Visuals is a very broad term.

As you can read in my comment I agree with you. For example working with text in Gimp is just horrible. And Inkscape is very good untill you need it for CMYK.

But this thread is about owning your PC. And then I think all those trade-offs can be overcome. Sometimes this means thinking in other directions. For example the choice to design in CSS instead of Photoshop.

I don't think you can say: 'I cannot get away from Apple'.

But you can say: 'I choose to stay at Apple because I think it is more convenient'.

The choice is yours.