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Switching from macOS: The Basics

blog.elementary.io

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Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#91

Post by brentm »

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…

Total phase. The "only Mac update for the next 3 years" meme is just fanning the drama flames. Once you back out of HN into the real world the vast majority of people aren't going to hop into a laptop using Linux. Maybe some will go back to Windows but I think Apple's brand is strong enough that majority would feel dirty buying a Dell, etc. It's akin to someone who usually buys clothes at high end boutiques opting to switch to Walmart because they don't like this season's line. You also need to consider how long the current crop of Mac books last. If you maxed one out over the last 3 years it's hard to even defend the need for a new one.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#92

Post by kabdib »

pqdbr wrote: post #21
antouank wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check the Razer blade series

The new MacBooks are so lackluster that for the first time in 11 years I'm actually considering Windows options, and I also arrived at Razer as the best option out there. They look amazing and performance and connectivity wise blow the new macs out of the water. In the end, its macOS that's still holding me back. Haven't decided yet tough.

Windows is getting better, but it will still make you very angry. The update system makes me howl. The shell is pale shadow of the MacOS terminal (you can kind of fix this with other shells, but the app-restore behavior after a reboot? Gone, and Windows reboots a lot compared to MacOS).

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#93

Post by StavrosK »

toyg wrote: post #53
kybernetyk wrote: post #33

So I went to their main page to download an ISO to give it a try in a VM. They hid the download button really well: You have to type in "0" into the "how much you'd like to pay" field for the "Purchase" button to change to "Download". I mean I understand that open source projects need funding. But if you want people to try your niche OS at least make it obvious how to download it. Ask for money later after people had…

This is a long-standing criticism of Elementary. I think they initially didn't even provide a way to get a free download, and eventually settled for the current UI. Basically the founder-owner is adamant that someone has to pay for his time, and tbh I don't begrudge him.

It's a tradeoff between getting more users and getting more money, which I'm sure he knows. He's chosen to be more towards the "money" end of the scale, which is fair enough.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#94

Post by dagw »

Freak_NL wrote: post #59
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.

System76 is a solid choice (I love my four year old Gazelle, with 16Gb or RAM from the start), although ordering a laptop there is slightly cumbersome if you are living outside of North America. https://system76.com/laptops The build quality of their offerings seems to get better with each successive generation too, and of course everything works out of the box. I just wish they would partner with someone in the EU;…

Where in the EU are you? Several companies sell essentially the same laptops under a different brand name:

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/

and

https://www.mysn.de/

where the first two I found with some quick googling

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#95

Post by 72deluxe »

boredpudding wrote: post #16
rocky1138 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried running it this week since I have a lot of friends who use Macs. I figured I could help them out if they had questions, etc. But after a few minutes I went back to KDE as Elementary was horribly broken coming from Kububtu. It probably assumes you'll be installing from fresh.

elementary is indeed not meant to be 'just a desktop environment like gnome / kde'. Installing it that way is not supported. It's a full operating system including default apps, etc. all sorts of things you probably didn't install. You should indeed install it fresh. I hope you didn't give your friends a bad expression.

But as others have stated, as you have access to all the giant repos, installing any other software than the elementary-oriented stuff instantly feels disjointed, as toolkits etc. don't match.

This isn't really a problem with Elementary OS itself, more the proliferation of toolkits available, but to pretend that it is a drop-in replacement for a Mac (with its unified Cocoa UI) isn't quite right. (Yes, I know you can run FLTK and X apps on Mac so it's ugly too).

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#96

Post by divanvisagie »

StavrosK wrote: post #93
toyg wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a long-standing criticism of Elementary. I think they initially didn't even provide a way to get a free download, and eventually settled for the current UI. Basically the founder-owner is adamant that someone has to pay for his time, and tbh I don't begrudge him.

It's a tradeoff between getting more users and getting more money, which I'm sure he knows. He's chosen to be more towards the "money" end of the scale, which is fair enough.

Isn't this a dark pattern though?

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#97

Post by yoz-y »

endisukaj wrote: post #65
toyg wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a long-standing criticism of Elementary. I think they initially didn't even provide a way to get a free download, and eventually settled for the current UI. Basically the founder-owner is adamant that someone has to pay for his time, and tbh I don't begrudge him.

Considering how Elementary is a skin on top of Ubuntu with some shiny icons and animations... No thank you, I'd rather use Mint or Ubuntu if I want an easy distro.

It is progressively becoming quite more than a simple skin. They do have their own window manager and a quite comprehensive set of applications with simplified interfaces and consistent UI. To me it seems like a worthy goal, however it seems to create a separation between the typical Linux user/developer and their potential targeted users.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#98

Post by vetinari »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #71
truncate wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most apps I use on Ubuntu work well on hidpi. The main problem I face is when I connect my laptop with 4k screen with some external monitor with 2k or 1080p display.

What issues do you face, because I currently use that exact workflow with a MacbookPro retina, and a 24" dell monitor. Apart from windows not resizing/positioning automatically (so I have to manually re-layout everything whenever I switch from monitor to laptop), I haven't really suffered any problems so am curious to know what issues I'd face if I switched to Ubuntu.

I did face problem with macOS and having external low-DPI monitor: the Finder would act up sometimes: when you rename file the caret and edited text would be someplace else that the filename shown in Finder and dragging and droping files would stop working. Firefox had similar problems with addressbar and controls in web pages too.

All these things disappeared when I changed the external monitor for a HiDPI one.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#99

Post by AsyncAwait »

annoying_tech wrote: post #79
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…

> Mac developers don't want to just get the job done. They want to get the job done while winning an Apple Design Award. Well, thats kind of a narcissistic statement. How many people develop for Windows? How many for Linux? How many for Mac? oh. I try to make my software as beautiful as I can, and keep a simple and usable UX. There are developers who don't care about guidelines, or design. That's not a platform fault…

But is the desktop Mac app market still profitable? i.e. are you able to sustain yourself with this app?

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#100

Post by mangeletti »

r3bl wrote: post #10

The thing I've used the most while I used elementary is the option to direct perform actions of the apps. I find it so easy to just press the keyboard shortcut and do something like "2+2" and get "4" as a result. I absolutely loved that!

Check out the Alfred App for Mac. It's this and it's wonderful.
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