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Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#111

Post by bdcravens »

zumu wrote: post #66
eknkc wrote: post #36

What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care…

What MacOS software do you miss? I use MacOS, Linux and Windows daily (less often Windows these days). The only feature I really miss on other OS's is spotlight, though I can kind of replace it with rofi in Linux world. Also, in my experience the ecosystem of Linux and Windows software is much larger than that of MacOS. Not to mention Mac software is sold at a premium (even things as simple as tab switching or note t…

Everyone is different, bug biggest thing I missed was Transmit, as I do a lot with s3. Most of the Linux options seemed lacking in various ways, so I found myself using command line more, which gets the geek in me going, but wasn't as efficient.

I also use Git Tower. Again, command line is of course an option, but I'm more efficient with a UI. Git Kraken isn't bad, but I ran into some weird permissions issues the last time I used it, so I ended up relying on VS Code's git client more.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#114

Post by fusiongyro »

mmanulis wrote: post #75
reacharavindh wrote: post #9

I have a Dell XPS 13 as my personal machine. It runs Linux. Everything works. But, I still find myself using my MacBook Pro (provided by work) for almost everything even at home. Two things that keep me in the Mac land. 1. Retina Display and the 16:10 aspect ratio. 2. Smooth, and usable touchpad. XPS13's display is too rectangle and I'm not watching movies in it. It feels too cramped for looking at code. GNOME out of…

For touchpad, replace Synaptics with libinput and it just works (tm), including palm rejection.

This was my experience as well, on the Precision 5520.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#115

Post by geerlingguy »

curioussavage wrote: post #87
reacharavindh wrote: post #9

I have a Dell XPS 13 as my personal machine. It runs Linux. Everything works. But, I still find myself using my MacBook Pro (provided by work) for almost everything even at home. Two things that keep me in the Mac land. 1. Retina Display and the 16:10 aspect ratio. 2. Smooth, and usable touchpad. XPS13's display is too rectangle and I'm not watching movies in it. It feels too cramped for looking at code. GNOME out of…

I’m not picky about the screen, but I am super picky about trackpads from using macs. My dell chrombook feels every bit as good as the Mac. Fortunately for me the Gallium os distro for Chromebooks reuses the chrome os touchpad driver. I dell Precision model at work and that touch pad sucks!

I'm amazed nobody else has matched Apple's glass touch input devices. Luckily the external Magic Trackpad works pretty well with the XPS 13.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#116

Post by untog »

eknkc wrote: post #36

What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care…

For me, most of the software I use is webapps these days (or natively wrapped webapps like VS Code), so the base OS doesn't make a big difference to me. The one exception is requiring a Unix-style terminal, which Windows (mostly) does these days.

That said, I have to work on iOS every now and then, and Apple's tight grip on that toolchain means I'm stuck with a Mac no matter what. If not I'd seriously be considering a laptop like this Dell or a Surface Book next.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#117

Post by abrowne »

morley wrote: post #86
eknkc wrote: post #36

What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care…

I'm surprised no one has mentioned keyboard portability. I find it incredibly hard to switch from ctrl on Windows to cmd on Mac. In college I had to switch frequently between Windows and Mac, and it was a nightmare. Since then, I've committed to only use MacOS on a Macbook and Windows on a real keyboard. That seems to preserve my muscle memory the best. But things can be rough when I use a Windows laptop or a standal…

I am the same, but with the Mac command layout burned into my brain (and thumbs). My solution when I switched to Linux from Mac is to make the control key the one next to the space bar, like command is. Luckily it's super easy to swap control and super or alt (depending on Mac or PC layout) using xkbd on Linux. In MATE and KDE it's in the keyboard settings; in GNOME it's in Tweaks (with Xfce you need to use a config file somehow). I think you can do the same on Windows with autohotkey but I haven't tried.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#118

Post by goatherders »

krn wrote: post #71
goatherders wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rather than say something snarky I would be interested to know what makes you say it is consumer-grade and should not be relied on for serious work. I use mine to run multiple businesses and my bank account suggests I do serious work.

"Security & Durability Unlike its consumer counterpart, XPS, the Precision 5530 passed 14 tests for for MIL-SPEC durability, the standards that the U.S. Military equipment must pass for ruggedness. That means it can be operated in extremely hot and cold environments (as low as minus 20.2 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 140 degrees), survive the shocks of drops and gusts of dusts, among other things."

So it's not approved for military use? Ok, point given.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#119

Post by nkrisc »

jordache wrote: post #107
reacharavindh wrote: post #9

I have a Dell XPS 13 as my personal machine. It runs Linux. Everything works. But, I still find myself using my MacBook Pro (provided by work) for almost everything even at home. Two things that keep me in the Mac land. 1. Retina Display and the 16:10 aspect ratio. 2. Smooth, and usable touchpad. XPS13's display is too rectangle and I'm not watching movies in it. It feels too cramped for looking at code. GNOME out of…

How hard is it for device makers to prefect the touchpad? It should be a no brainer like mouse devices by now huh?

Someone has. It's in MacBooks.

Re: Dell XPS 13 Review from a lifelong Mac user

#120

Post by Tijdreiziger »

zumu wrote: post #66
eknkc wrote: post #36

What I'm mostly curious about these posts is, how the heck do you guys switch operating systems that easily? I guess it would work if you are already using Linux or Windows on a Mac hardware but that's gotta be rare. I mean, hardware is nothing compared to the OS.. I can switch to any other Mac and it would take me a couple hours to be comfortable. That would be it. If I'm switching to a Dell XPS, I don't really care…

What MacOS software do you miss? I use MacOS, Linux and Windows daily (less often Windows these days). The only feature I really miss on other OS's is spotlight, though I can kind of replace it with rofi in Linux world. Also, in my experience the ecosystem of Linux and Windows software is much larger than that of MacOS. Not to mention Mac software is sold at a premium (even things as simple as tab switching or note t…

Check out Wox for a Spotlight replacement on Windows: https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox
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