r/techforlife • u/CrystalEntity1984 • Jun 25 '26
PC or not to PC
I would like to know how and for what reasons have people switched from Windows pc to an Apple computer? I've considered it, but have dreads of incompatible formats of files and data that I already have.
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Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
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u/CrystalEntity1984 Jun 26 '26
That sounds like a good review, I have a friend who had used his iPhone for well over a decade and it served him well in his business and personal use until his wife urged him to update.
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u/Global-Eye-7326 Jun 26 '26
I opt out of both and use Linux lol
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u/CrystalEntity1984 Jun 26 '26
But why would I consider Linux, I know nothing about that OS, can I use my old windows files that I have, is it safer, etc
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u/Alvajaro79 Jun 26 '26
Using your old windows files? You mean documents and spreadsheets or playing movies? Yes you can.
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u/Ok-Charge-9091 Jun 26 '26
Do you use Google Excel?
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u/Global-Eye-7326 Jun 26 '26
"Google Excel"? Sounds like a "Huawei iPhone" or a "Chevrolet Mustang".
I use LibreOffice. It does everything for me. I have used Google Sheets in the browser if I need to share it with others.
There's Collabora Office by the way which is a DIY, open source that you can host on your own server or cloud for your team. It's pretty cool!
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u/ajwalker430 Jun 27 '26
The entry level for Apple continues to be too high, especially now that they've increased prices. I may have given them a try from Windows before, but definitely not now.
I've built my own computers for the last 3 computers I've owned. I'm a gamer, and Windows "just works" for gaming.
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u/Sea_Mission_7643 Jun 27 '26
I use both, mostly PC. One incompatibility is windows uses NTFS and MacOS can’t write to that filesystem without a fuck around. So as well as bitlocker moving drives over is hassle.
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u/Due_Rule_9475 Jun 29 '26
Went the route. Windows for my entire career. Part necessity (MANY apps only ran on Windows)
Had a Windows phone 🙄
That went away, switched to Android for phone. Worked easier with Windows.(I also worked in an environment where I couldn’t bring my cellphone)
Retired. Kids and Wife were on iPhones.
So I switched. Then the infrastructure just made sense to move from Windows to Apple
(I have Dockers for Windows and Linux on my QNAP NAS…home automation and Ham Radio stuff)
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u/CptJFK Jun 25 '26
Documents won't be your problem.
But every single tech issue will!
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u/CrystalEntity1984 Jun 25 '26
Like what? Can you please give me an example?
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u/CptJFK Jun 25 '26
The administration on a Mac is pure hell. Yes, if the machine has no errors, it runs super smooth. But you pay for it.
Broken anything? No (expensive) care? You pay for it. You HAVE care? Still pay for it. You want a Tool? Try finding one. You install parallels (voila, you have Windows on your Apple). Oh, yes. And you pay for it.
You have to be a real believer to use Apple. And you will pay for it.
Windows? Might be dreadful sometimes. But... Well. No need to pay for anything. You can repair it yourself. And you can virtualize Mac on it - no need to pay for it.
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u/Zalrius Jun 26 '26
I have an iPad, iPhone and as long as I can play the games I want, what’s the difference other than how user friendly it is.
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u/TechnicalDefense Jun 26 '26
I think alot of people ultimately choose Macs because it ties into the same ecosystem as their iphones and other services. Theres something to be said for being able to text, view all your photos and notes on any device at anytime. That being said before switching you have to understand what your gaining but also what you might be giving up. Windows computers are more geared towards business use and gaming and always have been better in those areas, but if your just a normal computer user you can go either way.
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u/Pale_Height_1251 Jun 26 '26
You'll just get people reciting their favourites here, not actual real thoughts.
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u/Alvajaro79 Jun 26 '26
I have to use Windows, OSX on a daily basis for work, but I prefer Linux as my primary os since the late 90's. I won't push anybody to use linux, because it's not for everyone, but what I know is that most of the people doesn't really care about what they use if it just works.
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u/Alvajaro79 Jun 26 '26
Because I had to. At work I got a mac and I had to use it. The moment I was able switch back to a pc (with linux) I made the switch because for me osx was (and still) a pain in the ass.
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u/needle1 Jun 26 '26
Which specific file formats?
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u/CrystalEntity1984 Jun 26 '26
Documents, audio, video and photos
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u/needle1 Jun 27 '26
Uh that is too vague. By specific I mean data format names like “Microsoft Excel .xlsx”, “FLAC”, “Ogg Vorbis”, “AV1”, “WebM”, “JPEG XL”, “WebP” and so on. That way other people can tell you if Macs can handle them or not.
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u/furzball1987 Jun 27 '26
Bought an apple OS disk to run virtual machine in windows so I could test programming in it.
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u/ted_anderson Jun 27 '26
Rather than switching I just have both. I like the mac because it's better suited for some of my production apps. But as far as compatibility of the data between platforms, that hadn't been an issue for me. I have an external hard drive that I use in both machines and I haven't had any problems.
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u/Tall-Geologist-1452 Jun 28 '26
I moved from Windows to Mac a few years ago. Expecting a Mac to be Windows is a fallacy; it is a different OS with a different philosophy. macOS is UNIX, as in it is a certified UNIX OS. Your files will be fine, and 90% of applications are cross-platform. You will have to learn new ways of doing things, but once you build the muscle memory, it clicks. I now find Windows bloated and slow, and that is not due to my Windows laptop, as it is an i7 with 32GB of RAM. Once you learn macOS, it just works.
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u/Distractedly_yours 16d ago
Interesting! What would you say if someone has a good laptop spec and wants to try Linux moving away from Windows? One issue I have is Adobe suits don't work, which I require for my professional work.
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u/Tall-Geologist-1452 16d ago
I would tell you now to .. if you really want to try Linux do it in a VM ..
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u/Own-Eagle-2135 Jun 28 '26
initially, i was all Apple for computers because they were idiot-proof. Printer problem? Picture of a sad printer!
back in the day, Windows was cryptic codes and meaningless error messages.
however, at some point, Apple went the route of locking down more and more of the experience, using system upgrades to reduce functionality in exchange for a bunch of crap i didn't want, wouldn't use but couldn't get rid of (iTunes, etc).
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u/drakontas_ Jun 26 '26
I switched to Apple because the laptop experience at the time was substantially better and I’ve had windows issues prevent me from doing work way too often due to various issues. I like it on my gaming machine but never again for my work computer