Here’s my personal experience as a Windows and macOS user.
When I turn on my MacBook Pro, I feel super productive for a specific reason: the trackpad. It’s something sublime. Retina displays are on a different level then Windows’ ones. macOS is simple and intuitive. The use of aluminum could be a minor detail, but it contribute to the sense of robustness of the device. The trackpad’s shortcuts are super useful, especially the one that minime the current window.
When I turn on my Windows laptop, I know that to be productive I can’t give up using a mouse. Its trackpad is good, but it misses many useful shortcuts that prevent a good usability. The screen is good but when I use it I miss the Retina display. Being made mostly of plastic, it gives me a sense of fragility.
I totally agree with Franco. There is no machine out there that can match the trackpad of a Mac. I see folks with Windows machines lugging wireless mouse with them and that is fine but the trackpad makes life so much easier! I myself have the MX Master 3 that's paired to multiple machines but if I do forget it I have no worries ¯\(ツ)/¯
Strange, I've always had the reverse feeling: I see people with a trackpad (Apple or not) making complex and fineline coordinated hand gestures instead of a simple point-and-click or drag-and-drop with a mouse.
Fully customisable gestures on the trackpad. Granted, you have to set them up how you want them, and it's not done "out of the box" for you, but I think that's a feature not a flaw.
Yep, my trackpad is smaller, big deal.
Half the guys I work with use Mac's, and they're stuck with either 8 or 16GB RAM (thanks to it being soldered) whereas I can upgrade at whim in my HP.
FWIW, I also have an MX3 (huge improvement over the 2) and infinite scroll is awesome. For most of my work though, keyboard shortcuts do everything, so I don't have to use the trackpad or MX.
I use Gesture, in Ubuntu. Required some libtools-* to be installed at the same time.
I also have devilspie installed with a custom launch script so that it can tell if I'm WFH/my desk/presenting in a meeting room, and organise the desktop layout for me.
Re the question in the original article, I think Mac's are popular for exactly one reason... Apple Salesmanship. Apple's entire ecosystem works very well together & doesn't like others. So if you have an iPhone, you'll likely buy a Mac because it'll work better with your phone.
That's the reason Microsoft started to embrace Linux, and started cutting loss leaders like IE and moving to Chromium.
As a Linux user on several MacBooks, I can say that MacBook touchpads are infinitely superior in feel and functionality to the majority of non-Mac laptops (though palm detection is iffy at best on the new gigantic touchpads, so I did something I haven't done since switching to a MacBook: disabled tap to click).
Worth the Apple tax, especially considering other hoops you have to jump through (e.g. getting Touch Bar to work on a basic level of multimedia and function keys)? Absolutely not.
I've never really cared for the feel aspect of it, but functionality wise, after spending the time configuring it, there's nothing a Mac can do that mine won't. Maybe palm detect, but again, I've never felt like I was missing out.
I did look at completing the Linux drivers properly for the Magic Mouse 2, but didn't see the benefit to my workflow over the key combinations, trackpad, and MX3 (where the thumb button is mapped to screenshot -c).
A couple of guys I work with have switched from Mac to Ubuntu, having seen my setup. Mostly now they don't have to wait while an OS update takes 4 hours to apply.
To each their own really, I just can't see myself buying into the Apple ecosystem any time soon.
My next laptop will not be a MacBook. Most likely, I'll go with System76 (no way I'm keeping Pop!OS with GNOME, though). Or, if I make some clustering breakthroughs, build something of my own with multiple RPis and/or other SBCs.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Here’s my personal experience as a Windows and macOS user.
When I turn on my MacBook Pro, I feel super productive for a specific reason: the trackpad. It’s something sublime. Retina displays are on a different level then Windows’ ones. macOS is simple and intuitive. The use of aluminum could be a minor detail, but it contribute to the sense of robustness of the device. The trackpad’s shortcuts are super useful, especially the one that minime the current window.
When I turn on my Windows laptop, I know that to be productive I can’t give up using a mouse. Its trackpad is good, but it misses many useful shortcuts that prevent a good usability. The screen is good but when I use it I miss the Retina display. Being made mostly of plastic, it gives me a sense of fragility.
I totally agree with Franco. There is no machine out there that can match the trackpad of a Mac. I see folks with Windows machines lugging wireless mouse with them and that is fine but the trackpad makes life so much easier! I myself have the MX Master 3 that's paired to multiple machines but if I do forget it I have no worries ¯\(ツ)/¯
I never got the hype around the trackpad
Strange, I've always had the reverse feeling: I see people with a trackpad (Apple or not) making complex and fineline coordinated hand gestures instead of a simple point-and-click or drag-and-drop with a mouse.
I strongly suggest you check out Linux.
Fully customisable gestures on the trackpad. Granted, you have to set them up how you want them, and it's not done "out of the box" for you, but I think that's a feature not a flaw.
Yep, my trackpad is smaller, big deal.
Half the guys I work with use Mac's, and they're stuck with either 8 or 16GB RAM (thanks to it being soldered) whereas I can upgrade at whim in my HP.
FWIW, I also have an MX3 (huge improvement over the 2) and infinite scroll is awesome. For most of my work though, keyboard shortcuts do everything, so I don't have to use the trackpad or MX.
Which software for Linux custom trackpad would you recommend?
I use Gesture, in Ubuntu. Required some libtools-* to be installed at the same time.
I also have devilspie installed with a custom launch script so that it can tell if I'm WFH/my desk/presenting in a meeting room, and organise the desktop layout for me.
Re the question in the original article, I think Mac's are popular for exactly one reason... Apple Salesmanship. Apple's entire ecosystem works very well together & doesn't like others. So if you have an iPhone, you'll likely buy a Mac because it'll work better with your phone.
That's the reason Microsoft started to embrace Linux, and started cutting loss leaders like IE and moving to Chromium.
As a Linux user on several MacBooks, I can say that MacBook touchpads are infinitely superior in feel and functionality to the majority of non-Mac laptops (though palm detection is iffy at best on the new gigantic touchpads, so I did something I haven't done since switching to a MacBook: disabled tap to click).
Worth the Apple tax, especially considering other hoops you have to jump through (e.g. getting Touch Bar to work on a basic level of multimedia and function keys)? Absolutely not.
I've never really cared for the feel aspect of it, but functionality wise, after spending the time configuring it, there's nothing a Mac can do that mine won't. Maybe palm detect, but again, I've never felt like I was missing out.
I did look at completing the Linux drivers properly for the Magic Mouse 2, but didn't see the benefit to my workflow over the key combinations, trackpad, and MX3 (where the thumb button is mapped to
screenshot -c).A couple of guys I work with have switched from Mac to Ubuntu, having seen my setup. Mostly now they don't have to wait while an OS update takes 4 hours to apply.
To each their own really, I just can't see myself buying into the Apple ecosystem any time soon.
My next laptop will not be a MacBook. Most likely, I'll go with System76 (no way I'm keeping Pop!OS with GNOME, though). Or, if I make some clustering breakthroughs, build something of my own with multiple RPis and/or other SBCs.