Alternative Mac replacement

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I HATE HATE HATE the new macbooks pros.

The keyboard is just dreadful. It stops me working because i just find it really unpleasant to type on.

And the USB C single situation drives me barmy. I have to carry around so much extra stuff. And they hubs are expensive.

So, for the first time in 10 years of being a Mac user, I’m looking to switch back to a Windows machine. I’ve been using dragon naturally speaking on a parallels VM and win 10 is surprisingly easy and pleasant to use. I’m thinking of buying a new laptop, one with a nice bouncy keyboard, USB-A ports, and ditching Mac.

That makes me sad, but I look at my MacBook Pro and I just despise it these days.

Has anyone done the switch?

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I feel your pain. Have you considered an older machine, hoping that Apple will come to their senses?

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That would be the Marco Arment-approved 2015 MacBook Pro

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I think if it doesn’t work for you, then switch. No big deal. I feel we too often make this a bigger deal than it should be. Why be unhappy? Go for it!

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Windows would make me unhappy-er, I think.

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As a touch typist, I agree completely about the keyboard. It is impossible to find certain keys without looking because every key is on precisely the same plane, including the arrow keys. That is not enough to make me change to Windows, however.

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I need Windows and Mac for my work. But I did not buy any Windows computers recently. But when I was considering one, this was on top of the list:

I would recommend giving it a look, and the price is surprisingly very good.
Also Lenovo computers are solid ones, I like them compared to Dell and others.

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After 10 years using Mac, I think you will hate windows. It is a really terrible OS! Keyboards are a personal thing and I think the MacBook Pro keyboard is great. Everything is going the USB-C route and I now find USB-A to be a pain.
Good luck with Windows - I think you will need it.

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I think the people who have switched and are pleased with their decision are probably not around here anymore. You can find people here who use both. Maybe there are Mac-to-Windows forums around?

I’m certainly not implying that you can’t find info here, but being pragmatic about finding the info you need.

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I would consider a Chromebook with Linux before I’d switch to Windows. Indeed, unless Apple gets its MacBook act together I may end up doing just that in the next 3-5 years, when I’m due for my next upgrade.

I know a couple of people who switched from the Mac to Windows recently, because their employers would provide them with Windows machines but not Macs. Both of them are unhappy with the change and already coming back to Mac. Neither of these people are in any way fanboys, or part of the Apple/Mac community, or Apple enthusiasts, or tribal about products in any way. They view their computers and phones and tablets as appliances to get things done.

I recently bought a 2018 MacBook Pro and I’m fine with it. I primarily use an external keyboard, but I do use the internal keyboard several days out of the month, when I travel, and it’s fine. I do wish it was QUIETER, and that’s a significant complaint.

The USB-C transition was a pain for a couple of weeks but then I got the cord/dongle situation sorted out and it’s fine.

However, as others on this thread said, if you’re unhappy with your MacBook Pro and have decided to switch, then just do it. Apple products are just products we buy, it is not a tribe or nation that we belong to.

I used DOS and Windows from 1981-2007, when I switched to the Mac.

I used Palm products for 10 years and then switched to the iPhone when that came out.

And I used an Android tablet for two years, rather than an iPad, and I liked that just fine too.

I devoted as much energy to fiddling with and customizing each of those products as I now do with my Apple products.

None of these switches were identity changes — not like immigrating to a foreign country, or changing religion or sexual orientation or gender. They’re just products. Stuff we buy.

The preceding is the mirror image of the rant I use when I get fed up with Android fanboys bleating about Apple “sheeple.” Apple products are products I buy because the enjoyment and productivity I get from them offsets the higher cost. When that equation changes I will switch. And I expect it will likely change in my lifetime, that’s just how business works.

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Have you tried desktop Linux? I have and I find it crude. That said, I’d probably use it over Windows.

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I have not tried desktop Linux. But I know people who are using Linux and ChromeOS side by side and are very happy with it. These are people who formerly used Macs but found the hardware overpriced and problematic.

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Sounds like us (at least some of us). And let’s not forget the thousand-dollar phones!

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No, no desire. Good luck with your windows machine.

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User experience and ease of use of MacOS is unsurpassed. Linux is very good but requires dedication.
Macs’ just work not fiddling needed…

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Long time and continuing Apple user with an iMac and a mid-2010 15" macBook Pro (upgraded with more memeory and an SSD), which I’d love to upgrade but I just can’t justify the price of a new one and I seriously dislike the key board. When my son started a new one-man business we went right through the “what shall I use” list and landed up with as ASUS Chromebook C302A.

Reasons:

  • really good hardware at a much more reasonable price than Apple
  • no Windows upgrade hassles
  • ChromeOS upgrades are utterly painless
  • Office 365 runs fine using the Android versions, any way the Google apps are pretty good for everything he needs
  • cloud storage of everything (OneDrive and Google Drive) means no complex backups

The specs aren’t great and it absolutely wouldn’t be the right choice for, say, a photographer or a web developer, but for anything body who can live a web based life its net work latency, not CPU speed that makes the biggest difference. If Apple can’t or simply won’t bring their entry level laptop prices down, when the macBook finally dies it’s going to be a lower-end iPad plus keyboard or a Chromebook for me, and I prefer the Chromebook keyboard over what I’ve seen of the iPad covers.

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Try the new MackBook Air…I know that sounds odd, because I know it is supposed to be the same keyboard as the latest generation MacBook Pro. I have both and I swear the 2018 MacBook Air keyboard is noticeably better than the 2018 MacBook 15” and 13” we have have. Now for me I follow the MacSparky strategy, iMac + iPad Pro, manages to do everything I need. I use a backlit external keyboard when I am at a desk or in a hotel room, when I am bouncing between meetings I use the Smart Keyboard, which I find, surprisingly, pleasant to type on.

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I’ve been using Windows at work daily for most of my career.
I bought a Mac for my personal laptop approximately 8 years ago.
Th Mac has been the most reliable laptop I have ever used. I’m still using a mid 2012 model that I have added an SSD and 16GB of RAM. I dread the thought of that laptop dying, with the sad state of machines coming out of Apple the last few years. I would probably buy the oldest MacBook Pro I could find.

Windows 7 has been very reliable ever since I started using it, I think that the Windows/Microsoft hatred is overblown though. Most of the applications I use on Windows are very well written and reliable. I own licenses for many software packages that I use daily.

The worst part of switching to a different OS is losing the Apps and workflows that we have spent so much time honing.

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Being a Windows user in the office and a Mac user at home, I have not made a switch, but I am switching constantly.

In 2006, I bought a Mac for home use just out of curiosity and with the option to install Windows on it. :blush: I never installed Windows on this old Macbook. 6 weeks later, I did not even turn on my PC any more. I was sold on the Mac and I have owned and have been using Macbooks, Macbook Pros, Mac Minis and iMacs. You wrote that you have been a Mac User for 10 years. So, before that, you have used Windows and you still consider the switch? If so, you know Windows. And I would say that Windows has gotten better during the last 10 years.

I never got the hatred against Windows, to be honest. In my office, I am responsible to keep about 8 Windows Servers, 35 HP laptops, and three 3 desktop PCs up and running. And they do just fine (Windows 10 Prof., Windows Server 2016).

Still, I prefer MacOS and I love the awesome MacOS developer community and their products.

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I supported Mac & Windows computers/users & Linux computers since the early 80s. I’ve always loved Macs.

My previous company began moving to Macs, for most users, around 2009. Tools like Apple Remote Desktop made my job much easier, and the hardware lasted “forever”. We ran iMacs, MacBooks, and a couple of Xserves with large raids for file serving & email. It was great.

Then Apple got out of the hardware business. When we exhausted our cache of spare parts the Xserves were replaced by Windows servers. (And we’ve had excellent results running Windows computers/servers in recent years.)

Now Apple has gutted macOS server and is letting ARD die. One of the last projects I was working on before retirement was a plan to replace about 100 of our older Macs.

Most of our in-house programs were now browser based, we had ditched our on premises email server for G Suite. Many of the advantages of supporting Macs with Apple Remote Desktop were gone or less reliable. We determined that most of our sales & customer support employees could easily do their job on ChromeOS for a fraction of the cost of a Mac. (No decision was made before my retirement)

Now, when asked by someone about what laptop to buy, I ask a few questions about how they use a computer then, normally, point them toward an iPad or Chromebook, or a Windows machine.

I can no longer recommend a Macbook without warning someone about the keyboard, the lack of expandability after purchase, or the exorbitant cost of repairs.

You can’t do your best work when you hate your tools. Find what works for you and let us know how it turns out.

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