Mixed Ecosystem Discussion

[dspdoc]

I’ve been sitting on the fence of divorcing Apple entirely. My dilemma is that I have pretty severe clinical OCD (also suffering from perfectionism) and the thought of using a Windows PC while having the rest of my ecosystem be Apple wrecks me. I probably need to see a shrink because I mean this is a SERIOUS issue for me. I just can’t get my head around it. When I say I have OCD, I mean I HAVE OCD. I buy things in pairs and need things to match.

Does anyone have any powerful advice that could help me? Anything to ease the psychological discomfort would be awesome. I can’t figure out how to separate the Apple ecosystem world I am buried in with my desire to build a PC to use as my main computer. SOS! LOL ?

I love the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch, but my patience is exhausted with Apple and computers. I also love the idea of controlling my own hardware at all times. This is why building my own powerhouse PC appeals to me.

This move to ARM REALLY hasn’t helped me! They just can’t leave “well enough alone” IMHO and that also messes with me. My kind of OCD craves stability and consistency. Constant change is paralyzing for me. Anyway, thanks in advance peeps!

 

[Expos of 1969]

I’ve been sitting on the fence of divorcing Apple entirely. My dilemma is that I have pretty severe clinical OCD (also suffering from perfectionism) and the thought of using a Windows PC while having the rest of my ecosystem be Apple wrecks me. I probably need to see a shrink because I mean this is a SERIOUS issue for me. I just can’t get my head around it. When I say I have OCD, I mean I HAVE OCD. I buy things in pairs and need things to match.

Does anyone have any powerful advice that could help me? Anything to ease the psychological discomfort would be awesome. I can’t figure out how to separate the Apple ecosystem world I am buried in with my desire to build a PC to use as my main computer. SOS! LOL ?

I love the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch, but my patience is exhausted with Apple and computers. I also love the idea of controlling my own hardware at all times. This is why building my own powerhouse PC appeals to me.

This move to ARM REALLY hasn’t helped me! They just can’t leave “well enough alone” IMHO and that also messes with me. My kind of OCD craves stability and consistency. Constant change is paralyzing for me. Anyway, thanks in advance peeps!

If this is a serious and truthful post, the only recommendation is for you to seek professional help without delay.

 

[kazmac]

I've tried multiple times to move to Windows and just wasn't ready until this announcement of the move to ARM. I went back and forth out of fear of the unknown (Windows). My decision to finally stop messing around was hastened by our latest 3 iPads having heat / cpu / touch issues (as every single iPad I've owned since 2017 has had), and Apple's OS becoming increasingly locked down.

I'll probably hang onto my iPhone SE but that is it. Besides, my job requires Windows and it will be much more efficient for me go that route. I've tried in the past but I am ready now and no longer scared.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I truly appreciate the help, advice and suggestions folks in this sub forum have given me thus far. I look forward to eventually helping other people too as the folks here have helped me.

I wish wish you luck V.

 

[dspdoc]

If this is a serious and truthful post, the only recommendation is for you to seek professional help without delay.

Ouch! Well it certainly wasn’t meant as a joke post, that’s for sure. I know of many people with OCD. It just affects everyone differently. For me it’s about cohesiveness. No need to respond as if I’m a crazy person. I know people who have to flick the light switch on and off a certain number of times. No one is telling them to seek help immediately. Some of the smartest and most creative people I know have severe OCD and perfectionism. One name that comes to mind is Steve Jobs. Maybe you’ve heard of him?
[automerge]1593003106[/automerge]

I've tried multiple times to move to Windows and just wasn't ready until this announcement of the move to ARM. I went back and forth out of fear of the unknown (Windows). My decision to finally stop messing around was hastened by our latest 3 iPads having heat / cpu / touch issues (as every single iPad I've owned since 2017 has had), and Apple's OS becoming increasingly locked down.

I'll probably hang onto my iPhone SE but that is it. Besides, my job requires Windows and it will be much more efficient for me go that route. I've tried in the past but I am ready now and no longer scared.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I truly appreciate the help, advise and suggestions folks in this sub forum have given me thus far. I look forward to eventually helping other people too as the folks here have helped me.

I wish wish you luck V.

Thank you! If I can just figure out how accept and embrace keeping some of my Apple products while having a Windows PC as my main system, I will be ok. Being able to separate the two worlds in my mind is key. Seeing each for what they are on their own and not needing brands to match. That’s the crux for me.

 

[kazmac]

Ouch! Well it certainly wasn’t meant as a joke post, that’s for sure. I know of many people with OCD. It just affects everyone differently. For me it’s about cohesiveness. No need to respond as if I’m a crazy person. I know people who have to flick the light switch on and off a certain number of times. No one is telling them to seek help immediately. Some of the smartest and most creative people I know have severe OCD and perfectionism. One name that comes to mind is Steve Jobs. Maybe you’ve heard of him?
[automerge]1593003106[/automerge]

Thank you! If I can just figure out how accept and embrace keeping some of my Apple products while having a Windows PC as my main system, I will be ok. Being able to separate the two worlds in my mind is key. Seeing each for what they are on their own and not needing brands to match. That’s the crux for me.

Windows still has iTunes if you need it. So I suspect that the two systems of Windows 10 and iOS may be different enough for you to acclimate.

One thing I’ve learned in my previous attempts to switch is there is no one device that does everything.

Also, please be more patient than me.

My biggest decision now is what laptop to buy (I definitely need a machine sooner than August, so no conceptd this time. The Magpie drools and then I wake up).

Oh and this forum’s ignore button is your friend. It’s been very useful for me.

 

[Frankied22]

I’ve been sitting on the fence of divorcing Apple entirely. My dilemma is that I have pretty severe clinical OCD (also suffering from perfectionism) and the thought of using a Windows PC while having the rest of my ecosystem be Apple wrecks me. I probably need to see a shrink because I mean this is a SERIOUS issue for me. I just can’t get my head around it. When I say I have OCD, I mean I HAVE OCD. I buy things in pairs and need things to match.

Does anyone have any powerful advice that could help me? Anything to ease the psychological discomfort would be awesome. I can’t figure out how to separate the Apple ecosystem world I am buried in with my desire to build a PC to use as my main computer. SOS! LOL ?

I love the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch, but my patience is exhausted with Apple and computers. I also love the idea of controlling my own hardware at all times. This is why building my own powerhouse PC appeals to me.

This move to ARM REALLY hasn’t helped me! They just can’t leave “well enough alone” IMHO and that also messes with me. My kind of OCD craves stability and consistency. Constant change is paralyzing for me. Anyway, thanks in advance peeps!

Wow you sound like me lol! I struggle with the same thing all the time. I wouldn't say I have OCD but it really bugs me to have Apple products and not try to stay within the ecosystem. I have always had a custom built gaming PC that I use for gaming and whenever I try to switch to Windows for anything non-gaming it annoys me because it is all so disconnected from my Apple devices. I have tried countless times over the years to switch to Android and make that work but I always come back to my iPhone and I just prefer iOS for mobile. I used a 2015 13" MBP for a long time because I didn't want to lose my ports or go to the butterfly keyboard and only now am I trying out a 16" MBP. I wanted to wait and see what WWDC brought and I was actually pleasantly surprised with their direction. I think the new macOS looks great and it sounds like Apple Silicon will be quite a transition and hopefully bring way more power and efficiency to the Mac. Also, I am hoping in the long term gaming will become more of a viable option on Mac. Their GPU in the iPad's are quite impressive so I am very curious to see what the GPU performance will be like on an Apple Silicon Mac.

I think people like you and I just have to keep things in perspective. Apple is not perfect, but neither is any other company. Apple is, in my opinion, the closest to having a very tight and cohesive ecosystem of products. Everything is minimal, clean, ad-free, private (supposedly), and for the most part just gets out of your way and lets you do what you need to do. There are so many quality of life features that become daily routine when you use multiple Apple devices that it really does make life and work easier; and it would be a long list. You can hack some of these features together through third party software across platforms but it never feels as nice or works as well. My problem is, and I am sure you can relate, is that I feel like if I am paying more money for the Apple devices and the ecosystem, I want to be all in, and unfortunately being all in is still not perfect, and there is always that lingering doubt that at some point Apple is going to switch something or ruin something and we will have all our eggs in the Apple basket and it will be a massive disruption. However, if we look back in history Apple has been really good at maintaining products and services and not killing off things unexpectedly (unlike Google). Apple tends to really nail what they are setting out to do and then they iterate it over time. Take something like iMessage for example. We have had iMessage for what, 9 years? In those years it has gotten more features and become more refined but the core functionality has always been there. Google still hasn't come up with a solution for messaging and it has killed so many over the last few years I have lost count.

All that being said, it is not like it is impossible to use Apple hardware and benefit from that while also using other solutions for different services. For example, I will probably never get into Apple TV+ or News+. I prefer to keep a highly curated collection of movies and tv shows on my Plex server, and that's fine because Plex works much better on Apple devices. I use OneDrive for online storage, and that is fine because it works great on the Mac. I just get my news from the web, and that is fine because I don't need to pay for it or use a bloated catalyst app on my Mac. I like listening to podcasts but I don't HAVE to use Apple Podcast app. There are several other podcast apps that work great, and also run really well on Apple hardware. I will probably never pay for Apple Arcade, and that is fine because those games are bottom of the barrel in my opinion and I would rather run what games I can on Steam for Mac or stream them from my beefy desktop PC to my laptop if I want to play that way.

 

[dspdoc]

Wow you sound like me lol! I struggle with the same thing all the time. I wouldn't say I have OCD but it really bugs me to have Apple products and not try to stay within the ecosystem. I have always had a custom built gaming PC that I use for gaming and whenever I try to switch to Windows for anything non-gaming it annoys me because it is all so disconnected from my Apple devices. I have tried countless times over the years to switch to Android and make that work but I always come back to my iPhone and I just prefer iOS for mobile. I used a 2015 13" MBP for a long time because I didn't want to lose my ports or go to the butterfly keyboard and only now am I trying out a 16" MBP. I wanted to wait and see what WWDC brought and I was actually pleasantly surprised with their direction. I think the new macOS looks great and it sounds like Apple Silicon will be quite a transition and hopefully bring way more power and efficiency to the Mac. Also, I am hoping in the long term gaming will become more of a viable option on Mac. Their GPU in the iPad's are quite impressive so I am very curious to see what the GPU performance will be like on an Apple Silicon Mac.

I think people like you and I just have to keep things in perspective. Apple is not perfect, but neither is any other company. Apple is, in my opinion, the closest to having a very tight and cohesive ecosystem of products. Everything is minimal, clean, ad-free, private (supposedly), and for the most part just gets out of your way and lets you do what you need to do. There are so many quality of life features that become daily routine when you use multiple Apple devices that it really does make life and work easier; and it would be a long list. You can hack some of these features together through third party software across platforms but it never feels as nice or works as well. My problem is, and I am sure you can relate, is that I feel like if I am paying more money for the Apple devices and the ecosystem, I want to be all in, and unfortunately being all in is still not perfect, and there is always that lingering doubt that at some point Apple is going to switch something or ruin something and we will have all our eggs in the Apple basket and it will be a massive disruption. However, if we look back in history Apple has been really good at maintaining products and services and not killing off things unexpectedly (unlike Google). Apple tends to really nail what they are setting out to do and then they iterate it over time. Take something like iMessage for example. We have had iMessage for what, 9 years? In those years it has gotten more features and become more refined but the core functionality has always been there. Google still hasn't come up with a solution for messaging and it has killed so many over the last few years I have lost count.

All that being said, it is not like it is impossible to use Apple hardware and benefit from that while also using other solutions for different services. For example, I will probably never get into Apple TV+ or News+. I prefer to keep a highly curated collection of movies and tv shows on my Plex server, and that's fine because Plex works much better on Apple devices. I use OneDrive for online storage, and that is fine because it works great on the Mac. I just get my news from the web, and that is fine because I don't need to pay for it or use a bloated catalyst app on my Mac. I like listening to podcasts but I don't HAVE to use Apple Podcast app. There are several other podcast apps that work great, and also run really well on Apple hardware. I will probably never pay for Apple Arcade, and that is fine because those games are bottom of the barrel in my opinion and I would rather run what games I can on Steam for Mac or stream them from my beefy desktop PC to my laptop if I want to play that way.

Excellent points and thank you! It is good to know I am not alone in this.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Ouch! Well it certainly wasn’t meant as a joke post, that’s for sure. I know of many people with OCD. It just affects everyone differently. For me it’s about cohesiveness. No need to respond as if I’m a crazy person. I know people who have to flick the light switch on and off a certain number of times. No one is telling them to seek help immediately. Some of the smartest and most creative people I know have severe OCD and perfectionism. One name that comes to mind is Steve Jobs. Maybe you’ve heard of him?.

I did not respond as if you were a crazy person. I simply responded to what you posted. The thought of using a Windows PC "wrecks" you. "I probably need to see a shrink" because this is a "SERIOUS issue for me". "I just can't get my head around it". "I mean I HAVE OCD" The use of CAPS was yours.

Based on those statements above, I don't think the suggestion to seek professional help is out of line. Do as you wish...

 

[dspdoc]

I did not respond as if you were a crazy person. I simply responded to what you posted. The thought of using a Windows PC "wrecks" you. "I probably need to see a shrink" because this is a "SERIOUS issue for me". "I just can't get my head around it". "I mean I HAVE OCD" The use of CAPS was yours.

Based on those statements above, I don't think the suggestion to seek professional help is out of line. Do as you wish...

Thanks for your concern about my well-being.

 

[filu_]

Hello,

At home, I have been using Linux on the desktop for a long time. I liked the openness, unlimited options and configurations, the freedom to sift through the intrnet without fear of malware. The price was limitations such as the lack of many applications or drivers, but due to my needs it was not that onerous.

I use a computer to browse the Internet, send (and archive) e-mails, keep a few simple sheets in the style of a home budget, prepare correspondence on various everyday matters (Libre Office). I also collect private photos from various phones and cameras on my computer, arranging them in chronological and logical catalogs ("Holidays 2019", "Brother's Wedding", "Bicycle trips", etc.).

Multimedia is mainly music ripped from CDs to audio format (for listening at home in the entertainment room) and MP3 for listening while working on a desktop, uploading to phones or MP3 players. Movies - similarly - is a DVD collection transferred to your hard drive (sometimes converted to .mkv). The law in my country allows you to backup purchased media so I use it (maybe slightly overuse). I share photos, music and movies on my home network to other devices, incl. on Smart TV in the entertainment room. I don't use online music or movies (I don't have Netflix, Spotify, Apple Music etc.).

This system worked until I started using the first iPhone - suddenly it turned out that I needed my wife's laptop Windows and iTunes to add music to the phone (I know it can be done with third-party players but it's not entirely elegant).

When I bought an iPad mini and then an iPad Air with a Logitech keyboard, the problem got worse because I was able to create documents on the iPad in a text editor and a spreadsheet. There was Pages and Numbers on the one hand, and Calc and Writer on the other. I could work at the MS office via Dropbox but it would only be a prosthesis.

So it was left to either move office work to only one device (iPad), treating the desktop only as a file server or run office matters in parallel on two systems and in different editors. which is tiring. Unfortunately, Numbers does not allow me to save files via SMB on my Linux desktop.

Of course, there is a third option, which is to replace the desktop with Mac. I bought a Mac mini but returned it due to screen wake problems. The work on MacOS itself was not to my liking. I managed to run the DLNA server (Plex is too big for me, too heavy), Handoff worked great, but managing photos or music is unacceptable to me, because I want to decide what is in which folder. I don't understand the philosophy of managing libraries by applications, not by the user. Besides, the price of Mac computers is way too high for me.

So I try to build my ecosystem around a central file store. Now it's an old dekstop, after it died - maybe a NAS (like QNAP or Synology, maybe something of its own like Raspberry). I would prefer it to be a Mac, maybe an iMac, maybe a mini with a better monitor so that there are no problems with communication between devices (music upload) but the price and some MacOS rules discourage me. but maybe it will be Almost-iPad-Only ...

Almost, due to the need to have data storage, backups and the option to watch something on the big screen (my Smart TV does not support Apple TV but maybe I'll do something about it).

I wish my ecosystem was simple, useful, and relatively cheap.

I will not buy an Apple Watch, because I prefer sport watches to smartwatches and I love my Polar Grit, but in this case there is no Linux software for communication with the watch ...

Best regards!

 

[Deefuzz]

I've tried multiple times to move to Windows and just wasn't ready until this announcement of the move to ARM. I went back and forth out of fear of the unknown (Windows). My decision to finally stop messing around was hastened by our latest 3 iPads having heat / cpu / touch issues (as every single iPad I've owned since 2017 has had), and Apple's OS becoming increasingly locked down.

I'll probably hang onto my iPhone SE but that is it. Besides, my job requires Windows and it will be much more efficient for me go that route. I've tried in the past but I am ready now and no longer scared.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I truly appreciate the help, advice and suggestions folks in this sub forum have given me thus far. I look forward to eventually helping other people too as the folks here have helped me.

I wish wish you luck V.

Now we need to find a place like this for the Windows side of things...I haven't really found any comparable discussion forums out there!

 

[Expos of 1969]

Now we need to find a place like this for the Windows side of things...I haven't really found any comparable discussion forums out there!

The post you highlighted from the poster is not her current view. She has gone back to Apple. Just so you have the latest info.

 

[LordeOurMother]

I generally stick to Apple services where possible - mostly because I hate giving Google my data. Where Safari fails, Firefox comes in. I am, presently, switching to Google Drive over iCloud drive because of a weird iCloud glitch with El Capitan, and I am selling my iPad Pro as I find iOS and social media too addicting given my addictive personality. The main reason I got the iPad Pro was i. to act as a dual monitor on the go and ii. to take notes at university in lieu of schlepping around with a plethora of notebooks. I've since realised I can accomplish ii. with a RocketBook. I can also use an old iPad Mini 1 to accomplish both of these tasks via the Duet and RocketBook apps, and it's slow enough that I won't use social media on it all day.

I like the idea of the iPad Pro, so it may be the case that in a year's time after I 'detox' from social media I come back to it and use it to its full potential - as a 2 in 1 / note taker to accompany my MacBook Pro and main set up.

 

[filu_]

social media too addicting given my addictive personality.

I don't have this problem, my only addiction is a few not often visited forums But I understand your decision. I rate iMessage on MacOS in a similar way - convenient but addictive and disturbing

 

[kazmac]

Now we need to find a place like this for the Windows side of things...I haven't really found any comparable discussion forums out there!

I changed my mind and am sticking with Apple.

That said, I agree. I wish there was a Windows forum/site that is as good as Macrumors.

I stand by my thoughts that whatever works best for you works for me.

 

[retta283]

Over the last few months I have been sliding more towards Windows. I'm currently using both Mac and Windows, and finding that Windows can do most of what I want to do. There are a few things I think Mac OS does better, and there are things Windows does better. I am expecting delivery of a 2020 iMac in a few days, which is most likely my last new Mac. I plan to partition the hard drive and run both Mac OS and Windows on it.

For me, the ARM switch will make Macs a no-go to me as a main machine. I'll probably keep my iMac around until it's dead, and maybe buy a low-end ARM Mac to tinker with, but as time goes on I see myself moving more to Windows as my main OS. I've been disappointed with Mac OS for a while, but Catalina was a special disaster and I do not like Big Sur. I'll be interested in seeing how often I run Windows on my new iMac, I may end up using it quite often now. I've changed some Windows settings and got it the way I like it, so I'm comfortable in it.

 

[Silvestru Hosszu]

I also use both MacOs and Win and I see myself abandoning neither.
Truth is, both have pluses and minuses and neither is perfect. Far from it.
I was about a year without any MacOs device. My only connection to Apple was my iPad Pro which sadly developed the touch issue mentioned also by Kazmac.
So after a year in which my experience with windows was ok-ish but not perfect I bought the 16'' MacBook Pro.
I don't regret buying it but, in my experience, Catalina is the worst Os Apple ever built.
I`ll probably buy some entry level ASi Mac to test it out. After that, I don't know ...

 

[pshufd]

My current desktop setup is a 2008 Dell Studio XPS 435mt. The motherboard and CPU are stock but I've replaced the PSU, Graphics, HDDs and added a USB 3.0 card and put in 48 GB of RAM. It runs Windows 10 smoothly. It's hooked up to 1 4K monitor and I use it to run Think or Swim which is a trading program. I also run a 2015 MacBook Pro 15 (2.5 Ghz, AMD Graphics) hooked up to a 4K monitor and a QHD monitor. I do most of my office-type stuff on macOS because I prefer the UI, though I also do office stuff on the Windows system.

I run Active Trader Pro on the Mac. The two systems are connected via Synergy which is a program that allows you to control two or more computers with one set of keyboard/mouse. So I just move the mouse cursor onto the Window screen and the keyboard and mouse focus is there and move right to control the Mac.

I also use the Windows desktop as a NAS server so that iPads, iPhones and laptops can access my media library. This means that I don't need as much storage on individual devices and can make content available for other household members without having to hand them a flash drive or putting it on the cloud which increases bandwidth usage. Our LAN is a lot faster than our WAN as well. The idea is that I threw in a 2 TB SSD which was $200. It's a lot easier to do this than to pay Apple's prices for onboard storage.

The Windows system, though, is ancient. CPU is adequate. GPU is overkill as I don't do gaming but I needed something decent just to run 4K. I think that I would have been better off getting something better like a 1050 so that I could run 2x4K. Right now I can only run 1x4K + 1xWUXGA.

So things are really good right now. What I would like to migrate to:

2020 MacBook Pro 16 with Intel 10th generation CPUs (this doesn't yet exist), 32 GB RAM.
Custom build Windows Desktop with Intel 10th generation CPU, and enough GPU to support 2x4K, 64 GB RAM.

With this, I could run both trading programs on Windows and the other stuff on macOS. Actually, just upgrading the Windows system would be good enough as my 2015 MacBook Pro can run all of the office stuff just fine right now.

Synergy makes it a lot easier to use both systems together as they feel like one. I can throw the hardware on the desktop that Apple charges an arm and leg for.

 

[soulreaver99]

I have to work on both operating systems as part of my job and I think the MacBook Pro 16-inch is fantastic on running both operating systems natively. I am really going to miss being able to do that all on one machine once Apple completely switches to ARM but it's really not the end of the world... just a little more inconvenient when business travel for myself because frequent again someday but working from home it doesn't really matter.

At home I went from having a MacBook Pro 16-inch with an eGPU+NVIDIA 2700 Super for gaming and have now switched to just having a dedicated PC. I have my Mac for doing MacOS work and Final Cut Pro but my desktop gets 80% use at home.

Like some long time Mac users, I had a hard time letting go of MacOS because of being in the Apple ecosystem for so long and getting iMessage on all my apple devices is really convenient. Now that you can easily install Dell Mobile connect onto any Windows PC (thread here) - I'm able to send and receiving iMessages on my Windows desktop just fine.

Aside from that, cloud based services such as Microsoft 365, Google, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, CRMs, etc... work perfectly fine across all systems. As cloud based applications further develop including cloud hardware gaming... it's not going to really matter what system you use.

 

[filu_]

Hi guys,
How are you doing in the iOs - Linux ecosystem? I only mean home use, not professional use.

I have an iPhone and an iPad and so is my wife. We did not manage to become iPad Only for many reasons, the most important of which is the need to have an archive for files (photos, videos, music, matters with banks, offices) but also the desire to work on a large screen with a mouse and keyboard.

However, it has many limitations, because LibreOffice does not work with iWork, on iOs I prefer Safari to Firefox, Firefox is my only browser on the desktop.

I use Dropbox, iCloud but no media files, just documents. I often think about changing my computer to a Mac, but I am afraid of being locked in the reservation and I do not want to spend too much money on the computer, although I will have to soon, because my desktop is 8 years old and something will finally fail.

For this, I still need iTunes and an old Windows laptop. I can backup i-Devices on iCloud (although I would have to purchase additional capacity) but managing music on the iPhone (although I don't do it often) is impossible. Yes, there are third party applications (ie VLC) but it is less convenient to use.

I think I will eventually try a basic MBA or Mini as a "gateway" to iOS devices. Unless you have your own ways to create an ecosystem that allow you to combine the best of the world of Apple and Linux?

Best regards

 

[pshufd]

Hi guys,
How are you doing in the iOs - Linux ecosystem? I only mean home use, not professional use.

I have an iPhone and an iPad and so is my wife. We did not manage to become iPad Only for many reasons, the most important of which is the need to have an archive for files (photos, videos, music, matters with banks, offices) but also the desire to work on a large screen with a mouse and keyboard.

However, it has many limitations, because LibreOffice does not work with iWork, on iOs I prefer Safari to Firefox, Firefox is my only browser on the desktop.

I use Dropbox, iCloud but no media files, just documents. I often think about changing my computer to a Mac, but I am afraid of being locked in the reservation and I do not want to spend too much money on the computer, although I will have to soon, because my desktop is 8 years old and something will finally fail.

For this, I still need iTunes and an old Windows laptop. I can backup i-Devices on iCloud (although I would have to purchase additional capacity) but managing music on the iPhone (although I don't do it often) is impossible. Yes, there are third party applications (ie VLC) but it is less convenient to use.

I think I will eventually try a basic MBA or Mini as a "gateway" to iOS devices. Unless you have your own ways to create an ecosystem that allow you to combine the best of the world of Apple and Linux?

Best regards

I don't use Linux anymore (used it at work for twenty years) but you can just use a common format like doc or docx.

I think that we all have our little tricks to provide interoperability and there's often one or two things that don't slot in neatly. I have things running as I like them right now but I'm always considering new hardware. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to stick with Windows + macOS. macOS for the UI for office stuff and Windows for power stuff where a strong CPU, big SSD and lots of RAM work and are dirt cheap compared to Apple prices.

I use iOS of course but I only use iCloud Notes for interoperability of documents. I rarely use Pages on Windows/Mac/iOS for documents. I usually use LibreOffice on Windows or macOS for documents. Sometimes I use LaTeX if I really want to control formatting or if I'm doing a long document that requires citations.

 

[filu_]

Thanks,
But full use of the .doc / .docx format requires the purchase of Office?

I know that it is the art of compromise, because maybe - after taking into account many factors - it is better to either go to Apple Reserve entirely or, for example, use Windows and iTunes in a virtual machine on Linux

Although the beauty probably lies in simplicity

 

[pshufd]

Thanks,
But full use of the .doc / .docx format requires the purchase of Office?

I know that it is the art of compromise, because maybe - after taking into account many factors - it is better to either go to Apple Reserve entirely or, for example, use Windows and iTunes in a virtual machine on Linux

Although the beauty probably lies in simplicity

No. They are just formats. LibreOffice has supported it for something like a decade. .docx on my mac is associated with pages so when I double-click, it opens the document with pages. On Linux, you'd have to run it on the web browser but it should support the format - I haven't tried it on the web browser version but the macOS app works fine.

 

[filu_]

In LibreOffice for Linux, I save all important documents as .docx and .xlsx.

The problem is opening .xlsx on the iPad - Numbers will open but after conversion - so there is no convenient work in the cloud, because I cannot work on the same file using different devices.

In the case of .docx, the iPad will open the file but with no editing rights.

Surprisingly, there are more options on Linux, because there is still a browser version of MSO, including via Dropbox.

The second way is to switch to Numbers / Pages and edit on the desktop via the web version of iCloud.

It is possible to work in these formats, as you write, but I am obsessed with having access to the same file from different devices.

 

[pshufd]

In LibreOffice for Linux, I save all important documents as .docx and .xlsx.

The problem is opening .xlsx on the iPad - Numbers will open but after conversion - so there is no convenient work in the cloud, because I cannot work on the same file using different devices.

In the case of .docx, the iPad will open the file but with no editing rights.

Surprisingly, there are more options on Linux, because there is still a browser version of MSO, including via Dropbox.

The second way is to switch to Numbers / Pages and edit on the desktop via the web version of iCloud.

It is possible to work in these formats, as you write, but I am obsessed with having access to the same file from different devices.

You could use the browser versions of Numbers and Pages though I can understand wanting to use the Native Apps.

In general, working in this way involves compromises and it comes down to what you can live with. Going full Microsoft Office may be an option too.