My Windows Laptop to Mac M1 Transition

[GhostriderTC]

Last year towards the end of the year I bought a new MacBook Pro M1 16" with 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM. I work for myself and mostly develop websites but its not limited to node, mobile apps, python, perl etc. My windows laptop was not great, a Gigabyte Aero 17". It had so many problems (4 months to fix the motherboard and screen) and after 2 years I gave up on it. The battery lasted 2 hours tops, the screen was good but not amazing and it was loud and ran hot and off battery the performance was so bad. I heard the new M1 Pro 16" had a great screen, good battery life, was very fast and performance was amazing so it got it. So how has it been...

8 months later... its an amazing machine but has not been without its problems. But first the good.

• The performance on and off battery is amazing, no difference on battery or power
• The screen is really really good. Being a web dev and amateur photographer a really good screen is essential
• I like Mac OS, its cleaner and slicker than Windows (although Windows does some things better) and much more stable
• I use 2 x 4k LG external monitors and they look really great no matter what scale you are using
• Apple Music paired with my Sony MX4s are absolutely amazing as you can use Dolby Atmos and Lossless
• Trackpad is amazing. I can actually use it and not get frustrated. I used to hate it but with Mac its very usable and efficient.
• I can use my power bank to charge my MacBook
• Speakers are really really good, best I have heard from any laptop and they rival my desktop speakers.
• The close lid and sleep is really great. No lag when opening and hardly uses any power.
• I can now develop Apple and Android apps on 1 laptop.

The struggles has been the following

• Being a software developer there are some windows apps (free) that you cannot get on Mac for example, Notepad++ (Sublime for $89), WinSCP (Forklift $29, Transmit $49, Commander One Free), HeidiSQL (DBeaver is good enough), Rufus (haven't found a good one) to name a few. Becomes costly purchasing them compared to Windows.
• I still need some Windows apps as I contract to a security firm and certain hardware programming can only be done on Windows so I need Parallels and Windows 11 (which I do not like, Windows 10 I much better IMHO but thats just me). Parallels is $100 and Windows is over $100 as well. Costly purchase as well.
• I am finally getting used to the shortcuts and replacement
• Python for me was a real pain to install. I ended going with Anaconda. That helped a lot.
• No USB-A slot. That would be really useful. The other slots are ok. When I initially bought the laptop I had issues with the card reader but that seems to be fixed now.
• Oracle and anything to do with Oracle is a no no. Not even my Parallels Windows would work properly even though it has x86 and x64 emulation. When it did work, it broke 2 weeks later. So no I use another windows laptop as I develop Apex applications and Oracle Functions and Procedures.
• Physical keyboard. It works well but I have used wither keyboards that are better.
• Some apps are still using Rosetta and waiting for developers to develop native apps can be a long long time.
• I have given up on Dropbox and OneDrive clients. Their apps are really bad (slow, buggy and use lots of memory) so I use Apple iCloud now. Even Apple sometimes takes a while to upload as I head they throttle their upload limit on their servers. I use OneDrive but a client app and transfer like FTP.
• You must get a cleaner. I use MacPaw Clean My Mac, otherwise you run out of space very quickly.

Don't like

• Not OS specific. I need 3 different cables to charge my Apple Products. Lightning for phone, mag safe for laptop (but like the fact the charger has USB C) and USB-C for my iPad
• Photos - you can add tags and smart albums on the MacBook which cannot be viewed on iPhone and iPad
• Music - you cannot view your liked songs, you need to add them to a playlist
• In South Africa we are very limited on the models. It would be great to get a MacBook Pro with 32GB memory and 2TB SSD. We currently don't have that option.

Overall I am very chuffed and really glad I made the transition, much more positives than negatives and it solves my main gripes (power and battery life) and I very happy with it. I won't upgrade for a while though (specially considering the price for a new one) so I'll keep this one till I need to upgrade. If anyone is on the fence you can't go wrong with Mac and I would go for it.

 

[leman]

Thanks for writing this up, I think many users will find your experience informative!

• I like Mac OS, its cleaner and slicker than Windows (although Windows does some things better) and much more stable

Can you offer some examples of what Windows does better? I am curious about pros and contras various design decisions.

The struggles has been the following

• Being a software developer there are some windows apps (free) that you cannot get on Mac for example, Notepad++ (Sublime for $89), WinSCP (Forklift $29, Transmit $49, Commander One Free), HeidiSQL (DBeaver is good enough), Rufus (haven't found a good one) to name a few. Becomes costly purchasing them compared to Windows.

There are plenty of free or cheap developer apps for macOS. TextMate 2, BBEdit (free mode), Atom, VSCode etc. A decent alternative to WinSCP is CyberDuck. Can’t really comment on SQL front ends since it has been a while, but I had good experience with Sequel Pro (no idea if it’s still under a five development though). No idea what Rufus is.

• 
  
• Python for me was a real pain to install. I ended going with Anaconda. That helped a lot.

Really? Installing Python is usually as simple as doing

brew install python3

And there are also official installers on the Python website. What kind of problems did you encounter?

 

[alien3dx]

Being a software developer there are some windows apps (free) that you cannot get on Mac for example, Notepad++ (Sublime for $89), WinSCP (Forklift $29, Transmit $49, Commander One Free), HeidiSQL (DBeaver is good enough), Rufus (haven't found a good one) to name a few. Becomes costly purchasing them compared to Windows.

Visual Studio Code free your friend for IDE and alternative notepad++ . I do sometimes used basic default "TextEdit"
Cyberduck free you alternative WinScp
SequelAce free alternative compare heidi for windows.

Try to learn and install homebrew - anything else should be breeze.

ORACLE - that's thing horrible in my past and broken some of my friend max spec laptop.

MacPaw Clean My Mac - you don't need one lol. omni disk sweeper your friend, you can install ccleaner which same as windows.

 

[alien3dx]

experience with Sequel Pro (no idea if it’s still under a five development though). No idea what Rufus is.

sequel ace -> https://sequel-ace.com. You can install in mac store also.

 

[russell_314]

• You must get a cleaner. I use MacPaw Clean My Mac, otherwise you run out of space very quickly.

Huh? I've used Macs for about 15 years and never felt the need for a cleaner. Did you buy one with an SSD that barely meets your needs so you're constantly deleting temp files? Just FYI running an SSD at near max capacity significantly reduces performance. You probably already know this because it's same with Windows.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Huh? I've used Macs for about 15 years and never felt the need for a cleaner. Did you buy one with an SSD that barely meets your needs so you're constantly deleting temp files? Just FYI running an SSD at near max capacity significantly reduces performance. You probably already know this because it's same with Windows.

If you read his last bullet point, he was limited on which options he could buy in South Africa—he would have bought the 2 TB SSD if it had been available.

 

[russell_314]

If you read his last bullet point, he was limited on which options he could buy in South Africa—he would have bought the 2 TB SSD if it had been available.

I see that. It's weird that they wouldn't have that one available. Maybe he should try moving some stuff to an external TB SSD. It might be a good workaround?

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I see that. It's weird that they wouldn't have that one available. Maybe he should try moving some stuff to an external TB SSD. It might be a good workaround?

Absolutely! External SSD would be the way to go—although I just bought a used M1 MBA with 512 GB rather than 256 GB new because I hated having external storage at all. So maybe I am the wrong person for this topic. I HATE external storage on a laptop.

 

[russell_314]

Absolutely! External SSD would be the way to go—although I just bought a used M1 MBA with 512 GB rather than 256 GB new because I hated having external storage at all. So maybe I am the wrong person for this topic. I HATE external storage on a laptop.

It's not convenient for a laptop at all if you're using it away from a desk. I mean maybe put files you don't use often on it but if you need it plugged to work and you're trying to use it on your lap it's a pain. I have a 2 TB SSD behind my iMac for time machine and I forget it's there but I don't ever move my iMac.

 

[ahurst]

Huh? I've used Macs for about 15 years and never felt the need for a cleaner. Did you buy one with an SSD that barely meets your needs so you're constantly deleting temp files? Just FYI running an SSD at near max capacity significantly reduces performance. You probably already know this because it's same with Windows.

On this note, as someone who squeaked by with a 128 GB SSD for several years: the free/open-source GrandPerspective app is your friend if you're trying to keep disk usage to a minimum. It gives a great visual representation of what's taking up space on your drive and has right-click "Reveal in Finder" so you can quickly locate and trash the various unneeded movies, 1 GB installers, cache files, etc. without cost and without the sketchiness involved in an automated cleaner app.

 

[exoticSpice]

mag safe for laptop (but like the fact the charger has USB C

You can also charge via typc-c on the new macbooks. For me I magsafe is more convenient in the area I work in so I use that more.

 

[GuruZac]

Thanks for posting your experience so far. Glad you made the transition to Mac. One of my buddies is a long time user and defender of all things Windows, nearly over the top about it, just text me a picture of a 14" MBP and 12.9 iPP with Magic Keyboard he purchased. He said he was sick of the crashes, viruses, and heat issues. He's absolutely loving the Apple ecosystem. It's many little things like Airdrop, Continuity, Handoff, iCloud, Apple Music, Messages, etc, and he has an iPhone already so he's fully in the ecosystem and benefiting. In my opinion, aside from some software limitations for specific use cases (which are becoming less and less) Apple silicon has made switching more compelling than ever. Incredible speed and performance, battery life, instant waking up of the display, no heat, quiet operation, great displays and build quality. Great time to own a Mac.

 

[vddobrev]

@GhostriderTC

Windows Apps
- You can get by without purchasing apps. Use TextEdit for example. Otherwise accept the cost and purchase the tools you need.

Windows
- If you need to work in Windows environment, then you have to provision for one. What's wrong with using your old Windows laptop, rather than spending extra on Parallels and a new Windows Licence? I am assuming Windows is not your main development environment... so the old laptop - reformat it, install the minimum and make it a lean-mean-windows-machine. Else get a cheap Intel Mac and BOOTCAMP.

Python
- Should be a no brainer. Scrap what you have and re-read installation instructions and re-install.

Oracle
- Everything about Oracle is a go, providing your DB is on another machine - don't even try to install Oracle DB on a Mac. I am an Oracle developer, and I prefer Mac over Windows for development work, but my DB is not on my Mac.
- You cannot have Oracle DB installed on MacOS, you must have another machine (Linux, Windows) for your Oracle DB. Else you must connect to your clients DB to develop.
- You can use Oracle SQL Developer and JDeveloper on Mac with great success, I have no issues.
- You can use your Mac to develop Apex and functions and procedures, just have the DB elsewhere (yea that is how it goes.)

Cleaner
- You do not need a cleaner on a Mac, and some cleaners will mess your system. Not sure where you got this idea. You can do all cleaning yourself using terminal commands and/or UI menus of your apps, like clear browsing history, and so on.

Terminal
- You did not mention Terminal in your post. I suggest you start reading about terminal commands and educate yourself to unleash the power of command line.

Music
- Switch to Star Ratings instead of Love/Dislike. It is in the Music Settings - show star ratings. Then, after you rate your songs, you can do a Top Rated playlist, and give rules, like how many stars to include in the playlist, etc. Also you can sort by star ratings in the Songs view. Much more powerful that a binary Love/Dislike - you have 5 stars instead to rate your songs.

Power and battery life
- Funny you mention this as your main gripe. While those are great on a Mac, Mac and macOS have way bigger advantages to be happy about... like the stable (Unix) kernel, memory management, device management, iCloud, Airdrop, Continuity, Apple Music, Messages, etc. All in all, I think power and battery are last in my list, like you can always plug your Windows laptop if battery is bad, but you can't have the other things macOS offers.

 

[Dnzilla]

MacPaw Clean My Mac - you don't need one lol. omni disk sweeper your friend, you can install ccleaner which same as windows.

can you tell me more?
Just about cleaners if useful and free

 

[Danfango]

Some comments:

1. Notepad++ -> use Visual Studio Code
2. WinSCP -> terminal + scp. Job done.
3. HeidiSQL -> look at Visual Studio Code plugins for your SQL databases. They are plentiful.
4. Rufus -> it's just fancy dd and disk utility.
5. Windows -> I'm sorry for your loss. I have a Dell floating around for that crap. I regularly want to chop it in half and insert each half of it up Michael Dell and Satya Nadella's ass respectively.
6. Python -> Use brew installed python. Seems easier and most of the native C extensions actually compile in that enivironment (try getting scipy working any other way - ugh). I mostly ssh into a Linux box in AWS though.
7. USB-A -> Yeah with you on that. I have to carry that infernal dongle around. Have been slowly replacing cables though.
8. Oracle -> Also sorry for your loss. Haven't used Oracle since 8i and HP/UX so I'm rusty as hell but it doesn't surprise me.
9. Keyboard -> it's fine. All keyboards take a year to get used to. People try and strangle me less than when I had a full mechanical keyboard.
10. Rosetta -> I have no Rosetta x86 applications now. Didn't take long. This will improve.
11. Dropbox / OneDrive -> Absolutely terrible bits of software anyway. The company I contracted with a couple of years back lost nearly 100Gb of files in OneDrive on O365 silently. At least with the Mac it's easy to keep an offline backup of the whole thing via Time Machine. iCloud has been fine for me although I'm sure some people have had problems with it.
12. Definitely don't need a cleaner app. Have never needed one. I don't know why these things even exist. Just learn what stuff is in ~/Library and how it works.

 

[Dfds]

VSCode is excellent.

 

[macsound1]

The only "cleaner" I think is worthwhile is AppCleaner from freemacsoft.

It doesn't do anything actively, it's not a spam or spyware thing, doesn't disguise itself as trying to protect you from anything, doesn't run in the menubar.
It ONLY helps reveal files that are spewed around the drive when uninstalling an app.

I find it very helpful because some apps intentionally leave traces so when you reinstall later, they can recognize you. While I'm not trying to scam anyone out of free trials, sometimes it's nice to be able to use something more than once a lifetime and take advantage of that trial.

Also useful if you want to uninstall something like McAfee or MacPaw Clean My Mac since they're ABSOLUTELY a memory and CPU hog - crap/malware.

 

[Conutz]

In South Africa we are very limited on the models. It would be great to get a MacBook Pro with 32GB memory and 2TB SSD. We currently don't have that option.

iStore will quote you for a custom spec., but it’ll take time to get here. I don’t like their service, so I just buy mine from Adorama or one of the other online stores in the US and ship through MyUS.

 

[profdraper]

can you tell me more?
Just about cleaners if useful and free

Onyx. Free, deep, brilliant. https://titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

 

[Dnzilla]

Onyx. Free, deep, brilliant. https://titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

Thanks
Sorry my 2014 mbp w 128gb is killing me as my new job needs a bit of iMovie stuff done…

Gotta save for a new computer grr

 

[alien3dx]

can you tell me more?
Just about cleaners if useful and free

It just one an app clean all your browser history and uninstallation program .Microsoft windows does have "registry" while in mac more bloat on Library/~ which may contain some setup /setting application you install .

For safety better use click at apple logo at left top - about this mac - storage - manage - and use the recommended by the os.

 

[Alex Cai]

I still need some Windows apps as I contract to a security firm and certain hardware programming can only be done on Windows so I need Parallels and Windows 11 (which I do not like, Windows 10 I much better IMHO but thats just me). Parallels is $100 and Windows is over $100 as well. Costly purchase as well。

There is an app called PDrunner that you can run Paralllels for free

 

[ahurst]

Really? Installing Python is usually as simple as doing

brew install python3

Python -> Use brew installed python.

Just a quick note as a former brewed Python guy that Homebrew’s management of Python version upgrades has unexpectedly nuked my entire Python setup from a stray unintended upgrade (e.g. 3.7 to 3.8 due to some other package’s dependency) at least 4 separate times from 2017 to 2020.

My current setup since 2020 is to brew install pyenv, and then pyenv install the specific version of Python I want. It makes it easy to juggle different versions for different environments without headaches or unexpected Homebrew interference. Plays super nicely with pipenv environments as well!

 

[jonblatho]

Python for me was a real pain to install. I ended going with Anaconda. That helped a lot.

You should probably install Python with some environment manager anyway. Even if all you use is the base/default environment from that manager, it’s relatively easy to recover if something gets screwed up, and much easier to work on multiple projects, compared to a single Python installation.

 

[star-affinity]

I like this:

CotEditor

Text Editor for macOS

coteditor.com