I have been in the market for new laptop for some time, but wanted to buy one with due diligence rather than buying what first caught my eye. So finally I found my new machine in Hong Kong last week.
Whenever I buy a new computer, it usually takes a day to have a clean install of the OS, install all the programs that I need and then move the data. The clean install of the OS usually means installing a previous (read stable) version of the Windows and this time it was no different. I hated Windows 8.1 every time I used it and decided that Windows 7 is a better fit.
This time I settled for a Samsung laptop (I have had IBM, Lenovo, HP, Mac & Toshiba ones previously) and it took a while to have the BIOS settings changed so that I could boot it up from the USB flash drive, delete all the partitions and have a “fresh” version of Windows 7 Professional installed without any unneeded Samsung or Microsoft “bloatware” that usually come with new laptops.
Conclusion
I know that some will ask why wouldn’t I buy a Mac laptop? I actually have one MacBook Air that runs Windows 7 and I do like the form factor of the product.
The problem I have is that I cannot get my head around the Mac OS. It is the same problem with the iPhone as well. It is either the Mac-way or the highway.
The best solution would probably be to run one of the Linux versions such as Ubuntu, but they seem to require quite a learning curve that I don’t have time for.
I made the move to a MacBook Pro just over a year ago. There were teething problems and some frustration at times, but the plus points by far outweigh the negatives. I also have windows running as a virtual machine but rarely use it now. The Thunderbolt Display as a docking station is a game changer.
I am seeing my friends making this move one by one as Windows becomes more frustrating and OS X gets better.
Anyway, sure this comment will start a fierce debate 🙂
No debate here. I’m in the same boat somewhat… use a proper Windows 7 PC for home, but MacBook Air with Win7 virtual machine when (rarely) needed.
OSX has been finely tuned over the years… rather than jumping into uncharted territory hoping the sheeple will follow.
Agreed, there is not much reason why people cannot go to mac, there is nothing to learn, what makes a system foreign is the way it flows with the scrolling and the clicking other than that there is nothing to learn, you can do right clicks etc…I really cannot think of anything else…It was harder for me to switch back in 2007/08 these days it is so much easier to use
Yes, I agree it’s not that most difficult thing to move to OS X from
Windows; however, I find that it’s hard for people to make the move
because you have to toss out everything you take for granted on a
Windows OS, and that’s hard for some people to wrap their mind around,
especially people like me who have used Windows their whole life and are
very entrenched in the Windows mentality (darn the 90s).
OS X
is a very stable operating system, and I can definitely see why people
like it so much (no worries, no hassle, fast). However, I rarely have problems
with Win 7 as well, and since I care very little for form factor, most
of the time, it just boils down to money. (Although I guess I can put OS X on a compatible PC… but at that point, one might as well just buy a Macbook.)
[…] By John Ollila […]
John, I’ve been using them all – have many PCs at home and worked for a tech company for years. I made the move to 8.1 with a touch PC and love it. I switch between the icons and the traditional desktop (read Windows 7-like) at will. I have a blazingly fast PC and I am taking the time to learn 8.1 in between switching back and forth. It’s the future and we all gotta go with it. The PC is as light as a MBPro, just as fast, has a phenom resolution – probably just like your Samsung. My suggestion is to go back to 8.1 and get to know it. It ain’t going away…
The way mac os works that is quirky is the default scrolling and clicking etc… which you can change to work the way windows works…other than that.. what is different? you do not have the 1001 security warnings, pop ups for everything 🙂 But you mentioned you have used both, so I am gonna assume you have tried everything and nothing works to make mac better for you, hehe but I still find it a huge waste that you cannot appreciate it fully, I went from windows on a high end Fujitsu at the time which I used for a good 6 years till it died to a mbp 15″ which I found to be too heavy now I am on 13″. I used to run parallels so that I could run windows programs but I find that these days, most software worth using has a mac version so I do not bother with that anymore. I get a new one every 2 years or so and sell off my old one.
Yeah with the scrolling, I turn that natural scrolling off, and have my bottom right hand track pad as right click. I’ll never get rid of years of PC use as those things are a user convention in my opinion. Anyway the real goodies are coming with the next version, answering your phone on your Mac etc – See John, the Apple Machine is coming for you! 🙂
In the interests of being balanced, I have used Windows 8 on a tablet. It was a lot better than I’d thought it would be and certainly not useless, and in some respects was more flexible than iOS, but that’s the opposite experience I got from using it on a PC. But things like iMessage and FaceTime stole the deal.
I’m a bit bias here, but you should also checkout Chromebooks: http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/ if the majority of all your work/activities are done online. Offline is basic with Google Apps.
@szuperdan,
It may be the future for people who decide to stick with Microsoft, but it’s far from ever being a corporate standard. The commercials showing the “employees” dancing around with their Surface tablets doing actual work? Yeah, not so much.
While I certainly can’t predict the future – but I will predict Windows 8 going the way of all of those other “in-between”, always crap versions of Windows (WFW311, ME, Vista, etc).
Yes, you are whining. 😛 [says she who loves ALL of her Windows 8.0/8.1 devices…phone, tablet, notebook]