My iMac has made me appreciate one thing about Apple.

[scaramoosh]

I bought it at the end of 2015 for £2659, I beefed it right up apart from I skimped on the nvme and went with 500GB instead of 1TB. I feel like it has been worth every penny because it has never let me down, there have been no issues what so ever and if I've ever messed Mac OS up, it's so easy to restore it unlike Windows. I wish I could have access to the nvme like I do the ram, that would have made it so much better... but sadly that's how Apple is going.

As a first time user of Mac OS I thought it was fantastic, It reminds me of how good Windows 7 was before Microsoft ruined it with 8 and 10, which is why I switched. It took awhile to learn where everything is, but the UI is nice and consistent unlike modern Windows with the two UI system it has and a search that doesn't actually work properly.

However I've had to switch to Windows because Apple are ditching x86 and they ditched 32bit which I use all the time. I don't understand why they're doing it as Microsoft have managed to support it all :/ But I guess that's how Apple likes to operate to get you to buy new hardware. Instantly though upon switching and building my own PC, I've had Windows constantly have issues and had to restore.... only to have to do it fro the Disc because why wouldn't they install a proper way to do it like Mac OS? Frigging now I've got an issue where either my ram or GPU has gone faulty, the other month it was my PSU that died.

The other thing I've come to realise about Windows is software loves to crash on it. Microsoft loves forcing updates you don't want, then making your PC reset while you're in the middle of everything. The whole OS is an unstable mess :/


I've ended up back on my iMac wishing Apple wasn't doing what they're doing. I also wish'd they didn't up their prices so much, because my equivalent spec in a modern iMac today is a grand more at least.

 

[glenthompson]

You can continue to run 32 bit apps on Mojave, no need to go to Catalina. Same for Intel only apps - don’t buy a new Apple Arm based computer until everything you need is supported. My 2011 Macs are stuck on High Sierra and have had only a few issues with being unable to upgrade software.

When IBM allowed employees to choose to use either a Mac or a PC they found the support costs much lower on the Macs. Total cost of ownership on the Mac was lower as you are finding on your Windows machine.

 

[The Man]

However I've had to switch to Windows because Apple are ditching x86 and they ditched 32bit which I use all the time. I don't understand why they're doing it as Microsoft have managed to support it all :/ But I guess that's how Apple likes to operate to get you to buy new hardware.

Not just about buying new hardware, although it's part of it, because Apple sells hardware. It's also about forward thinking focus, and never letting the past hold you back. 64 bit requirement is necessary for future of the platform and Rosetta 2 -- keeping 32 bit in there complicates things.

Steven Sinofsky wrote about his perspective on Apple and the differences with Microsoft, also from the perspective of continued support for 32 bit. Microsoft is in the enterprise business, and you simply don't let any customer go (the pool is too small). Apple is willing to have some users quit the Mac, just so Apple as a company stays on their strategy for the future, and they hope to pick up new users along the way.

Apple’s Relentless Strategy, Execution, and Point of View

Apple’s announcement of “Apple Silicon” is important for many reasons. Delivering on such an undertaking is the result of remarkable…

medium.learningbyshipping.com

He states:

It is rather incredible how different the 64 bit transitions were for each company. Microsoft pioneered 64-bit computing — by working with AMD it drove the compatible industry standard that in a sense Intel was fighting (to avoid commoditization of their IA64). Yet the “patience” shown in maintaining compatibility has been remarkable. Even today, Office installs the 32 bit product by default and recommends it. Our team made that choice in 2003. It is still the case [Correction: That changed according to this post https://techcommunity.microsoft.com...2019-now-install-64-bit-as-default/m-p/363394 in spring 2019, though my own experience and Surface Pro that I bought last Fall disagree.]

Apple began requiring 64 bit apps in 2017. Two years later 32 bit apps were no longer supported. [Error. I should have also said that the equivalent of Apple starting 64-bit was in Snow Leopard in 2009, meaning the entire development was a decade. I incorrectly focused on the transition time. Microsoft only just announced a transition for application ISVs to 64-bit only.]

An important part of the Apple model is “fearless” in that Apple is willing to turn over its partners and ecosystem members to new ones in an effort to stay on strategy. This is a key benefit of having committed consumers as everyone’s customers — consumers replace devices on their own. The enterprise computing model does not let you turn over customers, because there are only 2000 global companies.

 

[leman]

However I've had to switch to Windows because Apple are ditching x86 and they ditched 32bit which I use all the time. I don't understand why they're doing it as Microsoft have managed to support it all :/ But I guess that's how Apple likes to operate to get you to buy new hardware.

Microsoft's behavior is one of the reasons why we can't have good things. Windows is obsessed with backwards compatibility for whatever reason. The problem is, too much backwards compatibility makes the developers and prevents advancements. There is no defensible reason at all to use 32-bit software today, but since 32-bit Windows is still so common, developers have to provide 32-bit versions. And once you have a 32-bit version, why even care about 64-bit at all? After all, the 64-bit Windows can run 32-bit apps but not via versa. The result is the fragmented crap we have in the Windows world at the moment.

Apple's 64-bit transition was done very differently. They had just one version of OS that could run both 32-bit and 64-bit apps, and they had excellent developer support and they constantly change their frameworks that force the developers to update their software to the newest standard. This means more work for the devs, but this is also the reason why average software quality on Mac side is so much better.

In regards to your situation, I am sorry to hear that you are are stuck with legacy software. Maybe you can explore your options and find some new solutions that are more up to date.

 

[ducknalddon]

Even Microsoft is starting to deprecate 32-bit software. OEM's can no longer include 32 bit editions of Windows. The retail versions are still available but it's only a matter of time before they are gone.

 

[leman]

Even Microsoft is starting to deprecate 32-bit software. OEM's can no longer include 32 bit editions of Windows. The retail versions are still available but it's only a matter of time before they are gone.

Impressive, only took them 10 years to start doing this...

 

[scaramoosh]

The 64bit version of Windows runs 32 bit programs, and I want that forever and it doesn't hold anything back. Like how Microsoft did the effort to make the Xbox One run original Xbox and 360 games. They just did the work to make it possible, the only thing that holds it back from being 100 percent is licensing between developers, publishers and rights holders.

Like how modern Windows can run both ARM and x86 now, Microsoft put the effort in to do it. Where as Apple go "Not worth it, people will buy our stuff anyways".... well I'm not going to, even with the headaches of Windows.

 

[Starfia]

scaramoosh – Interesting to hear from a worldlier person. I've used Windows occasionally when I've had to, and it feels like such a precipice.

I feel you about losing 32-bit apps. Apple's approach was to offer 64-bit Mac platforms and tools to build for them starting about 15 years ago, and only just last year dropped support for 32-bit apps in only the latest major macOS release. I'd say I'm sad to lose native 32-bit support, but that's not exactly right – I'm really just sad that the few Mac games I might still want to play (all released in recent years) weren't even built for the 64-bit platform.

As someone said, you can just stay with Mojave. But with APFS, Apple's made it pretty easy to install and boot from different disk volumes, even from the same disk and without even partitioning. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208891

So you can still have it for the forseeable future of your current Mac if you're willing to restart your machine when you want to switch platforms.

 

[leman]

The 64bit version of Windows runs 32 bit programs, and I want that forever and it doesn't hold anything back. Like how Microsoft did the effort to make the Xbox One run original Xbox and 360 games. They just did the work to make it possible, the only thing that holds it back from being 100 percent is licensing between developers, publishers and rights holders.

Like how modern Windows can run both ARM and x86 now, Microsoft put the effort in to do it. Where as Apple go "Not worth it, people will buy our stuff anyways".... well I'm not going to, even with the headaches of Windows.

The big problem with Windows implementation that it’s half assed. They should have released one 64Bit OS with support of 32bit software, just like Apple did. But it was too complicated for them. As long as 32 but Windows exists, developers are forced to provide 32 bit binaries, keeping this ridiculous cycle alive.

 

[ducknalddon]

The big problem with Windows implementation that it’s half assed. They should have released one 64Bit OS with support of 32bit software, just like Apple did. But it was too complicated for them. As long as 32 but Windows exists, developers are forced to provide 32 bit binaries, keeping this ridiculous cycle alive.

Yes, as a developer I'd love to see 32 bit apps go. There is a ton of stuff I could strip out even though I'm targetting .Net which is supposedly neutral on this.

My guess is Microsoft would like to let it go as well, the whole win32 API is dated and must be a nightmare for them to maintain. My guess is they will drop it in the future and try and push anybody with legacy requirements to run them in a VM in the cloud. Gamers will just be out of luck.

As always Apple is ahead of the curve on this stuff but you can be sure Microsoft will be watching and wondering what they can get away with.