1P

Apart from the obvious fact that Macs and peripherals are vastly more expensive than their PC equivalents, the question of what will suit you could be determined by whether you are right-brained or left-brained. It is said that right-brained "creative" folk are more at home with Macs, left-brained "analytical" folk are more comfortable with PCs.

Having used both OS, I can say that Macs generally require a greater number of keystrokes/mouse clicks to achieve the same end, which may also be a factor. The Mac OS is more Byzantine in its complexity than the PC's OS, which may account for this.

Long Train Runnin

I agree.

I also like the "differences" between Windows and MacOS as kind of a "reset".

I use a PC all day for work, and then in the evenings/weekends I use my Mac for my personal computing. I find being in a totally different environment helps my personal computing from feeling like an extension of being at work.

If you are reasonably competent on Windows using a Mac is like a more relaxed stripped down computing experience. I couldn't even get through an hour of my actual job with a Mac.

Davvidd

I used to hate Mac. I have been using PC since the start and then got a Mac as a present in 2009 and have been using it until 2019 when I got another PC as a present. It did not last very long and I sold it and bought myself a Mac. I would like to add that I hate iPhone and would not buy one for myself. ( I used it before). So it is nothing to do with Apple just that a Mac to me is much easier to use than a PC.

cblaisd

Only if you only use Windows in the Mac.

Otherwise, run away, run away.

They are beautiful machines but "It just works" has to be the most hilariously maddening uber-over-promising advertising slogan in history.

And this comes from someone on his fifth iPhone (but who jailbreaks for greater control over the OS).

Visconti

LOL...yeah, I'd agree with this. Remember those old Mac vs PC commercials?

My first personal computer was the old Macintosh SE, and some of those old habits are still with me today, e.g., double clicking icons, manually creating folders with the mouse, having the trash bin on the bottom right of my screen, etc. Of course, as with everyone else during the time, it was essential to switch and become relatively proficient in the Windows environment the moment I started working professionally. As a non-programmer normal user, I'd say using both seamlessly was pretty easy becoming second nature in a relatively short amount of time.

However, even to this day, there are some portals and programs that simply require a Windows PC to run. While I find the overwhelming majority of what I do on a computer much more preferable on a Mac, I still have some Windows PCs for very specific tasks, where, as mentioned above, virtual machines (we use VMware) while probably up to the task on the legacy Intel based Macs, just doesn't run quite like it does on, say, a Thinkpad.

Having said that, I'm hoping a day will come when everything we can do on a PC may also be accomplished on the new Macs. Until then, having something like Dropbox--I find the iCloud feature on a PC problematic--makes it pretty seamless running both platforms.

tai4de2

I suppose there are a few overall reasons that could motivate using a Mac:

• You have specific Mac(-only) applications
• You want better integration with the Apple ecosystem
• You like the hardware
• You simply are into trying something new

Obviously specific Mac-only applications is not a subjective thing. If you need a Mac for that, you get a Mac. It doesn't seem like the OP has this issue, so we're talking about the other, more subjective reasons on the list. If those are decisive for the OP, then using a Mac would be a nice experience -- and might even push him or her to replace the desktop Windows PC with a Mac after having experienced the Mac laptop.

I have an iPhone which among other things I use for sending messages, taking photos, sending emails, and making/receiving phone calls. Switching to Mac reveals just how anemic Apple's ecosystem integration support is on Windows. Being able to sit in front of my computer and not switch to iPad or iPhone to deal with text messages, to be able to place and receive cellular phone calls on the Mac, the vastly superior photo management and integration, using my photos and videos directly in iMovie, the list goes on. It was a revelatory experience -- the integration across the ecosystem is outstanding, and usability puts Windows to shame here -- if you use an iPhone/iPad. Windows does better with Android than it does with iPhone/iPad, and some of the things I mentioned may be possible with Windows+Android, but I use an iPhone so that's irrelevant for me.

After decades of PC use, some on rigs I built with components from NewEgg, Fry's, etc., and some on brand-name laptops, I can say I've never once seen any PC that competes seriously with Apple's hardware, and most definitely never seen any PC that competes with the combo of Apple's hardware plus software. Yes, the *specs* on a PC can *appear* to compete, but the total is never greater than the sum of its parts. On the other hand, the 16" MacBook Pro I am typing this on is One Beautiful Piece of Hardware. Yes it is unquestionably more expensive than the equivalent box 'o' parts in the Windows or Linux world.

One thing I miss? I am (or was, I am retired now) a software developer, of traditional client software. That's a wondrous experience on Windows. Much less so on a Mac -- Xcode, Swift, Objective C, etc. don't excite me the same way as Windows C-based API. But I'm old school. Someone doing Java, Node, or other less platform-specific development will find the Mac to be fantastic for software development. The last Big Tech company I worked for used Macs almost exclusively for software development.

david55

So I took the plunge and ordered a Macbook Pro 2021 16". ( That was the size screen I have been looking for in a PC with OLED and having trouble finding)

I bought it from Costco with their generous 3 month return policy and an additional year warranty. Easy return if I don't like it.

I have been watching Youtube videos this afternoon on " my first mac" and "mac secrets"...some are okay....some I find myself waking up halfway through.

I made my living as an artist so I am hoping being a " creative" type ( which is a label associated with macs a lot in these videos) will help make the Mac intuitive.

I'll report back.

Need

You should have just lead with that! I have many artists in the family and ALL of them use Macbooks. I think it is a cult thing LOL. I think you will fit right in.

tai4de2

Good luck OP! Happy to help you once you get it. I have the same model.

Internaut

No two ways about it, they are different. I started with Mac because it offered me something I could get at the command line/scripting level (UNIX!!!) with the benefits of Windows (Office). See:


Those remind me that, at the GUI level, this old nerd has never really been a power user of either. As far as Windows goes, I think Windows is great but I prefer macOS.

DeafFlyer

I use both and like both. MacOS is better in some areas., and Windows is better in others.

WilcoRoger

I gave up windows around 2008 and never looked back. The underlying BSD-esque system makes it easy using UNIX skills.

Otherwise it just works (really) - for much longer than a windows laptop. I can still install the latest OSX version on a 10 years old laptop.

I work in a corporate environment with 99% windows setup, but I have no issues being one of the few Mac users.

GadgetFreak

I’ve switched back and forth a few times. I switched to Mac when OS X came out and haven’t gone back. I use it mostly for email, word processing, internet, task management, presentations, Slack, and spreadsheets. I have both Mac and Microsoft Office suites but typically use Mac apps for presentations, Google Docs for word processing and Excel for spreadsheets. But they interchange pretty seamlessly when they need to. I ran Parallels for many years because I had ever ever shrinking number of Windows only apps I needed. But I don’t have any of those that I need anymore so I don’t run a virtual machine anymore.

One thing I really like about the Mac is that it really integrates well with an iPad and I find myself using an iPad Pro more and more. Especially with the new iPadOS. I can have a split screen and watch a presentation on half of the screen and take notes on the other part of a screen with an Apple Pencil or typing. Those notes can be viewed in a Mac, iPad or iPhone. So, yeah, it mostly just works unless you have an application that you absolutely need that is PC only.

CarlTheWebmaster

Small data point.
I'm a lifelong PC user and sometimes Mac-hater (no keyboard shortcuts! Menu at top of huge screen! etc) who has gradually become more OS agnostic particularly as I've grown to love iOS as a phone/tablet platform. Recently I got a MacBook air for music production (actually just noodling) and I'm making a conscious effort to keep all work activity off of it. Anyway, it's there in the music room; I have several PCs that I use all day every day for work.

The other day, my daughter wanted to print a photo of our hamster to use as a Christmas tree ornament. I have a very nice HP all in one and I thought I'd 'just print a photo' from windows. I wanted to take an iCloud photo, crop it and print full page borderless. On Windows I tried (using the default Windows 10 photo app) for about an hour but could never just tell it 'fill the page' - for some reason scaling the photo wasn't happening. I checked the box for scaling etc but no go. Perhaps with a graphics editor (Gimp, Photoshop, Paint) I could have done something but didn't.

I went to the Mac, grabbed the photo (it was on iCloud so already in the Photos app), two finger right-click, print, scale to page, done. I have literally never in my life printed a photo from a Mac, and I've printed hundreds or more from PCs, but for this use case, Mac wins.

Also Garageband, but that's another thread.

TGarza

I have had no trouble switching between OS systems. I used a Mac book when Apple was a major client then switched back to my PC. Now Google is a major client and I use a Chromebook. The apps are primitive for the Chromebook compared to a PC or Mac.

Yes, I am one of those who has to remove the 2nd laptop when using TSA Pre.