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Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

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Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#161

Post by wly_cdgr »

uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

A great number of people care a great deal about creaking plastic and the other design atrocities you mentioned. Why do you think Apple is one of a handful of the most valuable brands in the world, while Dell laptops gather dust in Staples basements? "Developer experience"? Lol

It's the aesthetically stunted and clueless nerds on HN who don't know the name of their hairstyle and aren't aware of the length or color of their shorts who are the outliers, not you

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#162

Post by bostonsre »

johnklos wrote: post #71
bostonsre wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels a lot more like a dual os system than just running a vm inside of windows. The integration between the two is pretty seamless and powerful. e.g. this is in my wsl .bashrc file, it writes to my windows clipboard by running the powershell.exe windows executeable: function cb () { powershell.exe -command "\$input | set-clipboard" } Mac is unix sure, but they have diverged from the popular main stream linux dist…

I think you have that backwards: it's Linux that has diverged from the Unix way of doing things. All the various gotchas and different ways are Linux-isms. After all, which came first, and which came later, then changed? macOS is more consistent with the BSDs than Linux is with older Linux or one distro is with another.

Ok sure, macOS has stood still and most main stream linux oses diverged from it. I don't think that makes it being unix any more preferable when stated that way.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#163

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

lr wrote: post #112
uniqueuid wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true, but why is the culture and aesthetic of computers inherently trashy? Look at all the fields where superior quality is a completely natural criterion (whether it exists may be another question): Watches, cars, pens, paper notebooks, furniture, fashion, jewellery, architecture, bikes, coffee machines ... What's more - if you look at the visual representations of computers - i.e. marketing material, art, illus…

I think you just answered the question: All of the categories you note have both high-end and, sadly, mostly low-end options. What is surprising is that, in the world of computing, there is very little at the high end (Apple -- from going by this original thread), and almost all of it is at the low end. I guess some company could make an amazing PC that ran Windows, but the, you'd have an amazing piece of hardware th…

I think you also answered your own question.

We buy computers by comparing sets of numbers. Your GHz and Mb are bigger than my GHz and Mb? And the $ are lower?

But luxury items are some times about the feel. And if you have a nice computer running Windows. Well, the primary way in which we interact with the machine is budget so why bother with the rest of it?

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#164

Post by pathartl »

ppetty wrote: post #136

"I strongly dislike MacOS because they force the "apple way" of doing things." What does that mean exactly? I'm genuinely curious about what Apple forces a user to do. I would think cost is a concrete example ... But does Apple restrict you from using some software? or executing some work related function? some other functionality? or is that "Apple way" with regard to Apple's user experiences? I wish there was a "Ve…

Certain things like Gatekeeper are a non-starter for some people. I certainly won't buy a macOS-based machine in the future because of it. Back in November 2020 there was an outage in Apple's cloud that handles Gatekeeper verification. Users were not able to launch any non-Apple-Inc. signed binary for an hour or two. I imagine because OP says they main Linux issues like that are completely unacceptable. Imagine not being able to open Chrome on Windows because Microsoft's servers can't respond to verify the integrity of the binary. Absolutely insane.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#166

Post by sirsinsalot »

tobinfekkes wrote: post #109

I'm shocked the LG Gram doesn't get more attention. It's a dream come true laptop for a non-Apple developer. It took me months to actually find it after needing to replace my Vaio, but going 2 years strong with no issues whatsoever. It has it all. Lightweight, great battery life, big screen, full backlit keyboard, numpad, latest processors, USB-C charging and display, the only PC trackpad that beats the Mac. And with…

I didn't even realise LG did a laptop, it looks like a nice machine tbf

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#167

Post by edmcnulty101 »

Saphyel wrote: post #134

I'm a Dell XPS 13 user here (with Linux) and I'm very happy I actually bought it twice (2014 and 2021). 0 problems, the laptop is always cold, no noise, everything works fine. At work I had several MBP in the meantime. All of them with several problems. Docker extremely slow, Bluetooth not working, ports not working, noise like a nuclear reactor, extremely hot like you can actually make a pizza on top also the OS is…

I had the reverse problem. Had several Dell XPS's both of the 13" and 15" variety. All had issues the made them unusable. Meanwhiles the Mac's I've had have never had a SINGLE issue.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#168

Post by porcc »

ppetty wrote: post #136

"I strongly dislike MacOS because they force the "apple way" of doing things." What does that mean exactly? I'm genuinely curious about what Apple forces a user to do. I would think cost is a concrete example ... But does Apple restrict you from using some software? or executing some work related function? some other functionality? or is that "Apple way" with regard to Apple's user experiences? I wish there was a "Ve…

Macbooks are abysmal for window management, for example. There are some lightweight tools that can manage some placement but they are neutered in one way or another. Deeper integration requires disabling BIOS-related security which I am personally uncomfortable doing, and still doesn't offer full control like you'd get on other Unix systems. Most of the OS is similarly untouchable.

Another example is Safari and its extensions ecosystem: an Apple license is required for publishing and as such even basic tools (stylus etc.) can require the user to purchase with no guarantee of developer support in the medium to long term.

OOTB the biggest example is the Mac-style hotkeys, its a persistent and extremely annoying problem for new Mac users and is, from the outset, unfixable via any sort of configuration, BIOS or not. Concretely: CTRL + T for new tab is now command + T, however switching tabs is still CTRL + Tab (Mac control is more like alt, in this case).

It's an eternal reminder that you are now stuck doing things the Apple way even if it's just relearning all of your hotkeys.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#169

Post by sdflhasjd »

Meh. The small company I work at has seen its fair share of weird macbook failures, I don't think that - among high end machines - they stand much above the crowd.

Funny screens, overheating, broken trackpads, the infamous keyboard.

They are definitely more annoying that you can't swap the disks if they need sending off for repair though.

Re: Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

#170

Post by can16358p »

wly_cdgr wrote: post #161
uniqueuid wrote: post #24

I may be an outlier, but for me, the problem with non-mac machines is that they seem just careless. Steve jobs famously said "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.", and this seems true to me for almost all hardware manufacturers, and to a larger degree still for software. Why does nobody care about creaking plastic? About sticky-feeling texture? About uneven weight distribution? About the sound…

A great number of people care a great deal about creaking plastic and the other design atrocities you mentioned. Why do you think Apple is one of a handful of the most valuable brands in the world, while Dell laptops gather dust in Staples basements? "Developer experience"? Lol It's the aesthetically stunted and clueless nerds on HN who don't know the name of their hairstyle and aren't aware of the length or color of…

Even though I generally agree with your point about the topic, calling people "autistic nerds" isn't cool.
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