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Comment by hu3 | Hacker News Reader

> For $800 the M4 Air just seems like one of the best tech deals around.

Only if you don't mind macOS.

I understand the point you're making, but FWIW I run Windows and Linux under Parallels and it works great. Colima/Lima is excellent, too: https://github.com/abiosoft/colima

Windows on ARM performance is near native when run under macOS. `virtiofs` mounts aren't nearly as fast as native Linux filesystem access, but Colima/Lima can be very fast if you (for example) move build artifacts and dependency caches inside the VM.

There's also UTM, available free for download or you can make a donation to the devs by purchasing it from the App Store.

> I understand the point you're making, but FWIW I run Windows and Linux under Parallels and it works great.

See, that's where the MacOS shitshow begins: Parallels costs €189.99 and it looks like they are pushing towards subscriptions. I am not in the ecosystem, but Parallels is the only hypervisor I've ever seen recommended.

Another example is Little Snitch. Beloved and recommended Firewall. Just 59€! (IIRC, MacOS doesn't even respect user network configuration, when it comes to Apple services, e.g. bypassing VPN setups...)

Now, don't get me wrong, I am certain there are ways around it, but Apple people really need to introspect what it commonly means to run a frictionless MacOS. It's pretty ridiculous, especially coming from Linux.

I mean c'mon... paying for a firewall and hypervisor? Even running proprietary binaries for these kind of OS-level features seems moderately insane.

> Colima/Lima is excellent

Except when you need something like UDP ports, for example. I tried it for 2-3 weeks, but I always encountered similar issues. At the end I just started to use custom Alpine VMs with UTM, and run Docker inside them. All networking configured with pf.

And therein lies the problem. Apple has managed to push a hardware advantage into something that makes a difference.

I used to not, but it’s getting worse and worse.

Still better than all the alternatives for someone like me that has to straddle clients expecting MS Office, gives me a *nix out of the box, and can run logic, reaper , MainStage.

> gives me a *nix out of the box, and can run logic, reaper , MainStage.

Reaper has a native Linux client. Logic and MainStage... are you serious? :D

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