I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook • Hacker News Board

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#91

Post by pico303 » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:33 PM UTC

inventor7777 wrote: post #64

bigyabai wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible that your own opinions are coloring this perspective. As a Linux user, if you gave me the choice between switching back to macOS or dailying ChromeOS instead, it's objectively (sadly) true that the ChromeOS machine would do a better job handling my daily tasks. Going back to macOS would require me to keep multiple desktop machines around for gaming, filesystem manipulation and native Linux containers. C…

Have you heard of this? According to their GitHub, this should solve the issues you mentioned with Linux development on macOS. Note: I have not used it myself as I find macOS+Brew sufficient for my tasks. https://github.com/apple/container

Or just develop your app on macOS and run it on Linux. I’ve been doing that ever since OSX came out and had no problems. Worst case these days I have a virtual machine build an app or library for x86, but I still do all the dev on the Mac.

I find people who make these complaints about Linux just like Linux better. Totally fine. From my perspective, sure, some things are slightly different or need a homebrew install, but there’s plenty about Linux that’s as big or bigger pain as some of the stuff on the Mac.

That said, if Liquid Glass is the complaint and your solution is a Chromebook, wow. Just, wow.

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#92

Post by tantalor » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:34 PM UTC

Choosing an OS 101

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/mx4dni/cho...

Do you fear technology?

> Yes

Is your daddy rich?

> No

ChromeOS

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#93

Post by mkurz » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:36 PM UTC

hmokiguess wrote: post #2

Chrome OS? No, thank you. I'll stay with macOS and keep hoping for the Asahi Linux dream

If you are on a M1 or M2 chip you can live the dream _now_ already and install Asahi (Asahi Fedora Remix or Asahi Alarm https://asahi-alarm.org/ - which I am a maintainer of). It works really great (daily driving it since 4 years now...) M3 support is coming soon as well...

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#94

Post by lukan » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:37 PM UTC

nolist_policy wrote: post #72

traderj0e wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"After my last blog post I received tons and tons of emails from people mentioning that they switched to X or Y because of Liquid Glass, and much like them, I switched away from the Apple ecosystem thanks to these ongoing issues as well." Then within 2 sentences: "So this blog post is about my painful journey trying to find a nice piece of hardware that works and feels just as good as Apple's hardware as a web develo…

A Chromebook gets you the elegant UI, touchpad gestures, slim vertically integrated system architecture and the reliable sleep mode of a MacBook without Liquid Glass. Plus Chromebooks have the better keyboard layout IMHO.

I .. don't get how anyone can consider ChromeOS to have a elegant UI.

I have a chromebook for traveling and light web dev work since years .. and it works, because I rooted it and allmost do not have to use the UI(I need the terminal and chrome dev tools). In general it got better, but is still horrible inefficient and not ergonomic. Or did you mean it looks good? Well, maybe, but for me a elegant UI means it does not get into my workflow and can do quickly what I want. Which .. it nativly cannot.

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#95

Post by carlosjobim » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:45 PM UTC

nolist_policy wrote: post #72

traderj0e wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"After my last blog post I received tons and tons of emails from people mentioning that they switched to X or Y because of Liquid Glass, and much like them, I switched away from the Apple ecosystem thanks to these ongoing issues as well." Then within 2 sentences: "So this blog post is about my painful journey trying to find a nice piece of hardware that works and feels just as good as Apple's hardware as a web develo…

A Chromebook gets you the elegant UI, touchpad gestures, slim vertically integrated system architecture and the reliable sleep mode of a MacBook without Liquid Glass. Plus Chromebooks have the better keyboard layout IMHO.

So does a MacBook on Sonoma or Monterey.

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#96

Post by TiredOfLife » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC

traderj0e wrote: post #82

wildekek wrote: post #16

I don't really get what the problem with MacOS is. It never gets in my way, so why would I switch? Yes, I found Liquid Glass ugly and two days later I completely forgot about it.

It's like Linux users who scream about Arch KDE Plasma being better than Kubuntu XFCE++ and change their entire GUI every year. They're obsessing over rounded corners lining up. None of this matters that much. It's more serious on iPhones cause it's glitchy in ways that will interfere with basic usage, also yet another "we need old phones to feel slower" update.

Kubuntu is Ubuntu with KDE not Xfce

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#97

Post by vile_wretch » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:47 PM UTC

> Figma and Spotify have some of the best web apps out there as well, so that's all good too!

The Spotify web app is still much more limited than the desktop app.

> Did you know that Adobe ported Photoshop etc to web, with all the AI bells and whistles and the web apps perform incredibly well?

Perfect if all you need out of Photoshop is the AI portion, I guess.

> As a side note, it is no surprise that Adobe's suite of creative apps [...] now work incredibly well on the web across all operating systems

They literally don't.

> Quickshare (the Airdrop alternative) ACTUALLY WORKS

Saying this like Airdrop isn't one of Apple's most bulletproof "just works" features ever

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#98

Post by traderj0e » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC

TiredOfLife wrote: post #96

traderj0e wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like Linux users who scream about Arch KDE Plasma being better than Kubuntu XFCE++ and change their entire GUI every year. They're obsessing over rounded corners lining up. None of this matters that much. It's more serious on iPhones cause it's glitchy in ways that will interfere with basic usage, also yet another "we need old phones to feel slower" update.

Kubuntu is Ubuntu with KDE not Xfce

You can install Xfce in Kubuntu (well also Xfce++ isn't real)

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#99

Post by bastard_op » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

>> it seems that Signal's team is actively working on linking additional Android devices, and very soon we can simply solve this by using Signal for Android.

Wishful thinking, this has been a problem since tablets (android or ios) were a thing and trying to use one linked to your phone.

Re: I switched from Mac to a Lenovo Chromebook

#100

Post by 10729287 » Thu, May 07, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

vile_wretch wrote: post #97

> Figma and Spotify have some of the best web apps out there as well, so that's all good too! The Spotify web app is still much more limited than the desktop app. > Did you know that Adobe ported Photoshop etc to web, with all the AI bells and whistles and the web apps perform incredibly well? Perfect if all you need out of Photoshop is the AI portion, I guess. > As a side note, it is no surprise that Adobe's suite o…

In my experience it’s definitely not. It works maybe 80% to 90% of the time but it’s still not enough for me to use it with confidence.