{"slug": "macos", "name": "macOS", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "Apple's Unix-based desktop operating system for Mac computers.", "recommenders": 41, "commenters": 146, "warners": 67, "score": -16.231, "rising": 13.13, "first": "2025-11-05", "latest": "2026-10-29", "why": "HN commenters like it as a dependable daily driver that mostly just works, built on a Unix core with good defaults and tight Apple ecosystem features.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 41, "neutral": 38, "compare": 2, "warn": 69}, "spark": [3, 4, 4, 0, 1, 3, 1, 3, 2, 4, 11, 5], "listed": true, "loved": ["Just works", "Daily driver"], "caveat": "Bugs", "short_quote": "Honestly, MacOS is great. I don't really understand the hate for it", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/macos/", "pricing": "free", "aliases": ["macOS", "Mac OS"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like it as a dependable daily driver that mostly just works", "cites": [{"id": 796789248, "item_id": 49799328, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799328", "by": "quietsegfault", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work.", "excerpt": "Red Hat had most employees running a custom corporate RHEL build or Fedora on Thinkpads prior to 2018 or so, and even then most employees moved to Mac as soon as they were allowed to do so. I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work. Poor battery life, awful HiDPI support, strange driver issues all contributed. Yes, I could fix them. I opened bugs and could talk to", "context": "former Red Hat employee", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795258976, "item_id": 49703686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703686", "by": "serbuvlad", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Overall, it's an absolute joy.", "excerpt": "I've recently switched to a Mac after years on Linux, basically due to my frustration with the way the Linux desktop is being developed and the lack of quality all around for that platform. Overall, it's an absolute joy. It just works extremely well. Like any new platform it has its fair share of quirks and inexplicable behavior. My two biggest pet peeves are magic interactions that are very useful, but I don't know ", "context": "recently switched from Linux", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 795457603, "item_id": 49716100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716100", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me?", "excerpt": "I mean every OS breaks I love Linux (first used it when I was 12yo in 1994), but I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me? The other thing is that even basic stuff like calendars, address books, etc. work many times better on macOS than the Linux desktop. For instance, last time I set up calendar sync in KOrganizer (Evolution-based CalDAV never worked well for me) about a year ago, it started triggeri", "context": "Linux user since 1994, Mac user since 2007", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 796839328, "item_id": 49802458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802458", "by": "Aurornis", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s what I choose for the daily driver", "excerpt": "> I don't care what people say; macOS is the only OS I've ever used that has never booted to a black/blue screen with relatively cryptic error after performing an upgrade. This happened to me once with a Mac upgrade! And it\u2019s still fewer times than something has happened to one of my Linux machines, by an order of magnitude. There are little annoyances with Macs and occasional frustrating problems, but after using th", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 791381040, "item_id": 49461315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49461315", "by": "EagnaIonat", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The operating system is transparent to what I needed to do.", "excerpt": "It's funny because I was the same as you. I hated Macs with a passion. I saw them as overpriced shiny things that weren't as good as a PC. Back in early 2000's I was commissioned to build an application that should also run on the Mac. I bought a second hand old Mac Mini. Within a couple of months I bought a brand new one, and since then I have been on Mac when it comes to non-gaming (even though it can do gaming). T", "context": "developer, uses Windows for gaming", "use_case": "non-gaming daily work", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "New Mac mini, featuring M6 and M5 Pro"}]}, {"text": ", built on a Unix core with good defaults and tight Apple ecosystem features.", "cites": [{"id": 802605408, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}, {"id": 800514209, "item_id": 50032138, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50032138", "by": "john_alan", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great", "excerpt": "Indeed. I just wonder if macOS will stop being UNIX like. That is, whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great. If that goes away it\u2019s no longer a viable alternative to Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 791215696, "item_id": 49450981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49450981", "by": "thewebguyd", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features", "excerpt": "> based on how much love OSX gets from some folks I can't speak for others, but my preference for macOS basically boils down to \"it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features\" I'm trading friction in some areas, for the removal of friction elsewhere. Plus macOS has little niceties like readline key bindings in every text field OOTB, pleasant fon", "context": "", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 792057713, "item_id": 49503607, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503607", "by": "dmix", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults", "excerpt": "> No need to use a whole distribution with 1000 other poor decisions made for you. I used Vim for a decade (and Linux for much of that time) and the constant tweaking and changing things drives you mad after a while. The more you invent it yourself the more it changes. This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults and simpler VIM-style bindings. Omarchy sounds like those popular vim con", "context": "used Vim for a decade", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root"}, {"id": 794471296, "item_id": 49654456, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654456", "by": "LoganDark", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac", "excerpt": "For me the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac, but the unified memory pool is a benefit too. I am still distraught about the gaming situation though.", "context": "Mac user", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thelio Mira AI Linux Workstation: 192 GB GPU Memory"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is persistent bugs, runaway background processes and declining software quality", "cites": [{"id": 804625472, "item_id": 50289092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289092", "by": "bschwindHN", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macos apparently couldn't render the liquid ass volume control and play the video smoothly at the same time", "excerpt": "That's funny. I wish they'd use their better performance to not have the system lag at basic rendering over time. Last week I was watching a youtube video, and every time I adjusted the OS volume, the video dropped several frames because macos apparently couldn't render the liquid ass volume control and play the video smoothly at the same time. A reboot fixed it, but it's just such amateur hour with things that have ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}, {"id": 797034240, "item_id": 49814640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814640", "by": "Geezus_42", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to.", "excerpt": "There's also the fact that I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to. Several of my co-workers have expressed the same issue, so it's not just me. Sometimes, no matter whether I use the context menu or ctrl+c, it just doesn't copy what I have highlighted and paste whatever the last thing I copied was instead.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795331584, "item_id": 49708224, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708224", "by": "uncle_kostya", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep", "excerpt": "For me search has been that way since the first MacOS 26.0 upgrade and apparently never fixed. But speaking of quality overall (outside of the search glitch) - I use dual 5k LG monitors with my work MacBook and can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep, then wake it up. Apparently a known issue for a few years, still not fixed.", "context": "uses dual 5k LG monitors with work MacBook", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27"}, {"id": 802031744, "item_id": 50126984, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126984", "by": "soulofmischief", "date": "2026-10-17", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23.", "excerpt": "I already have encountered dozens upon dozens of threads, dating back nearly a decade, complaining about duetexpertd. Even if it's meant to do background work, when it starts taking multiple entire cores to do this work, it is categorically not a background service. Personally I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23. My machine is running hot right now on flat surface ", "context": "macOS user since 2023", "use_case": "laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple ML Research: Muse Spark Open with MLX on Mac Studio"}, {"id": 798493393, "item_id": 49905837, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905837", "by": "port11", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it\u2019s not getting any better when it comes to zombie processed", "excerpt": "I don\u2019t think you\u2019re looking hard enough\u2026 I use iStat and I don\u2019t think a week goes by without being alerted to some process keeping a CPU core busy for half an hour. It would be reasonable for something sensible such as photo tagging or disk indexing. But the many background processes can get stuck, just look online for the flood of complaints. corespotlightd, for example, uses >80% CPU (of a core, I think) for long", "context": "macOS user since 2008", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11\u00bd"}, {"id": 786912272, "item_id": 49182017, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182017", "by": "rubyfan", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS has been a steady decline for many years", "excerpt": "> * And then there\u2019s the travesty that is Tahoe.* Liquid Glass has no place on the desktop (or the phone really). I migrated to Mac OS X from OpenBSD in like 2002 or so. MacOS has been a steady decline for many years, probably soon after the iPhone. Snow Leopard was probably the height of the MacOS experience. It\u2019s been lots of little things along the way but I agree Tahoe is an inflection point.", "context": "long-time Mac user since 2002", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "OpenBSD", "story": "\"Gravity is worth asking about.\""}, {"id": 784668928, "item_id": 49041808, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49041808", "by": "mancerayder", "date": "2026-07-24", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS lost everyone's trust by ruining the experience", "excerpt": "> We\u2019ve reached a point where an update to macOS \u2014 or to any app I rely on, really \u2014 is a source of dread rather than excitement. I now expect the new version to be worse. I actually relate to that. It used to be cool and exciting to update to see what new things are coming for free. I was just looking up what Fedora Workstation 45 might bring. Updates on phones, TV's, cars and non-Linux operating systems on PC's/lap", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nothing works and everyone is euphoric"}]}, {"text": ", with many saying the OS holds back Apple's excellent hardware.", "cites": [{"id": 804227666, "item_id": 50264229, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264229", "by": "I_am_tiberius", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad.", "excerpt": "I'm currently having an M2, but I just can't imagine buying an Apple laptop again. The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad. I used Arch Linux with KDE before, and it was just an experience 10 times better. If they would just support Linux out of the box...", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}, {"id": 791091521, "item_id": 49443220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443220", "by": "regexorcist", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware.", "excerpt": "Yeah for a lot of us macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware. My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever. It's a real shame that the newer M models can't run Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 791094816, "item_id": 49443426, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443426", "by": "abrookewood", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "find the OS to be annoying. Less annoying than Windows for sure, but I'd rather be running Linux.", "excerpt": "The M1 was genuinely a big step forward, but what has followed, not so much. I have an M5 Pro with 48GB of RAM and it is genuinely good ... but that's about it. I love the battery life, appreciate the hardware, but find the OS to be annoying. Less annoying than Windows for sure, but I'd rather be running Linux.", "context": "has an M5 Pro with 48GB RAM", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 790942737, "item_id": 49433921, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49433921", "by": "xiphias2", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the closed software ecosystem is terrible for taking advantage of it", "excerpt": "Apple still has the best hardware so I moved to it for the last few years, but the closed software ecosystem is terrible for taking advantage of it. I wasn't able to debug network errors (restartin my Mac worked), Metal was missing low level disassembly / debugging tools (there is some hard to use UI), but the worst thing was the inflexible windowing system. Even getting all the window handles on all screens/desktops", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 804150352, "item_id": 50259397, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50259397", "by": "timpera", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS", "excerpt": "I recently snagged a really good deal on a Macbook (very nice hardware!), but the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS (even though a few utilities can help bring some of Windows' features). I used to be able to completely boot into Windows on my Intel mac a few years ago, but Apple no longer supports it for some reason. It's a shame, especially since the ARM64 version of Windows 11 has gotten very good now.", "context": "recent MacBook owner", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Just works", "summary": "Switchers from Linux and Windows say it lets them get work done without constant OS maintenance.", "quotes": [{"id": 796789248, "item_id": 49799328, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799328", "by": "quietsegfault", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work.", "excerpt": "Red Hat had most employees running a custom corporate RHEL build or Fedora on Thinkpads prior to 2018 or so, and even then most employees moved to Mac as soon as they were allowed to do so. I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work. Poor battery life, awful HiDPI support, strange driver issues all contributed. Yes, I could fix them. I opened bugs and could talk to", "context": "former Red Hat employee", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795258976, "item_id": 49703686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703686", "by": "serbuvlad", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Overall, it's an absolute joy.", "excerpt": "I've recently switched to a Mac after years on Linux, basically due to my frustration with the way the Linux desktop is being developed and the lack of quality all around for that platform. Overall, it's an absolute joy. It just works extremely well. Like any new platform it has its fair share of quirks and inexplicable behavior. My two biggest pet peeves are magic interactions that are very useful, but I don't know ", "context": "recently switched from Linux", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 791381040, "item_id": 49461315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49461315", "by": "EagnaIonat", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The operating system is transparent to what I needed to do.", "excerpt": "It's funny because I was the same as you. I hated Macs with a passion. I saw them as overpriced shiny things that weren't as good as a PC. Back in early 2000's I was commissioned to build an application that should also run on the Mac. I bought a second hand old Mac Mini. Within a couple of months I bought a brand new one, and since then I have been on Mac when it comes to non-gaming (even though it can do gaming). T", "context": "developer, uses Windows for gaming", "use_case": "non-gaming daily work", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "New Mac mini, featuring M6 and M5 Pro"}]}, {"label": "Daily driver", "summary": "Long-time users pick it as their primary OS over Windows and Linux after using them side by side.", "quotes": [{"id": 796839328, "item_id": 49802458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802458", "by": "Aurornis", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s what I choose for the daily driver", "excerpt": "> I don't care what people say; macOS is the only OS I've ever used that has never booted to a black/blue screen with relatively cryptic error after performing an upgrade. This happened to me once with a Mac upgrade! And it\u2019s still fewer times than something has happened to one of my Linux machines, by an order of magnitude. There are little annoyances with Macs and occasional frustrating problems, but after using th", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795464338, "item_id": 49716521, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716521", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I will admit that I actually like macOS.", "excerpt": "I am a pretty die-hard NixOS cultist, but I will admit that I actually like macOS. I used macOS almost exclusively from 2020-2024, until I bought my Thinkpad that I have now, and I never really disliked the operating system (though I did have issues with that particular laptop because of the i9 CPU's propensity to thermal-throttle). Despite me preferring it, it is hard for me to say that desktop Linux is \"better\" in ", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 789999456, "item_id": 49374966, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49374966", "by": "pavel_lishin", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use OSX as my daily driver", "excerpt": "It's funny, I use OSX as my daily driver, and going over to Windows is painful - probably as painful as it is for OP to go from whatever they're using to OSX.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Browser De-Slop"}]}, {"label": "Unix workstation", "summary": "Valued as a *nix system with a BSD core and Homebrew that still runs commercial software.", "quotes": [{"id": 802605408, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}, {"id": 800514209, "item_id": 50032138, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50032138", "by": "john_alan", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great", "excerpt": "Indeed. I just wonder if macOS will stop being UNIX like. That is, whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great. If that goes away it\u2019s no longer a viable alternative to Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 791215696, "item_id": 49450981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49450981", "by": "thewebguyd", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features", "excerpt": "> based on how much love OSX gets from some folks I can't speak for others, but my preference for macOS basically boils down to \"it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features\" I'm trading friction in some areas, for the removal of friction elsewhere. Plus macOS has little niceties like readline key bindings in every text field OOTB, pleasant fon", "context": "", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}]}, {"label": "Ecosystem integration", "summary": "Universal Control, AirDrop, universal clipboard and the wider Apple ecosystem are reasons people stay.", "quotes": [{"id": 791215696, "item_id": 49450981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49450981", "by": "thewebguyd", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features", "excerpt": "> based on how much love OSX gets from some folks I can't speak for others, but my preference for macOS basically boils down to \"it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features\" I'm trading friction in some areas, for the removal of friction elsewhere. Plus macOS has little niceties like readline key bindings in every text field OOTB, pleasant fon", "context": "", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 794471296, "item_id": 49654456, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654456", "by": "LoganDark", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac", "excerpt": "For me the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac, but the unified memory pool is a benefit too. I am still distraught about the gaming situation though.", "context": "Mac user", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thelio Mira AI Linux Workstation: 192 GB GPU Memory"}]}, {"label": "Quality apps", "summary": "Built-in apps such as calendars, contacts, Music and Terminal are called better than desktop Linux equivalents.", "quotes": [{"id": 795457603, "item_id": 49716100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716100", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me?", "excerpt": "I mean every OS breaks I love Linux (first used it when I was 12yo in 1994), but I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me? The other thing is that even basic stuff like calendars, address books, etc. work many times better on macOS than the Linux desktop. For instance, last time I set up calendar sync in KOrganizer (Evolution-based CalDAV never worked well for me) about a year ago, it started triggeri", "context": "Linux user since 1994, Mac user since 2007", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 802605408, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}]}, {"label": "Good defaults", "summary": "Some prefer it because it needs less tweaking than a customized Linux setup.", "quotes": [{"id": 792057713, "item_id": 49503607, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503607", "by": "dmix", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults", "excerpt": "> No need to use a whole distribution with 1000 other poor decisions made for you. I used Vim for a decade (and Linux for much of that time) and the constant tweaking and changing things drives you mad after a while. The more you invent it yourself the more it changes. This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults and simpler VIM-style bindings. Omarchy sounds like those popular vim con", "context": "used Vim for a decade", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root"}, {"id": 795464338, "item_id": 49716521, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716521", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I will admit that I actually like macOS.", "excerpt": "I am a pretty die-hard NixOS cultist, but I will admit that I actually like macOS. I used macOS almost exclusively from 2020-2024, until I bought my Thinkpad that I have now, and I never really disliked the operating system (though I did have issues with that particular laptop because of the i9 CPU's propensity to thermal-throttle). Despite me preferring it, it is hard for me to say that desktop Linux is \"better\" in ", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Bugs", "summary": "Users report broken clipboard, display crashes, kernel panics, freezes and dropped video frames.", "quotes": [{"id": 797034240, "item_id": 49814640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814640", "by": "Geezus_42", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to.", "excerpt": "There's also the fact that I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to. Several of my co-workers have expressed the same issue, so it's not just me. Sometimes, no matter whether I use the context menu or ctrl+c, it just doesn't copy what I have highlighted and paste whatever the last thing I copied was instead.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795331584, "item_id": 49708224, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708224", "by": "uncle_kostya", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep", "excerpt": "For me search has been that way since the first MacOS 26.0 upgrade and apparently never fixed. But speaking of quality overall (outside of the search glitch) - I use dual 5k LG monitors with my work MacBook and can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep, then wake it up. Apparently a known issue for a few years, still not fixed.", "context": "uses dual 5k LG monitors with work MacBook", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27"}, {"id": 795462944, "item_id": 49716434, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716434", "by": "plqbfbv", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I managed to have it panic multiple times over the last 8y", "excerpt": "> but I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me? I guess if you use it for personal stuff it's as close as it gets to unbreakable. My father in law is also very happy with it. I use it for work and I managed to have it panic multiple times over the last 8y besides the death by a thousand papercuts that the UI and *nix subsystem are. I can't wait for the day that proper Linux laptops get sanctioned in t", "context": "uses it for work", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}]}, {"label": "Unintuitive UI", "summary": "Several users find the interface confusing, infuriating or inconsistent, especially when coming from Linux or Windows.", "quotes": [{"id": 796859217, "item_id": 49803701, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803701", "by": "Andrex", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have tried a recent Mac, and the system isn't intuitive at all.", "excerpt": "> I have tried a recent Mac, and the system isn't intuitive at all. The first time I used GNOME, it was a breeze. Not the same with the MacBook system. I thought I was the only one. Maybe it's because I started on Windows and Gnome \"feels\" closer? Hard to quantify. Like they're US and Britain, while macOS is China.", "context": "started on Windows", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796792640, "item_id": 49799540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799540", "by": "jonathanstrange", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I find the user interface infuriating and can't get around it", "excerpt": "I can't speak for OP but there can be many reasons. For example, I'm using a Macbook Air for development purposes, it's essentially dumb compilation/notarization machine. I don't use it for anything else because I find the user interface infuriating and can't get around it (which is weird because I used to be a Mac developer but IMHO the UI has gotten much less practical).", "context": "former Mac developer", "use_case": "compilation/notarization machine", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 793439792, "item_id": 49589987, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49589987", "by": "SwellJoe", "date": "2026-09-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I genuinely hate macOS. Every time I use it, I'm surprised by some weird thing about it", "excerpt": "My most recent laptop purchase was a Macbook Pro, because the price/performance is just so lopsided with the price of memory pushing everything up to Apple-like prices, it didn't make sense to buy an x86 laptop. But, coming from Linux it's a miserable user experience. I genuinely hate macOS. Every time I use it, I'm surprised by some weird thing about it, some limitation, some annoyance, some weird bug. Installing so", "context": "coming from Linux", "use_case": "laptop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Finder is so frustrating and has been since day one"}]}, {"label": "Declining quality", "summary": "Long-time users say macOS has steadily declined and updates are now something to dread.", "quotes": [{"id": 786912272, "item_id": 49182017, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182017", "by": "rubyfan", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS has been a steady decline for many years", "excerpt": "> * And then there\u2019s the travesty that is Tahoe.* Liquid Glass has no place on the desktop (or the phone really). I migrated to Mac OS X from OpenBSD in like 2002 or so. MacOS has been a steady decline for many years, probably soon after the iPhone. Snow Leopard was probably the height of the MacOS experience. It\u2019s been lots of little things along the way but I agree Tahoe is an inflection point.", "context": "long-time Mac user since 2002", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "OpenBSD", "story": "\"Gravity is worth asking about.\""}, {"id": 784668928, "item_id": 49041808, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49041808", "by": "mancerayder", "date": "2026-07-24", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS lost everyone's trust by ruining the experience", "excerpt": "> We\u2019ve reached a point where an update to macOS \u2014 or to any app I rely on, really \u2014 is a source of dread rather than excitement. I now expect the new version to be worse. I actually relate to that. It used to be cool and exciting to update to see what new things are coming for free. I was just looking up what Fedora Workstation 45 might bring. Updates on phones, TV's, cars and non-Linux operating systems on PC's/lap", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nothing works and everyone is euphoric"}, {"id": 798326000, "item_id": 49895375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49895375", "by": "Finnucane", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The golden rule is becoming, never update.", "excerpt": "The golden rule is becoming, never update. But then, I used Snow Leopard until El Capitan, and could no longer get software updates I needed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Golden Gate Is a Buggy Mess"}]}, {"label": "Software lags hardware", "summary": "Many praise the Mac hardware but say the OS gets in the way and wish they could run Linux instead.", "quotes": [{"id": 804227666, "item_id": 50264229, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264229", "by": "I_am_tiberius", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad.", "excerpt": "I'm currently having an M2, but I just can't imagine buying an Apple laptop again. The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad. I used Arch Linux with KDE before, and it was just an experience 10 times better. If they would just support Linux out of the box...", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}, {"id": 791091521, "item_id": 49443220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443220", "by": "regexorcist", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware.", "excerpt": "Yeah for a lot of us macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware. My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever. It's a real shame that the newer M models can't run Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 804150352, "item_id": 50259397, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50259397", "by": "timpera", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS", "excerpt": "I recently snagged a really good deal on a Macbook (very nice hardware!), but the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS (even though a few utilities can help bring some of Windows' features). I used to be able to completely boot into Windows on my Intel mac a few years ago, but Apple no longer supports it for some reason. It's a shame, especially since the ARM64 version of Windows 11 has gotten very good now.", "context": "recent MacBook owner", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}]}, {"label": "Background processes", "summary": "System daemons like corespotlightd and duetexpertd can peg CPU cores for long periods.", "quotes": [{"id": 802031744, "item_id": 50126984, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126984", "by": "soulofmischief", "date": "2026-10-17", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23.", "excerpt": "I already have encountered dozens upon dozens of threads, dating back nearly a decade, complaining about duetexpertd. Even if it's meant to do background work, when it starts taking multiple entire cores to do this work, it is categorically not a background service. Personally I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23. My machine is running hot right now on flat surface ", "context": "macOS user since 2023", "use_case": "laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple ML Research: Muse Spark Open with MLX on Mac Studio"}, {"id": 798493393, "item_id": 49905837, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905837", "by": "port11", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it\u2019s not getting any better when it comes to zombie processed", "excerpt": "I don\u2019t think you\u2019re looking hard enough\u2026 I use iStat and I don\u2019t think a week goes by without being alerted to some process keeping a CPU core busy for half an hour. It would be reasonable for something sensible such as photo tagging or disk indexing. But the many background processes can get stuck, just look online for the flood of complaints. corespotlightd, for example, uses >80% CPU (of a core, I think) for long", "context": "macOS user since 2008", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11\u00bd"}, {"id": 796780608, "item_id": 49798788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49798788", "by": "whstl", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macOS has been on a downward trend since Apple started pushing \"Services\", basically iCloud.", "excerpt": "macOS has been on a downward trend since Apple started pushing \"Services\", basically iCloud. Now it's as bad as Windows when I last used Windows. It's not just privacy violations. Those are the tip of the iceberg. I used to open the Activity Monitor and see a couple pages of processes. Now it's in the hundreds. It's stuff that was badly done even before AI. The industry has been drunk on SaaS for way too long, and wi", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}]}, {"label": "Old hardware support", "summary": "Older Macs lose support for new macOS versions and the software users need.", "quotes": [{"id": 796828000, "item_id": 49801750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801750", "by": "Jzush", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS in particular doesn't \"just work\" anymore. In fact it's downright hostile to doing mundane things.", "excerpt": "I find the \"Just Works\" part of MacOS to be disingenuous. I use old hardware. You could call me a pack rat but I dislike getting rid of old, working technology. Unless you're on the bleeding edge of Apple technology. MacOS in particular doesn't \"just work\" anymore. In fact it's downright hostile to doing mundane things. I have an old Macbook Air that's no longer supported by the latest MacOS. Trying to do anything on", "context": "uses old hardware", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 802379632, "item_id": 50148727, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50148727", "by": "weaksauce", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "macos is great and the best software they've made", "excerpt": "I grew up on apple computers and switched to windows and pcs for gaming reasons. when the iphone era came i switched back to them for my work computer and daily driver. my ideology soured when they deprecated perfectly good computers and phones from being able to run more recent software due to a few structural issues. Don't have that with linux generally and i don't want to be beholden to some update cycle to appeas", "context": "grew up on Apple, switched to Windows for gaming, back to Apple, now favors Linux", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "What the heck is /pkg?"}, {"id": 798326000, "item_id": 49895375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49895375", "by": "Finnucane", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The golden rule is becoming, never update.", "excerpt": "The golden rule is becoming, never update. But then, I used Snow Leopard until El Capitan, and could no longer get software updates I needed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Golden Gate Is a Buggy Mess"}]}], "who": [{"by": "rbanffy", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "date": "2026-10-20"}, {"by": "weaksauce", "context": "grew up on Apple, switched to Windows for gaming, back to Apple, now favors Linux", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50148727", "date": "2026-10-19"}, {"by": "contingencies", "context": "frequent business travel", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50115410", "date": "2026-10-16"}, {"by": "moses-palmer", "context": "long-time Linux user, on macOS at work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50018120", "date": "2026-10-09"}, {"by": "ben_w", "context": "limits main device to trusted software", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49990271", "date": "2026-10-07"}, {"by": "joshstrange", "context": "developer who likes building things", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49909044", "date": "2026-09-30"}, {"by": "mahboi", "context": "long-time Mac user since OS 8", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49811306", "date": "2026-09-23"}, {"by": "quietsegfault", "context": "former Red Hat employee", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799328", "date": "2026-09-22"}, {"by": "microtonal", "context": "Linux user since 1994, Mac user since 2007", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716100", "date": "2026-09-15"}, {"by": "serbuvlad", "context": "recently switched from Linux", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703686", "date": "2026-09-14"}, {"by": "LoganDark", "context": "Mac user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654456", "date": "2026-09-11"}, {"by": "dmix", "context": "used Vim for a decade", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503607", "date": "2026-08-30"}], "tags": ["for Unix developers", "for Windows switchers", "for Apple ecosystem users", "for corporate workstations"], "use_cases": ["desktop os", "daily driver", "daily os", "laptop os", "work laptop", "daily driver os"], "compared": [{"slug": "windows", "name": "Windows", "co": 67, "switched_from": 15, "switched_to": 4}, {"slug": "linux", "name": "Linux", "co": 52, "switched_from": 7, "switched_to": 3}, {"slug": "ubuntu", "name": "Ubuntu", "co": 13, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 5}, {"slug": "omarchy", "name": "Omarchy", "co": 8, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 9}, {"slug": "asahi-linux", "name": "Asahi Linux", "co": 9, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 3}, {"slug": "gentoo", "name": "Gentoo", "co": 4, "switched_from": 3, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "kde", "name": "KDE", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 3}, {"slug": "arch-linux", "name": "Arch Linux", "co": 10, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49797982", "title": "I said no and Apple said yes", "mentions": 10}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49433292", "title": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra", "mentions": 7}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49715463", "title": "Leaving Linux", "mentions": 6}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49105978", "title": "\"Gravity is worth asking about.\"", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801939", "title": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50031653", "title": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry", "mentions": 3}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"warn": 2, "recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 1}, "2025-12": {"warn": 2, "recommend": 4}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3, "warn": 6}, "2026-02": {"warn": 1}, "2026-03": {"warn": 4, "neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 3, "warn": 1}, "2026-05": {"warn": 5, "neutral": 5, "recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"warn": 6, "recommend": 3, "neutral": 3}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2, "warn": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 6, "warn": 13, "compare": 1, "recommend": 4}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 5, "warn": 17, "recommend": 11}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 10, "warn": 9, "recommend": 5}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804625472, "item_id": 50289092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289092", "by": "bschwindHN", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macos apparently couldn't render the liquid ass volume control and play the video smoothly at the same time", "excerpt": "That's funny. I wish they'd use their better performance to not have the system lag at basic rendering over time. Last week I was watching a youtube video, and every time I adjusted the OS volume, the video dropped several frames because macos apparently couldn't render the liquid ass volume control and play the video smoothly at the same time. A reboot fixed it, but it's just such amateur hour with things that have ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch"}, {"id": 804537665, "item_id": 50283604, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283604", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-10-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "all 3 operating systems are relatively competent", "excerpt": "I use a macOS for work daily. My last laptop was an M2 MacBook Pro and I\u2019ve now moved over to Linux on Framework 13 then the 13 Pro when that came out. I switched because didn\u2019t like Liquid Glass, I didn\u2019t like the Photos app redesign for macOS 26, and I liked what Framework was doing. I also wanted more storage and of course that means I was going laptop shopping with the soldered storage of the Mac. Now I\u2019d say App", "context": "", "use_case": "work laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Get Ready for Touch on Mac"}, {"id": 804360721, "item_id": 50272545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50272545", "by": "petcat", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Linux and I use macOS.", "excerpt": "Well that \"screw up\" was so egregious that it should take at least a decade to regain any trust. I don't really care one way or another. I use Linux and I use macOS. But I'm not naive to think the security is any better in one or the other.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple's git still trusts the compromised eMudhra certificates"}, {"id": 804227666, "item_id": 50264229, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264229", "by": "I_am_tiberius", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad.", "excerpt": "I'm currently having an M2, but I just can't imagine buying an Apple laptop again. The hardware is great, but the sofware is just unbearably bad. I used Arch Linux with KDE before, and it was just an experience 10 times better. If they would just support Linux out of the box...", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}, {"id": 804150352, "item_id": 50259397, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50259397", "by": "timpera", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS", "excerpt": "I recently snagged a really good deal on a Macbook (very nice hardware!), but the more I use it, the more I struggle with macOS (even though a few utilities can help bring some of Windows' features). I used to be able to completely boot into Windows on my Intel mac a few years ago, but Apple no longer supports it for some reason. It's a shame, especially since the ARM64 version of Windows 11 has gotten very good now.", "context": "recent MacBook owner", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "New 14\u2011inch MacBook Pro with M6"}, {"id": 804126241, "item_id": 50257890, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50257890", "by": "qubex", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I jumped ship in 2003 and switched to MacOS X before XP SP2 was released.", "excerpt": "I first encountered NT 4.0 at age fifteen in 1996 and realised what a huge jump it was compared to the dOS/Windows 3.x/Windows 9x lineage. I went on to use it for the rest of the nineties and I was a beta tester for NT 5.0 (which later became Windows 2000). I jumped ship in 2003 and switched to MacOS X before XP SP2 was released. I feel a strange sense of familiarity but also alienation whenever I have to use a Windo", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop operating system", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "LiberNT - A free NT operating system"}, {"id": 802662513, "item_id": 50166407, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50166407", "by": "bemtevi", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'm getting tired of MacOS", "excerpt": "It would be cool if we could run this thing on Apple Silicon macs. I'm getting tired of MacOS and would love an alternative to Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenBSD 8.0"}, {"id": 802605408, "item_id": 50162838, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50162838", "by": "rbanffy", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS", "excerpt": "I have been using corporate issue Macs for more than a decade now and, while the software isn\u2019t perfect, it\u2019s a pretty good Unix that leaves nothing to be desired as a workstation OS. It\u2019s a bit rough around the edges, with some apps getting closer in feature set to their mobile counterparts (and thus less flexible), but they are still good compared to their Windows and Unix competitors. Apple Music is still a decent", "context": "uses corporate-issued Macs for over a decade", "use_case": "workstation OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 15.8.2 Breaks OpenGL"}, {"id": 802379632, "item_id": 50148727, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50148727", "by": "weaksauce", "date": "2026-10-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "macos is great and the best software they've made", "excerpt": "I grew up on apple computers and switched to windows and pcs for gaming reasons. when the iphone era came i switched back to them for my work computer and daily driver. my ideology soured when they deprecated perfectly good computers and phones from being able to run more recent software due to a few structural issues. Don't have that with linux generally and i don't want to be beholden to some update cycle to appeas", "context": "grew up on Apple, switched to Windows for gaming, back to Apple, now favors Linux", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "What the heck is /pkg?"}, {"id": 802323760, "item_id": 50145235, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50145235", "by": "ktallett", "date": "2026-10-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "My niche is more Mac Os System 7 -OS 9 and Be OS", "excerpt": "He sounds great! I love these characters that you find in programming. My niche is more Mac Os System 7 -OS 9 and Be OS but the same sort of people exist in those realms too.", "context": "", "use_case": "retro OS interest", "switched_from": "", "story": "PalmOS Lemmings"}, {"id": 802031744, "item_id": 50126984, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126984", "by": "soulofmischief", "date": "2026-10-17", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23.", "excerpt": "I already have encountered dozens upon dozens of threads, dating back nearly a decade, complaining about duetexpertd. Even if it's meant to do background work, when it starts taking multiple entire cores to do this work, it is categorically not a background service. Personally I have seen the situation get massively worse since I entered the macOS ecosystem in '23. My machine is running hot right now on flat surface ", "context": "macOS user since 2023", "use_case": "laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple ML Research: Muse Spark Open with MLX on Mac Studio"}, {"id": 801868066, "item_id": 50116754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50116754", "by": "raddan", "date": "2026-10-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I decided that MacOS X wasn\u2019t so bad after all after that.", "excerpt": "This is also why I stopped using Gentoo. I used it regularly from 2004-2005 (which I admit was a very long time ago now) on my graphite G4, because support was very good for PowerPC. But then one day emerge suggested I update glibc. I don\u2019t know if I botched the update or if it really was suggested in error, but I was just starting my studies in CS so I did not know what that particular \u201clibrary\u201d did and said yes. Th", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Gentoo", "story": "Last rites for Gentoo's Chromium package"}, {"id": 801846561, "item_id": 50115410, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50115410", "by": "contingencies", "date": "2026-10-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "These days I'm on OSX mostly because of the frequency of business trips", "excerpt": "I used it on an off as my daily machine for around 15-20 years I think. It is fast in terms of execution-on-hardware speed, and genuinely puts you in control. For a certain kind of user this is more important than anything. These days I'm on OSX mostly because of the frequency of business trips meant I needed something small and portable a few years ago, and now the hardware is so much better than what you can get fo", "context": "frequent business travel", "use_case": "portable daily machine", "switched_from": "Gentoo", "story": "Last rites for Gentoo's Chromium package"}, {"id": 801427986, "item_id": 50089249, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089249", "by": "user43928", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I suspect macOS is at fault. Apple does not seem to care about getting basic functionality right.", "excerpt": "I think PassKeys are great. On my MacBook with the latest macOS I still can't use them. I use Brave and 1Password. Clicking the Use Passkey button typically results in some Chrome Bluetooth permission dialog rather than accessing my PassKeys. I tried to look into this once or twice with no success. I suspect macOS is at fault. Apple does not seem to care about getting basic functionality right. To this day Universal ", "context": "MacBook user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Passkeys are not a trap"}, {"id": 800609456, "item_id": 50038091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50038091", "by": "mingus88", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use them both and my life is good", "excerpt": "You may be interested to learn that Apple does in fact have servers internally. https://wccftech.com/apples-private-cloud-compute-server-m5-chips-leaked/ I don\u2019t think it makes business sense for them to mass produce these for a consumer market but a data center of M5 chips sounds amazing for the workloads they\u2019re running. I don\u2019t think the open source model will ever make an Apple quality UI because that\u2019s the resul", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 800600225, "item_id": 50037514, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50037514", "by": "hollerith", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "doesn't MacOS sandbox most apps?", "excerpt": "Googlebooks, which start shipping this month, will run a fork of Android 17, which sandboxes every app. Also, some people use an iPad Pro connected to a USB hub connected to a monitor, keyboard, etc, as their daily driver. Also, doesn't MacOS sandbox most apps?", "context": "", "use_case": "app sandboxing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Telegram Desktop vulnerability allowed any user's file to be stolen"}, {"id": 800515681, "item_id": 50032230, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50032230", "by": "sdcfgy", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Very irritating platform to work on.", "excerpt": "It's distinctly problematic there unfortunately. Particularly the moment you add any UI toolkits to it. I've had so many problems with stuff that uses Qt because Qt takes a while to catch up with things Apple broke inside their Cocoa internals. Very irritating platform to work on. Edit: love how I get downvoted for facts?! They literally broke Cocoa so it was throwing hopeless useless exceptions at the bottom of the ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 800514209, "item_id": 50032138, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50032138", "by": "john_alan", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great", "excerpt": "Indeed. I just wonder if macOS will stop being UNIX like. That is, whilst it still has home brew and a BSD core it\u2019s great. If that goes away it\u2019s no longer a viable alternative to Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 800289921, "item_id": 50018120, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50018120", "by": "moses-palmer", "date": "2026-10-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "at my current job, that was not an option, so I'm on macOS.", "excerpt": "I have been using Linux / GNOME as my primary environment for the last 20 years, but at my current job, that was not an option, so I'm on macOS. I tried for a week to get used to the unfamiliar key bindings for text input, but then I gave up\u2014I'm a vim user after all!\u2014and found a system setting to use the bindings I am more familiar with. This was picked up by many applications, but notably _not_ by the Microsoft suit", "context": "long-time Linux user, on macOS at work", "use_case": "work operating system", "switched_from": "GNOME", "story": "Keyboard differences between Windows and Macs"}, {"id": 799844337, "item_id": 49990271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49990271", "by": "ben_w", "date": "2026-10-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my main device is limited to (somewhat) trusted software: MacOS, Chrome", "excerpt": "For me, my main device is limited to (somewhat) trusted software: MacOS, Chrome, a few well-known brands like BBEdit. All the \"fun\" (untrusted) stuff on that machine is behind the sandboxing of a browser and the OS itself. Anything that needs local permission is on a separate laptop which is only got one account: Claude. Not even signed in to Apple (nor any browser) on that, despite it being a Mac.", "context": "limits main device to trusted software", "use_case": "main operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you check desktop apps for malicious code?"}, {"id": 799483009, "item_id": 49967688, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49967688", "by": "w10-1", "date": "2026-10-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm glad Apple stuff mostly just works", "excerpt": "To read Ben is to glimpse the AI divide: he's honestly and emphatically choosing based on whether it makes it easier for him to use his AI agents, even if that means ditching Apple for the Zuckerberg's melee. It's that important to his personal productivity. AI-native product streams will separate from what came before, as will the people who master them. That said, I disagree on Apple: while the UI can be perfect, i", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple and a hacker's future"}, {"id": 799338338, "item_id": 49958646, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49958646", "by": "ozgrakkurt", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "warn", "quote": "You can't even see the update download speed or progress percentage on MacOS, and have to approve 3 times to run a downloaded program", "excerpt": "Recently switched to KDE on a linux laptop (600 USD lenovo) and stopped using my macbook (m1 16\" pro). Speakers, touchpad and battery life are inferior. Speakers are OK after installing EasyEffects and I don't use the touchpad while programming. And battery life is close enough Cachyos with KDE is 10x better than MacOS. So it doesn't make sense to use macbooks for programming anymore IMO. You can't even see the updat", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 and get its disk space back"}, {"id": 799326880, "item_id": 49957930, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49957930", "by": "neuroelectron", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Not a lot of good reasons to upgrade to 27.", "excerpt": "Not a lot of good reasons to upgrade to 27. They removed Rosetta and you have to reinstall that if you want it. So is MacOS turning into something that more regular people are going to have to maintain in the future or end up with something like Windows 11? I switched to MacOS 3 years ago because of Microsoft and the writing on the wall seems to say I got another year left before I'm forced into Linux. Because if I h", "context": "switched to macOS 3 years ago", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Turn off Apple Intelligence on macOS 27 and get its disk space back"}, {"id": 798821745, "item_id": 49926359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49926359", "by": "newswangerd", "date": "2026-10-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "MacOS is my daily driver", "excerpt": "Windows takes backwards compatibility very seriously, so I\u2019ve never run into issues with new versions of windows. I haven\u2019t started Linux development yet so I have no idea how that will be. At any rate, MacOS is my daily driver so updating to a buggy version of windows or Linux wouldn\u2019t be as disruptive for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 is so buggy"}, {"id": 798544704, "item_id": 49909044, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49909044", "by": "joshstrange", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "after a while I realized that was a good thing", "excerpt": "> But it makes me wonder: what if what we loved about this job was never only the code? This exactly. Look, I \"love\" code but only because of what it allows me to do and there is plenty of code/coding that I don't love. Not to be too hippy-dippy but I'm a builder, I like to build things. Build things for myself, build things for others. The code was _always_ a means to an end. Sure, it was cool I had this skill that ", "context": "developer who likes building things", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "The last time my family was replaced by technology"}, {"id": 798493393, "item_id": 49905837, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905837", "by": "port11", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it\u2019s not getting any better when it comes to zombie processed", "excerpt": "I don\u2019t think you\u2019re looking hard enough\u2026 I use iStat and I don\u2019t think a week goes by without being alerted to some process keeping a CPU core busy for half an hour. It would be reasonable for something sensible such as photo tagging or disk indexing. But the many background processes can get stuck, just look online for the flood of complaints. corespotlightd, for example, uses >80% CPU (of a core, I think) for long", "context": "macOS user since 2008", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11\u00bd"}, {"id": 798326000, "item_id": 49895375, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49895375", "by": "Finnucane", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The golden rule is becoming, never update.", "excerpt": "The golden rule is becoming, never update. But then, I used Snow Leopard until El Capitan, and could no longer get software updates I needed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Golden Gate Is a Buggy Mess"}, {"id": 798126256, "item_id": 49882891, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49882891", "by": "reaperducer", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "now macOS is like Windows -- You can be typing a document in a word processor, and then suddenly for no reason you're typing it into a browser", "excerpt": "Same app or different, doesn't matter, there's always something trying to grab attention on a Windows desktop One of the things that most impressed me when I switched from Windows to OSX was that OSX prohibited programs from stealing focus. Sadly, that prohibition ended maybe five versions ago, and now macOS is like Windows -- You can be typing a document in a word processor, and then suddenly for no reason you're ty", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11\u00bd"}, {"id": 797988417, "item_id": 49874276, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49874276", "by": "fodkodrasz", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'll also never buy a Mac again after having been tricked by the mass opinion and forced to work on that hellscape of a UX", "excerpt": "They just sheepishly copied apple... with the single difference, that theirs is an open platform, where anybody can be a negligent actor, and they also don't put as much focus on the polish. Apple having a single vertically integrated ecosystem, with a narrow set of devices to support can and wills to do this properly. Sleep took 2 decades to become reliable over the fragmented PC ecosystem, so it was pretty much a m", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Copilot+ PC brand is dead"}, {"id": 797429297, "item_id": 49839331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49839331", "by": "tao5021", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This Mac system is also very good.", "excerpt": "I used to use the Windows operating system for over two decades. It had very strong functions for office work and stock trading, but the only drawback was that there were many advertisements and vulnerabilities. I have also used the Linux system for many years. It is mainly used on servers. This year, I started using the Mac system. This Mac system is also very good. At first, I didn't get used to it, but after getti", "context": "", "use_case": "daily computing", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "What OS should I pick?"}, {"id": 797034240, "item_id": 49814640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49814640", "by": "Geezus_42", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to.", "excerpt": "There's also the fact that I can never trust the clipboard to actually copy when I tell it to. Several of my co-workers have expressed the same issue, so it's not just me. Sometimes, no matter whether I use the context menu or ctrl+c, it just doesn't copy what I have highlighted and paste whatever the last thing I copied was instead.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796980896, "item_id": 49811306, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49811306", "by": "mahboi", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "macOS even copied the Windows snap system, and I use it.", "excerpt": "I've never used it that way ever since I was a little kid using OS 8. macOS even copied the Windows snap system, and I use it.", "context": "long-time Mac user since OS 8", "use_case": "window snapping", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796885184, "item_id": 49805324, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49805324", "by": "advael", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "This \"just works\" thing is propaganda.", "excerpt": "I used a macbook for work and the thing would constantly throw me popups, changing any setting was a nightmare, installing software required either a subscription or adding an aftermarket package manager, and the browser would inexplicably leave a frozen, uninteractable duplicate browser window anytime I fullscreened a google meet, which would persist regardless of trying to kill the process and sometimes even helpfu", "context": "used a MacBook for work", "use_case": "work laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796880705, "item_id": 49805044, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49805044", "by": "mettamage", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I went back to MacOS and life was so much better.", "excerpt": "Thank you for saying this. This is how I feel. I used Ubuntu as a daily driver for a while, and then I went back to MacOS and life was so much better.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver", "switched_from": "Ubuntu", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796859217, "item_id": 49803701, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803701", "by": "Andrex", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I have tried a recent Mac, and the system isn't intuitive at all.", "excerpt": "> I have tried a recent Mac, and the system isn't intuitive at all. The first time I used GNOME, it was a breeze. Not the same with the MacBook system. I thought I was the only one. Maybe it's because I started on Windows and Gnome \"feels\" closer? Hard to quantify. Like they're US and Britain, while macOS is China.", "context": "started on Windows", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796858864, "item_id": 49803679, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803679", "by": "someguyiguess", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love MacOS and it\u2019s my primary OS", "excerpt": "I love MacOS and it\u2019s my primary OS and I couldn\u2019t agree with you more on every single one of your points. They have not had any innovation in desktop UI since 2005. I have an iMac G5 running Tiger and the desktop environment is almost identical in every way. Except now it doesn\u2019t look pretty like it did in the Aqua days.", "context": "", "use_case": "primary OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796839328, "item_id": 49802458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802458", "by": "Aurornis", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it\u2019s what I choose for the daily driver", "excerpt": "> I don't care what people say; macOS is the only OS I've ever used that has never booted to a black/blue screen with relatively cryptic error after performing an upgrade. This happened to me once with a Mac upgrade! And it\u2019s still fewer times than something has happened to one of my Linux machines, by an order of magnitude. There are little annoyances with Macs and occasional frustrating problems, but after using th", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796834129, "item_id": 49802133, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49802133", "by": "fedeb95", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the system isn't intuitive at all", "excerpt": "I have been a long time Android fan because of the tinkering you could do more easily than Apple. Then I started appreciating some of the design decisions behind especially iPhone, and it's been almost 7 years of iPhone usage. Recently I am starting to question some of the design decisions. Most native apps are bloated with functionalities, most of the time useless. Ads pop up everywhere, even before persistence; iCl", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796828000, "item_id": 49801750, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801750", "by": "Jzush", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS in particular doesn't \"just work\" anymore. In fact it's downright hostile to doing mundane things.", "excerpt": "I find the \"Just Works\" part of MacOS to be disingenuous. I use old hardware. You could call me a pack rat but I dislike getting rid of old, working technology. Unless you're on the bleeding edge of Apple technology. MacOS in particular doesn't \"just work\" anymore. In fact it's downright hostile to doing mundane things. I have an old Macbook Air that's no longer supported by the latest MacOS. Trying to do anything on", "context": "uses old hardware", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796801601, "item_id": 49800100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49800100", "by": "revolvingthrow", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "it's also extremely reliable in a way that Linux simply isn't", "excerpt": "When I'm at home I can afford to waste an hour to debug audio which inexplicably stopped working (LLMs help with it a lot). When I take a laptop with me somewhere, I probably can't afford that, hence a macbook. Yes, the slow enshittification and the increasingly obnoxious push for services and recurring revenue on MacOS is worrying, but it's also extremely reliable in a way that Linux simply isn't. I love Fedora KDE ", "context": "", "use_case": "laptop OS when travelling", "switched_from": "", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 796789248, "item_id": 49799328, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799328", "by": "quietsegfault", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work.", "excerpt": "Red Hat had most employees running a custom corporate RHEL build or Fedora on Thinkpads prior to 2018 or so, and even then most employees moved to Mac as soon as they were allowed to do so. I was a true Linux believer, and I still switched to a Mac because I needed things to just work. Poor battery life, awful HiDPI support, strange driver issues all contributed. Yes, I could fix them. I opened bugs and could talk to", "context": "former Red Hat employee", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "I said no and Apple said yes"}, {"id": 795457603, "item_id": 49716100, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716100", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me?", "excerpt": "I mean every OS breaks I love Linux (first used it when I was 12yo in 1994), but I also had a Mac since 2007 and macOS never broke for me? The other thing is that even basic stuff like calendars, address books, etc. work many times better on macOS than the Linux desktop. For instance, last time I set up calendar sync in KOrganizer (Evolution-based CalDAV never worked well for me) about a year ago, it started triggeri", "context": "Linux user since 1994, Mac user since 2007", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 795331584, "item_id": 49708224, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708224", "by": "uncle_kostya", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep", "excerpt": "For me search has been that way since the first MacOS 26.0 upgrade and apparently never fixed. But speaking of quality overall (outside of the search glitch) - I use dual 5k LG monitors with my work MacBook and can get the MacOS Display Manager process to crash if I just enable variable rate refresh and put the computer to sleep, then wake it up. Apparently a known issue for a few years, still not fixed.", "context": "uses dual 5k LG monitors with work MacBook", "use_case": "work laptop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27"}, {"id": 795258976, "item_id": 49703686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703686", "by": "serbuvlad", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Overall, it's an absolute joy.", "excerpt": "I've recently switched to a Mac after years on Linux, basically due to my frustration with the way the Linux desktop is being developed and the lack of quality all around for that platform. Overall, it's an absolute joy. It just works extremely well. Like any new platform it has its fair share of quirks and inexplicable behavior. My two biggest pet peeves are magic interactions that are very useful, but I don't know ", "context": "recently switched from Linux", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 794471296, "item_id": 49654456, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654456", "by": "LoganDark", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac", "excerpt": "For me the operating system (and ecosystem in general) is one of the biggest reasons I use a Mac, but the unified memory pool is a benefit too. I am still distraught about the gaming situation though.", "context": "Mac user", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thelio Mira AI Linux Workstation: 192 GB GPU Memory"}, {"id": 792057713, "item_id": 49503607, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503607", "by": "dmix", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults", "excerpt": "> No need to use a whole distribution with 1000 other poor decisions made for you. I used Vim for a decade (and Linux for much of that time) and the constant tweaking and changing things drives you mad after a while. The more you invent it yourself the more it changes. This is why I prefer MacOS+VSCode these days, which comes with good defaults and simpler VIM-style bindings. Omarchy sounds like those popular vim con", "context": "used Vim for a decade", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Omarchy: Any User Process Can Escalate to Root"}, {"id": 791381040, "item_id": 49461315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49461315", "by": "EagnaIonat", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The operating system is transparent to what I needed to do.", "excerpt": "It's funny because I was the same as you. I hated Macs with a passion. I saw them as overpriced shiny things that weren't as good as a PC. Back in early 2000's I was commissioned to build an application that should also run on the Mac. I bought a second hand old Mac Mini. Within a couple of months I bought a brand new one, and since then I have been on Mac when it comes to non-gaming (even though it can do gaming). T", "context": "developer, uses Windows for gaming", "use_case": "non-gaming daily work", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "New Mac mini, featuring M6 and M5 Pro"}, {"id": 791215696, "item_id": 49450981, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49450981", "by": "thewebguyd", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features", "excerpt": "> based on how much love OSX gets from some folks I can't speak for others, but my preference for macOS basically boils down to \"it's a *nix system that can run the commercial software I need, with a lot of nice little attention to detail features\" I'm trading friction in some areas, for the removal of friction elsewhere. Plus macOS has little niceties like readline key bindings in every text field OOTB, pleasant fon", "context": "", "use_case": "daily desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 791094816, "item_id": 49443426, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443426", "by": "abrookewood", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "find the OS to be annoying. Less annoying than Windows for sure, but I'd rather be running Linux.", "excerpt": "The M1 was genuinely a big step forward, but what has followed, not so much. I have an M5 Pro with 48GB of RAM and it is genuinely good ... but that's about it. I love the battery life, appreciate the hardware, but find the OS to be annoying. Less annoying than Windows for sure, but I'd rather be running Linux.", "context": "has an M5 Pro with 48GB RAM", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 791091521, "item_id": 49443220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49443220", "by": "regexorcist", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware.", "excerpt": "Yeah for a lot of us macOS really gets in the way of using the otherwise excellent hardware. My daily driver is an M1 Pro with Asahi and it's easily my favorite computer ever. It's a real shame that the newer M models can't run Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 790942737, "item_id": 49433921, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49433921", "by": "xiphias2", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the closed software ecosystem is terrible for taking advantage of it", "excerpt": "Apple still has the best hardware so I moved to it for the last few years, but the closed software ecosystem is terrible for taking advantage of it. I wasn't able to debug network errors (restartin my Mac worked), Metal was missing low level disassembly / debugging tools (there is some hard to use UI), but the worst thing was the inflexible windowing system. Even getting all the window handles on all screens/desktops", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 786912272, "item_id": 49182017, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182017", "by": "rubyfan", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS has been a steady decline for many years", "excerpt": "> * And then there\u2019s the travesty that is Tahoe.* Liquid Glass has no place on the desktop (or the phone really). I migrated to Mac OS X from OpenBSD in like 2002 or so. MacOS has been a steady decline for many years, probably soon after the iPhone. Snow Leopard was probably the height of the MacOS experience. It\u2019s been lots of little things along the way but I agree Tahoe is an inflection point.", "context": "long-time Mac user since 2002", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "OpenBSD", "story": "\"Gravity is worth asking about.\""}, {"id": 784668928, "item_id": 49041808, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49041808", "by": "mancerayder", "date": "2026-07-24", "stance": "warn", "quote": "MacOS lost everyone's trust by ruining the experience", "excerpt": "> We\u2019ve reached a point where an update to macOS \u2014 or to any app I rely on, really \u2014 is a source of dread rather than excitement. I now expect the new version to be worse. I actually relate to that. It used to be cool and exciting to update to see what new things are coming for free. I was just looking up what Fedora Workstation 45 might bring. Updates on phones, TV's, cars and non-Linux operating systems on PC's/lap", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nothing works and everyone is euphoric"}]}