Hey, folks,

My laptop broke the other day, and I need a replacement asap. But here’s the rub: I despise windows. I’ve been a full time fedora user on my main device for a decade now, and I run Ubuntu on my desktop that I rarely touch because it’s ooooold. I am not a techy person. At all. I’m an idiot, actually. I use Linux because it’s cheaper, it keeps my aging hardware alive longer, and because politically I align pretty well with the idea of FOSS. And because I absolutely hate windows. I don’t even like KDE, because it reminds me of windows. Cinnamon? Too much like windows! Lol. I love my workflow in gnome, I love that it’s shiny and pretty and looks nice. And for the most part, I’m a browser based user. I rarely have cause to do much outside of the browser, except for sail the seas for some audiobooks. Even my papers for school are written in Google docs.

But also, on my desktop or a secondary device, I don’t mind having to fiddle with things and get them working, I enjoy it. It makes me feel like I have actual tech skills when I absolutely do not. But on the device I use for school I just want something that works and I never have to think about. I feel like a traitor to the cause even considering it, but I think I want to get a used m1 air. I’ve never used a Mac before, though. I used an iPhone once, for about 10-15 minutes, and I hated it. But, like, of course I did. It was completely different, and incapable of doing the thing I wanted it to do.

How painful is the Linux to Mac transition? If I’m using an android phone, an Ubuntu desktop, and a MacBook, how awful is everything going to be to switch between devices? Am I going to regret this purchase, or, worse yet, become an apple fan boy and abandon my glorious FOSS devices forever?

Please assist

  • EntropyPure@lemmy.world
    9·
    5 days ago

    If there is a store near that has Macs on display, go check them out and try your most used workflows as best as you can. Even a used M1 Mac will run the newest macOS so that should be a good initial impression.

    Day to day tasks are no problem for any modern OS. Internet, Mail and the like. Look for the not so daily tasks to get a feel of the system and if it can do it a way you can arrange to.

    Interoperability between devices is best within the ecosystem, but applications like local send work cross platform and can replace something like Airdrop between Apple devices pretty well. If you have your documents and data on a self hosted system or something like Dropbox as well.

    I personally use both on my notebooks, and I always liked the Macs for pretty much just working. When having to troubleshoot and support windows machines at work all day, that is a big plus.

  • db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    6·
    5 days ago

    You can throw Fedora Asahi on the M1 Mac and it will run Gnome, a browser and most regular apps just fine (e.g. VLC, LibreOffice) but you will run into trouble with Steam and lots of other apps. Might be fine for your usecase and Asahi is easy to install. You also keep a small partition with macOS, just in case.

    If you want Apple hardware but full Linux (I get it) you could look for an even older intel based macbook, but beware to not get one with the T2 chip (they put that in from 2017 on or so) because that thing will break your will to exist when it comes to some drivers. Older macs though run most distros really well.

    I used to be a heavy macOS user for decades and also love Gnome because they are very similar and tick all the boxes for OS aesthetics

  • Viscacha@feddit.orgDeutsch
    6·
    5 days ago

    I did the same switch some time ago. As a tech guy, I sometimes miss the plethora of options to customise your experience in Linux, but as a busy dad, I am happy that I don’t need to worry about fixing stuff after updating.

    Go for a silicone mac (M1 and above) and I’m sure you won’t regret it - given you are fine with spending the occasional dollar for some cool software to polish your experience.

  • red_tomato@lemmy.world
    3·
    5 days ago

    Gnome is maybe closest to the Mac OS experience in the Linux world. If you prefer Gnome over the more Windows-like counterparts, then chances are that you’ll also like the Mac OS desktop environment as well.

    There will be some transition. Mac has some weird quirks, in particular with the window management (not sure if this has changed in the 5+ years since I used it). Simple things like maximizing the window isn’t super intuitive in Mac.

    Shouldn’t be too difficult to overcome if Mac is what you want.

    • MurrayL@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      I can’t say I’ve found maximising unintuitive, but there’s definitely an adjustment period to learning that the ‘close’ button only closes the window, not the app. Except sometimes it closes the app.

      • Mika@piefed.caEnglish
        1·
        5 days ago

        I mean hiding maximize button until you hold option key isn’t very intuitive. Double tap on the window header often works too, but you need to know about that as well.

  • mbirth 🇬🇧@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    My gateway drug was turning my HP laptop into a Hackintosh. However, as you say you’re “not a techy person”, you’ll probably want to buy a working Macbook - as you suggested.

    Best would be going to some Apple store and trying out the different models (the cheaper “Neo” and the normal “Air”) and sizes and see what feels okay for you. Once you have it, try to use the Safari browser where you can as other browsers might wreck the battery runtime. And remember: There’s a BSD underneath, so many commandline tools you know from the Linux world work there, too. (Make sure to check out Homebrew!)

    Posted from a 2020 M1 Macbook Pro.

  • alansuspect@aussie.zone
    1·
    5 days ago

    I enjoy tinkering with Linux but have used a Mac as my main machine for nearly 20 years.

    I also hate iOS (I use Android) and find it completely different to macos. If you like a nice, shiny, user-friendly Linux desktop then you’ll probably like macos. Also things like the terminal work the same and most settings are in a similar place.

    Get the best M Mac you can afford, more RAM is good but the os is designed well so you don’t get slowdown.

  • disorderly@lemmy.world
    31·
    5 days ago

    You haven’t really told us what you do with your system, so I wouldn’t expect substantive answers here.

    I don’t mind having to fiddle with things and get them working, I enjoy it. It makes me feel like I have actual tech skills when I absolutely do not. But on the device I use for school I just want something that works and I never have to think about.

    I had similar expectations when I got a Mac assigned by my work, and was frustrated to learn that 1) the system is a long shot from “always works”, and 2) that making it fit my existing workflows required much more time or a paid solution (for example, fixing mouse behavior required me to trial 4 apps before finding LinearMouse).

    I now have an approximation of my preferred environment, but it is honestly a major step down.

      • disorderly@lemmy.world
        4·
        5 days ago

        Acceleration on both cursor and scroll wheel; “natural scrolling” flag affects both touchpad and mouse, and can’t be set per device.

        • MurrayL@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          5 days ago

          It boggles my mind that the natural scrolling thing hasn’t been properly fixed yet. It’s such a simple feature and so incomprehensibly wonky without a third party app to fix it.

  • Horsey@lemmy.world
    1·
    5 days ago

    macOS with Linux for my gaming PCs here:

    macOS is a more mature ecosystem if you’re an iPhone user, but the KDE Connect ecosystem runs much better with an Android phone.

    Your main point about Linux support lasting longer than macOS is quite founded, but nowadays macOS support for new devices is 5+years. Recently, nvidia dropped support for their 10 year old pascale GPUs, so Linux won’t run on your devices forever, either. I think you’re safe to say Linux has longer support, but should you really be keeping hardware >5 years? That’s up to you, but I look to replace my PC about every 10, but now that I’m in a better place financially, I can see a 5 or 3 year cycle for me in the future, which macOS does support.

    macOS has certain software that keep me on it like bettertouchtool, PastePal, Alfred, etc. but if you’re not using something tied to macOS, you’re not missing anything.

    Framework’s 13 pro is the only Linux laptop that is in the same battery life camp as the ARM laptops, but you should hold out for the eventual 16 pro since the chip in the 13 lacks performance metrics of the M5 pro/max.

  • ZeroTwo@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    5 days ago

    I was in a similar situation as you. I have been running Linux for close to 10 years on my desktop. My PCs are 12+ years old and they were really starting to struggle for what I need them for.

    I just bought a new MacBook m5 13. To get a normal laptop right now with similar build quality/performance it’s almost twice the cost where I live so decided to give it a try.

    This is my first apple device, besides my work iphone which I absolute hate.

    Transition was super easy; if your coming from gnome maybe a day to get used to it. Some of the shortcuts you are used to are a bit different but didn’t take too long to get used to either maybe 2-3 days.

    If you are planning to mainly write on it, the MacBook keyboard is really amazing it’s probably one of my favorite parts about it.

    Easiest way to connect your devices for file transfer is Localsend. Works on all operating systems.