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Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

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Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#21

Post by badloginagain »

kemiller2002 wrote: post #9

I'd be curious to see the real numbers: Again, Microsoft refuses to provide numbers but vaguely claims “our trade-in program for MacBooks was our best ever.” If you go from 5 trade ins to 7, you can site your best year ever. It doesn't mean you've made a dent. I can see that people are disappointed in the new MacBook, but there are very few I know that would just say "screw it, I'm switching platforms." Admittedly, m…

True, but seeing that trend upwards allows Microsoft to put more dollars towards developing Surface.

I don't know if Microsoft has reached parity with Apple with professional development machines, but it does look like they've set themselves up to be a contender for next generations.

With increased internal funding, they may actually achieve that goal.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#22

Post by jetti »

lmm wrote: post #10
jetti wrote: post #3

I just can't get behind either the Surface or Macbook Pro. I had a Macbook that my wife has taken over and I'm currently rockin' an Asus ultrabook that has a 15" screen. I love the bigger screens and 13" is just way to small for me. For the price of a Surface Book I could get a Dell/HP/Lenovo with a 15" screen, 32GB of memory and a large SSD.

13.5" is great for portability - my surface book is small enough to slip into a satchel in a way that a larger laptop wouldn't, and light enough to do that with. Before I got it I used to have two laptops (an 11" ultrabook for travel and an 18" gaming laptop), but the surface book replaces both - powerful enough to game on but small enough to transport. I used to be a big fan of the big screens, but you adjust quickl…

I have a close to 4 hour train commute per day and I just bring my 15" laptop on the train with me. I have a laptop section in my backpack so carrying it isn't an issue. Being on the train is typically the only time I bring my laptop out of the house as it is a long ride to work on side projects. If I had to do more travel, especially on a plane, then I could definitely see how a 13.5" screen would be worth it.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#23

Post by vidarh »

jetti wrote: post #3

I just can't get behind either the Surface or Macbook Pro. I had a Macbook that my wife has taken over and I'm currently rockin' an Asus ultrabook that has a 15" screen. I love the bigger screens and 13" is just way to small for me. For the price of a Surface Book I could get a Dell/HP/Lenovo with a 15" screen, 32GB of memory and a large SSD.

15" is way too small for me. Basically it boils down to differences in usage patterns.

For my part I have a 17" laptop that is almost exclusively for home office use, a 11" chromebook for meetings or light work away from home, and an 8" tablet for entertainment and the odd emergency ssh session (I can fix servers over ssh from my phone too, but it's not exactly a fun experience).

The way I see it, there's no single form-factor that'll keep me happy, so I'd rather go for multiple.

I don't think people will ever agree on a single screen size or what other specs actually matters (e.g. I do have an SSD in my laptop, but quickly realises it doesn't really matter what type of storage I have, because I boot, I start Chrome and a bunch of terminals + ssh sessions, and then I rarely touch disk again; meanwhile other people load and store massive files regularly)

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#25

Post by econnors »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #12
kemiller2002 wrote: post #9

I'd be curious to see the real numbers: Again, Microsoft refuses to provide numbers but vaguely claims “our trade-in program for MacBooks was our best ever.” If you go from 5 trade ins to 7, you can site your best year ever. It doesn't mean you've made a dent. I can see that people are disappointed in the new MacBook, but there are very few I know that would just say "screw it, I'm switching platforms." Admittedly, m…

It's definitely reminiscent of Apple's marketing language, calling everything the best ever. Which isn't technically wrong, but still.

I always chuckle at "Our most advanced iPhone ever."

One would certainly hope so!

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#26

Post by mi100hael »

artursapek wrote: post #16

I believe it. I just abandoned Apple after years of loyalty. I looked hard at Surfaces and after considering them for a while I decided they weren't ready to be my main dev machine, so I went with a Thinkpad. But Microsoft is doing great stuff with its hardware lately.

Same, I bailed for a Dell Precision this year, though I'm running Fedora, not Windows. Apple has steadily lost direction over the past 5 or so years and it shows. There's no way I'd buy a new laptop with nothing but USB-C, a headphone jack, and a million dongles.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#28

Post by II2II »

FlyingSnake wrote: post #15

These PR pieces are getting funnier each day. Do people really want to switch from a rock-solid, sandboxed Unix to an inferior OS like Windows? Did people already forget the crazy days of regedit, zero app sandboxing, inconsistent installers, anti-viruses etc? I wish more people jumped ship to Linux instead of the Apple/Windows duopoly, but if wishes were horses...

Windows of today is not the Windows of 10 years ago, and the Apple of today is not the Apple of 10 years ago.

Windows has improved considerably over the past decade, while Apple has shifted away from the professional market. It is realistic to believe that at least some people would switch platforms.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#29

Post by mi100hael »

vidarh wrote: post #23
jetti wrote: post #3

I just can't get behind either the Surface or Macbook Pro. I had a Macbook that my wife has taken over and I'm currently rockin' an Asus ultrabook that has a 15" screen. I love the bigger screens and 13" is just way to small for me. For the price of a Surface Book I could get a Dell/HP/Lenovo with a 15" screen, 32GB of memory and a large SSD.

15" is way too small for me. Basically it boils down to differences in usage patterns. For my part I have a 17" laptop that is almost exclusively for home office use, a 11" chromebook for meetings or light work away from home, and an 8" tablet for entertainment and the odd emergency ssh session (I can fix servers over ssh from my phone too, but it's not exactly a fun experience). The way I see it, there's no single f…

> For my part I have a 17" laptop that is almost exclusively for home office use, a 11" chromebook for meetings or light work away from home, and an 8" tablet for entertainment and the odd emergency ssh session (I can fix servers over ssh from my phone too, but it's not exactly a fun experience).

15" is perfect for all-around use. Plug in an external monitor or two and you won't notice the difference between 17", and it's still plenty portable in any bag that holds more than a tablet.

Re: Microsoft: more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before

#30

Post by jetti »

ghaff wrote: post #7
jetti wrote: post #3

I just can't get behind either the Surface or Macbook Pro. I had a Macbook that my wife has taken over and I'm currently rockin' an Asus ultrabook that has a 15" screen. I love the bigger screens and 13" is just way to small for me. For the price of a Surface Book I could get a Dell/HP/Lenovo with a 15" screen, 32GB of memory and a large SSD.

It's a function of how you use your computer. I travel a lot and find 13" is a pretty good compromise between portability and usability. No way would I travel with a 15". I do sometimes just go with a small Asus Flip Chromebook but with the knowledge that I can't use it for everything.

I think it also depends on how you travel. I have a 4 hour commute each day but it is on the train. I'm lucky enough to be at the first stop each way so I typically get a seat and the train is typically empty enough so I get a seat to myself. Because of that I'm able to plop my 15" laptop on my and go to town. When I fly it is more of an issue because of the limited space, so I definitely understand why a 13" becomes a better option.
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