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Switching from macOS: The Basics

blog.elementary.io

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Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#161

Post by Mayzie »

matthewking wrote: post #50
pmlnr wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Take Mac away and high quality desktop apps will go away. Well... no. Ubuntu, Gnome, KDE, XFCE; they are all high quality desktops. Don't mix the desktop with the applications you're running on it. > We'll have to endure multi-platform Electron stuff. Now that is indeed a real issue, and yes, ugh. Edit: I've misread the original, sorry, so adding a few things: if you're using the default apps or the ones built for…

I think his point was that the Apple/Mac ethos foster high quality design and attention to detail, which is applied when developers build apps for the Mac.

To be fair, so does elementaryOS. They really try to encourage developers to adopt their HIG.[1]

So much so that most developers using or targeting elementaryOS integrate their design really well.[2] For those that don't but still use GTK3, they also integrate quite well out of the box.

[1] - https://elementary.io/docs/human-interface-guidelines

[2] - https://quassy.github.io/elementary-apps/apps/

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#162

Post by throwsincenotpc »

They need to watch out because apparently the Gnome foundation wants to ditch Vala for Rust to cut cost and "attract more developers" :

https://siliconislandblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/thoughts-...

> and support a preferred programming language (Vala)

https://launchpad.net/elementary

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#163

Post by jjuel »

haffla wrote: post #124

I find Apricity OS (Arch Linux) much better suited for developers. In fact at work I switched from Ubuntu to Apricity. Through yaourt (paceman frontend) and AUR (Arch User Repository) it's a breeze to install the latest versions of literally everything you need be it Docker, Java or IntelliJ. I think it's comparable with brew. Plus Apricity looks so much better than Elementary in my opinion and almost manages to give…

Oh Apricity looks really nice. Might have to check that one out. Love Arch way more than Deb based distros.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#164

Post by wingless »

matzipan wrote: post #90
FrankBlack wrote: post #47

Perhaps I am just dense, but the article references, specifically, the "Pro" market. For most pros that I know (and I am among them), our OS choice is often based on our tools, not the other way around. If I need Photoshop, Lightroom, Logic Pro, Visual Studio, etc., switching will be quite a chore. For the average user, this is probably a much more appealing argument.

Unfortunately, Linux lacks in the creative market. There's no way this can change soon without support from big players, like, for example, Adobe.

From what I've seen it's been getting much better. Linux has very powerful tools for media creation/editing now: Blender, Krita, Darktable, Natron are some quality apps that I'm aware of.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#165

Post by fizzbatter »

Void_ wrote: post #39

I'm really hoping this is just a phase. Hoping that Apple will reduce prices of new laptops and we'll be back to normal. Right now everybody is using Macs. Walk into the Bay Area coffee shop, you see Macs everywhere. I love that. I build desktop software for Macs (focuslist.co). My apps are prettier than any others. They are easier and faster to use. This is the reason why people pay me $5 while they can get the job…

I mean, sure - the design is pretty, but OSX has been terrible for me quality wise. I know what you mean about pretty, but currently i'm feeling like i need to pick between pretty (OSX) and stable (Linux).

Worse yet, is if i pick a stable variety of Linux, it's likely to not be pretty. The pretty Linux OSs (in my experience) tend to be at least as unstable as OSX. Ugh.

(Note: I upgraded to Sierra, crash or have weird crap happen ~4times a week)

edit: Why the downvote? Note that i explicitly stated this was my experience. Furthermore, i had the same experience when my Macbook Pro Retina was new, and came with OSX Mavericks. Both Mavericks and Sierra have gave me the impression that Apple releases unstable OSs for major versions, and need time to make it stable again.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#166

Post by fizzbatter »

Void_ wrote: post #39

I'm really hoping this is just a phase. Hoping that Apple will reduce prices of new laptops and we'll be back to normal. Right now everybody is using Macs. Walk into the Bay Area coffee shop, you see Macs everywhere. I love that. I build desktop software for Macs (focuslist.co). My apps are prettier than any others. They are easier and faster to use. This is the reason why people pay me $5 while they can get the job…

Sidenote, that is indeed a pretty app! If i was sure i was staying on OSX (probably migrating to Linux), i'd purchase this! Shame i never found it sooner. I use a combination of Todoist and a Pomodoro timer on my phone.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#167

Post by fizzbatter »

FrankBlack wrote: post #47

Perhaps I am just dense, but the article references, specifically, the "Pro" market. For most pros that I know (and I am among them), our OS choice is often based on our tools, not the other way around. If I need Photoshop, Lightroom, Logic Pro, Visual Studio, etc., switching will be quite a chore. For the average user, this is probably a much more appealing argument.

One nice thing though is that the "Pro" market for developers is mainly centered around Unix, not OSX. Sure, some devs might like OSX specific tools like a GUI for Git or some such.. but at its heart, most tools are Unix oriented, with plenty of crossover between OSX and Linux.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#168

Post by hood_syntax »

etatoby wrote: post #116
matthewking wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Along with seemingly everyone else, I had a quick look at my options to migrate away from Apple over the last few days. First thing I looked for was a decent mail app, was immediately put off the whole idea, exactly as you describe.

I recently switched to Mint Cinnamon and I'm completely satisfied. There is not one thing I miss from Mac OS X and many where GNU/Linux is much better. As for mail, Thunderbird is not so bad.

Mint is much more polished than Elementary, I've never had a problem in my (limited) experience with it.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#169

Post by pjmlp »

goombastic wrote: post #20
anondon wrote: post #12

The software is there, but what about the hardware to go with it? The only laptops comparable to Macbook Pro hardware quality and battery life are the Dell XPS series and the Thinkpad X1. I feel there is a serious shortage of good laptops with linux pre-installed that the non-technical user can pickup and start using.

The other problem is that laptops are being built like mobile phones, with everything soldered to the board and the whole thing either sealed shut or taped down. Upgradeable & portable laptops just dont seem to exist at the price points they used to.

I think this is not going to change, basically the industry is going back to the whole package concept that was common when the PC took off.

Think about Atari, Acorn, Amiga and such. While there were a few Pro like models, the majority of the home users were using the full packaged ones, with connection ports for external extensions.

Apple was the last one with this mindset, and thanks to their survival and success, that is the trend the industry is now returning to.

Specially given that computers have reached a plateau for 90% of the users out there.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#170

Post by brockvond »

fizzbatter wrote: post #157
INTPenis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I had known that trick. I payed some money for it, which isn't unusual since I often donate money to open source or activism. But this time I regret every cent. Coming from Mac OS, or even Fedora, Elementary seems unpolished and unstable.

I really wish someone would start a paid OS based on Linux and OSS tools. I'd happily pay $100/y (year being, new versions/etc) for a stable and awesome UI/UX. As it is, my Macbook Pro Retina has been crashing a lot and doing weird things frequently since i upgraded to Sierra. Between that and the latest Macbook Pro notebooks, i just don't like Apple anymore. I'm pretty set on buying a highend laptop _(similar build…

Check out Linux Mint... Cinnamon version... it's a pretty happy middle ground between windows and osx.
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