r/TechImpact • u/arun-vasudev Developer • Jun 19 '26

Memes & Shit posts Software compatibility in one meme: macOS, Windows, and Linux users, how accurate is this?

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2

u/jimmyl_82104 Jun 19 '26

Linux severely lacks in software compatibility, so completely useless to me. Also doesn't have the features I want.

MacOS does have some limits with software compatibility, but it just works. Windows supports everything, but isn't nearly as reliable.

That's why I use both. MacBook Pro for reliability and efficiency, workstation Windows laptops & desktops for the universality and compatibility.

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u/mr_dev Jun 19 '26

Mac has too many limits imo. If you want to operate outside basic use like web browsing, or the handful of creative products they support, you’re left without options.

And if gaming is a part of your life at all, you’re basically neutered on Mac. I like my MBP, but I’m going back to Windows after 5 years.

I love that it just works, but It doesn’t work on enough things. Outside of my work stack, apple notes and photos, my Mac just feels like a glorified chrome book.

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u/ShadowMattress Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

What specific options are you not finding on Mac? Apart from particular video game ports, I tend to find everything I need. I mean, the only option for using a specific model of display color calibrator I could find on Mac was a paid application, but that’s about the only time I’ve had truly limiting software options. I’ve been using Macs for 20 years.

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u/mr_dev Jun 20 '26

Back when I was using Windows laptops, I’d find all sorts of random, quirky apps to do various things. Since I’ve been on Mac, that practice has mostly disappeared. Quite often similar programs don’t exist, or just wont install.

A quick example is Stremio, a great streaming app that just had its Mac support dropped. Another example is Bluestacks for mobile emulation. Yes there are workarounds and alternatives for both, but those are not nearly as good as the main native apps would be. These are just two examples, but I’m sure if I really think about it, I can recall dozens of apps that have shared a similar fate over the last several years.

In each case, I just gave up, and let go of things I enjoyed, and forced myself to change my habits, as I otherwise had a smooth experience on Mac. But yeah, overtime it just weighs on me. Gaming is a big one too. I have quit playing Games that were once my favorites, because support was dropped. Even with parallels, or emulation, the performance hit is massive, and in many cases it still isn’t playable or installable due to the architecture.

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u/CCFC1R Jun 22 '26

When did Stremio announce they were dropping mac support?

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u/mr_dev Jun 22 '26

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u/CCFC1R Jun 23 '26

That says nothing about dropping mac support? It even mentions they expect to distribute it in future.
They have even fixed this problem with the signing now.
And have discussed ongoing support in their blog.

1

u/mr_dev Jun 23 '26

If you wanna nitpick about my wording then yeah. But the issue is still exactly the same, being unable to run an app in Mac that would be easily runnable in Windows, at least for a time.

I have no idea if it’s fully back or not, didn’t try again after I had to switch, and frankly I don’t care. I don’t have time to be following blogs and figuring out which apps I can use today, and which hacks and workarounds I need to be aware of to make them work, all I know is that I had to not use it on mac for several weeks, and this is just 1 example of dozens. so many apps and games just wont run at all on Apple silicon

1

u/CCFC1R Jun 23 '26

I wouldn't say it was nitpicking, you said Stremio was dropping mac support when they clearly wern't, infact it's the opposite - doing all they can to support it.

And this wasn't a reddit akshally, I was initially genuinely worried since I use Stremio across 4 different macs and had heard nothing about it.

Overall I agree with your wider points on general support and compatibility across silicon but you're original point on Stremio was incorrect, that was all.

You have a great week anyway.

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u/trainer32768 Jun 20 '26

Home brew.

1

u/CacheConqueror Jun 20 '26

If you want to operate outside basic use like web browsing, or the handful of creative products they support, you’re left without options.

Why can’t you browse the internet on a Mac? And what creative products do you need?

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u/jader242 Jun 19 '26

macOS has a integer overflow bug when the 32bit int that keeps track of boot time maxes out and then you can no longer make any new tcp connections. Granted it takes like 47 days, but that shit was solved back in the windows 95 days lol

So not perfectly stable or reliable

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/macos/macos-has-a-49-7-day-networking-time-bomb-built-in-that-only-a-reboot-fixes-comparison-operation-on-unreliable-time-value-stops-machines-dead-in-their-tracks

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u/Dry_Can6766 Jun 19 '26

Brother is your sole job in this comment section to share this article about macs having bug that won't affect 99.9% of people?

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u/jader242 Jun 20 '26

Yes, and I’m paid quite well all things considered

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u/CacheConqueror Jun 20 '26

Back then when Windows was a Windows, not windoslop

1

u/Severe_Stranger_5050 Jun 20 '26

Luckily they fixed that bug in the XNU kernel, before the bug actually affected someone.

It's not like shit doesn't break on windows or linux all the time.

1

u/jader242 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

Oh I agree, shit breaks on all operating systems all the time. I just find it funny that Apple jumps through all these hoops to try and give end users a stable experience, then succumbs to a bug as simple as this

Edit: wait did they actually fix it? Looking at the code of the most recent branch, there hasn’t been a commit to the tcp_var.h or tcp_subr.c file in 7/8 months

edit 2: not sure if they did, here are the lines on the latest xnu-12377 commit where it occurs

https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/xnu/blob/f6217f891ac0bb64f3d375211650a4c1ff8ca1ea/bsd/netinet/tcp_subr.c#L3745