moving back to windows

[clarencek]

Just did my third or fourth purchase of a windows laptop. This time a Razer Blade 16. I wanted a gaming laptop and got frustrated with the state of AAA games on the Mac.

I don't know why - but I'm still shocked at the state of Windows software. After you get past the multiple windows updates, you then need intel updates, manufacturer (Razer in this case) updates, and some conflict with one another.

Second, it seems no matter which manufacturer, they'll never get a smooth, precise trackpad. We're all spoiled on the Mac side, but the smoothness and precision as far as I know - doesn't exist in the windows world.

Third, File Explorer is a poor substitute for the Finder. Aliases all over, filed buried everywhere. It's not surprising people end up with bloated PC's. Who knows really where anything is.

Fourth, still also shocked there are still system apps and configs in the old Win95 style. I guess MS never got around to updating everything. Sure the level of configuration is really great, but for example - on the display side, you set your resolution and then you can set scaling between 25% - 400% in 25% increments. At 400% you'd need a magnifier to see the display options. Why even give that option? If I had selected it - I'd probably have to reset the machine to undo it.

Finally, the fans. Just to operate the 13th get i9 the fans turn on. Not to mention the power brick supplies 330W. Crazy.

Anyway, it's a mess. On the plus side you have a wide wide range of choices, build qualities, configurations, etc. I really like the Razer machine and hardware. It's all metal, feels solid, great keyboard, screen, etc.
I'm just using the machine for games. I wish it was easier to use so I could use it for work... but alas it takes me longer to get simple stuff done.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I'm looking in to a dell xps 13 plush any one got one and what they make of them

 

[exploradorgt]

hello every one I am look to see how has people found moving back to windows after being on Mac OS for some time

I'll try to keep it short: if you write, do photo, video, edit, code software, etc, you need a whole ecosystem fine tuned to your needs. Yes you can do that with mac and also Windows, but... Apple pushes you to upgrade and suddenly your own software stops working unless you move up, and that can become a headache... you can use the same software if you want to for years on Windows upgrading only as you want to, this makes your whole ecosystem stable.

It's not that I'm one of those fixed with Windows Xp and want to stay there... no, it's just... why "fixing it" if it's not broken?. I kept my Windows 8.1 over many years because everything worked, even upgrading software, then... a whole ecosystem for coding stopped working and pushed me to move towards Windows 10, I resisted until it was unavoidable. That's something I don't like about Apple... at some point you run out of choices and you have to upgrade, and then the OS won't run on your Mac... and you have to buy a new one...

 

[drugdoubles]

macOS does not work with AI or gaming, don’t really have a choice.

 

[drugdoubles]

I'll try to keep it short: if you write, do photo, video, edit, code software, etc, you need a whole ecosystem fine tuned to your needs. Yes you can do that with mac and also Windows, but... Apple pushes you to upgrade and suddenly your own software stops working unless you move up, and that can become a headache... you can use the same software if you want to for years on Windows upgrading only as you want to, this makes your whole ecosystem stable.

It's not that I'm one of those fixed with Windows Xp and want to stay there... no, it's just... why "fixing it" if it's not broken?. I kept my Windows 8.1 over many years because everything worked, even upgrading software, then... a whole ecosystem for coding stopped working and pushed me to move towards Windows 10, I resisted until it was unavoidable. That's something I don't like about Apple... at some point you run out of choices and you have to upgrade, and then the OS won't run on your Mac... and you have to buy a new one...

Does MacOS just auto upgrade and cannot stop it? This is interesting.

 

[exploradorgt]

Does MacOS just auto upgrade and cannot stop it? This is interesting.

What I tried to describe above is, how MacOS will evolve in versions until you can't install them anymore, and while you might want to stay on your latest compatible Os version, turns out Firefox, Photoshop, etc will refuse to install newer versions because this requires more modern MacOS versions you can't run.

On Windows (and Linux) you can upgrade with a wider range, not forever... but way beyond what MacOS allows.

Patches have been developed for MacOS that allow you to run unsupported versions, but it's a bit tricky. I know some will disagree saying it's easy, but I didn't say difficult, easy, or impossible, I said tricky, because there are specific macs that allow you to run newer OS versions, but some other models from the same dates (even more recent) are not eligible for the same upgrade.

 

[drugdoubles]

What I tried to describe above is, how MacOS will evolve in versions until you can't install them anymore, and while you might want to stay on your latest compatible Os version, turns out Firefox, Photoshop, etc will refuse to install newer versions because this requires more modern MacOS versions you can't run.

On Windows (and Linux) you can upgrade with a wider range, not forever... but way beyond what MacOS allows.

Patches have been developed for MacOS that allow you to run unsupported versions, but it's a bit tricky. I know some will disagree saying it's easy, but I didn't say difficult, easy, or impossible, I said tricky, because there are specific macs that allow you to run newer OS versions, but some other models from the same dates (even more recent) are not eligible for the same upgrade.

Well when there is new version of MacOS available, seem like it would keep pop up for asking to update.

 

[ipaqrat]

Well when there is new version of MacOS available, seem like it would keep pop up for asking to update.

Your answer has been dodged. Simply: YES, you can suppress automatic updates, for the OS and Apps. You can apply any update manually. Or never. And make it stop bugging you.

Interesting points:

I'll try to keep it short: if you write, do photo, video, edit, code software, etc, you need a whole ecosystem fine tuned to your needs. Yes you can do that with mac and also Windows, but... Apple pushes you to upgrade and suddenly your own software stops working unless you move up, and that can become a headache... you can use the same software if you want to for years on Windows upgrading only as you want to, this makes your whole ecosystem stable.

It's not that I'm one of those fixed with Windows Xp and want to stay there... no, it's just... why "fixing it" if it's not broken?. I kept my Windows 8.1 over many years because everything worked, even upgrading software, then... a whole ecosystem for coding stopped working and pushed me to move towards Windows 10, I resisted until it was unavoidable. That's something I don't like about Apple... at some point you run out of choices and you have to upgrade, and then the OS won't run on your Mac... and you have to buy a new one...

Generally concur with this philosophy and the decision tree. I've been there; in fact, I live there. But I don't swap or replace; I just keep adding - Windows, Linux, iOS, Droid, etc. I insist on Macs, though, for projects that can't tolerate shenanigans. Frankly, my nerd cave looks like the Enterprise's engine room - after it got shot up by Khan.

However, vis-a-vis "why 'fixing it' if it's not broken", there is one decision point lots of folks overlook: Security. Even brand new software version releases contain so much broken that can't be seen by casual observation. Bugs and sloppy technique STILL allow hacking and malware to succeed, even while observable performance seems reliable.

Caution: Do not slather RAM or NVME with Ivermectin; it does not work. Only Zimecterin works on software 😷

 

[exploradorgt]

Your answer has been dodged. Simply: YES, you can suppress automatic updates, for the OS and Apps. You can apply any update manually. Or never. And make it stop bugging you.

@drugdoubles, I took your comment like a misinterpretation of what I said, apologies if it sounds like I dodged it, instead I tried to clarify the previous explained point.

there is one decision point lots of folks overlook: Security. Even brand new software version releases contain so much broken that can't be seen by casual observation. Bugs and sloppy technique STILL allow hacking and malware to succeed, even while observable performance seems reliable.

Not every day people agree on this. Brand new software versions releases / updates are often welcome by lots of people, but some users are more careful, as old stuff = proven and known, vs new = still unknown bugs. Usually older folks avoid embracing updates right away unless there is enough data to trust it.

I live there. But I don't swap or replace; I just keep adding - Windows, Linux, iOS, Droid, etc. I insist on Macs, though, for projects that can't tolerate shenanigans. Frankly, my nerd cave looks like the Enterprise's engine room - after it got shot up by Khan.

I hate throwing away stuff that still works and doesn't need fixing, but I'm also self pressured to avoid hoarding. For those who can do it, great. I could, but I feel guilty if I proceed.

hello every one I am look to see how has people found moving back to windows after being on Mac OS for some time

• In the early years: noise. Macs are mostly quite devices producing little noise. After leaving X company using only Macintosh computers I found myself hearing and feeling the fans on the PC world after the switch, but that's PAST. Later with modern hardware (carefully selected) I didn't notice any difference, instead: I found MacBook Pro and iMacs overheating and making fan noises way more than PCs.
• The shortcuts. During the episodes I was using macs on a daily basis for work at the office for long hours, using my Windows machines brought mistakes due to the different positions of the CTRL and FN keys. For some time I even used software to switch them. Muscle memory can be a difficult thing to overcome.
• Retina display / high density pixel ratio VS the rest. I didn't mind too much when retina display appeared, but after using the Microsoft Surface for a while and other Apple hardware featuring higher pixel density... this became a must in my hardware selection. It's easier on your eyes and allows more efficient work even at lower screen resolutions. BTW pixel density is not the same as screen resolution.
• Ports. In general, most Windows PCs have more ports.
• Yeah... repairs... Windows hardware is often easier to modify, but the trend between brands is thin now.

 

[drugdoubles]

@drugdoubles, I took your comment like a misinterpretation of what I said, apologies if it sounds like I dodged it, instead I tried to clarify the previous explained point.

Not every day people agree on this. Brand new software versions releases / updates are often welcome by lots of people, but some users are more careful, as old stuff = proven and known, vs new = still unknown bugs. Usually older folks avoid embracing updates right away unless there is enough data to trust it.

I hate throwing away stuff that still works and doesn't need fixing, but I'm also self pressured to avoid hoarding. For those who can do it, great. I could, but I feel guilty if I proceed.

• In the early years: noise. Macs are mostly quite devices producing little noise. After leaving X company using only Macintosh computers I found myself hearing and feeling the fans on the PC world after the switch, but that's PAST. Later with modern hardware (carefully selected) I didn't notice any difference, instead: I found MacBook Pro and iMacs overheating and making fan noises way more than PCs.
• The shortcuts. During the episodes I was using macs on a daily basis for work at the office for long hours, using my Windows machines brought mistakes due to the different positions of the CTRL and FN keys. For some time I even used software to switch them. Muscle memory can be a difficult thing to overcome.
• Retina display / high density pixel ratio VS the rest. I didn't mind too much when retina display appeared, but after using the Microsoft Surface for a while and other Apple hardware featuring higher pixel density... this became a must in my hardware selection. It's easier on your eyes and allows more efficient work even at lower screen resolutions. BTW pixel density is not the same as screen resolution.
• Ports. In general, most Windows PCs have more ports.
• Yeah... repairs... Windows hardware is often easier to modify, but the trend between brands is thin now.

No worry, just tech talk lol

 

[iHorseHead]

Good morning

for my part the OS X environment is more stable and less crashes. better usability, I wouldn't come back with a PC unless I had to. when we knew OSX it seems to me we don't want to go back

I've been using Windows at work for years and I really can't remember the last time it has crashed on me. Macs have a great battery life and trackpads are just amazing.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I've been using Windows at work for years and I really can't remember the last time it has crashed on me. Macs have a great battery life and trackpads are just amazing.

This. While my M2 MBA doesn’t crash and need to be restarted often, it’s still more often than my two Windows machines.

But finding a Windows laptop with a similar combination of ergonomics, performance and battery life … good luck.

 

[TPadden]

My work equipment is all Windows and my personal equipment is Mac but I do very little with my personal stuff.

Windows OS is fine but the hardware, especially laptops, just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I prefer quiet machines, battery life, nicer materials, and a decent ecosystem in my personal life which seemingly no Windows manufacturer makes.

HP Dragonfly Pro, 32gb ram, 1 TB SSD, 12-15 hrs battery, for $1250 from the manufacturer is pretty hard to beat...👍

Tom

HP Dragonfly Pro: Envy Omen | HP® Store

Get the Dragonfly Pro at the HP Store. Free Shipping. Buy direct from HP. See customer reviews and comparisons for HP ENVY and OMEN products.

www.hp.com

 

[MBAir2010]

I'm looking in to a dell xps 13 plush any one got one and what they make of them

My dell xps 13” 3780 from 2019 bit the dust in 2021 as the usb c ports lost connectivity
and the battery replacement quest from dell.com was horrible care wise.
dell, either does not stock batteries because they available cart wise,
then the price escalated twenty bucks during checkout, then not available.
that laptop was beautiful, worked great on windows 10
but now used for parts since that was shipped back to them

as far as my care for laptops, my macbook air from 2010 is still functionable.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

HP Dragonfly Pro, 32gb ram, 1 TB SSD, 12-15 hrs battery, for $1250 from the manufacturer is pretty hard to beat...👍

Tom

HP Dragonfly Pro: Envy Omen | HP® Store

Get the Dragonfly Pro at the HP Store. Free Shipping. Buy direct from HP. See customer reviews and comparisons for HP ENVY and OMEN products.

www.hp.com

Windows laptop makers are notorious for overstating battery life, this was the main reason I gave up on the platform for my personal laptop. My Surface Pro 8 was supposed to be getting up to 16 hrs, I was lucky if I managed 4 hours on battery since brand new, and it's the most common user complaint. Dell XPS complaints about battery life are plentiful. Regarding that Dragonfly Pro,

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/18c68a7
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/16pff6z
https://www.reddit.com/r/amd_fundamentals/comments/11t1drd

It's a common theme in Windows laptops - not only they overstate the battery life, but the consistency is not there between different laptops of same exact model and configuration. Not that Apple doesn't have problems, but it does seem they perform a lot closer to the stated specs.

 

[MBAir2010]

Windows laptop makers are notorious for overstating battery life, this was the main reason I gave up on the platform for my personal laptop. My Surface Pro 8 was supposed to be getting up to 16 hrs, I was lucky if I managed 4 hours on battery since brand new, and it's the most common user complaint. Dell XPS complaints about battery life are plentiful.

yes, the Dell 13” 2019 topped four real hours instead of the 9 promised .

 

[iHorseHead]

This. While my M2 MBA doesn’t crash and need to be restarted often, it’s still more often than my two Windows machines.

But finding a Windows laptop with a similar combination of ergonomics, performance and battery life … good luck.

I can easily find a better performing laptop and for cheaper.
My Windows work PC has been on since forever and it works, but yes, I agree with you on battery life. Nothing so far has beaten the macOS's gestures and no laptops have better trackpad than Apple as far as I know. I remember when I got my MacBook Air M1, it used to crash constantly though. Even when sitting on the desktop. People here told me to return it, but I waited it out and ever since monterey I haven't had any issues. I don't know what it is, but my MacBook specifically was really bad on Big Sur. It runs way better on Sanoma than on Big Sur. I don't know what caused the issue, but ever since Monterey I haven't had any issues. I remember even reinstalling Big Sur so many times. It was just awful…

 

[TPadden]

Windows laptop makers are notorious for overstating battery life, this was the main reason I gave up on the platform for my personal laptop.

That's why I posted12-15 hrs when HP states up to 15. I've never gotten less than 12. 😎 I've found the Dragonfly Pro hardware quality to be first rate; the trackpad very Apple like, never a crash.

I also have had 2 different Surfaces blow out the screen with battery swell. My current tablets have been Samsung, again never a problem.

Tom

 

[Cape Dave]

yes, the Dell 13” 2019 topped four real hours instead of the 9 promised .

And my HP Laser Printer prints 32 pages per minute. Yeah. Right.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

That's why I posted12-15 hrs when HP states up to 15. I've never gotten less than 12. 😎 I've found the Dragonfly Pro hardware quality to be first rate; the trackpad very Apple like, never a crash.

I also have had 2 different Surfaces blow out the screen with battery swell. My current tablets have been Samsung, again never a problem.

Tom

That's good to know, if I am ever in the market for a new Windows laptop.

As far as Samsung - yeah I am sure their Android tablets are first rate. Used to have Samsung phones before I switched to iPhones. I am just not a fan of Android.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I can easily find a better performing laptop and for cheaper.
My Windows work PC has been on since forever and it works, but yes, I agree with you on battery life. Nothing so far has beaten the macOS's gestures and no laptops have better trackpad than Apple as far as I know. I remember when I got my MacBook Air M1, it used to crash constantly though. Even when sitting on the desktop. People here told me to return it, but I waited it out and ever since monterey I haven't had any issues. I don't know what it is, but my MacBook specifically was really bad on Big Sur. It runs way better on Sanoma than on Big Sur. I don't know what caused the issue, but ever since Monterey I haven't had any issues. I remember even reinstalling Big Sur so many times. It was just awful…

Yes. Finding a top spec Windows laptop for $1,200 or less has never been the hard part. The problem is, you pretty much have to use them as desktops. As long as they are attached to the power supply and an external keyboard and mouse, they are great. Disconnect it all, and the experience is quite different.

 

[1BadManVan]

Yes. Finding a top spec Windows laptop for $1,200 or less has never been the hard part. The problem is, you pretty much have to use them as desktops. As long as they are attached to the power supply and an external keyboard and mouse, they are great. Disconnect it all, and the experience is quite different.

And to me, the key point of a laptop should be battery life as well, if you're just going to have to use it plugged in all the time then why not just get a desktop? Generally cheaper for better parts anyways. Thats why my laptop is a macbook and my desktop is windows, best of both worlds i feel.

 

[iHorseHead]

Yes. Finding a top spec Windows laptop for $1,200 or less has never been the hard part. The problem is, you pretty much have to use them as desktops. As long as they are attached to the power supply and an external keyboard and mouse, they are great. Disconnect it all, and the experience is quite different.

I don't really know. I think there might be some great Windows laptops out there as well with a great battery life. I mean when I had MSI laptop the battery lasted easily 8hours, but yeah, it had issues with the keyboard and the touchpad and the keys started to peel off. I mean the letters and numbers etc started to peel off. Never has it happened to me using a MacBook, even my mid 2010 didn't have such issues and to top it all off, I once opened a lid and the hinges broke out of the blue, I never hit it, never dropped it and it was mostly on my table and sometimes I took it to the office.
The store didn't take it back either. They told me that if it wouldn't just turn on they'd replace it for me. I had to send it to MSI myself and it took them 3 months to get back to me, I also experienced the worst customer service I've experienced in years and I just sold it and bought a MacBook Air M1, the base model, because no 16GB was available at that time in my country. Anyway, I'm happy with my MacBook Air, even though it has 8GB of RAM and not that much storage space. I need to start cleaning again and transferring files to my external drive.

As for my work laptop, I use it as a desktop. It's connected to four external displays, using external mouse and keyboard etc. It has worked so far. With Windows PCs you never know what you get though. But then again I know many people that use Windows laptops and I really haven't heard of any issues from them. So I agree with you, now that I think about it. The MSI's performance was good though, not gonna lie and it launched and played games more smoothly than my MacBook Air, but I mean it might be the case of optimisation. I mostly just play Civilization VI on my MBA and it's fine. Cities Skylines was not fine though. Still, the performance in general was ok and the battery life was kinda okay for me too. Everything else was not.

I got a MacBook M1 because of the good experiences I've had with Apple. I used to have white MacBook and it got cracks on the palm rest and Apple fixed it for me for free of charge, no questions asked. I'll never go back to MSI though. Never. Mainly because of the customer service I've faced and it was during the time I really needed a computer and my company didn't allow me to use the work computer for my school. Long story short: Had to drop out.

Anyway, yeah, now that I think about it, I agree with you.

 

[Technerd108]

Change is inevitable and I am not sure how much more you would like Windows 11 over MacOS? Both OS are moving toward a more mobile OS like UI or interface.

Both will accomplish the same tasks and pretty much have all the software you would ever need.

The difference is more personal. Sure a MacBook Air with M2 will run circles around any Windows laptop on battery. The prices of Macs are pretty competitive if you can get a discount like Education or other. Macs last a long time unless there is a migration from one architecture to another such as Power PC to Intel and now Intel to M series. M series will probably be with us for a while so I think most Macs will be around for a long time if they have a m series processor. The big limitations with the new Macs are if you have any type of hardware failure on the SOC you have to replace the entire SOC. So if RAM or SSD fail you are done.

On a new Windows laptop you can find OLED touchscreens for cheaper than a MacBook Air. It will have double the base ram and storage at several hundred less than a Mac. It is faster in some cases. Battery life is not as good but isn't bad with the new Evo laptops. The performance is almost the same plugged in as on battery.

So hardware wise in some ways Apple Silicon is just a leap ahead of all Windows processors now in terms of efficiency. But this can be overcome with bigger batteries.

The biggest difference you might find as a long time Mac user is the rest of your devices will not communicate the same if they are all Apple. If you have an iPhone and an iPad using a Windows PC will not be a smooth experience as a Mac would be.

My sincere advice to you is to really consider your choice based on your entire ecosystem of devices. If you are will to replace all of them and have most likely an inferior replacement experience in terms of that interconnectivity you get with Apple products is hard to replicate outside it. You could get a Samsung phone and tablet and PC and they would all have a similar experience to Apple but not quite as good.

So if that interconnectivity of devices is not important to you then there are a lot of great Windows choices. But moving from a Mac to Windows takes a little planning if you have been heavily invested in Apple ecosystem for years. It can be done. I can be fun to explore and new platform and the products around it. But it is a learning curve and some limitations. If you are willing to work around the blocks and sacrifice some things then it is a good choice.


Personally I like to be a multi platform user so I never get stuck or locked into any one ecosystem or platform. I have a windows laptop and a Mac. I have an android tablet and an iPad. I have an Android phone and will get an iPhone in the next year or so. It might be a good idea to test the waters so to speak first by buying an affordable but nice Windows laptop like an Asus zenbook 14" Old and using your Mac at the same time and get used to using Windows and see how you like it.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

I don't really know. I think there might be some great Windows laptops out there as well with a great battery life.

Oh, there surely may be some. The problem for me was, how to find one ? It's a crap shoot, and it's almost like you have to try until you find, which is rather problematic with devices that cost over a grand each. The sellers don't really like people to keep trying the laptops until they find one that works for them, especially since you pretty much have to install everything and use it for a couple weeks to really evaluate the laptop.

...

Anyway, yeah, now that I think about it, I agree with you.

Thank you.