Wired Windows Luser
I just read an article on Wired.com about a writer who switched from Mac OS to widows. This is his conclusion:
I just look at it as being penny-wise and pound foolish. I have 15 computers, consisting of 2 Macs, 5 chromebooks, and 8 Windows and or Linux boxes. The PCs are uniformly less quality than the Macs are. Yeah, the Macs were ridiculously expensive, but they’re infinitely better. Both Macs have 32 GB of memory and I can’t stress either machine to it’s maximum. The Mac OS has a concept of multiple Desktops, and I use that to the max; I generally have 40 or more applications running simultaneously. With Windows, you’d have no way to control that many apps. Both my Macs are the most powerful machines I have, the norm is that the Mac with similar hardware is 15-25% faster as measured by throughput.
As for the quality of the the experience, Windows provides an abominable experience. Like the writer says, updates to software and hardware are a nightmare which you have to go through several times a month, because every vendor has their own update schedule. The updates rarely go smoothly, I spend several hours a month just to keep each one of the 4 exclusively Windows boxes patched correctly. And I stay late to upgrade the boxes, otherwise I’d have to forfeit a size amount of billable hours to do a thankless job. Let’s just say the $2000 the writer saved by going Windows is spent each and every month doing bug fixes. Microsoft doesn’t know how to write secure software, even after 40 years of “trying”. And a new version of OS every 6 months for beta software drove me to upgrade the OS to Windows Pro so that was another $99 per machine (that wasn’t already Win Pro) to not be their forced beta tester. Not that I use the crap software Microsoft forces on the uneducated rubes.
His wish that Windows would improve is a pipe dream. People on Windows have never been inclined to support good software or a better OS. Mediocrity is the norm in Windows World.
By the way, the article is at https://www.wired.com/story/rant-switching-from-mac-to-windows/?bxid=5cc9e0f32ddf9c1a7addd4a9&cndid=54541350&esrc=WIRED_CRMSeries&source=EDT_WIR_NEWSLETTER_0_DAILY_ZZ&utm_brand=wired&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_051820&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=list1_p1
So I look at that price tag and I take stock. Just how much do my annoyances add up to? How much time have I wasted fixing stupid Windows glitches that don't exist in macOS? How much do I miss programs like Carbon Copy Cloner? Hell, how much do I miss Finder, which works a million times better than Windows’ dreaded File Explorer? But four grand? That still feels outrageous.
Ultimately, I don't really want to switch back to Mac. I want the world to change. For Windows to be more cohesive and polished and to get rid of all the weird gremlins in the machine. For developers to make programs for Windows that are as good—and as reliable—as those they make for macOS. I’d keep this hardware if I could, but I don’t have the time or patience to try to Hackintosh it into running macOS. Fortunately, I don’t have to make my decision right now. But if Apple really has begun to right the ship with the MacBook Pro line, then it’s probably only a matter of time before it figures out which body part I can mortgage so I can afford to switch back.
I just look at it as being penny-wise and pound foolish. I have 15 computers, consisting of 2 Macs, 5 chromebooks, and 8 Windows and or Linux boxes. The PCs are uniformly less quality than the Macs are. Yeah, the Macs were ridiculously expensive, but they’re infinitely better. Both Macs have 32 GB of memory and I can’t stress either machine to it’s maximum. The Mac OS has a concept of multiple Desktops, and I use that to the max; I generally have 40 or more applications running simultaneously. With Windows, you’d have no way to control that many apps. Both my Macs are the most powerful machines I have, the norm is that the Mac with similar hardware is 15-25% faster as measured by throughput.
As for the quality of the the experience, Windows provides an abominable experience. Like the writer says, updates to software and hardware are a nightmare which you have to go through several times a month, because every vendor has their own update schedule. The updates rarely go smoothly, I spend several hours a month just to keep each one of the 4 exclusively Windows boxes patched correctly. And I stay late to upgrade the boxes, otherwise I’d have to forfeit a size amount of billable hours to do a thankless job. Let’s just say the $2000 the writer saved by going Windows is spent each and every month doing bug fixes. Microsoft doesn’t know how to write secure software, even after 40 years of “trying”. And a new version of OS every 6 months for beta software drove me to upgrade the OS to Windows Pro so that was another $99 per machine (that wasn’t already Win Pro) to not be their forced beta tester. Not that I use the crap software Microsoft forces on the uneducated rubes.
His wish that Windows would improve is a pipe dream. People on Windows have never been inclined to support good software or a better OS. Mediocrity is the norm in Windows World.
By the way, the article is at https://www.wired.com/story/rant-switching-from-mac-to-windows/?bxid=5cc9e0f32ddf9c1a7addd4a9&cndid=54541350&esrc=WIRED_CRMSeries&source=EDT_WIR_NEWSLETTER_0_DAILY_ZZ&utm_brand=wired&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_051820&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=list1_p1
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