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“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

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Re: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

#13

Post by speedgoose »

throwaway4good wrote: post #2

So what has changed? You can buy a Mac today even if you are working at Microsoft.

I had an iMac G4 in 2004 and I have a MacBook pro M1 in 2021. I used only PCs running Ubuntu, ArchLinux, and Windows between. When I got the M1, it felt like home. Not much did change over 17 years.

If you think about windows only, between windows XP and a recent windows 10, it's very different and much better. It's possible to use the computer while an application is using all available resources now. You also have descent composting with GPU accelerated 3D effects and good windows management. Good touch screen support too. Also much better security, and a great Linux integration with WSL.

I actually prefer a lot of things in Windows than Mac today. I think Mac OS is a bit behind windows on some features I use, like touchscreen support or the Linux integration. But the good hardware makes it worth it since the M1.

Re: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

#14

Post by exegete »

throwaway4good wrote: post #2

So what has changed? You can buy a Mac today even if you are working at Microsoft.

The author of the email probably technically “could” buy a Mac but why would he do that? The negative press would have been detrimental to Microsoft. The same is true today. Imagine the headlines that would get re-tweeted - “Microsoft head of platforms uses a Mac at home”

Re: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

#15

Post by wink »

throwaway4good wrote: post #2

So what has changed? You can buy a Mac today even if you are working at Microsoft.

There's a difference between "people at Microsoft Research giving a public presentation on a mac" and "one of the top 10 people at Microsoft runs around with a mac".

But yes, it is a bit of a different time as well, but I think Allchin the person is a pretty important part of the statement.

Re: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

#18

Post by dsego »

bellyfullofbac wrote: post #12

I've read enough of buggy behaviors on MacOS that I'm not sure I'd buy a Mac today. Wasn't their new filesystem a giant mess? Even the shiny new M1 had SSD wear problems in the beginning, hmm, great QA, guys!

4096 files is the limit when reading from SD cards on a Mac (not windows).

https://youtu.be/0bqOB_XGBVE

Re: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft” (2004)

#19

Post by Slippery_John »

bellyfullofbac wrote: post #12

I've read enough of buggy behaviors on MacOS that I'm not sure I'd buy a Mac today. Wasn't their new filesystem a giant mess? Even the shiny new M1 had SSD wear problems in the beginning, hmm, great QA, guys!

A recent Windows update caused frequent BSODs with a fun variety of error codes. This would happen fast enough that I couldn't even roll back the update. So I had to wipe my hard drive and re-install the entire OS from a flash drive. I've never had a macOS update cause such a catastrophic failure.
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