This is not an opinion piece, this is based on facts. Apple makes the worst
operating systems, especially macOS. If you argue that macOS makes you more
efficient or that it is a productive OS I just assume you are a moron and don't know
the first thing about computers.
I used to think that macOS was a worse Linux, I now realize that macOS can't be
compared to Linux. Regardless, I will try. I have been using Linux for 10 years, but
recently I needed macOS to build iOS apps, so I decided to buy the latest Mac and
give it a shot, for reference I have an M3 Pro with 32GB of RAM. I really wanted to
like Mac, and had high hopes because I know a lot of iOS devs and they kept raving
about Macs and MacOS.
I set up my Mac and the first thing I do is install XCode. So I open the App Store
and search for XCode. I click on it and try to install it and it asks me to create
an account. I try to do so and when I complete the process it fails silently. So I
can't install XCode. I have to close the App Store and reopen it. Again I try to
create the account I manage to get to the last step, introducing a payment method
which seems practically required and is hard to notice how to not give a payment
method, but I do find it. It then crashes the App Store. My account still doesn't
exist, so again I have to create it. I already know this process, I have done it
twice in five minutes. I do it one final time, but the app crashes again, thankfully
this time the account was created. So I open the App Store again, I have to login
because the App Store running on a Mac does not remember I'm already logged in, and
finally install XCode.
This was a great first Apple experience, famous for its UX and productivity. I
mentioned this to three different Mac fanboys and they all said the same thing:
"it's your fault because you used the App Store to download it instead of some
other way of doing it."
I then started using the computer and the first thing I realized is that the
terminal is utter garbage. Again the fanboys said it was my fault because I need
to install some tool, the recommendations settled on Warp. Warp is fine, but to
use it I have to open Warp, in my tools e.g. AndroidStudio the terminal is still
the same garbage, not Warp. So in the end it's too uncomfortable and using the
terminal is a terrible experience. The terminal which makes people be more
productive is a no-go, which already makes people less productive. Linux without
a terminal would be meh. How does Apple allow their OS to not have a usable
terminal?
What about navigation? I am on workspace2 I make the screen full screen, all of
a sudden im on workscreen 10, I press cmd+space to open something else and it opens
on workspace2 so if i want to go back to where I was I have to scroll 8 workspaces.
This is an extremely productive process, made only more productive by the fact that
I have to see a stupid transition which can only be removed by doing some weird
changes after booting into recovery mode.
Speaking of recovery mode. You better get familiar with it. If you want a worse
i3 experience you need to boot into recovery mode and make a few changes so that
the program is allowed to work "properly". Nothing against the creator of the
worse i3 which I won't name out of respect, I imagine they are a great developer
the problem is they are working on top of a hostile and shitty OS.
I need to use headphones for my meetings to not annoy my partner so I connect
them and press esc to close the fullscreen I'm on, but just as I'm about to press
esc a shitty pop up asking if I want to allow the peripheral I just connected appears. This
pop up closes when I press esc and now I can't use the peripheral until I disconnect
it wait the 3 to 5 seconds it takes for the computer to detect them and select "Allow".
What is the bullshit justification for this pop up? I can't believe they do this for
their own airpods. This UX is trash and just plain annoying for zero benefit. Imagine
an attacker plugging in a device on an unlocked computer ready to hack into your
computer, but they see the pop up and that is too far, they can't find the courage
to press "Allow". This is trash UX and just par for the course when you use a Mac.
After six months using the $4k+ Mac I gave up and went back to my six year old
computer running Linux. If you have never used Linux, ignore everyone saying it's
hard, using Linux is as easy as using any other OS, the difference is that you can
customize it after the fact and improve your experience and tailor it to yourself
to improve your productivity and your experience. The hardest part of Linux is the
installation, but it's hard to install any OS, so just buy a computer that comes
with Linux. #ad? Go to system76.com buy the most specced out laptop which will be
at least 30% cheaper than a decently specced Mac and enjoy your Linux experience.
It will look exactly like a Mac initially, so everything should feel normal, but
if transitions feel too slow you can change that, if you want a different desktop
environment you can completely change it and install something like i3, and if you
feel adventurous and want a new experience you can install a completely different OS.
Well, the program I use only exists on Mac, so I have to use it. That is possible, but
if you love yourself, try to find an alternative on Linux. If unfortunately you are an
Apple developer then God be with you. Although, even to develop for iOS I'm more
productive using Linux and only using macOS to compile the code. Yes, it's annoying
to have shitty support for the development of iOS, but the truth is that XCode is not
much better, it is also extremely shitty.
The truth is using macOS has less justifications than using Windows. Windows has
programs that only Windows supports and that are good. Windows is actually a decent
operating system if you have to use it. Obviously Linux is better, but if I had to
give up Linux I would definitely use Windows and not macOs.
Don't make excuses for the OS you use. If you find yourself making excuses you
probably need a different computer. I say that and I do have a complaint about Linux,
I can't figure out how to use a printer. I tried many years ago and got so frustrated
I gave up, but given that the printer was annoying to use with Windows as well I
got rid of the printer.
p.s. This was a rant. I'm frustrated I got baited into buying a laptop that now
sits in a cupboard acting as a glorified CI/CD server because it is utterly unusable
as an everyday computer and makes working a frustrating experience.