Convert me to Windows (or Linux)

[TheAudioNut]

I want people to tell me about the benefits of Windows, big or small, anything they can think of, and I want to hear all of these recommendations as though I had never even heard of Windows before in my life. If I'm going to find reasons to switch to Windows, it will be easiest with a fresh perspective and recommendation tailored to me.

 

MORE DETAILS for those who want them:

 

I'm not an Apple fanboy, but I have used primarily Apple computers and devices since 2004 because my family already had them, and schools always seem to prefer Macs if they can afford them because they look nicer than black-box PCs. All I care about, however, is that I have the best hardware and software solutions for me. Even though I have maintained a liking for the Mac operating system throughout the years, as an LTT fanboy I am more keen on the idea of building a computer with the hardware I want and need which undoubtedly means Windows unless I do a Hackintosh which is probably not the most scalable or warranty-friendly approach. It's got to be one or the other as far as I can see it, and I want people to tell me about why I need to give Windows a shot.

 

First and foremost (with regard to my computer needs) I'm a designer, marketer, business finance and marketing consultant, audio engineer, and YouTuber. I know, kind of weird set of jobs, but I kind of just "do anything for money," which is how I prefer to describe it amongst people I don't want to have conversations with. Meh. But yeah, so I heavily use the Adobe ecosystem, QuickBooks (which is admittedly far better on Windows), and connected audio/video hardware. I game very little on my Mac (*surprise, surprise*) but would like to game more heavily. Part of the reason I want to hear opinions about all this is because I plan to buy lots of computer equipment, external storage, audio hardware, video hardware, and I would like to know before then if I ought to go with Windows. Equipment-wise, I could go with either, but once I get OS-compatible hardware I would like to stick with just one OS.

 

What do I want? An intuitive interface is nice, and in order to be intuitive I think it has to look nice. Currently, I think Apple does this MUCH better than Windows who I think is butt-ugly with all those jagged lines. There are no curves anywhere which as a designer and marketer I can tell you is a bad marketing approach if you want your product to look and feel clean and simple. When everything is squared off with jagged corners, it looks busy to the eye. Just the look of Windows 10 makes me prefer Windows 7 enough that if Windows 10 came with a Windows 7 skin, I would make it look like Windows 7 and never look back. I'm sure there are Windows 7 skins for Windows 10, but I remember that in the days of Windows XP, Vista, and 7 that skins can slow down your hardware, or cause issues, so I would be skeptical about installing a skin designed to turn back the clock on Windows 10's modern interface.

 

In my experience of years past, Windows is more prone to problems, and I’m not talking about viruses and malware which I don't care about. Windows is, for me at least, less intuituve to use. It's also seemingly more system-intensive to run given the seemingly more complex system structure, which I assume is to account for the many types of hardware Windows may encounter as compared with Apple. The way apps install on Macs with most of the files necessary to run the app all in the same place as compared to the way Windows just kind of pukes out the necessary files everywhere, well, Apple also seems to win here, with one exception. The fastest file transfer times I've seen seem to occur on Windows, not Macs, but I'm not sure if it's merely a result of proper hardware, or if operating system optimizations factor into that. Also, Windows is always seems to be more clogged with useless crap out of the box.

 

For some the Apple ecosystem is a terrible thing, for Apple fanboys it's great, and generally I like it, but I'm completely willing to leave it if there's something better or more important. Professional software always seems to run reliably on Apple, and yes, more programs are made for Windows, I GET IT, but this is generally a weak argument nowadays since most programs are made for both. In my experience, when it comes to turning off your computer you have far more control over whether or not to accept updates and whether or not those updates interrupt your open programs, even during your less active hours. Windows treats your computer like they own it by not giving you control over whether or not you receive updates. And when you reboot your computer, Apple is far more likely to have successfully saved or fully recovered your work than Windows. Every time I remove Windows update capability on my laptop, give it a few months (at most) and I now have to do it all over again because Windows has magically closed and lost a bunch of my work in order to update when I wasn't looking... F*** YOU MICROSOFT!

 

The only benefits I see in choosing Windows over Apple is lower cost per machine in most cases (even though Windows stupidly over-charges for separate installations of their operating systems), as well as easier implementation of multi-user servers, multi-computer offices, as well as more overall compatibility with large specialty companies requiring massive licenses for installing expensive software on many computers. Windows is also better for gaming. After all, Apple sucks at gaming, and their stupid WWDC demonstrations will never convince me otherwise.

 

I know there must be other benefits, but I just don't see them or know them, yet. Feel free to disagree with me! Try to convince me I'm wrong! Try to convince me to use Windows!

[Senzelian]

DX12. That's all.

[Bananasplit_00]

https://media3.giphy.com/media/6901DbEbbm4o0/giphy.gif

 

4 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

DX12

Ewww...

[Radium_Angel]

4 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

DX12. That's all.

Which means games.

Stick with Apple, you'll be better off

[WereCatf]

Quote

Convert me to Windows (or Linux)

Why? If you like OSX more, then use OSX.

[Semper]

I'm going to go a little bit paragraph by paragraph here. These are my opinions and I don't claim them to be factual (go away trolls :P). I have very limited experience with Linux so i'm not going to address that either way.

My first computer was a Macintosh back in 1994. I was a bit young at the time to understand computers the way I do now, our next computer went over to a Dell, and up until I went to college (uni, secondary school... insert name here), that's the way it stayed. I started out my College career with a Macbook pro as a Graphic Design student, and very quickly realized it's not for me (graphics design that is... I still use Windows and OSX interchangeably on a daily basis). Next, went to web design, which made use of Dreamweaver. "way back when"
Having used both Windows and OSX through this time, I believe that OSX is the superior platform when it comes to the Adobe ecosystem.

Objectively, gaming on Macs is largely relegated to using your Macbook as a mouse pad. There's one reason right there in favor of Windows.

What looks nice is subjective. I'm inclined to agree that OSX is the more attractive, immediately user-friendly option. It has a nice skin, but Windows has it's own merits as well. It's going to be personal preference and adaptation.

When it comes to Windows being "less usable", I believe it's the wrong approach. The way I look at it is that OSX is made for the moron. It's difficult to screw OSX up. Windows gives you more freedom, more access, more usability than OSX, but on the same edge, carries more risk of things going wrong. I've always felt that OSX does a better job of cleaning up after itself (one example being that manual defrags weren't a thing that really needed to be done).

For years, my mom refused to switch to OSX because she was afraid that she wouldn't understand what was going on. Around the same time I went to college, I convinced her to give OSX a try. She hasn't looked back since then, and I'd venture so far as to say that she's now at the point where she'll never use anything but OSX. She adapted to it well. Some people don't

My sister, who does professional graphic design prefers OSX for the Adobe ecosystem, but is capable of functioning just fine on her work machine, running Windows 7.

So, as far as i'm concerned, your persuasion, from my standpoint relies on this: Gaming. If you want to game, go with Windows. If you don't mind limited gaming, stick to OSX, it's going to work just fine for production needs.

[Granular]

Windows 10 is abominable. The update system is something out of a Kafka novel and it's loaded with adware and spyware even on 'clean' installs of 'professional' editions. Don't do this to yourself.

If you weren't into media production, I'd try to make a case for GNU/Linux, but there just isn't any support from Adobe.

[AskTJ]

Choose what OS is best for you.

 

Like OSX? Keep it. - I would say OSX is more for people that want their PC to be simple, and for it to work with minimal updates.

 

Like Windows? Use it. - The only OS for gaming. All driver and developer support, and can be found cheap online.

 

Like Linux? Use it. - More towards people who want a lightweight OS, need a home theater, servers or people who like to experiment.

 

Honestly, choose what you like most.

 

(tl:dr windows)

[Tabs]

17 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Why? If you like OSX more, then use OSX.

100% this @TheAudioNut.

 

If what you use now stops being good enough for your needs, start looking for alternatives - but don't look for opinions in a thread like the one you just posted. It's just going to lead to people arguing eventually and you'll be no better off than you were before you posted.

 

Until you have actual problems with what you currently use, stick with it.

 

And yes, I read your entre post. You've said nothing that states you have any issues currently that need fixing or that OSX won't continue to fit your needs for the foreseeable future.

[TheAudioNut]

Sorry, I should have replied days ago. I was expecting a notification when people replied to my post.

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. I know this is a topic that could easily lead to arguing, but I think everyone has been very kind. Everyone has made good reasons either on behalf of Windows or for staying with whatever already works for me. Thanks everyone!

[TheAudioNut]

On 6/21/2018 at 3:37 AM, Tabs said:

100% this @TheAudioNut.

 

If what you use now stops being good enough for your needs, start looking for alternatives - but don't look for opinions in a thread like the one you just posted. It's just going to lead to people arguing eventually and you'll be no better off than you were before you posted.

 

Until you have actual problems with what you currently use, stick with it.

 

And yes, I read your entre post. You've said nothing that states you have any issues currently that need fixing or that OSX won't continue to fit your needs for the foreseeable future.

Definitely agree. Thanks!

[TheAudioNut]

No one mentioned Chrome OS, and I am in no way surprised. Maybe one day Google will be worth taking a look at for hardware and operating systems, but clearly, it is not this day.

[TheAudioNut]

On 6/21/2018 at 3:32 AM, Granular said:

Windows 10 is abominable. The update system is something out of a Kafka novel and it's loaded with adware and spyware even on 'clean' installs of 'professional' editions. Don't do this to yourself.

If you weren't into media production, I'd try to make a case for GNU/Linux, but there just isn't any support from Adobe.

Thanks! It's helpful to hear this opinion from someone else.

[TheAudioNut]

On 6/21/2018 at 3:20 AM, Radium_Angel said:

Which means games.

Stick with Apple, you'll be better off

Thanks!

[TheAudioNut]

On 6/21/2018 at 3:15 AM, Senzelian said:

DX12. That's all.

Consider me converted! Haha! No, but really I would never consider gaming on anything other than Windows or a console.

[TheAudioNut]

On 6/21/2018 at 3:27 AM, Semper said:

I'm going to go a little bit paragraph by paragraph here. These are my opinions and I don't claim them to be factual (go away trolls :P). I have very limited experience with Linux so i'm not going to address that either way.

My first computer was a Macintosh back in 1994. I was a bit young at the time to understand computers the way I do now, our next computer went over to a Dell, and up until I went to college (uni, secondary school... insert name here), that's the way it stayed. I started out my College career with a Macbook pro as a Graphic Design student, and very quickly realized it's not for me (graphics design that is... I still use Windows and OSX interchangeably on a daily basis). Next, went to web design, which made use of Dreamweaver. "way back when"
Having used both Windows and OSX through this time, I believe that OSX is the superior platform when it comes to the Adobe ecosystem.

Objectively, gaming on Macs is largely relegated to using your Macbook as a mouse pad. There's one reason right there in favor of Windows.

What looks nice is subjective. I'm inclined to agree that OSX is the more attractive, immediately user-friendly option. It has a nice skin, but Windows has it's own merits as well. It's going to be personal preference and adaptation.

When it comes to Windows being "less usable", I believe it's the wrong approach. The way I look at it is that OSX is made for the moron. It's difficult to screw OSX up. Windows gives you more freedom, more access, more usability than OSX, but on the same edge, carries more risk of things going wrong. I've always felt that OSX does a better job of cleaning up after itself (one example being that manual defrags weren't a thing that really needed to be done).

For years, my mom refused to switch to OSX because she was afraid that she wouldn't understand what was going on. Around the same time I went to college, I convinced her to give OSX a try. She hasn't looked back since then, and I'd venture so far as to say that she's now at the point where she'll never use anything but OSX. She adapted to it well. Some people don't

My sister, who does professional graphic design prefers OSX for the Adobe ecosystem, but is capable of functioning just fine on her work machine, running Windows 7.

So, as far as i'm concerned, your persuasion, from my standpoint relies on this: Gaming. If you want to game, go with Windows. If you don't mind limited gaming, stick to OSX, it's going to work just fine for production needs.

Consider me a happy moron, haha! Loved your feedback, I definitely agree.

[homeap5]

Windows - can handle lot of stuff, cards, expansions, just anything you want to buy. You may not even read any compatibility lists, connect any device and it will work in 99 cases out of 100, while on Linux or Mac it may be a problem. If you want operating system that is designed just for handle selected hardware and you can live without making modifications (and if you want to call it "improvement") - then MacOS is for you. If you want to buy Apple overpriced stuff because of logo - MacOS is for you.

 

If you prefer to type lot of commands instead of just open Control Panel and use nice gui settings - Linux is for you.

 

If lot of software makes you nervous and the only you need is ANY browser and ANY email client, Linux will be great choice (but of course buy better CPU cooler, because even browser with 4 tabs can utilize 100% of CPU in some cases). And be carefull - this system can't repair itself while booting even after small problem.

 

But seriously - Windows is the only real operating system here - designed for handle lot of hardware, no matter what mainboard / processor / ram / gpu you have. Freedom of choice.

 

And about MacOS - it really seems to be nice and user friendly. Until I was in my friend's flat and he needs to copy something from Windows to MacOS using Mac interface. We trying to find in system file explorer any way to open SMB location just by type in address in any path field. No, there was no path field. I may be not familiar with MacOS, but my friend always saw that it's greatest operating system. So - on that greatest os he cannot enter path using keyboard in built-in filemanager! We ended by opening web browser, type that path in URL bar and then system asks if we want to open it in file browser. Yes! That's exactly what we want from the beginning!

 

But of course Mac users says that everything is better on Mac - if you're using Photoshop, your pictures will be nicer, grass more green etc.

 

Mac and Linux are great for user who adapts to operating system. Windows is great for user who adapts operating system to himself.