Ask HN: What are problems only Windows, macOS, or Linux has?
I'm deciding what my next laptop will be, and I got curious about problems that only affect one of my main choices.
MacOS: I am the finder and you must do things my way
Linux: spiderman-pointing.gif
I was a Windows fan for years (going back to the 1990s) but switched over MacOS a few years and much prefer it, despite the occasional annoyances. I have also been using Linux since the very first release, but I like a GUI and the desktop experience on Linux has always felt rather fragmented and incoherent.
Then again I've also turned off telemetry, and I run it fine despite not having a Microsoft account. Both of which are often listed as "requirements" by folks here.
So I'm guessing some windows behaviour is localized.
No advertising when using that. :)
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That being said, I'm a Linux user (KDE generally) and was only mucking around with Windows/AtlasOS in VMs recently to try out virtual gpu stuff in Proxmox.
E.g Macs have support for Displayport 1.1 but not 1.2 (off memory, may have gotten the versions wrong, but you get the idea), no daisychaining. Because of this, cheap USB-C adapters with 2 Displayport outputs do not work, even if your Mac is supposed to support multiple external monitors. Cheaper Macs do not support more than one external monitor at all.
My computer's USB-C ports support the latest Thunderbolt (~USB 4) and USB 3.1, but not USB 3.2.
If the external monitor doesn't have 4K+ resolution (~200dpi to be more precise), you need a separate program for DPI scaling and HighDPI(e.g BetterDisplay). (Apple's displays are 5K). This might not be an "only if", and the results might not be as good as on other OS; this whole area is something Macs do strangely.
If you use a non-Apple external mouse and you're like me, look up UnnaturalMouse as an essential piece of software. Without it, either the mouse or the touchpad scroll in the "wrong" direction.
If you're not used to it, the keyboard is weirdly different: Cmd (also known as Meta or Windows key) and Alt are swapped, and most but not all bindings that use Ctrl on other systems use Cmd.
It gets more confusing if you try to use an external Windows keyboard with a Mac, since you have to get used to Cmd and Alt swap if you are not looking. You can rebind them, and I did, but then I was confused for a while when I was looking. The Home button does not work, you have to use Cmd+Left.
None of these were deal-breakers for me, but I wish I knew before taking the plunge.
(Adding this very late, just in case I go back to this post for my own reference)
MacOS is like a controlling father that lets you opt out with strings attached.
Linux lacks polish so it never feels like a reliable workhorse.
All these OSes surely are backdoored so it's choose your poison of who you want reading your email: shifty suit and ties or cyberpunk graybeards.
windows: none, you can nitpick at the defaults with regards to telemetry as others mention but with the group policy editor and registry, almost anything can be adjusted
macOS: lack of software compared to windows, especially CUDA
Linux: lukewarm hardware and software support, it is never as good as windows
It can be overstated in a sense, but it comes down to the individual/experiment. I've been lucky with mentors. I've saved a lot of time, frustration, and effort that could've otherwise been expelled had things gone differently.
Don't spend too much time bikeshedding is my one piece of advice
Modern MacBooks are also pretty good.
Ill group Windows and Linux into one for hardware since you will likely buy a windows laptop and install linux on it. Hardware wise, generally, battery life for use is worse compared to Mac. Generally, you can get ones that last like 10 hours with light use, so its not too much of an issue, but if you are frequently without a place to charge, you will find Macs much longer lasting. Also, depending on the laptop you get, you can get subpar touchpads and displays, but generally at $600 or above, these aren't an issue.
Mac wise, the hardware problems are way more present. No way to change out SSD, no way to upgrade ram, no way to replace battery, and you have hardware locks on the software you can run. You also don't get a choice for an actual graphics card, which is a much better choice if you want to do mobile ML, as Apple ANE is pretty much reserved for their own software.
Software wise, Windows 11 is pretty good these days, but you have to do some leg work. You need to get the pro version, sign on originally with a microsoft account, then turn on local login, and then disable a bunch of shit. There are github scripts for this, https://github.com/topics/windows-11-debloat is a good start. Its definitely a more resource heavy OS compared to Mac or Linux, but its the only one that can run ALL software, since WSL2 is pretty much native Linux and works extremely well, even for ML with talking to the graphics cards as well as graphical linux apps since Windows has an X server (although first start is slow).
Linux wise, this is hard to quantify because depending on the laptop and distro, you can have different mileage. Generally, Linux Mint is super safe and will work with everything - the only tweaks you may have to do is hardware features (like fn+f keys for things like backlight). Manjaro is also very good these days.
MacOS is also fairly good for general use with features, but it gets in your way quite a bit with permissions, and tries really hard to force you to use Apple products. Also with Apple Silicon, Rosetta performance still varies quite a bit between software that is not native.
In general, if you want the most adaptable option, I would say that you get a Thinkpad Carbon. If you want something that feels like MacOS, Elementary OS linux distro is very close to that. If you just want max battery life, get a Mac.
Right click and drag brings up a context menu that allows an explicit choice.
Windows did not choose that approach only to be diferent, rather that is what everyone else outside Bell Labs was doing.
My guess would be Microsoft inherited device rooted filesystems from CP/M.
They could have transitioned to single root filesystems with NT in the early 1990s.
There are even those whose filesystem is based on a database model instead.
It came with Windows installed, as most non-Mac laptops do. I spent the first 2 hours letting Windows Update and the OEM's proprietary firmware downloader run. The laptop got so hot just installing shit that it began to burn my lap. The whole time, Windows was throwing ads in my face and shit I never asked for like stock tickers, the weather, etc in the taskbar.
So the shitshow comes to an end and I'm up to date on firmware. "Time for the real OS" I think. I install Linux. Installation goes off without a hitch. I boot it up and unfortunately, the laptop speakers and webcam just don't work. I sort of expected this, but it's a shame to see it happen. After researching it, the problems seem to be very close to the hardware and require reverse engineering. The speakers I could maybe do, the camera though? Not a chance.
I use MacOS daily for work, but not because I particularly like it. I started using it 3 years ago because I was curious about Apple silicon, but didn't want to buy one for personal use. My work let me choose one. I was immediately floored by how long the damn thing could go on battery, and it never got hot. I've heard nary a laptop fan for years until this week.
One downside is that I juggle Windows-style and Mac-style keyboard bindings daily and my muscle memory betrays me constantly.
The various laptop OEMs are gradually getting better about it but as a diehard Linux user, I've sadly noticed that there's nearly an inverse relationship between how well something works with Linux, and its aesthetics and build quality. This laptop for example? Nicest looking and feeling non-Apple laptop I've ever used, but has the worst hardware compatibility of any I've used. The common recommendation I see universally is to get a ThinkPad, but I just think they look disgusting. Call me shallow, I guess.
- Bloatware and pre-installed software
- Vulnerability to malware and viruses
- Disruptive updates and restarts
- Privacy concerns
- Performance slowdowns over time
- Ads (yes, fucking ads)
- Forces OneDrive
- Begs for OneDrive subscription
- Without email, no user account
Windows: Microsoft try too hard to make Win11 into shit. You got duo layer menu in right-click top bar, edge, settings, everywhere. Better stick with Win10.
Linux: You are not using supercomputer to forcast tomorrow's weather. You got better stuff to do besides debugging Linus desktop environment everyday. Skip it.
Can you go into more detail on this? I use the typical command-c/command-v, or the menu items all the time without touching the option key. What workflow are you using that needs this?
Sounds like a poor choice of Linux distro then. :(