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Comment by handrous | Hacker News Reader

Win10's supported until at least 2025. Not sure why anyone would jump on Win11, unless some software they're using requires it—which seems unlikely for some time, considering how long previous Windows version have retained good 3rd-party software support.

> Windows 11 decreased quite a few user preference/customization options. It's clearly not their objective to do what the user wants, but whatever Microsoft wants (and this is/was one of the few core differentiators for me between Microsoft and Apple, and it is shrinking rapidly).

Huh. I've used Mac for about a decade, after 15 years of Windows + Linux (and some DOS before that) and never felt that Windows is in any sense "freer" than OSX/MacOS, as far as configuration or what I can do with it.

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Windows has always offered (well, since Vista at least) some out-of-the-box customizable color schemes. MacOS has the ability to set a global accent color, but it tends to surface in fewer places than Windows' similar option (some default Apple apps, that's it).

MacOS (still, and has always) allowed moving the task bar to a different side of the monitor. Windows 10 allowed any of the four sides, MacOS allows all except top. Windows 11 is bottom-only. Earlier in the beta they also forced the application icons into the center of the taskbar (Mac-like), but they've since moved back on that and allow left-aligning them (Win10-like).

They're both pretty light on global, out-of-box customization. If we're counting pennies here, I'd say Windows is still slightly more customizable, and if they re-added moving the taskbar to other sides of the screen, it'd definitely be more customizable.

I have less experience (with MacOS), having only used it for perhaps a year for work, a couple years ago. But I do know that when it comes to the overall system, I have vastly more choices when it comes to hardware, being able to upgrade, being able to repair. There's just far less coupling between the operating system and the hardware than you find with Mac. So it certainly doesn't feel as free to me.

But the UI might be similarly as open as Windows - I don't have sufficient experience to know.

The differentiator for macOS versus Windows is the Apple stuff actually works properly and doesn't get in my way at all. I really don't give a shit any more if it costs 2x as much or isn't repairable or the or that because that's a cheaper TCO than the friction and mental anguish of having tools made of shit dissolve in your hands daily.

Whenever I have to dive into my corporate windows box for work, it's like someone is kicking me in the balls 20 times a day. For example today, I achieved nothing productive today thanks to windows. WSL2 bug open since 2019. Probably never get fixed.

I desperately want Android apps on Windows. But not as much as having my taskbar on a secondary monitor.

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