If I didn't have programs that require Windows...

[mikegg]

I'd switch to a Mac.

By goodness those Macbooks at the Apple stores are sexy. I love how intuitive everything felt about the OS and that track pad is amazing. My boss uses the track pad on his Mac everyday and I thought he was crazy for not using a mouse. Now I know why. Once you get used to the track pad, it can do things faster than a mouse.

The last time I had to use a Mac was for work back in 2006. It has improved leaps and bounces since then.

No wonder Macs are growing while the PC industry as a whole is declining.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Eh. You use it for a while, I guarantee you'll find stuff that annoys you.

The macbooks are awfully nice, though.

 

[JavaMomma]

What programs require Windows?

I find it is mainly just some professional software/tools that were really missing for me...
Visual Studio, SQL Server Management Studio, Visio

I found alternatives that aren't as good...

 

[joshhedge]

Bootcamp/VM/Wineskin. Make the switch

 

[ControlD]

The trackpad on the Macbooks is truly amazing. It is almost the only reason I have kept mine. I sort of bought my MBP on whim mainly because I was keen to try working in the OS X world to see what it is like. After a year and a half the only thing I can say about OS X is that I love Windows 7. Still, to each their own. As mentioned above, most Windows programs can be run in a VM or Wine. If you really want to switch to Mac I'm sure it can be done. You can also bootcamp a real Windows installation if the performance hit of running a VM is too much. Once you have a true dual boot you have the best of both worlds in a nice package. My main problem is that once I bootcamped my machine I found myself spending 90% of my time running Win7 which made me wonder why I have a Mac in the first place ....

 

[Tweak155]

I use my MBA as a casual / personal PC (redundant much?). The Windows environment is my gaming / professional work environment.

I couldn't get used to OSX for the longest time. Then I put a cheapo $400 white MB next to my couch and just started using it every day. For browsing, pictures, etc it is actually quite nice. Not to mention the built in Mail program (vs having to have Office for Win7, however who doesn't have that?). This prompted me to get the MBA on Black Friday and I have since sold off the white MB.

Overall I much prefer Windows, but for browsing and goofing around, the Mac is plenty fine.

One note - it natively (from what I've read) supports Java development out of the box. I've yet to figure this out though

 

[joshhedge]

I find OS X a much nicer environment to work in conversely. Windows frustrates me, especially Windows 8.

A nice feature of VMWare Fusion 5 is that you can setup your bootcamp partition to work as a VM, really quite useful. GPU performance in Fusion is quite weak as it is virtualised though, hence why boot camping is useful for applications such as CAD.

 

[xanis]

Apple totally nailed the trackpad, it's pure win. Whenever I have to use another laptop I get frustrated because none even come close.

 

[TheStu]

Eh. You use it for a while, I guarantee you'll find stuff that annoys you.

The macbooks are awfully nice, though.

Use anything enough and you'll find stuff that annoys you. Out of all the versions of Windows out there, I like 8 the best (desktop mode only, with a tacked on start menu), but there are still plenty of things about it that bug me compared to OS X. And vice versa. Nothing is perfect, but for me, I much prefer working and playing in OS X over Windows.

Man I wish my company had a BYOD policy... or would let me have a MacBook Pr for work instead of this Latitude.

 

[MotionMan]

The only reason I use Windows (in Parallels) for work is for our word processor (WordPerfect) and our billing software.

At home, I only use Windows for Quicken.

MotionMan

 

[dinker99]

I recently built a Hackintosh and I have to say that OSX is the worst OS I Have ever seen. The biggest irritation in a long list is the global menu bar, after a month of use I still click on the window close button and then realise that the program is still running.

Why do you think I clicked on the close button?

 

[TheStu]

I recently built a Hackintosh and I have to say that OSX is the worst OS I Have ever seen. The biggest irritation in a long list is the global menu bar, after a month of use I still click on the window close button and then realise that the program is still running.

Why do you think I clicked on the close button?

You mean that 2 fundamentally different OSes have 2 fundamentally different underlying use philosophies? You don't say. If you go into it expecting it to be just like Windows, you're going to be disappointed.

What were you expecting out of OS X?

 

[joshhedge]

I recently built a Hackintosh and I have to say that OSX is the worst OS I Have ever seen. The biggest irritation in a long list is the global menu bar, after a month of use I still click on the window close button and then realise that the program is still running.

Why do you think I clicked on the close button?

cmd + q

 

[bearxor]

Ahhh... Apple...

OS X multitasks too well and the iOS doesn't multi-task well enough...

As far as trackpads, yes, Apple has the best trackpads, but only in OS X. I am always immensely aggravated at how bad the trackpad is in Windows.

 

[joshhedge]

Ahhh... Apple...

OS X multitasks too well and the iOS doesn't multi-task well enough...

As far as trackpads, yes, Apple has the best trackpads, but only in OS X. I am always immensely aggravated at how bad the trackpad is in Windows.

Couldn't agree more! Barely use my mouse in OS X but in bootcamp I only ever use the mouse. I'm sure there is some sort of multitouch software somewhere on the internet that could fix it.

 

[TheStu]

Ahhh... Apple...

OS X multitasks too well and the iOS doesn't multi-task well enough...

As far as trackpads, yes, Apple has the best trackpads, but only in OS X. I am always immensely aggravated at how bad the trackpad is in Windows.

How does something multi-task too well?

And I wouldn't consider the Apple trackpad any worse in Windows than anyone else's trackpad in Windows.

 

[bearxor]

How does something multi-task too well?

And I wouldn't consider the Apple trackpad any worse in Windows than anyone else's trackpad in Windows.

I was just making a joke at " I still click on the window close button and then realise that the program is still running".

You're right. The Apple trackpad isn't any worse than any other trackpad in windows. Windows just doesn't handle scrolling very well.

 

[TheStu]

I was just making a joke at " I still click on the window close button and then realise that the program is still running".

You're right. The Apple trackpad isn't any worse than any other trackpad in windows. Windows just doesn't handle scrolling very well.

Oh, right over my head then.