MacBook vs windows alternatives

Lord Vile · May 4, 2019

Looking to buy a laptop for basic work. Internet, basic word processing/presentation etc. Along with it being compact and easy to carry around.

Normally i I would go straight to windows but all the laptops around the MacBook Air (bottom spec) is fairly compelling so i’d like some advice.

Im leaning towards the MacBook for a few reasons:

I can finance it for £100 a month for a year.

I have an iPhone

You get the programs i’d use for free

I don’t need amazing performance, loads of storage etc that’s why I have a desktop

I’m willing to learn MacOS

On the other hand windows I can just pick up and learn and you are less restricted with ports but I really hate how it’s gone with office 365 especially when the Mac offers similar functionality built in.

The main competitor on the windows side would be the surface laptop 2 and the LG Gram.

Any other suggestions and advice? The only make I will categorically refuse to buy is Huawei.

Lord Vile · May 4, 2019

24 minutes ago, JustAnotherTechGuy99 said:

Hey Lord Vile,

Well the question seems to be more around software rather than hardware. Do you not like Microsoft Windows or just Office? Do you want macOS or do you need it?

I have used Windows, macOS and even Linux and honestly software wise you can getaway with any. IF you go with Mac you can run Windows in BootCamp or Parallels so you can always use both. MacOS is a decent OS, especially for productivity, but Windows (of course) is more supported and you can play more games on it if that is your thing.

From what you said you need it for you can go with any OS Windows, Mac or Linux but if you are more focused around software to use check out LibreOffice or OpenOffice they are open-source alternatives to Microsoft Office and they offer full file type compatibility (that is the .DOCX extension).

It comes to preference and also cost.

Personally i do not like the idea of a loan for a piece of technology but everyone is different, but the Macbook Air only has two CPU cores and that is an issue in 2019.

All in all for basic usage and general word processing and Internet browsing any and all will do you fine unless you need specific things. Keep in mind! Macs need adapters now if you care about that.

I hope this helped.

Sincerely,

JTAG99

I like W10 and shockingly Edge browser. Haven’t used MacOS much but have enjoyed it when I have and Linux I just don’t have the time to find out what is best for me and then learn it. My issue with windows 10 is I’m finding it frustrating, I get a massive amount of small but infuriating glitches (for example the sound toolbar on the taskbar not registering anything until I reset the machine) and I want to own a program not just rent it and have to renew it. It’s alright for just gaming and content consumption where I can ignore most of the issues but I’m getting more and more annoyed every update it seems.

I don’t want or need it. It just offers something different to windows and integrates better with my phone and things like Apple Music. My issue is that both windows 10 and MacOS offer points as to why I’d want each. And I know of boot camp but with a 128GB SSD I don’t think it would be viable. That being said i’d only be storing small docs and photos on it. I won’t be gaming on the thing I want decent battery and I have a full desktop for gaming.

I’d consider googledocs but I really don’t get along with chrome.

A loan is fine for me for to me getting paid monthly and it only takes a small chunk out. Not a massive fan of the 2 cores but I don’t want it to do any heavy lifting, plus MacOS seems to be pretty lightweight compared to W10. Just want an ultra portable laptop with good battery life and a good suite of programs built in.

I know of the dongle life but one with HDMI and a couple of USB A outs would do for me.

The cost of the windows alternatives I’ve looked at are around the same price with is another issue.

Lord Vile · May 5, 2019

3 hours ago, JustAnotherTechGuy99 said:

Hey Lord Vile,

Well with all of that i can relate. Windows does have many little glitches here and there but in Microsoft's defense they do build it for almost a billion devices with almost any possible hardware configuration. 128 gig is very small (for me personally) an i am not a fan of Chrome either (#FirefoxLife). MacOS is perfect for syncing to your iOS device that is no lie but it is up to you.

Check out Pages online from Apple at iCloud.com you sign in via your Apple ID and you can use their Pages, Numbers and Keynote. If you are utilising cloud storage well 50 - 200 gig of iCloud is more than enough if you go with it. Other than that it is dealer's choice.

Other than that do a bunch of research on the options you are considering and make an informed decision but i assume you already knew that.

I hope this also helped.

Sincerely,

JTAG99