Thinking About The Mac Glory Hole: Trying Out Mac Again After 25 Years

Got your attention with the title, right?

Story:

Only Mac I ever had with the infamous Performa 6400/Power Mac 6400 in the mid 90s. This was before Steve Job came back, so it was the dark days for Apple. Liked the GUI, easy for noobs but as a kid I keep hating this crap with Error 10 and other shit every few minutes:



When it was working, the Mac is great. Helped me learned computers at a faster rate (as a young kid there was a reason why I love computers). However, family hated it since even basic things it gives us the infamous Bomb.

When Steve came back I can't say that their hardware interest me. Never liked closed hardware (even with the benefits of having a closed environment). However, my friend back in college introduce me to the first gen Mac Mini, and I liked the concept. Later he shown me the Magic Trackpad and I found that to be quite useful for web browsing and other things.

As I'm getting older I don't need heavy computer usage. Just need something that works and gives me a great desktop experience. Not interested in iPhones or iCrap like that. I just miss a little bit of the Apple Desktop environment that didn't suck.
However, 25 years is a huge difference. Dunno what is happening in the world of Mac. Not thinking about getting anything ATM due to Apple is giving the big FU to Intel (long overdue) and doing their own ARM chips going forward. I just hope they refresh the Mac Mini with that chip so I can try it out. Mac Mini is perfect for folks like me.

Has anyone switched from PC to Mac? How you like it? I'll never ditch Windows, I love my Thinkpads too much with their keyboards (I hate Apple's keyboard). However, Apple Desktop environment is interesting to me. I am planning to run on both environments. A lot of stuff on Linux didn't interest me if I have to be honest.

 

I was a Windows NT person in the days of yore, when Apple was sucking eggs with OS9. But shortly after OSeX came out, Macs began to have a certain appeal. The new OS ran on BSD, which was an awesome member of the *nix family. I could use unix commands without having to live in (or with the hassle of) Gnome/KDE. When Microsoftdick ditched NT and introduced their later OSes, which gradually became crappier and crappier (Window Me?), I finally bailed. For many years OS X served me well. Very stable. Good access to power user features via console. OS configuration deeply customizable with plists. To be a Mac power user meant being a little more savvy than a Windows power user, but it was possible and I appreciated the far superior text rendering, file system inodes, memory sandboxing, etc. I do not game and so the hardware restrictions of Mac were never a problem for me. I also use old chunky pre-USB-C machines, which were superior hardware in my view.

Over the last 5 years Apple has kind of dropped the ball on their desktop OS as they got distracted with iOS. I have personally found security holes (they kindly credited me in the bug fix). I have found stability problems. But still, every time I use a windows machine I want to vomit. Windows has become a platform to spy on you and market crap at you. The number of bugs in Windows and frequency of patching is still worse. Also, the patching is done in stupid ways so when you want to shutdown and go, it then tells you to hang out for half an hour. Did I mention it’s fugly?

Part of the issue is that Windows tries to support a broader range of APIs going way back, whereas Apple forces compliance and will simply remove support for all your ancient software after five years. It results in a cleaner and faster platform. But the dumbing down has gotten worse in the name of streamlining. Spotlight now totally blows. The bugs are accumulating.

At this stage I think they both need a deep refresh. Too many little fixes piled upon fixes. I don’t know what is in store for Windows. Big changes are coming to Mac as they return to RISC chips. There will be a period of virtual machining for x86 instruction sets, but I suspect in the long run this will have big impact on the kind of software available for MacOS. Too early to tell if good or bad.

 

Interestingly I am currently thinking of the opposite move, from macOS to Windows, and I have similar hangups. I've have quite a few issues with Mac hardware recently and have had my 2016 MacBook Pro replaced with new models 3 times so far due to various issues ranging from the keyboard to the screen connector. I'm currently on a 2019 15" MacBook Pro.

My other reasons to move are power, desktop format options and gaming. I'm a photographer doing a bit of motion and 3D work and I don't enjoy my laptop spinning up to full speed for hours while I transcode and render. Throwing a fast rig into a DAN A4 or similar micro ITX case would be great for transport as I work interstate for weeks at a time fairly regularly and it fits in a small camera case. I'd need a new iMac to get near these levels of performance and would still have to pack another monitor for color critical work. The Mac Pro is both too expensive and more importantly too heavy.

Although I'm a fairly outdoorsy person I have a close group of friends living all over the world and we've always kept in touch online playing games. I think that keeping relationships strong is one of the most overlooked benefits of gaming online and at the moment they're playing Deep Rock Galactic and preparing for Baldurs Gate 3. These are not Mac friendly titles and while they work on bootcamp, I've never had it rock solid with discord / voice / bluetooth etc. Bootcamp is also gone after macOS 14 Big Sur.

Unfortunately, the Windows hurdles are fast and furious. Usability wise its a dog compared to macOS and while windows apologists claim it's for power users I was the kid at LAN parties deep in regedit modifying dll files and fixing everyones computers, I know my way around. Apple has so many quality of life features in the walled garden in terms of communication, security and updates that make day to day operation so much easier. I also find my iPad indispensable for work and have a collection of macOS applications I' rather not do without.

If I'm being honest, with the change to RISC architecture and looking at the preliminary benchmarks and thermals of ARM desktop chips I'll probably get the speed I want professionally from Apple in the next year or 2. It doesn't help gaming but hopefully I'll find some other avenues to play with my mates. A bigger issue is all the hardware issues I'm having with Apple but at least their warranty program is good and if I went windows I'd still need some variety of laptop which would no doubt have a worse trackpad, less battery life and at best an equal build.

The Touch Bar has gotta go though, come on apple give me my F keys back.

 

I stayed on Windows due to programs that I use is only available on it plus I know how to "fix" Windows. However, as I get older I kind-of want something that just works and keep working. Windows to me doesn't have any flare, it just works enough.

Besides the new ARM chips on their desktop/laptop, Big Slur 11.00 is coming out. X lasted almost 20 years, which is a good record. Still not doing Macbooks, can't stand their keyboards.

 

Mac user since 1997. Last MBA i bought has had literally zero issues in 5 years of ownership. I'm not a computer dork, so I like that fact.

Now, my work machine, an HP, lord baby Jesus - in a managed environment that thing is like a malaise era GM car. every day there's a new group policy update my machine turns into a f'ing turd.

 

The other option that you could toss onto a thinkpad is a flavour of Linux. Lots of different distros out there to suit what you like, I recently put Pop OS onto my main desktop and have been really enjoying it. Linux has become much more user friendly and there are lots of resources if you need help.

 

I been using Linux here and there, after about 10+ distros and different GUIs, not really feeling it.

 

I actually thought about it quite seriously as a dual boot but I need access to Photoshop and Premiere all the time. I thought about moving to Black Magic Resolve as its Linux native but there is no replacement for Photoshop, it's the industry standard and required for deliverables.

I also use Pro Tools for sound design and a host of Mac/windows plugins. Linux isn't viable for most creatives professionally.

 

I also forgot to mention that I've had an incredible run with iPhones it terms of reliability, speed and resale value which no Android manufacturer comes close to. My old 6S runs more smoothly with the latest updates than most 1-2 year old android devices I've used. I've got an 11 Pro now and am happy with iOS.

 

Windows for the win
Mac: right click on file, copy, right click again, move to trash, navigate to new destination folder, paste file.
Windows: right click on file, cut, navigate to new destination folder, paste file.

Mac for the win
Mac trackpad: multiple swipe gestures are like winning with a Street Fighter super combo*
Windows trackpad: moving cursor is like losing at pong


* I was going to add a Street Fighter gif but it started giving me a headache

 

I've been using a Mac at home since 1997. I've owned 3 Mac Minis, and I still occasionally use a 2009 MacBookPro. I have to say that hardware has always been rock solid. My wife has gone through 3 Windows laptops in the time I've owned the Mac, which makes the Mac cheaper. Its also nice that from Apple you get free OS upgrades. When I was doing more coding, it was nice that Mac had a lot of the compilers built in. At home now I primarily use an older iPad for most of my daily use. I used Mac Minis and iTunes for computer audio since 2006, I got away from iTunes 3-4 years ago.

A few years ago I bought an Android phone which I actually liked more than an iPhone. So I started to break away from the Apple ecosystem then. I also don't see Apple as being as innovative as they used to be. The performance gaps in speed arent as great as they used to be. Moving forward I don't know what I would choose. I mostly stream music now but once I get a NAS organized again I'll just use the RPi. So I guess I'm in that grey area between OSs where I'm not really leaning toward either one.

 

As a guy who loves iOS i tried OSX a while back on a friends mac and i didn't like it at all. Maybe you need to know the keybinds to make sense of it. I'm primarily a linux guy though, tried it all but i keep coming back to Fedora with either KDE or Gnome. I do keep Win10 around for games that won't run or run poorly under wine. Or have some drm bs going on that gets you banned if you use emulation(wine or vm).

My parents, uncle and a couple of aunts all run Fedora and i never have to come over to fix stuff, they can even do the major release upgrades themselves.

 

Fedora is some good shit. I really like how easy it is to use Linux. Then again, none of their desktop environments were grabbing my attention. I only use a distro when I have a 10+ year old laptop.

I'm still heavy on desktops due to I do a lot a work both personal and work related on them. Just been using on Mac after all these years after seeing the Mac Mini. Since I wasn't planning to dump Windows, I might as well have both and see. The Windows desktop experience for me has been meh as of late. Also, what @Tchoupitoulas said is right on the mouse controls.

iPhones were never my thing, not really a Smartphone guy even when owning Sony's last year TOTL smartphone. : /

 

I'm not much of a smartphone guy either, still using an iphone 7 and don't see me replacing it. I just like ios because of the updates and consistency and it's stable in my experience. If i want to tinker i have my pc to mess with stuff.

Agreed on Windows.

 

The point they switched to butterfly keyboards and started putting in the Touch Bar is when the reliability of their notebooks started taking a nose-dive.

I am typing this on my late-2013 MacBook Pro 13", which I bought the very day it went on sale. From a performance aspect, it is as good as it ever was. My 2 prior windows laptops (Asus and Alienware) together didn't last as long, let alone retain the performance till the end.

 

I had the 2013 Macbook Air-- the first laptop to launch with Haswell. Really loved how I got 14 hours of battery per charge there, without having comically large batteries. But after two years of using it, I got frustrated with the way the operating system updates seemed to be making it harder to get work done, and I didn't like that it wouldn't dual boot linux effectively (something about the UEFI, I can't remember what) which I needed to get my research work done. Ended up selling it and buying the 2015 Chromebook pixel to carry me through grad school.

Dipped my toe in with Apple again on the 2018 Ipad Pro, since I wanted something with really good handwriting/stylus support for notetaking (for... more grad school). It's fine. A lot better than I remember mac os being, and it feels like they add features instead of taking them away/hiding them. And for real computing, I've got my linux desktop, which has yet to let me down.

Now that they've fixed the keyboards on the macbooks, I might dip my toe in for my next work computer. I see some coworkers with them and they're pretty sleek. Definitely a lot thinner than my Latitude, but I'm not sure how much power those things really have. Wasn't there something about macbooks hitting their thermal limits way before the rated speeds on the silicon?

 

How's people M1 Mac Mini's after one year of release?

As much as I love to bash Apple, I'm still thinking about getting a Mac Mini in the future (perhaps when the higher end refresh model comes out).

I'm still bored with Windows and I haven't been impressed with what's happening with Window Laptops as of late. Intel NUC isn't that impressive to me.

I think my big 2022 electronic purchase will be a Mac Mini that is hopefully refreshed. I don't mind the 2020 one but I gotta go refurb on that. However, after blowing my load on too many electronics, I'm taking a break.

 

My wife got the first gen M1 MacBook Pro and has had 0 hardware issues. I'm a recent Windows convert, hadn't used it since Windows 95, still don't love it, but it's been way more stable than I expected. Mac closed hardware and increasingly frustrating OS make Windows the lesser evil for me, plus I want to play new games without getting a console.

 

Two months later since I made my last post here I went with M1 Mac mini, iPad 9th Generation, and iPhone 13. The iSheep trifecta has been complete in a short period of time might as well be an Apple slut.

For starters, the ecosystem really clicked with me when I had all three products on me. I was on my iPad smoking my pipe tobacco watching movies when my father called me yesterday. It is great that I don't have to worry about where's my phone when I'm waiting or supposed to get calls. I even picked up a webcam for the Mac mini so I can conduct calls with no issues when I'm making a post like this.

Downside with everything, the cost of course. The more you get into the Apple ecosystem "glory hole" the more it is hard to get out of it because of how everything works. Let me put it to you this way, I saved a lot of time running an Apple setup then having a Windows laptop and Android tablet/phone. I hated my last Android tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+) because not because of the hardware but the software sucks. Android sucks on tablets and nothing you can do about that but the apps aren't optimized for a bigger screen. I used the iPad a lot more than my old Galaxy Tab that I had for months before I Swappa that shit out of my house. Perfect example is the WSJ app. On Android it is the same app but the design of the app was more kept in mind for phones. On iPad and iPhone they are separate enough apps that they used the strength of their perspective hardwares to make it work.

I can copy something on my iPad and Command + Paste on my Mac with no issues. The Note app is super useful to type in some crap on my iPhone so I can review it later on my iPad. And don't get me started on how useful Safari on multiple Apple devices.

I still use Google for my cloud storage and my photo storage.

More/Less no regrets except for my wallet. I might get an Apple TV once/if I get around and getting another TV in my small ass apartment.