MP All Models What is stopping you from using Windows?

[th0masp]

Specifically what registry issues have you had? What update slow downs have you experienced? What OS corruptions have you encountered?

I had updates break parts of the registry, causing explorer to act up (can't remember details now but it caused loads of popup warnings). Only obscure tips after a lot of googling resolved that one - had to extract some part of my backup and inject it I think. I had cumulative updates cause system slowdowns and incompatibilities with standard applications (Photoshop most prominently, getting very slow and crashed easily in a virtual desktop environment).

Only discovered how bad it had gotten after a few years of updates when Windows finally got corrupted (GPU no longer recognized - no cleaning and reinstalling of drivers helped) and I had to resort to my original installation clone. Suddenly the computer was flying and apps were fixed.
Suffice to say - I don't update anymore, it's all disabled forr good. They can keep their 'patches'. Been trouble-free ever since.

There were more issues over the years of course but that was in previous versions of Windows. Plenty of reinstalls before I got really conservative with this OS, stopped installing trialware, always kept a bootable clone, etc.

In comparison I have never in my 12 years of macOS experience so far had to resort to reinstalling the OS. Even the more resilient leftovers from deinstalled apps I was able to remove without compromising system stability. I install and remove trials all the time and generally just use the system without thinking twice. Night and day difference to my Windows usage.

Also issues like failing drives were easy to debug thanks to the logfiles. That was much easier in the old pre-Sierra system of log files though. Sifting through the current day console output is not exactly enlightening to me.

 

[Nugget]

How am I being inconsistent?

If you're looking for a UNIX workstation then yes, using a UNIX workstation is most likely better than using something emulating a UNIX workstation. That seems rather obvious. The question is...what does using a UNIX workstation, other than using a UNIX workstation, buy the end user?

You suggested to another poster that they should consider PowerShell as an alternative to their current Unix environment. When they said that they were familiar with PowerShell you chided them for foolishly expecting PowerShell to be an alternative to a Unix environment. Your apparent unfamiliarity with the terminology doesn't really inspire much confidence in the advice you're so quick to give on this subject.

Now you're asking people to teach you what Unix is and why people would use it. That's not really our job. If you are so unfamiliar with Unix that you don't have any idea why people use it, then what on earth are you doing here trying to suggest viable alternatives? It sounds like the discussion has strayed outside of your experience.

If you have to ask then you're in no position to hold court about why Windows is a suitable alternative.

It's a very capable system and, as already mentioned, some people consider it superior to UNIX shell scripting.

Perhaps this is the core of your misunderstanding. Unix is an environment not a scripting language.

 

[bcomer]

I switched from Windows in 2008 and have never looked back. Every time I use Windows I shake my head and realize how much better MacOS is.

 

[defjam]

I had updates break parts of the registry, causing explorer to act up (can't remember details now but it caused loads of popup warnings). Only obscure tips after a lot of googling resolved that one - had to extract some part of my backup and inject it I think. I had cumulative updates cause system slowdowns and incompatibilities with standard applications (Photoshop most prominently, getting very slow and crashed easily in a virtual desktop environment).

What problems with the registry were broken by the update(s)?

Only discovered how bad it had gotten after a few years of updates when Windows finally got corrupted (GPU no longer recognized - no cleaning and reinstalling of drivers helped) and I had to resort to my original installation clone. Suddenly the computer was flying and apps were fixed.
Suffice to say - I don't update anymore, it's all disabled forr good. They can keep their 'patches'. Been trouble-free ever since.

There were more issues over the years of course but that was in previous versions of Windows. Plenty of reinstalls before I got really conservative with this OS, stopped installing trialware, always kept a bootable clone, etc.

In comparison I have never in my 12 years of macOS experience so far had to resort to reinstalling the OS. Even the more resilient leftovers from deinstalled apps I was able to remove without compromising system stability. I install and remove trials all the time and generally just use the system without thinking twice. Night and day difference to my Windows usage.

Also issues like failing drives were easy to debug thanks to the logfiles. That was much easier in the old pre-Sierra system of log files though. Sifting through the current day console output is not exactly enlightening to me.

This whole response sounds an awful lot like problems with Windows from the 1990's and not anything with modern versions of Windows.
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I switched from Windows in 2008 and have never looked back. Every time I use Windows I shake my head and realize how much better MacOS is.

Please define better.

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

I use Windows 8 hrs a day at work. I don't like it. It's a joy to come home and use MacOS. For me, it's a much smoother experience. It also works so well with all my other Apple devices, I would not consider using Windows on my personal computers.

 

[th0masp]

What problems with the registry were broken by the update(s)?


This whole response sounds an awful lot like problems with Windows from the 1990's and not anything with modern versions of Windows.
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Please define better.

Huh, are you going to ask me next if I have tried turning on the machine?

It's not a great OS, enough said.

 

[defjam]

Huh, are you going to ask me next if I have tried turning on the machine?

You mentioned a specific issue and I requested more details on that issue. As issue which appears to be lifted straight from the 1990's. If you want to condemn Windows for issues you should be able to support them.

It's not a great OS, enough said.

That's an opinion, not fact.

 

[jasonmvp]

If you have to ask then you're in no position to hold court about why Windows is a suitable alternative.

I've gotten the sense that he's arguing for the sake of arguing versus trying to sway opinions. I plonked him about an hour ago, and moved along.

 

[iOS Geek]

I wouldn’t go back to Windows. Used to use it exclusively a while back, but after getting into Mac and getting used to it...Windows just seems “meh” in comparison.

 

[defjam]

I wouldn’t go back to Windows. Used to use it exclusively a while back, but after getting into Mac and getting used to it...Windows just seems “meh” in comparison.

If your last experience with Windows was "a while back" perhaps you may want to take a look at it. It's changed since "a while back".

 

[iOS Geek]

If your last experience with Windows was "a while back" perhaps you may want to take a look at it. It's changed since "a while back".

Oh I won’t disagree that it’s changed. For my purposes (which is what I meant by a while back), I exclusively use Mac. But we do have a few Windows computers at work and they are on Windows 10. My interactions with those computers are for maybe like a total of a 1-3 hours a week. Its improved since it’s come out, but I still prefer Mac. I’ll USE Windows...just wouldn’t go back to it exclusively.

 

[defjam]

Oh I won’t disagree that it’s changed. For my purposes (which is what I meant by a while back), I exclusively use Mac. But we do have a few Windows computers at work and they are on Windows 10. My interactions with those computers are for maybe like a total of a 1-3 hours a week. Its improved since it’s come out, but I still prefer Mac. I’ll USE Windows...just wouldn’t go back to it exclusively.

Nothing wrong with preferring Macs. My objection is when people use no longer applicable "problems" to fault Windows.

 

[benshive]

I have a PC I built for gaming that of course runs Windows and then I use Mac for everything else

 

[Somian]

• Sketch
• Cheetah 3D
• Numbers (no really, it's so much better than Excel for real-world tasks, it's not even funny. You can't even scroll and zoom properly in Excel). You also can't create multiple tables and then re-arrange them freely on the same screen.)
• Keynote
• Final Cut Pro X
• Motion
• QuickTime framework allows great cross-application production workflows.
• Global PDF based vector graphics
• Cross-Application GUI automation
• POSIX compliance
• Competitive pricing for professional graphics support. I'm on a 2017 iMac Pro 8-core with Vega 64, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD and two LG 5k displays. The Setup was sub $10k. At the time the price for a Windows workstation with 3 5k display would have been higher.
• Beautiful UI where you can actually see the borders of a window. Try Windows 10 dark mode with a black Wallpaper.
• Small UI things that drive my crazy on Windows like being unable to scroll while dragging something.
• Windows 10 has become adware. A fresh installation bombards you with Minecraft and candy crush ads. No thanks. I see professional users there are mostly on the email and powerpoint side that try to save a few bucks by using Windows PCs and. Is it worth $400 to have candy crush shoved into your face every day?
• Applications like finder are just better than explorer. Like the tree view that shows both folders and files. In Windows Explorer, those are two separate.
• Things like the fact that windows still doesn't support more than 255 characters in pathnames. So checking out a large git repository usually breaks until you enable support for longer paths (which is internally supported but some applications still give you errors when working with the longer pathnames). Or the redundant Control panels in Windows 10 (that have overlapping settings but you still need both.) It's things like this that, for me, totally disqualify Windows for any kind of professional work. Just the time spent to work around issues like this is worth the upgrade to a mach, even if you don't necessarily need the hardware.
• Renaming files that are open. Yes, that works on MacOS and it drives me crazy every time I have to work on a windows Machine because it will tell me that a file is in use but not by what.
• I'm not too needy about CPU power, although I would certainly like to see AMD CPUs in Macs at some point. I'm well aware of the fact that you can get faster CPUs at half the price at AMD compared to the intel CPUs Apple uses.
• lots of tiny UI bugs. Try to delete a .ttf file in windows explorer with the preview open on the right side. It will tell you you can't because it's open (in explorer, for the preview).
• Everything is inconsistent on Windows. Like the behavior when you double-click text. In some apps, it'll include slashes, in some apps it won't.
• Senseless inconsistent keyboard shortcuts. They chose control + C for copy, but in the command line it's used for quitting applications. This is why on Mac, it's ⌘ + C and control +C.
• On Macs, Trackpads are so good that I prefer them for almost just about any kind of productive work (except 3d packages). (I even have a Magic Trackpad for my iMac, in addition to an MX master).
• HiDPi support on Windows is a mess. Sometimes you're greeted with notifications that are rendered at 400% scale and things will flicker back and forth.
• I've had a chain of time machine restores for over 10 years. This means I've been basically using the same OS install across 10 years worth of Macs. Try using a 10 year old Windows installation that has ben productively used and consequently updated to latest versions.

On my iMac Pro, I have Windows 10 for playing games, but that's it. For productive work, it has to be a Mac or maybe some flavor of Linux for lower level stuff. Before, I used a Mac Pro 5,1. I also used a variety of MacBook pros over the last years.

It's really about what you need. It just feels like microsoft only makes game stuff.

I have an XBOX one X and it's a blast to play on, too. Microsoft makes great products. I just can't see how you can be productive with those.

Working on a Windows machine feels like trying to work on an XBOX. I'm sure you can (hey, XBOX has a browser, so you could technically open google sheets or whatever) but WHY?

At work, I have to use a windows machine sometimes for specialized Applications that for whatever reason only runs on Windows. But then my workflow is basically to do everything on the Mac, sync it over via git or scripts that use sftp or something, click a few buttons on windows and then go back as quick as possible to the Mac before I windows update starts installing more candy crush.

 

[defjam]

Senseless inconsistent keyboard shortcuts. They chose control + C for copy, but in the command line it's used for quitting applications. This is why on Mac, it's ⌘ + C and control +C.

Windows behavior is consistent with other operating systems except macOS. Control+C to copy conflicts with the shells control+c command. Since macOS uses Command+<key> instead of Control+<key> there's no conflict. The inconsistency is macOS, not Windows.

 

[iOS Geek]

Nothing wrong with preferring Macs. My objection is when people use no longer applicable "problems" to fault Windows.

Definitely don't disagree with you there, either! One of the biggest dealbreakers for me when it comes to Windows...is that I'm "all-in" on Apple. Continuity is something I get a TON of usage out of. Windows would break that up for me and it would hinder my workflow. I am very rarely at a desk. So being able to have everything on my iPad and iPhone while I'm all over the place is a huge pro for me. Especially because I NEED access to all of those things at all times and also be able to update them at all times. And then having it on my Mac for those times when I actually am at my desk, with all of my updates/changes already there...is huge!

 

[Hanson Eigilson]

I had always thought that in terms of raw performance, benchmarking etc for media related workflow, so for things like video editing, photoshop that macs were always superior in performance.

Who ever told you that is not your friend, I'm sorry Mac's has never had any consistent lead in any relevant benchmark and generally they are quite a bit behind due to more lag between hardware introduction and actual new products than the competition, worse driver optimisation, substantially worse gpu availability and persistant and often crippling thermal problems.
But back to your question

if people are saying windows offers better performance for less cost, what is stopping you from using Windows?

It used to be:
1) Platform stability, Mac's rarely crashed and I rarely had to deal with hardware issues
(the shoe is simply on the other foot with that one for me, windows is far more reliable day to day now)
2) Stylish UI that get's out of the way until i need it
(it used to be nice, but they are locking down a lot of things behind the scenes and removing basic functionality to the point the platform is just not worth it)
3) "Healthy platform" it seemed easy to manage software on a Mac, no nagging, problem free system Apps, almost no viruses
(Not so healthy anymore, as a developer the foundation seem less solid with every release, as a user it feels like vendors are less and less committed to providing quality apps)

What remains is the handcuff's, i HAVE to be on a mac to make IOS apps and as that's part of my work the only solution would be to change job's or work for the company to drop Apple products if I want to be free to choose.

 

[defjam]

1) Platform stability, Mac's rarely crashed and I rarely had to deal with hardware issues (the shoe is simply on the other foot with that one for me, windows is far more reliable day to day now)

I'm puzzled as to what stability issues people are having whether it be with Windows, macOS, or other modern operating systems (such as Linux). IME the stability of modern operating systems is quite good. I can't say that one is more / less stable than the other. If you're experiencing stability issues I strongly recommend you investigate the hardware as modern operating systems are quite reliable.

 

[GGJstudios]

what is stopping you from using Windows?

Common sense.

Will you consider switching?

Not unless things change significantly in the future. Certainly not now.

 

[The Hammer]

I don't like Windows 10 user interface. I used Windows up until Win 7 then I switched. Plus their updates often cause more problems than they solve.

 

[Nugget]

Windows behavior is consistent with other operating systems except macOS. Control+C to copy conflicts with the shells control+c command. Since macOS uses Command+<key> instead of Control+<key> there's no conflict. The inconsistency is macOS, not Windows.

You have misunderstood. Windows' use of ^C is internally inconsistent. He was not comparing the behavior between the two operating systems. In Windows sometimes ^C copies and sometimes it cancels. That's an inconsistency no matter how other operating systems behave.

 

[LorenK]

I have been using Windows since almost the beginning in a work environment and using Mac in my personal space since the early 90's. I feel like I can do stuff in the Mac environment and not have to worry period. With Windows, it seems things are always slightly off, and periodic crashes, and viruses, and other weird stuff. I realize that that is pretty vague, but discomfort is what I get with Windows, which I don't get with Mac. Why switch?

 

[defjam]

You have misunderstood. Windows' use of ^C is internally inconsistent. He was not comparing the behavior between the two operating systems. In Windows sometimes ^C copies and sometimes it cancels. That's an inconsistency no matter how other operating systems behave.

Can you provide an example where it is inconsistent outside of a command prompt?
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I don't like Windows 10 user interface. I used Windows up until Win 7 then I switched. Plus their updates often cause more problems than they solve.

Can you elaborate on this? What problems have updates caused?

 

[AustinIllini]

I won't go back. Windows is just a pig. It doesn't perform well, has really weird bloat on many models, and just isn't an enjoyable experience.

I still use Windows at work and it's fine, honestly, but that's a special image for my job and I still get the weird candy crush ads and stuff. Once those ads started happening, I was done.

 

[konqerror]

BLOATWARE. Every windows machine comes loaded with ads and software trying to upsell me at every turn.

That's because you've only bought consumer PCs. Enterprise PCs have been completely bloatware-free forever. Vendors realized the majority of these computers were going to be reimaged anyway. These would be Dell Optiplex/Latitude/Precision, Lenovo Thinkpad/Thinkcentre/Thinkstation, and HP Elitedesk/Elitebook/Z.