MacBook or a Windows 10? That was a decision I faced after leaving my job July 17th (semi-retirement), which precipitated the return of my company-provided MacBook Pro.
It was an easy decision: stay with the MacBook Pro.
Here’s why. When Apple does a major revision or update of OS – I have OS X Yosemite version 10.10.4 – the major features remain largely the same. There’s no major lurch in the user interface. You don’t have to spend a ton of time looking for old things in new places.
Windows 10 while getting decent reviews appears to be a whole new ballgame from Windows 8. Maybe two ballgames from Windows 7. Each major revision of Windows includes often jarring changes to the basic operation and apps.
Windows 10 users have to familiarize themselves with new things like Cortana, Universal Apps, Hololens and Continuum Mode. They may be great, but frankly I have work to do. I’d rather stick with a solid and evolutionary operating environment that was built from the ground up across all manner of devices. Also, it’s basically terrific.
I was editor of PC Week/eWeek for many years – we shunned Macs as elegant, but overpriced and too whimsical for corporations. I made a good living off PCs and am thankful for that, but now like many tech scribes are squarely in the Mac camp.
Apparently IBM, which fathered the PC 34 years ago, agrees. Big Blue just disclosed it could become the biggest corporate user of MacBooks.
Then there’s Windows 10 privacy fiasco. Maybe it’s overblown. Maybe it’s not, but some of the language in its Terms of Service is cause for concern. Here’s what Microsoft says about what data it collects and what it does with it. I don’t want any vendor spying on me although I know it’s the lifeblood for Web marketers. That’s a topic for another day.
I visited a Microsoft store a couple of weeks ago, thinking the PC price advantage might sway me toward Windows 10. The ones that caught my eye, often MacBook lookalikes, were priced about the same or only slightly below the MacBooks. So I sprung for a refurbished MacBook Pro model for 15% off. The model was introduced in March so I figured it was essentially a new machine (Apple markets them essentially as new.).
Do you swing toward Windows 10 or a Mac? BTW, I still use a circa 2009 Windows 7 tower. A popup comes up every time I turn it on trying to lure me to Windows 10. I’ll pass for now.
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2 comments On MacBook versus Windows 10 PC – no contest
John, I am a big fan of Macs myself. My experience with upgrading to Win 10 was that several PCs went just flawlessly. No issues whatsoever, and I could be productive from day 1.
My one year old Mac mini that was running Mavericks was bricked when I tried to upgrade to Yosemite. Two calls to Apple and three hours at their store and I am still having issues with migrating my photos. Once I can get back to actually using my computer I will be a lot happier camper.
Hi David, Maybe I will move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my tower, but just don’t want to deal with it at this point. Any computer is going to give you headaches now and then. My decision was which laptop to buy.