Re: Using a Mac as a daily driver.

On Tue, Feb 25, 2020 at 11:10 AM Dave Parnin <dpcoke@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I've never really understood the fascination with Macs. Maybe for the non-technical crowd or those who like shiny screens. Anything that I want/need to do can be done in Windows or Linux on a generic laptop that probably costs much less.

In the early days of Windows, I think it would be fair to say that
Windows was solidly in catch-up mode. So if you went with a Mac, you
were getting a more polished system for more money.

Today, the situation is more complex. Mac, Windows, and Linux have
been converging for many years; and cross-platform development is
actually pretty mature by now.

I have personally kept trying to get used to Macs over the years. From
the original box with integrated monochrome monitor to today's
Unix-based systems on Intel hardware, I just never developed a taste
for them. I realize some people, upon first encountering a Mac, have
that "ah! this is what I have been looking for!" moment.[1] I never
had that. All the Macs have been fine, as far as I'm concerned; and if
at any point in the history of the Macintosh, I were forced to use one
as my only machine, I have no doubt whatsoever that I would have
gotten used to it and been happy with it.

As it stands now, if you don't have one of those moments of epiphany
with a particular platform, then any of the three major "personal
computer" platforms is more than good enough, and I can equally
understand being devoted to any of them, or none of them.

John Y.


[1]I did have one of those moments when I encountered Python for the
first time. Within a matter of hours, I stopped using any other
programming language except where required by external factors.