> Try installing a ton of 3rd party stuff, add a bunch of old software, expect it to work with any hardware you throw at it
But that's the thing: one the biggest value-adds of the mac ecosystem is that the hardware combinations are all well tested (or, from the point of view of an app/driver developer, they are heavily constrained). While it's not Microsoft's fault that they have to deal with a combinatorial explosion of drivers and it's not 3rd party vendors fault that they have to deal with a combinatorial explosion of hardware configurations, it's still a problem that leads to instability in the Windows ecosystem, users still have to face the instability, and it's still an argument in favor of using the Mac ecosystem if you value stability (outside of enterprise contexts -- we're in complete agreement there, OSX server is a shitshow). My personal anecdata is in a sibling post to yours.
For home use - you can get a MS Signature edition laptop for little more money than you pay for cheap PCs. Everything is stock Windows and you can expect that to work at least as well as OS X if not more. The problems start when you buy dodgy hardware loaded with ton of bloatware or crappy drivers - the signature edition PCs address that.
If you need a UNIX like system and can't live with Cygwin or native Windows tools then yes, having OS X laptop and hardware is the way to go. Admittedly the Mac hardware is still a bit nicer than anything in PC space but the trouble is Windows support is not very great (look up trouble about System Interrupts taking a ton of CPU on both Windows and Linux running on Mac laptops for instance.)
Thanks! That's good to know! After 3 or 4 tries, looks like Cunningham's Law pays off again (sorry).
> If you need a UNIX like system...
Yep, that's a big plus for me. A UNIX-like system with a decent terminal emulator and an IDE like Xcode makes my workflow so much easier. Probably enough to keep me in the mac ecosystem regardless.
Is Apple stuff is so well tested why does my Mavericks machine hang with just the cursor on a black screen for five minutes if I happen to move the mouse, or hit a key just as it starts to go to sleep.
Why does my daughters MBP frequently get very hot and the 'genius' in the Apple store tell us there's nothing wrong with it (in the most condescending way possible)
Apple stuff is just as buggy as Windows stuff (perhaps even more so)
Apple's quality has probably worsen in recent years, both software and Hardware, but as long as M$ dont build the software and hardware theselves, the likely hood of Apple Mac having a much better experience still holds. Try upgrading your Laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 8, worked? Try 8.1 and now Windows 10.
This is especially true on Laptop where no drivers update ever get released.
But that's the thing: one the biggest value-adds of the mac ecosystem is that the hardware combinations are all well tested (or, from the point of view of an app/driver developer, they are heavily constrained). While it's not Microsoft's fault that they have to deal with a combinatorial explosion of drivers and it's not 3rd party vendors fault that they have to deal with a combinatorial explosion of hardware configurations, it's still a problem that leads to instability in the Windows ecosystem, users still have to face the instability, and it's still an argument in favor of using the Mac ecosystem if you value stability (outside of enterprise contexts -- we're in complete agreement there, OSX server is a shitshow). My personal anecdata is in a sibling post to yours.