Which is the better dev OS: macOS or Windows (10)

I'm considering switching from mac to windows, but have heard a lot of bad things about windows over time.

Is the Windows Shell a big problem? I heard that devs can now use a linux shell to interact with Windows, does this work well?

Is the trackpad really that much worse on Windows?

What about productivity apps? Is it similarly to android vs iOS, where android has very little good apps?

What would you say is the better platform for developing, and by how much?

Gautham

WSL works really well in general, it's basically a Linux inside windows. But it comes with major UX issues which you can get used to.

I stopped using it as it had very bad support for Docker containers and it caused way too many issues. In general mac or Linux is better for developers.

I wrote a blog about WSL a while back at https://hackernoon.com/windows-subsystem-for-linux-review-981aa7bfa43d but then left it due to docker issues.

0 Likes
Bruce Author

Have not used Docker yet and did not have been planning to. I guess I'll just try it out for 30 days or so (via Mac Bootcamp).

Another option I'm considering is having it a dual partition with Linux and Windows, but I'm kinda against that approach as the startup time of a computer can get pretty frustrating and long, especially with a lot of programs launching on start up.

0 Likes
Gautham

@bcye I don't think so. The startup should be fine. Dual booting is a very common practice.

But you end up often using one most of the time. Also there are so many flavours of Linux fun to try out.

0 Likes
Bruce Author

@gauthamzz Hmm, it always takes at least one to two minutes on my Mac to fully boot up, which is quite the hassle.

Another thing is resale value, Mac is really good in that aspect, I haven't heard much good about Windows machines in that aspect.

0 Likes
Micah Iverson

@bcye How many people actually end up reselling their computer anyway? I always just keep my old ones for my kids.

0 Likes
Carl Poppa πŸ›Έ

@micahiverson iirc Bruce is still in his teens? resell money might come in handy.

0 Likes
Bruce Author

@poppacalypse Yeah Im reselling all tech.

0 Likes
Micah Iverson

I think it kind of depends on what you plan to build and what technology. My twitter feed is full of people who love the new Linux capabilities in Windows, personally I haven't ever tried it.

I'm a C# guy, so I use Visual Studio 2019 most of the time on Windows 10 and it's still by far the best dev tool in the world as far as I'm concerned. But again, it depends on your tech stack.

I think if you are coming from a Mac it will take you a while to get comfortable on Windows, but IMO it's a more flexible platform. I have used both Mac and Windows and no matter how much I use a Mac I'm never able to get comfortable with it, I feel like apps never work consistently from a windowing experience.

If you go Windows, go all in, don't try to stick with how you are "used to doing it" as it will just make you mad. Use a MS account, Use Office, Use Chrome or Edge, setup Windows Hello if your device supports it, get a decent machine (don't by crappy hardware and then complain about a crappy experience). I have a Surface Book 2 and LOVE it, best computer I have ever owned hands down, plus I can transform it into a tablet if I want.

Also… Trackpads are fine on Windows if you buy a good machine, seems obvious. I mostly use a mouse though as I tend to do a lot of detail work when designing.

The only app I feel like I'm missing out on is Sketch (which is Mac only), but now that Figma Design is out I don't even care about Sketch anymore. Other than that, I have always been able to find the software I need.

With a good Windows device, you'll also get Touch, Voice, Ink, Mouse and Keyboard support, which is pretty cool.

0 Likes
Bruce Author

But it feels like Windows really isn't designed for Trackpad, or maybe I don't know any gestures (does Windows have Trackpad gestures?)

I'm already pretty deep into MS Ecosystem (GamePass, Office) so I guess thats good.

0 Likes
Micah Iverson

@bcye I'm not sure how it's not designed for a Trackpad, a trackpad is just a mouse pointer at the end of the day. Here are the gestures: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027871/windows-10-touchpad-gestures

0 Likes
Micah Iverson

@bcye And as I said, it's also got touchscreen, plus window snapping (which I use ALL the time), I use OneDrive to store all my personal files, which is cool because I can say which files I want to keep only online and which ones I want stored locally and online. So I don't ever have to worry about disk space because I can always just tell it to keep files only online and my local disk clears up. Plus, if I get a new computer, I can simply login to OneDrive and everything starts to sync up, it's fantastic.

0 Likes
Bruce Author

@micahiverson Hmm, maybe you need Windows Precision Drivers for this, I'm right now testing out Windows on my Mac (via Bootcamp) and I'm unable to use most of the gestures. Probably Apple just doesn't support them with Windows.

I agree OneDrive is pretty cool.

0 Likes
Mikolaj Kubera

My vote goes to Linux πŸ€—

0 Likes

This 100% Complete freedom and power to the user and zero corporate BS.

0 Likes

Please sign in to leave a comment.