Anyone moved to MacOS from Linux and didn't regret it?

[serpro69]

Once more I find myself looking at MacBooks, simply because it seems like no one else is making good and reliable laptops for work anymore... And each time I look at a mac, I find myself cringing at the thought of having to abandon Linux and all (well... most ) that it entails, particularly: an open OS, free and open-source applications, no spyware that collects your data, etc etc etc (of course I won't miss occasional driver issues or similar things that sometimes work and then don't anymore for whatever reason... but tbh, Ubuntu and PopOS have been my daily drivers for a long time now, and I don't have much to complain about either way). Plus, I have an android phone, so not sure how good of friends Android and a Mac would be... I'm too used to just being able to e.g. plug my phone, and copy some files back and forth as needed.

What I like about macs is first and foremost good and stable hardware. But last time I tried MacOS (around 2017) - I gave it up after two weeks 
So what I'd like to hear is opinions of someone who's been using Linux for awhile, and then transitioned to mac, and managed to stay on a mac. Anything to be aware of in terms of software, usability, etc etc? Things that you kind of take for granted in Linux world that are a pain in mac? Well, anyone who can share some opinions on switching to a mac is welcome to do so.

Thanks!

[Aaron44126]

Hello, this is me...  Sort of.

 

I've written about this in other threads.  But I've been on macOS for a year and a half now and I love it.

 

My migration wasn't exactly from Linux though.  I wanted to dump Windows, and I spent a few months on Linux, determined that it wasn't cutting it for me, and then switched to macOS.  I would say that while I may not be an expert, I am definitely not a Linux novice; I use it a lot for work, I normally have a Linux VM running in the background for various odd jobs, and I have been a server admin in the past as well; but, my attempts to use it as my personal "daily driver" have never managed to stick.

 

I found Linux to be fine for games, but less so for productivity apps.  I found myself just spending a lot of time in a Windows VM to use specific apps, which seemed to defeat the purpose of the switch.  The Mac sort of flipped this, with almost all of the productivity apps that I use having Mac versions, but the gaming situation being not at good.  Still, on macOS, I've been able to run most games that I'd like to play either with native versions, an emulator, or CrossOver, and there are definitely interesting things happening in the run-Windows-games-on-Mac space (constant iteration from CodeWeavers, Apple getting in themselves with Game Porting Toolkit + D3DMetal, and new open-source projects like DXMT).

 

The other thing about Linux was, I was never able to find a desktop environment that I am fully happy with.  The closest was KDE Plasma, which offers a huge raft of options for customization, but is really rough around the edges in some ways, with longstanding bugs that are easily reproducible but the devs don't really seem interested in addressing (or maybe it is a manpower problem).  Other DEs either weren't customizable to the point where I felt comfortable using them, or just had some behaviors about them that I didn't like.  Now, macOS itself is also lacking as a desktop environment but there are very many well-supported third-party additions or "helper apps" out there, and I have used some of those to bridge the gap.  ...I did have to go through an adjustment period of getting used to new keyboard shortcuts and sort of the "Apple way" of doing things.

 

So, I did buy a Mac for the OS, and it wasn't until afterwards that I fully realized what a good laptop the MacBook Pro is (Apple Silicon models in particular) — solid build quality, best-in-class touchpad, best-in-class display, and you don't have to choose between "good battery life + no heat/noise" and "high performance" — you can get both in the same machine (just depending on what you are running).

 

Hardware-wise, there are definitely things that I wish were there that aren't, like a numeric keypad, and some degree of modularity (for storage/SSD in particular).  There are also some behaviors of macOS itself that I would prefer be different, but I have mostly been able to work around those with third-party apps or my own scripting, which has satisfied my own need to "tinker" with the system.  I also have a pretty Linux-like way of dealing with software installation/updates on the Mac, almost exclusively using Homebrew to manage third-party software installation and updates (both terminal stuff and GUI stuff).

 

Oh, and Asahi Linux is there if you want to be able to dual-boot into a real Linux environment.  You can run your regular Linux programs, and they've recently released a version of a GPU driver with Vulkan support, so it is possible to play Windows games using Steam+Proton.  Work is still in progress around getting the rough edges smoothed out... and currently it only works with M1 and M2 chips, though M3+M4 should be added in the near future.

 

You mentioned your phone.  I was previously an iPhone user before getting a Mac, so I don't know what the Android situation would be like.  I will say that the iPhone and the MacBook Pro get along very well together and I appreciate that as well.  Photos sync pretty quickly, being able to handle messaging on the Mac is nice as well, and files can be transferred to the phone without even having to plug it in.

 

If you have any specific areas of concern then I would be happy to share my experience.

 

[Edit]

Looking at what little bit of M4 Max performance numbers we have so far, whew, seems to be toppling even high-end desktop CPUs.  Should have more info available later this week once the systems ship.  https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/apples-m4-max-is-the-single-core-performance-king-in-geekbench-6-m4-max-beats-the-core-ultra-9-285k-and-ryzen-9-9950x

[serpro69]

Hey @Aaron44126 , thanks, really appreciate a detailed response.

  

On 10/30/2024 at 3:45 PM, Aaron44126 said:

Oh, and Asahi Linux is there if you want to be able to dual-boot into a real Linux environment.  You can run your regular Linux programs, and they've recently released a version of a GPU driver with Vulkan support, so it is possible to play Windows games using Steam+Proton.  Work is still in progress around getting the rough edges smoothed out... and currently it only works with M1 and M2 chips, though M3+M4 should be added in the near future.

This is what I'm really waiting for to be able to switch to MacBook w/o much thought. But like you mentioned, M3 and later chips aren't supported yet (and I haven't noticed much progress in that regard for the past year at least, probably more), so it's only usable on older macbooks, and even then things like thunderbolt are still not supported and not even being worked on.

 

On 10/30/2024 at 3:45 PM, Aaron44126 said:

Looking at what little bit of M4 Max performance numbers we have so far, whew, seems to be toppling even high-end desktop CPUs.  Should have more info available later this week once the systems ship.  https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/apples-m4-max-is-the-single-core-performance-king-in-geekbench-6-m4-max-beats-the-core-ultra-9-285k-and-ryzen-9-9950x

And this part is exactly what prompted my pondering about switching to Mac this time around  M4 Max seems really good... And I could probably overlook the hardware limitations you mention (ram, ssd upgradability) and even try MacOS again ...but then I looked at prices we have here - 6.3k USD for an M4 Max version with 64GB ram and 2tb ssd  
And having doubts about being able to adjust to MacOS as a daily driver, I'm not very willing to throw that much money at it 
I may bite the bullet if/when Asahi finally supports M3/M4 chips, just so I have something to fall back to if I find MacOS too annoying, but I don't think that will happen very soon.

 

Right now I've decided to wait for CES 2025, see what AMD has in stock for next year, and from there decide if there's anything worth getting, or just go with an M3 or M4 macbook.

[Aaron44126]

4 hours ago, serpro69 said:

This is what I'm really waiting for to be able to switch to MacBook w/o much thought. But like you mentioned, M3 and later chips aren't supported yet (and I haven't noticed much progress in that regard for the past year at least, probably more), so it's only usable on older macbooks, and even then things like thunderbolt are still not supported and not even being worked on.

 

I watched the video presentation when the Asahi Linux Vulkan drivers were announced (about a month ago?).  They've been working on that for a while now, but M3+M4 support is pretty much next on the hit list.  Hopefully sometime next year...

 

You're right.  The cost is not trivial.  But I don't regret what I paid... quite a laptop.  😄

I am already setting money aside for the next one (probably upgrading in 2028 ... M8, if they stick to the yearly cadence).

(You can also look at education pricing.  I understand that they're not very strict about who can get those...)

[serpro69]

On 11/17/2024 at 1:17 AM, Aaron44126 said:

(You can also look at education pricing.  I understand that they're not very strict about who can get those...)

Right... that could be an option. Thanks for the tip. Dunno why I haven't thought of that, especially since I usually check student prices with other manufacturers 

I can also try to get it through my employer and avoid the tax, but even then the price is... 
On the other hand, it should outlive any other potential purchase, so maybe it's worth it?

 

On 11/17/2024 at 1:17 AM, Aaron44126 said:

I watched the video presentation when the Asahi Linux Vulkan drivers were announced (about a month ago?).  They've been working on that for a while now, but M3+M4 support is pretty much next on the hit list.  Hopefully sometime next year...

Oh, really? That's interesting. I should take a closer look at this.