Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#381

Post by pinaceae » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:39 PM UTC

Not so long ago the best upgrade to your WinPC was to put an SSD in it. Huge difference.

Win8 killed momentum, stagnation ensued.

But, then GPU kicked it up a notch. The new 1080 is insane, but in itself that is not that cool.

The new killer upgrade is the display. After a whole decade of nothing suddenly there was a huge bump.

I just upgraded to an Ultra-Widescreen Acer Predator. Mind. Blown. Combine it with a 1080 (or the new 1080Ti) and your PC makes a whole generational leap forward.

And right at this moment in time, Apple stops making display and chooses shitty LG as the maker of choice.

Yes, Apple is losing the desktop, 100%.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#382

Post by brockvond » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:42 PM UTC

I moved to Windows the second I saw the Linux Subsys... for 3K i built a sick machine, water cooled, expandable to 128 GB of RAM, can add 2 more GPUs if I want and I rock a dual m.2 for the OS... NOTHING apple makes can touch it... and the Trash Can macPro is... laughable now. I still rock an iPhone and the Itunes music match service tho... but Dropbox replaced icloud drive a long time ago. I still like my macbook but that's just because of battery life nowadays.... and I can push a desktop to AppleTV... but that's not for work lol.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#383

Post by coldtea » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:42 PM UTC

joombaga wrote: post #200

michaelmrose wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the mac allowed the "store" to have more than one source, allowed usage via cli and gui and didn't require a 30% cut most of your software would probably come from the store and it would be a good thing.

They'd have to remove the account requirement too. Just `appstore install foo`.

Maybe the could just offer a way to download the apps via the internet, and then open some kind of image container and move a file to the Applications folder.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#384

Post by sinatra » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:42 PM UTC

jrnichols wrote: post #273

bradgessler wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too have become annoyed recently at really basic stuff not working in macOS, like I can't drag and drop a picture out of Photos app into Pixelmator to edit. In fact, dragging and dropping a picture out of Photos into any application is completely broken and doesn't work. Its as-if the Apple QA team no longer tests to make sure their applications play nice with each other in a way that has been fundamental to deskto…

Is dragging a photo to the Desktop and then into the app really a huge deal? Just curious, because that works fine for me.

And then deleting or moving the photo from the desktop afterwards. So, three steps as opposed to one. For a feature (drag n drop) that's all about convenience.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#385

Post by brockvond » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:43 PM UTC

heisenbit wrote: post #154

camdenlock wrote: post #24

This seems more like an opportunistic attention grab than a legitimate analysis. Has it really become this fashionable to loudly declare one's intention to jump from the Apple ship? Boring.

Indeed. Other headlines from him are: - Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up - I got a Google Home and finally understand the future of computing - Apple just told the world it has no idea who the Mac is for - The reason I keep going back to Apple might surprise you - Google's software is putting Apple to shame - Google buying Twitter would be the best result for everyone - iOS 10: the beginning of the end…

wow, I lol'd... good investigating lol

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#386

Post by domenukk » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:46 PM UTC

felipelemos wrote: post #318

RileyKyeden wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Same for memory compression (which only exists on the Mac IIRC) and continuity (which would be useful even if it only worked from Mac to Mac). Windows 10 has memory compression.

And Linux too since Dec 2012.

And of course, Android (Cyanogenmod had it in 2010 or so)

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#387

Post by nikdaheratik » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:46 PM UTC

marricks wrote: post #179

owenwil wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So, like creating a full blown new programming language (Swift)? Byproduct of Apple's work on mobile. > Or a full new filesystem (AFS)? Byproduct of Apple's work on mobile. > Siri on the desktop? Byproduct of mobile again! (By the way, ask Siri on Mac to set an alarm or interact with homekit!) But, I take your point. I tried to mostly detail Apple's lack of attention for developers, but perhaps missed the emphasis o…

I think a pretty good summary is about 3 years ago Microsoft realized it had a couple of failed stratagies. 1) Catering to casual. Xbox one launch is probably the best example. They wanted to become the home media center so the entire launch and discussion was centered around sports streaming and social media. + Kinect. 2) Desperately trying to get a foothold in mobile. I think they realized people weren't going for…

If you'll look even further back in the Mac OS history, you'll see that they didn't really care about developers back then. Their entire focus was media and publishing with education on the side. I think it hurt them in the long run as they've always lagged behind with software and gaming and they only managed to make some headway in the PC market when they devoted resources towards making life easier for developers.

I've always liked Mac OS better than Windows and even though Windows 10 is finally a usable system for development, I still don't trust Microsoft. I've been burned too many times with a promising system that then gets hobbled by ORMs adding their own Adware and other BS, by Microsoft caving into the bean counters and hobbling their systems in order to fight Chinese piracy, and by some C-suite managers bright idea that they should to waste resources on some "Synergy" play instead of just making the OS, and other products, better.

At the core, you still have an ecosystem where the people making the computers can't make enough money on their own because Microsoft and the chip makers are squeezing them. Which makes for a sorry experience in the long run, even if Apple has its own problems.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#388

Post by coldtea » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:47 PM UTC

anexprogrammer wrote: post #309

coldtea wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm a professional developer, I don't want a new toy language. First, there's nothing "toy: about Swift. It's a full featured language on par with Rust, Go, etc. Second, whether some random web dev or embedded C dev or Java dev wants Swift or not is irrelevant to its intended audience and utility. It's not for "professional developers" in general, it's for Mac/iOS application developers, and thus, for Mac/iOS users…

> So? Millions of users do want it, judging from the huge popularity of Dropbox Yet just about everyone uses local FS with cloud for backup or sharing of a small subset. Giving us an odd cloud first strategy seems more suited for a phone or severely storage constrained devices. > Again, irrelevant. Lots of Mac users, and tons of pundits HAVE asked for a "new proprietary filesystem" to replace HFS+ Seem to remember th…

>Giving us an odd cloud first strategy seems more suited for a phone or severely storage constrained devices.

What "odd cloud first strategy"? Cloud is just ANOTHER option, not a "first" or privileged one. To the point that Apple also includes a whole new local filesystem (in beta) with Sierra.

>Seem to remember that most of that conversation was of ZFS. They even got a long way into the ZFS port before abandoning.

Oracle bought Sun and poisoned the area with patents and threats.

>It's funny, if Apple had not significantly reduced the Wh of MBP batteries in the latest generation we could easily have had both.

No, we really couldn't. At best we'd have a 10% or so larger battery space. The impact of RAM (there whether you use 32GB or fewer for a task or not) is much larger.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#389

Post by mightybyte » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:47 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #205

mightybyte wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I categorically refuse to pay more money to buy something to add on to an already overpriced laptop that sticks out from my computer's form factor and that should be built in. Fortunately for me I got a new laptop not long before this new abomination came out. If Apple doesn't correct this gigantic mistake, the next time I get a new laptop it won't be made by Apple.

Man you would absolutely hate to work any job that requires a serial connection then. Because let me tell you about the serial-to-USB adapters I've used... I wish I had the luxury of saying that I categorically refuse to pay more for something that sticks out of my computer that I think should be built in.

The operative clause there is "should be built in". And of course I can say "should be" because it has been for years now. Literally just yesterday magsafe saved my computer from being thrown off the desk. The regressions in overall user experience with this latest MBP mean that I'm no longer willing to pay Apple the premium that I've been paying them.

Re: Why I left Mac for Windows: Apple has given up

#390

Post by comex » Sun, Mar 05, 2017, 10:48 PM UTC

ynniv wrote: post #186

coldtea wrote: post #3

> But recently, I realized I’d gotten tired of Apple’s attitude toward the desktop. The progress in macOS land has basically been dead since Yosemite, two years ago, and Apple’s updates to the platform have been incredibly small. So, like creating a full blown new programming language (Swift)? Or a full new filesystem (AFS)? Integration of Cloud storage directly to the desktop? Siri on the desktop? Saving RAM through…

I'm a professional developer, I don't want a new toy language. I'm buying a powerful laptop, I don't want cloud storage. I want the possibility to dual boot or share drives with other operating systems, I don't need a new proprietary filesystem. I don't want compressed memory, I want 32GB of RAM. And while I'm at it, I want a laptop with a real keyboard, not keys that have so little travel they feel like a touchscree…

> I want the possibility to dual boot or share drives with other operating systems, I don't need a new proprietary filesystem.

Then you're in luck. APFS isn't proprietary, as Apple's website claims that "Apple plans to document and publish the APFS volume format specification when Apple File System is released for macOS in 2017." So there will be nothing preventing drivers from being written for other operating systems, though of course it will require someone to actually do the work. In return you get a FS that improves on HFS+ in reliability, performance, and features (volumes). If there is enough interest I imagine it might even compete with btrfs for use as a root volume for Linux installations… though there probably won't be.

You may criticize Apple for not open sourcing their implementation of APFS, though I'm holding out hope they will do so eventually. An open source implementation would definitely be useful as a starting point for drivers for other operating systems, but to be fair, it would still require someone to spend the time to port it. Apple's HFS+ driver is open source as part of xnu, but Linux hfsplus doesn't support journaling which was added in 2002. That's not Apple's fault.