> Although I’m not a big Windows fan, it does what it needs to, and that’s a relief.
Ironically, Windows has become the "It just works" platform.
Apple is so afraid to change their OS that it's forever locked into worship of itself. And desktop Linux refuses to make any choices for you.
To everyone's point, it doesn't mean you have to pledge allegiance to Microsoft. But I also take umbrage with the Linux community's idea that you are personally supposed to endure suffering to build character or for the greater good.
> Windows has become the "It just works" platform.
This makes me cringe every time I see it. Seriously. Maybe if you ignored the security issues and drivers that didn't work with new releases and performance issues, old versions of Windows worked well.
Windows 11 is an endless battle with things that don't work. Number one on the list is laptops that don't sleep. It's to the point that when I hear "that sound" I start looking for the laptop with the closed lid that didn't sleep. My son had to disable his mousepad because it would randomly move the cursor and click while he was typing. My wife couldn't get the camera on hers to work. The list could go on...
> Apple is so afraid to change their OS that it's forever locked into worship of itself.
Don’t agree with this, there’ve been changes made over the years, mostly to make the platform more palatable to users who were brought into the Apple fold by way of iPhones/iPads. The parts that haven’t changed aren't out of worshipping itself but more out of trying to not alienate its existing userbase - much as longtime Windows users don’t like longstanding conventions thrown out, neither do longtime Mac users. The conventions just happen to differ from those popular on the Win9X-desktop-paradigm side of the fence.
While I grant there are a lot of things that are a difference in conventions, there are just some conventions are also plain bad in Apple that they hold onto.
For example, there's no reason Apple can't offer modern features like screen pinning or window previews. Running multiple monitors on a Apple product is an embarrassingly bad experience still in 2024. Installing an application is goofy and antiquated.
There is also some ghastly bad UX hidden in OSX, like having to hold down Option to view some hidden settings (shudder).
I would argue that Windows has introduced some pretty stark changes to their conventions over the years, mostly around how to repackage an increasing number of settings and features. Where it feels like Apple just intentionally refuses to add features so it doesn't have to deal with the same types of reorganizations.
I think it’s still largely subjective and depends on the user.
For instance I find the multimonitor situation on Windows entirely unserviceable and far worse than what macOS has going. Its inability to have separate sets of virtual desktops per monitor or to switch desktops on each monitor independently is just embarrassing… macOS has had this since the mid-00s and Linux DEs even earlier. On my Macs I just assign apps to their respective desktops and everything is smooth sailing.
As for app installation, disk images are a bit weird it’s true, but I’ll take copying an app package to /Applications/ over running an install wizard or script that wants admin priveleges and is doing goodness knows what. If I were in Apple’s shoes I’d take that bit further and require binary packages for end-user-facing applications to be entirely self-contained, with an exception made for ~/Library/Application Support/<appname>/ which they can use to downloading plugins, scratch space, etc.
Hiding menu items behind key presses isn’t optimal but between the extremes of overloading menus with less-used items or eliminating menus entirely (The GNOME Way™) I’ll take it.
> But I also take umbrage with the Linux community's idea that you are personally supposed to endure suffering to build character or for the greater good.
I gladly take the pain of freedom in lieu of suffering under penny-squeezers.
Windows just feels hostile to me, like X and Reddit and the Meta products. Everybody's trying to squeeze me for a dollar to show me ads or change my behavior or bombard me with the latest meme/influence op.
With Linux I can at least configure something non-commercial that's a tool for me and not trying to control me in some way.
Ironically, Windows has become the "It just works" platform.
Apple is so afraid to change their OS that it's forever locked into worship of itself. And desktop Linux refuses to make any choices for you.
To everyone's point, it doesn't mean you have to pledge allegiance to Microsoft. But I also take umbrage with the Linux community's idea that you are personally supposed to endure suffering to build character or for the greater good.