts here no one has mentioned touch screen control which is an aspect of the surface pro that I would use frequently particularly using OneNote. The message I’m taking is that unless I have very high processing demands – which I do not currently and this won’t be a work system as I have recently retired – that I would be looking at a MacBook Air versus a newer surface pro model.

I think that when my current surface pro becomes unusable – and it’s only got a little slower, it still is fully functional but CPU usage can max out and programs can pause for a few seconds or more - that I will simply purchase a newer surface pro model, this will be the best answer for me.

If it turns out that my main windows PC needs upgrading at a similar time I might amalgamate the two in to the surface book that really looks a nice piece of equipment but would be unnecessary for me whilst I still have a fully functioning PC available.

The new Mack book pro really looks like a phenomenal laptop and that’s what initially got me desiring one along with the fact that my photos et cetera from phone and iPad would be seamlessly integrated, however I don’t think this would be a wise way to spend my finite resources.

so I’ll remain a man with 1 foot in both camps!

.sjb

 

[Joe P]

Tony,

The current headphone adapter is an absolute bargain. ... Obviously a loss-leader, no way even slaves in China could produce that for just £9.

It's even cheaper here — 10 Canuck clams. I thought it was a simple adapter, but you are right. There's a DAC in there. I wish Apple had done a tube version but I realize my interests in portable computer audio are not typical.

Joe

 

[KrisW]

“Loss leader”? Hah. Any schmo like you or me can get these for US$0.75 each at minimum-order of 100 pieces direct from a Chinese wholesaler. I imagine with Apple’s buying power you could squash that down by at least 50%...

In all the posts here no one has mentioned touch screen control

I did. Touch is something I found myself using more than I’d expected on my Surface Go (used for casual browsing, video calls and controlling my media player).

If you’re buying near the top range of Windows laptops, I’d hold out until next year when the 12th generation Intel laptop CPUs arrive, as these should close the performance gap to the Apple M1 chips.

 

[garyi]

Humm I would say the Go really gives you no choice as its always falling over or in the process of falling over or about to fall over. On a 'fixed' screen laptop touch does not make a terrific amount of sense. imo

 

[twotone]

I have touch control on my HP Laptop and rarely use it but conversely when I use my MBA, after using the HP laptop, I instinctively touch the screen.

Also another thing I really like about Apple laptops vs Windows laptops is the keyboard and the layout, I love the fact that the @ key is top left on the Apple Keyboard (I'm left handed) rather than where it is on a Windows keyboard and another thing I rarely make a mistake typing on an Apple keyboard but I constantly make mistakes typing on a Windows keyboard.

The new MBA 2020 M1 magic keyboard is nearly as good as my old 15" MBPr 2015 keyboard.

That laptop was actually the best laptop I've ever owned but it was massive and very heavy compared to both the HP and the MBA.

My old 17" Sony Viao is absolutely huge in comparison to all three laptops above and it weighs a ton.

 

[garyi]

Tony,



It's even cheaper here — 10 Canuck clams. I thought it was a simple adapter, but you are right. There's a DAC in there. I wish Apple had done a tube version but I realize my interests in portable computer audio are not typical.

Joe

Well we can forgive apple everything else as that one thing is reasonably priced

 

[Joe P]

Gary,

Well we can forgive apple everything else as that one thing is reasonably priced

I'm not an Apple fan boy and the prices for almost everything Apple makes is absurd. I just happen to *slightly* prefer a Mac to a PC.

Joe

 

[KrisW]

Also another thing I really like about Apple laptops vs Windows laptops is the keyboard and the layout, I love the fact that the @ key is top left on the Apple Keyboard (I'm left handed) rather than where it is on a Windows keyboard and another thing I rarely make a mistake typing on an Apple keyboard but I constantly make mistakes typing on a Windows keyboard.

I have sympathy for you - switching between layouts is annoying. When I was using a Mac laptop, I went and bought a second Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard and used it with my Mac (tricky to pair, but it did actually work... eventually), and used Karabiner on the Mac to map the keys to match the keycaps.

But honestly, whichever keyboard you use most often will be the one you are more accurate on. I cannot type accurately on an Apple keyboard anymore, even though I used to be very fast on it.

However, you did say you had a HP, which I can’t be doing with at at all - they’re good laptops, but they have the most hostile (to me) keyboard layout I’ve ever encountered, with a column of function buttons down the right edge of the keyboard. Now, I learned to type at the age of 11, so I have a bad (but fast) way of finding the keys that relies on the rightmost keys always being Backspace, Return and Shift, and that really messes with it! (Same reason I hate the US layout with \ above Return. Of all keys.. those two.. on a system running a Unix shell...)

Actually, I just looked at my hands at rest, and my “home” keys are, from left little-finger to right-little-finger: left-shift, A,W,E, Space, M, O, minus, backspace, return... me and Mavis Beacon, we don’ talk no more...

You can make keyboard layouts quite easily on Windows. When I moved full-time to Windows, I made a clone of the “Apple Extended (Unicode)” layout, which I’d learned the dead-keys on years ago (I used to work in software localisation, so it was very useful for me at one point to be able to type text in any Latin-script language), so I guess you could do one with @ and " swapped to improve your sanity. The Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator download is here: Download Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC) Version 1.4 from Official Microsoft Download Center

The new MBA 2020 M1 magic keyboard is nearly as good as my old 15" MBPr 2015 keyboard.

I had that same MacBook Pro model, and I actually thought its keyboard was only just acceptable, and a big step down from my previous Apple laptops. Disappointing to see that the new laptops aren’t at least that good.

The best keyboard I’ve seen recently is the on the Surface Laptop. (I haven’t tried a recent ThinkPad - I was very impressed with the keys on a colleague’s one back in 2015 or so).

That laptop was actually the best laptop I've ever owned but it was massive and very heavy compared to both the HP and the MBA.

They were very good - we kept buying them until we couldn’t get them anymore (late 2018?). They’re the last model you can upgrade the RAM in, I think. We’ve seen weird driver/software issues with the newer Macbooks, especially around web-calls with iffy audio and a really bizarre bug where sharing your screen shows the desktop, but none of the windows on it!