New Laptop (Macbook?)

[themoon123]

Im looking for a new laptop for school. I heard lots of good things about the Macbook Air but is OSX easy to use? Is it completely different from Windows?

[Just The Tips]

Meh. OSX is alright from anyone's perspective. You could invest your money in something like MSI's GS series or something

[Mateyyy]

It might be super slim and super sexy, but, at its price, it really isn't a good value.

You should check out, at that price, something like a Dell XPS 12. It looks really great, and I've seen really good reviews of it. And it's a convertible, which is a pretty nice value add

[minibois]

Im looking for a new laptop for school. I heard lots of good things about the Macbook Air but is OSX easy to use? Is it completely different from Windows?

I really don't like OSX.. It is just such a weird and .. (IMHO) a clumsy OS.

What Linus mentioned in the iSwitched series OS part mentions a lot about what I don't like.

Such as OSX barfing all tabs on your screen when you want to open one of the tabs.

 

Windows ain't perfect too, but I prefer it over OSX

[FatalityDiablo]

if you dont hate win8 like i do then something like the ultrabook linus recently reviewed is great, but for me personally the current mba is the best ultrabook on the market. I think it is sometimes frustrating to get along with osx, but once you in for a couple of weeks it is pretty awesome. ..still prefer win7

[whipcreambeast]

I only have a Mac Book as I am going to travel a lot over the next 3 years, and I wanted something that I could get services easily anywhere..... But other than that, dell is a much better value

[Paralectic]

I wouldn't bother with OSX if Windows is your main OS.

[Guest]

OS X is a rock-solid OS and comes with software that Microsoft wants you to pay a monthly fee for, and has very good RAM management, not to mention it's free for everyone, and upgrades won't cost you a dime either.

MacBooks are beautiful, extremely durable and last as long as you take care of them. Plus the trackpads are better an any Windows laptop's, bar-none.

[Guest]

Dell XPS series is my recommendation to you.

[DimasRMDO]

OS X is user friendly, nice to use. It's different from windows, you might feel weird when you first try OS X but after a while you might get the hang of it.

[themoon123]

The XPS series is just so expensive in Denmark and the macbook is cheap. I will try and find a Windows PC instead! Thanks!

[Techteen14]

I find OSX clumsy, only pseudo user friendly and it doesn't use screen real estate correctly, especially on desktops.

I recommend the new Dell XPS 13.

[jrfox87]

I use both Windows and OS X daily and I find OS X to be a great OS and very easy to use. Some people who use OS X after only using Windows for a long time can have trouble with it though, usually the issues they have are because they want/expect things to work the same as Windows does, many of Linus' issues fall into this category in my opinion. If you go into it with an open mind and leave your Windows baggage at the door, it can be very easy to learn.

 

As for the MacBook Air, now is a terrible time to buy one. The current version has been out since last spring and it was just a small haswell refresh speed bump, a new version with possibly a redesign and a retina display is right around the corner. If you need a laptop asap then the Dell XPS 13 is a great option, especially if you can get one from the Microsoft Store or something as ordering straight from Dell can be pretty slow in my experience.

[CM7]

The XPS series is just so expensive in Denmark and the macbook is cheap. I will try and find a Windows PC instead! Thanks!

if you find a nice windows laptop and you wanted to change it up a little you could look into dual booting with Linux my suggestion is mint or ubuntu.

[vembutech]

Hi,

 

Macbook Air is really a good one.. But if you need somewhat easy to use then go for WIndows.. DELL XPS 15 would be my suggestion.. 

[szomeret]

I've a MBPR 13. I don't like much of OS X but I do prefer the unix underpinnings. Safari is garbage, so you'll probably end up with Chrome/Firefox yet.

OS X is really missing some vital features. It doesn't have per directory settings in Finder. The sort order changes for every directory based on what you used last. Inferior to Windows in this regard. It doesn't have keyboard shortcuts or window-snapping. In the end I use full-screen "spaces" instead of windows, but it's less flexible. There is an extension called Spectacles if you want some help with that. The full screen animation takes forever for no good reason. The dock is much worse than the task bar, especially for switching between multiple windows of the same application. There's no preview, just words. You can buy Hyperdock to fix this.

In total, Mac OS X needs extensions such as (Hyperdock) to make it function, in my opinion, on par with Windows. Stability has really taken a hit, too, with Yosemite. It is pretty though and the hardware is fantastic. I wish the XPS 13 was cheaper for you because it looks fabulous.

[Mew]

You could always put windows on a mac since the only thing you're paying for is the build quality and battery life if you use OSX.

[cpvestal]

Personally, I love Mac OS X for my portable device. I have a MacBook Air that I pretty much use exclusively for school and when I am away from my PC.

 

The MBA is extremely portable, OS X is simple and easy to use, and the battery life is fantastic.

 

The value in a MBA is kind of meh. If you are buying at full retail price, no student discounts, no sales, I wouldn't suggest it. If you could snag a good deal from your local electronics shop on an open box deal or if they have any sort of student discount I would look into it. I got my MBA 13" 128GB for only $700. At Best Buy there was a $150 sale plus a $100 student discount at the time I purchased it.

 

If you wanted to look at a good Windows option and not looking to break the bank I would suggest taking at look at the Lenovo Yoga.

[Aniallation]

Im looking for a new laptop for school. I heard lots of good things about the Macbook Air but is OSX easy to use? Is it completely different from Windows?

If you can wait about a month for the new Broadwell ULV laptops to start rolling out, then we'll have a lot more good recommendations