moving back to windows

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

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 have used Mac since 09 but I have still used windows from Time to time I have used windows xp 7 and 10 and I find it more free and cheaper to fix if they break down I just find that apple is not worth what there looking these days and are pushing towards a iOS like eco systems

I'm look at a Dell xps 13inch as my laptop and custom build pc as I feel I get a longer life out of them

I would like to her what other people opinions are that have been in my predicament

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

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. All Windows laptops are the opposite of anything I want and a desktop is even worse. That said, I don’t game or create so there’s that.

Just depends on your life style. You might say you get longer life out of something like a custom PC but as someone who lived that life you will eventually need to upgrade a part and you will have replaced all components overtime. Heck you could even use a MacBook and PC if you wanted depending on what you value out of both.

 

[LeeW]

The Dell XPS 13 is a good laptop, but there is an extensive selection of windows laptops available so narrow down your options to what has the key elements important to you, check reviews and go from there.

In terms of the custom build, I am sure you know that the options are even greater.

I would suggest running both Windows and macOS side by side for a while until you get really comfortable with everything and get it all set up the way you want it on the Windows side.

Windows is perfectly fine, it's different to macOS and you need to accept that there will be things you can't have on the Windows machines you do on the Mac machines but also vice versa.

Good luck and let us know what laptop you eventually buy and pics of your custom build

 

[bobcomer]

I keep both Windows and Mac at home. I like Windows the best, but just to keep a little variety in my life, I use both, and occasionally Linux too.

I would suggest looking at the Lenovo thinkpads if you get a chance, (X1, X13, and the T's) light, quiet, well made, and not slow. I currently have a Thinkpad X13 with a Ryzen 7 processor in it.

 

[dmr727]

I just bought a 2-1 XPS to mess around with. I have a Windows desktop, an iPad mini, and a Macbook Air, and although many folks say a 2-1 is the worst of both a laptop and tablet, I thought I'd give it a shot and see for myself.

This isn't driven by the Apple tax (the XPS isn't a whole lot cheaper than an Air), but the ultimate idea is to simplify - maybe even see if attaching an eGPU works well enough to justify ditching the bulky desktop.

I switch back and forth between Windows and MacOS all the time anyway, and each annoys me in different ways. I'm sure the XPS will be inferior to both my Air as a laptop and my iPad as a tablet, but I'm thinking it might be good enough to otherwise enjoy only wrangling one device.

Integration with the Apple ecosystem isn't such an issue since that all happens from my phone anyway.

Anyway, I'll let you know! I'll give it a year, and if it doesn't work out maybe there'll be something M3 powered that'll entice me. I don't get my heart rate up about all the Mac/PC/Android/iDevice BS. I buy what seems cool at the time, and if I'm not happy, I'll chalk it up to experience and buy something else.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I her good thing about Lenovo think pads and any one any experience with Asus what the word on them good bad ?

 

[bkkcanuck8]

I am functional and fine using Windows, I have a DIY machine I use -- but usually only when I have a contract where using that is a better fit. I moved from Windows to MacBook Pro in 2007, then Mac Pro in 2008.... and I used it as a Mac (never make the mistake of trying to use another product the way you use that product, use it for how it is designed to work). I actually chose Mac in 2007, because I got tired of getting bleeding edge computer/laptop and installing Linux on it along with Windows... only to have problems with it everytime (even had to make changes, and recompile the kernel once to get it to work). With Mac OS X I got a fully functional UNIX OS, along with the custom Mac OS UI that had a diversity of great apps that I could buy... it basically covered everything I need. I finished my last contract where using Windows was preferable about 6 months ago, and since then that machine has remained off. One non-functional thing I have noticed, is the polish that I have on the macOS UI... I feel more 'zen' using it than Windows -- which I find odd... but it is something I do notice these days. I was worried a few years ago that Apple was losing it's way when it came to Macs, but over the last few years... I am really excited in the direction they have taken that platform.... I have no plans on going back to Windows for my personal environment.

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

I have put windows 10 on my MacBook Pro I must say Im enjoying it it feel like coming home the reason I also want to go back is that I'm compte A+ sertavied and find I miss working on and build pcs and the endless configurations I could build for my self and customers

 

[bkkcanuck8]

I have put windows 10 on my MacBook Pro I must say Im enjoying it it feel like coming home the reason I also want to go back is that I'm compte A+ sertavied and find I miss working on and build pcs and the endless configurations I could build for my self and customers

That is all that counts, if you are happy going back to Windows - then that is your choice...

 

[1BadManVan]

I her good thing about Lenovo think pads and any one any experience with Asus what the word on them good bad ?

i have a Lenovo Slim 7 and its been a decent machine. Gets a big loud under load, battery sucks but its a work laptop that can do some light gaming on the side. Build quality is great, great screen and keyboard, the trackpad for a windows laptop is decent but my macbook air is better

 

[Claude007]

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

 

[Jonathan.T.Harpur]

After using windows via bootcamp and trying to get back in swim of it I find my self running in to more problems I instil missed that with apple every thing was taken care of and it just worked and that yes there machines were more money it was. the eyecsystems that ur buying in to and the only other comply that came close was google

 

[pmiles]

I switched back to Windows last fall. Haven't had a hiccup yet. Can't say that I miss the Mac environment considering the direction it took after OSX. All things considered, for me, it was the right choice. Was a faithful Mac user from 2001 to 2022. Mac Pro 5,1 was my last Mac. Mojave last OS.

 

[scorpio vega]

I use both. As long as you accept that they are different beasts and that whatever you choose fits your needs then you’ll be fine.

I’m heavily ingrained in Microsoft surface line so they are the only products I can ever recommend or buy for windows. I don’t trust the oems

 

[AppleFanatic10]

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 have used Mac since 09 but I have still used windows from Time to time I have used windows xp 7 and 10 and I find it more free and cheaper to fix if they break down I just find that apple is not worth what there looking these days and are pushing towards a iOS like eco systems

I'm look at a Dell xps 13inch as my laptop and custom build pc as I feel I get a longer life out of them

I would like to her what other people opinions are that have been in my predicament

Now this is just my opinion. I've had a windows PC, windows laptop and for me they don't last at all. I bought a gaming computer and it barely wants to turn on and my windows laptop is now acting extremely slow. Meanwhile my mac mini is working flawlessly and my mba is working as well.

 

[maflynn]

I bought a gaming computer and it barely wants to turn on

That seems very unusual. I've had a work desktop running for like 5 years before it was replaced. I now have a work laptop for over 3 years and while considered pokey by today's standards its far from barely turnining on.

I have a 2019 Razer Blade 15, and that thing is awesome, fast, beautiful and in almost everyway better then my MBP. Of course the MBP wins hands down on battery, but the Razer does more, and is more feature rich then my M1 MBP.

I think overall, like in everything it depends on what you actually buy, getting a bargain basement cheap computer - of course it won't last, build your own machine or get a high quality laptop and it will more then hold up against a Mac - just my opinion

 

[lcseds]

I switched back to Windows last fall. Haven't had a hiccup yet. Can't say that I miss the Mac environment considering the direction it took after OSX. All things considered, for me, it was the right choice. Was a faithful Mac user from 2001 to 2022. Mac Pro 5,1 was my last Mac. Mojave last OS.

Now that's something. 21 years of Mac and moved to Windows! Kind of where I'm at. Bouncing between the two but I feel a decision needs to be made as the is not browser, data, music, etc sync'ing between the two. that's confusing. Switched to Mac around 1999. But *something* keeps me looking at Windows.

 

[allan.nyholm]

I've installed Windows 11 in a virtual machine on my Mac, and I kinda dig the UI on that version of Windows.

Although it's very advert driven in quite a few places that involve the Edge browser such as the Widgets window and the Edge browser itself - always wanting to sell me hearing aids - and I don't appreciate getting AIDS - and especially not through my ear canals.

Either it's hearing aids or other health related things for my age and area.
These things I'd have to see through or block the ads / stories from the Widgets window in Windows 11.

Windows still has this power of running old programs and in particular Amiga emulation software that's quite a bit better on Windows than macOS. vAmiga and FS-UAE comes close, but no - they are not WinUAE by any stretch of the imagination.

Then there's theming too.

I just know that despite all these positive things about Windows 11, I'll not be able to push through on using Windows exclusively unless I buy into a Windows PC of sorts where it's Windows or Linux. That I have a Mac only allows my mind to allow macOS on the actual hardware, because I would always think "I could just install macOS again for the OS I know and have known for all those years"

I couldn't get a die-hard Windows PC user to use macOS.. I've tried. But just as there's we Mac-users that can't really switch over, then the same crowd exist on the other side of the aisle.

Good luck in choosing.

 

[iJest]

The only thing I use Windows for is gaming. Everything else is macOS. I just work better in the macOS environment. What it really comes down to is just using what works for you. Nothing else really matters.

 

[burgman]

I have put windows 10 on my MacBook Pro I must say Im enjoying it it feel like coming home the reason I also want to go back is that I'm compte A+ sertavied and find I miss working on and build pcs and the endless configurations I could build for my self and customers

Neon or LED lighting and cool looking cooling systems on towers is defiantly missing in MacWorld 😊 I'm a longtime windows user that moved to Mac after Windows 8 but still forced to use it on some work. I enjoyed W10, still undecided on W11.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

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. All Windows laptops are the opposite of anything I want and a desktop is even worse. That said, I don’t game or create so there’s that.

Just depends on your life style. You might say you get longer life out of something like a custom PC but as someone who lived that life you will eventually need to upgrade a part and you will have replaced all components overtime. Heck you could even use a MacBook and PC if you wanted depending on what you value out of both.

I'm in the same exact boat. I love Mac hardware and the integration of peripherals, but I honestly have a lot more use for Windows. The main reason I went with a Mac for my last laptop purchase was that I pretty much gave up playing Windows hardware lottery. There may exist a Windows laptop that has close to the stated battery life, a great keyboard, a great touchpad, and doesn't develop major issues after two years - but I wasn't about to gamble another $1,600 or so of my own money to find one.

Windows desktops aren't bad at all - I like having total control over my hardware - but that means giving up portability.

 

[RokinAmerica]

I am an outlier here. I bought my first computer (Mac Performa 450) in about 1993, used only Macs (except at work) until about 1999.

Because our software at work was proprietary and windows only, I switched to windows desktop replacement laptops (traveled for work a bit) in 1999 and in 2016 or so, bought my first windows desktop. From then on, my replacements were going to a 17" MSI laptop (also around 2015-2016) and then once Covid hit, I have been wfh only, so I built my first PC.

Built my first pc in 2021, and just recently (last year or so) became interested in Macs again. We changed a major software vendor last year and no longer are local storage driven, nor windows bound.

So I started my research a few months ago and once I found the 15" Air, I was hooked.

Kind of Bass-ackwords from most here in this thread. Ha.

 

[TheOtherAndy]

I'm in the same exact boat. I love Mac hardware and the integration of peripherals, but I honestly have a lot more use for Windows. The main reason I went with a Mac for my last laptop purchase was that I pretty much gave up playing Windows hardware lottery. There may exist a Windows laptop that has close to the stated battery life, a great keyboard, a great touchpad, and doesn't develop major issues after two years - but I wasn't about to gamble another $1,600 or so of my own money to find one.

Windows desktops aren't bad at all - I like having total control over my hardware - but that means giving up portability.

Oh man, I have spent far too much money trying to find a decent Windows laptop. Pretty much gave up on that.

 

[Sil3nt1]

Just get a good custom pc that you assemble yourself and m2 15" air

 

[LeeW]

Just get a good custom pc that you assemble yourself and m2 15" air

That is what I have done. I built another custom PC a few weeks back, amazing machine. I have my M2 MBA 13".

An ideal compromise and provides the best of both worlds. Or switch that and get a Mac Mini and a Windows laptop depending on what your needs are.