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Desktop Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS
Chromebooks
Chromebook Pixel LS
2015.05.04 - betanews - Chromebook Pixel LS is nearly perfect
It was also rec'd by typicalprog:
FreeBSD
"FreeBSD is an advanced computer operating system used to power modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms."
This was the OS that Jan Koum used for the WhatsApp servers.
macOS
Articles / Videos
Criticisms
John
My hatred for it is based on the little things, and it might not even be fair
Like the dock. What does pc have? The tray? No, the task bar?
I like for it to be the bottom of my screen: the start at the bottom left corner; my pinned apps; then the open windows; then all the clock, battery, sound info in the bottom right. On a Mac, the “dock” is centered; and the clock, sound, WiFi info is in the top bar
So it wastes screen space and spreads out info
And then the keyboard: I want ctrl, Windows, alt. But noooooo, it has to be ctrl, option, command
NW: He goes on to explain that he needs to swap the use of his thumb and his pinky. For Alt-Tab he needs to use his pinky on macOS (thumb on Windows), and for Select All he needs to use his thumb on macOS (pinky on Windows). This seems like a minor problem to me.
And there’s no delete. They call backspace delete, and there’s no delete. Like can I erase in both directions please?
NW: it looks like you can do a forward delete by doing Fn + delete. I can understand them doing this to reduce the number of keys on the keyboard and thereby make the remaining keys easier to identify / find.
And when installing apps, you don’t get an app. You get a disc image, and it unpacks itself or whatever it does. Like damn, can I just get an exe?
NW: Meh, this doesn't seem annoying to me.
Besides that they’re the same thing. You run apps and save files
I can’t tell if my hate for those small differences is genuine, or if it’s just a deep seated preference based on repetition
What I've learned from my experience owning a MacBook
Background:
I didn't like Macs for a long time because I hated them when I was young because they couldn't run Rainbow 6, Counter-Strike, and other games, and then the Macs we had in high school were worse (IMO) than the Windows PCs, and also couldn't run games.
I ended up getting a MacBook because I had heard very good things about them, and Pieter had been praising them for years.
What I've noticed / learned:
Hardware:
The most important thing is to have a very fast computer (lots of CPU and RAM). I would say I actually feel marginally more productive on my powerful gaming PC than on the MacBook and my gaming PC runs Windows. But it’s not portable. If you can get a lightning-fast Windows laptop with good battery life, you should be fine, and the value of a MacBook above it will be very marginal (IMO).
A nice thing about the M-series laptops is the battery life. I can get 8hrs on a full charge, which makes it just that little bit easier to show up at any restaurant and be able to work without having to think about where I can find an outlet. Also, where I am restaurant employees and managers don't understand how to estimate the cost of electricity of a particular appliance and often think charging my laptop is costing them a significant amount of money, so it's nice to not have to worry as much about them hassling me about that.
Software:
I'm using the same key software whether I'm on macOS or Windows: Chrome, Jetbrains IDEs, Slack, Postman, Upwork / Toggl. So it's not like a PlayStation vs. X-Box situation where a particular crucial game/app is only available on one OS.
Games: I think it's actually nice to have a machine 100% dedicated to work, with no gaming stuff whatsoever on it. My ThinkPad had Steam on it, and even if I rarely opened it, the thought of it being there can be distracting.
The trackpad
The trackpad seems marginally nicer than the one on my ThinkPad; it feels marginally smoother to slide my finger across / less sticky.
For a long time I never understood the appeal of using a trackpad instead of a mouse since the mouse is more precise. What I've now understood is that while it's absolutely true that the trackpad makes certain actions slower, like clicking on a particular point of the screen, it makes other actions faster, like switching between destops and windows. And while doing dev work you may be more often switching between windows / desktops than you are clicking on particular points of the screen. So it's just not accurate to use a PC gamer's mindset of mouse vs. trackpad when the kinds of interactions you're typically doing are very different.
Another nice thing about using the trackpad vs a mouse is that it’s just that tiny bit easier to start working: I don’t have to drag out my mouse and mousepad.