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Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

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Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#581

Post by aloer »

blunte wrote: post #567

Preview is one of the most underrated pieces of software in the world today. I make the assumption that Quicklook uses Preview (because surely it must). Being able to hit spacebar on just about any kind of selected document/image type file and see a near instant look, multiple pages and all, is so important. Once you don't have that (move to the Windows world), you realize how much you miss it. And you can, with a sm…

Quicklook is such an amazing feature and it seems so basic that I just don’t get why windows hasn’t added anything like that. Are there patents on this?

Just an example that I have about every day: before sharing a file via file select/open dialog I can double check if it’s the correct one.

I can only speculate that quicklook prevents a substantial amount of accidental information leak across the entire world :)

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#582

Post by city41 »

evacchi wrote: post #503

I have used a Thinkpad T470s for 3 years at my current employer with Fedora and it worked quite well (including standby, multi-monitor support etc). However, I have just switched to a Mac, and I can only say I've been missing it. The consistency of the key combination, the polish of the desktop applications. It's little things but they do add up. When I first switched to the Linux machine, I first noticed every singl…

I've had the opposite experience. I used to be a huge Apple fan, and all hardware I owned was Apple. I have since completely moved away from them due to how buggy everything is now. I use Ubuntu MATE on a Thinkpad and it works beautifully. I honestly have zero issues with it and absolutely love it. I've been using MATE for about 3 years now.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#583

Post by moistbar »

minimaul wrote: post #368

From someone who tends to try this switch about once a year (because the lack of TLC the Mac was getting in the last 5 or so years was getting very very worrying - M1 feels like Apple actually care about the Mac again), I agree with a lot of these pain points. My biggest personal issues end up being (and these are super subjective!): - Preview on macOS is great and no other OS has anything remotely equivalent. First…

Regarding Preview, Gnome has an app called sushi that acts similarly, though in a read-only way. I don't usually use it much, but it seems to work on most videos and photos I've thrown at it.

As far as phone integration, KDEConnect is quite good, though it only works if the devices are in the same network.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#584

Post by cycomanic »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #366
rjzzleep wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for bashing Desktop Linux but this statement is just ridiculous. Searching for exactly that search term gives me the following result: >Best Linux Laptops > > Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (8th Generation) Last year, >Lenovo shocked the Linux community by announcing Linux >laptops. ... > Tuxedo Pulse 14 Gen 1. ... > System76 Serval WS. ... > Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition 2020. ... > Purism Librem 14. ... > System…

Yep, from a third party site. Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s not true. I don’t have to double check Apple machines. And anything with a Windows sticker works with Windows. Some Linux distro should explicitly support some line of laptops. Literally “buy these models because we will 100% support them”.

Actually the previous poster talked about sites for laptops supporting hackintoshes. I'd be very surprised if you find that information on any "official" website.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#585

Post by cycomanic »

hurril wrote: post #358
rjzzleep wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for bashing Desktop Linux but this statement is just ridiculous. Searching for exactly that search term gives me the following result: >Best Linux Laptops > > Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (8th Generation) Last year, >Lenovo shocked the Linux community by announcing Linux >laptops. ... > Tuxedo Pulse 14 Gen 1. ... > System76 Serval WS. ... > Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition 2020. ... > Purism Librem 14. ... > System…

Are they supported, though? That was the question. Downvote me all you want, put words in my mouth if that is what you need to do, etc. A. But are they supported and is that a meaningful question? B. I am not bashing anything Linux because I don't hate it in the slightest. C. Did you read the parent I responded to? That comment makes two claims and tries to establish an analogous relation and that does not work the w…

Several of the laptops mentioned are vendors who sell them officially with Linux support (system 76, dell developer edition, purism...) , so you either didn't bother or trying to create a false narrative

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#586

Post by rufus_foreman »

evacchi wrote: post #503

I have used a Thinkpad T470s for 3 years at my current employer with Fedora and it worked quite well (including standby, multi-monitor support etc). However, I have just switched to a Mac, and I can only say I've been missing it. The consistency of the key combination, the polish of the desktop applications. It's little things but they do add up. When I first switched to the Linux machine, I first noticed every singl…

>> if you pick a Mac you often care about the aesthetics of the chassis and display

I added a partition to one of my MacBooks and installed Linux on it, best of both worlds. It was surprisingly easy.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#587

Post by 12ian34 »

_9rq6 wrote: post #383
jek0 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a mac I can't live without "Magnet" [1]. It lets you do organize your windows in half/thirds of screens with simple keystrokes. That should be part of the OS. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12

I used Magnet extensively when I used a mac. There is no linux equivalent.

have you tried i3 [1]?

[1]: https://i3wm.org/

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#588

Post by mromanuk »

usaphp wrote: post #575
blunte wrote: post #567

Preview is one of the most underrated pieces of software in the world today. I make the assumption that Quicklook uses Preview (because surely it must). Being able to hit spacebar on just about any kind of selected document/image type file and see a near instant look, multiple pages and all, is so important. Once you don't have that (move to the Windows world), you realize how much you miss it. And you can, with a sm…

> What is the f*cking point of cmd-tabbing to an application if you don't make its window visible!? What if you have multiple windows of the same application, and you minimize one of them, then auto opening of that window everytime you switch back to the app will be super annoying.

And if you want to open the minimized or hidden window, after cmd-tab, do a option-cmd-tab and finally release cmd-tab. The window will get focus

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#589

Post by lhl »

To preface, I think all of the author's complaints are pretty valid. I spent 15 years primarily on Mac laptops/desktops and finally switched in 2015 after a few years of being less and less happy with the direction both the hardware and OS was taking, and it was definitely a rough transition even having years and years of UNIX/LINUX experience and using "perfectly" compatible hardware (I started with a Thinkpad X250 and started with an Ubuntu default DE before ditching it pretty quickly for a custom Arch/Openbox setup that I've been yak-shaving since). There are still quirks (sleep/suspend, bluetooth, multi-display, DPI and color adjustment) that make it far less dependable than using a Mac, but on the flip side, I feel like I've had much superior (if more complex) customizability, and in general, less unsolvable/nasty surprises when upgrading. I still have some Mac testing machines and it seems like MacOS has continued to get buggier and less power-user friendly with every update.

Also, for my needs, luckily I was a lot less dependent on PIM features, and much more so for dev tools, so it was a better fit for my needs overall. WINE (and virtualization) has been a huge thing for bridging some of the missing pieces as well.

While the edges have been rougher, one other big advantage for me has been the much wider hardware selection - over the past few years I've switched from Thinkpads, to Chromebooks, to gaming laptops w/ beefy CUDA support, and now to a 8C16T Mobile Ryzen laptop with 64GB of RAM w/ 12h+ battery life that's almost as fast as my desktop workstation.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#590

Post by joana035 »

pjmlp wrote: post #576
joana035 wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish you can give another try, much has changed since then. For me Debian Testing with Gnome is being a very nice experience (enjoyable ride).

Again don't assume you know anything about me, I have enough Linux appliances and the office has enough distributions to try out.

I'm not assuming, and that is ok.

Try to not see everything as an attack against your identity, detach yourself from it and don't take yourself too seriously. Been there, done that.

Now I have a way more pleasant life experience and people takes me seriously without having me needing to assert who I am. Life is lighter now and I have more friends, people few more comfortable around me.

I'm giving this feedback because I think it will make your life better too.

Was nice to chat with you, now I'll go out for a bike ride while I still a bit of sun over here.

Happy Easter!

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