Part 3: Leaving Apple and becoming a PC Guy. While everyone else is in love with macOS Mojave, I'm loving Windows 10.
Part 3: Leaving Apple and becoming a PC Guy. While everyone else is in love with macOS Mojave, I'm loving Windows 10.
Well, after a good eight to ten years living on the Apple side of the fence, it's been a long time coming, switching over to Windows.
In that time, over that 10 years, Windows has caught up, Windows OEM PC makers have had a reboot, and Intel and Microsoft have pushed the game forward.
OEM brands like HP, Dell, and Lenovo have caught up with Apple in terms of design and features.
Microsoft itself has pushed the game forward in PC hardware with its super-successful Surface line of tablets and PCs.
Microsoft has also done wonders with Windows, dragging the laughable Windows Vista over hot coals and retooling it to become the very new Windows 10. Actually, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any Windows Vista code left in the current version of Windows 10. I'm sure Satya Nadella threw it all out, strangled it, and drowned it, as soon as he became CEO.
Even Intel has had a hand in redefining the PC space over the last five years, with innovations such as the "Compute Stick PC" and the "Intel NUC" range, culminating in the current Hades Canyon NUC.
In fact, the Hades Canyon NUC is exactly what the Apple Mac Mini (2018 refresh) should have been.
When my friends ask me which PC to buy....
As an IT guy, you always get that same question from your friends and family: "Which PC should I buy?"
Back in 2004, I would have suggested:
1. Lenovo
2. HP
3. Dell
4. Apple
In 2008, I would have suggested:
1. Apple
2. Don't bother even trying to buy a WIndows PC (Vista, Windows 8, Windows 8.1)
In 2015, I would have suggested:
1. Apple
2. Dell
3. HP.
4. Lenovo
Today, in November 2018, my suggestions to family and friends are:
1. HP
2. Dell or Lenovo
3. Apple, only if you've already got an iPhone and an iPad.
Close a Door, open a Window
Windows PCs have improved enormously in 2017 and 2018. I have a good feeling that 2019 and 2020 will be blockbuster years for Windows PCs, as Microsoft's partnerships with Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, and TSMC come to fruition.
Want proof?
Surface tablets do everything an iPad can do, and more
Surface Laptop and Surface Book do everything that a MacBook can do
HP's range of Spectre laptops match everything a MacBook can do, at a cheaper price point, and remain glamourous.
HP's range of desktops and All-in-Ones do everything an iMac can do, and everything a Mac Pro can do, and do it better, at a lower price, and just as glamourously.
The Intel HC NUC is everything the 2018 Mac Mini should have been, and more.
Honourable Mention
Honourable Mention goes to Lenovo, for its 2017 breakthrough success with the Lenovo Yoga laptop range and its watchband hinge, bringing the future to the masses in 2017 and 2018; and the late-2018 Lenovo Yoga C930, which trades in the watchband hinge for a better feature: a soundbar in the hinge!
Another honourable mention goes to ASUS, who, under the radar, released an iMac that runs Windows 10, that sadly had no marketing and no-one heard about: the ASUS Zen All-in-One PC.
Yet to Come:
Some time in November 2018, I'll be replacing my aging iPad Mini 2 with a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8" Android tablet. The current Apple iPad Mini 4 is far too expensive in comparison, and hasn't been updated in two years. It also missed out on a late-2018 update alongside the iPad Pro. The 11inch IPad Pro is not "mini" in screen size; and other Android tablets don't offer Samsung's build quality and software updates.
Yes, I will definitely miss the iTunes store, the iOS App Store, and Apple Music
I'm sure I'll get used to Google Play Store instead, and Samsung's Android apps.
Apple Music is now available on Android, so that continuity will be nice, although I'll have to compare prices with Google Play Music... although Google Play Music is set to be replaced by YouTube Music in 2019.
Farewell, Apple, designed in California.
I'm heading back to Redmond, where the Windows are open.
Until next time,
Xavier Zymantas
XYZtech
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