WSL is not intended to run Windows stuff. It is intended to give *nix developers an alternative to a Mac.
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MacBooks Aren’t That Bad
- Thread starter DougiePhresh
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Exactly, which is why I think it doesn't really close the "terminal gap" (?) between Windows and actual UNIX-like OSes. On Linux/macOS, you can use the terminal to run anything or manage/tweak/debug the whole system (as much as the OS allows, that is), whereas the WSL terminal lives in its own Docker container-esque world and you have to run Windows CLI software or system commands through CMD.exe or some alternative.
For the use-case you laid out I'm sure it works great, but its "thin Linux VM" design comes with a set of important limitations for other workflows.
I haven't liked Windows since Windows 7. It is necessary for the better Visual Studio and playing games. But other than that I prefer Macs over anything else. You could give me a gift of a $10,000 windows PC and I would still prefer to spend $4,000 myself on a Mac.
Windows 7 has a unity of design that is... expected... from an Apple product, but that is typically lacking from Microsoft operating systems. One of the things they did in 7 was modernize some of the legacy UI elements (e.g. the font adding dialog box that, in XP/Vista/etc, looked right out of 3.1) while otherwise keeping the general Win2000/XP/Vista UI paradigms.
But then 8/8.1/10/11 have been all about the 'modern' UIs, the settings app instead of the control panel but that doesn't have all the settings of the legacy UI, etc.
The other thing worth noting is that Microsoft enjoys changing the UI for the sake of changing the UI, or because some telemetry tells them something might be better. MacOS is much more conservative design-wise. The system preferences app is changing in Ventura... after largely being the same for over 20 years of Mac OS X. How many control panel designs has MS gone through in that time? And some UI paradigms in the newest macOS versions go right back to the classic Mac OS of 1984.
You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. I couldn't ever get used to Windows excruciating annoyances. For example, where the heck are files downloaded to? I find they're downloaded all over the place with the plethora of SW that my company uses.
That's a biased view. Probably due to restrictions your company puts on their Windows laptops (or lack of knowledge of Windows). My software will always download to my download folder and it some does not by default it's just a matter of settings, just like with MacOS... Again I use Windows and MacOS daily and I have more "annoyances" on MacOS than Windows. Not much more, each one has their pros and cons and I like both. But overall Windows has more functionality or simply does things better in certain areas. And I know how to deal or avoid its weaknesses. I guess it's also a matter of how well you know the operating system. Having said that, as I said earlier, I am sure that in this forum I'll find many more people who don't like / hate Windows than on a more neutral one, let alone a Windows centric one like some that I follow.
Honestly, I really don't mind Windows lately. It's a very clean UI and is fairly snappy (Windows 10/11 still aren't as Snappy and lightweight as Windows 7, but for a modern OS, they really don't feel slow). My main gripe about Windows (and pretty much THE primary reason I'm so plugged into the Apple ecosystem) is that I am very worried about the sheer amount of telemetry in Windows. The control panel settings for it are very convoluted and confusing, so I don't necessarily trust that they've exposed all of it to the user. They frequently overwrite settings on updates and there have even been reports of keyloggers in the OS before (not sure if these still exist, there is no setting in Windows 11 for it).
That is just very worrying to me, and is part of why I don't use Android for my phones either. I don't really care too much about first-party tracking (most of that genuinely is just to help the developer), but third party tracking is an entirely different story because you really have no idea where the data is going or what it's being used for. Even if it's just being used to tailor advertisements, how do I know that sensitive data won't be spilled about me if the data collection company gets hacked?
Windows is a nice OS these days, but I just don't think I can quite feel comfortable using it for those reasons. Maybe that's just me (or maybe I'm just worried a bit too much to an irrational degree), but the idea of that much telemetry being on my OS just feels uncomfortable to me.
That is just very worrying to me, and is part of why I don't use Android for my phones either. I don't really care too much about first-party tracking (most of that genuinely is just to help the developer), but third party tracking is an entirely different story because you really have no idea where the data is going or what it's being used for. Even if it's just being used to tailor advertisements, how do I know that sensitive data won't be spilled about me if the data collection company gets hacked?
Windows is a nice OS these days, but I just don't think I can quite feel comfortable using it for those reasons. Maybe that's just me (or maybe I'm just worried a bit too much to an irrational degree), but the idea of that much telemetry being on my OS just feels uncomfortable to me.
Still don't understand the obsession with choice of OS over software availability. OS is like food tray vs software is to food. If I want the best food I don't care about the food tray. So, if the best security tool is only available on Linux then I adapt to Linux. Or, if the best engineering tools are only available on Windows then I adapt to Windows. Having used most OS' under the sun, MacOS has a higher number of annoyances, hidden data tracking hidden behind Express Set Up and subscription nagware than a $500 Windows laptop. Seems like nearly every native Apple app nags about signing up for a subscription and some even subscription within a subscription. Granted there are a gazillion $500 Windows laptops with great ones among the mediocre ones so you have to be a savvy shopper.
OS makes a difference in how you get between different pieces of software, it’s why I hate stage manager so much and wish they had brought a version of Mission Control (spaces + expose) to iPad instead as it would offer a much better window management model.
The window manager and other OS affordances can determine how much people like a platform, and I disagree with there being a higher number of annoyances on macOS if you subscribe to most of apple’s services. I also generally greatly prefer the feel of macOS to windows when it comes to basics of moving between apps and actually living with it during the day (and have an even greater preference for iPadOS).
I think Tim Cook has been a net negative for apple since he can’t seem to understand the importance of product experience and prioritizes profit maximization at all costs (even compromising your user experience).
There is no reason at all to believe the butterfly keyboard should have taken 4-5 years to fix for example.
It’s fairly strange for you to be on here, you seem to dislike most of apple’s hardware and claim that you dont care about the OS, why are you on macrumors again?
Stage Manager is the answer to the question, what if the fastest notebook ever was as crippled as an iPad?