Choosing a computer is hard, and considering getting a Windows or Mac is only going to make your decision a bit harder, in 2022, Mac and Windows PCs are getting close in terms of reliability and what you can do, so blindly choosing may impose little to no setbacks, but of course, they both have their benefits so some people might prefer one over the other.
To help you decide what OS/computer to get, we’ll give you an idea of what each system can do by talking about different aspects and determining which system is better for your needs. Let’s dive right in!
Ecosystem
First of all, the ecosystem I’m referring to is the integration between different devices, it can be an interaction between your computer to your phone or other devices like watches.
In general, MacOS is way better with the Apple Ecosystem, but that’ll only work best if you have an iPhone and Apple accessories like the Apple Watch and AirPods, but having an all-Apple setup does make working across your different devices seamless, quick, and easy.
As an example, MacOS has Handoff, it’s a feature that lets you start a task like browsing an internet page or typing an email or a message on your phone and continue working on your computer and vice versa. I can also take a document on my Mac and instantly open it on my iPad to sign or annotate, or I can copy something from my iPhone and paste it on my Mac as if I’m working on the same system.
AirDrop is also one of those features, it can transfer files with speeds of 80-100 Mbps, and that’s wireless! I know we can achieve far faster transfer speeds with USB-C, but for me, it’s hard to beat the convenience of AirDrop.
On the other hand, Windows has a far wider Ecosystem, it works with Android and even iPhones, although you’ll need a bit of setup for things to work. But, once everything is set up and running, you can even do wilder things like using your phone as a camera, keyboard, mouse, and a lot more, you can also do the basics like sending files quickly, and universal copy and paste.
Windows has a more versatile reach with other devices and you can do a lot more amazing things with the ecosystem if you can deal with the setup process. In contrast, MacOS’ Apple Ecosystem works great straight out of the box, there’s no setup required and it’ll work reliably anytime anywhere, but it only works with select Apple Devices. So I’d say it’s a tie, but having to experience both systems, I’d lean more on the macOS side and give the point to them this time.
Gaming
Gaming on macOS is absolutely bad; it’s laggy, framerates are low, and in some cases, games won’t work at all, and while there are some workarounds to make gaming better on Mac, Windows is still the way to go if you want to play games, but why?
One reason is hardware optimization, newer Macs with Apple Silicon processors are incredibly powerful, and while these chips won’t break a sweat beating Intel and AMD processors on benchmark tests, macOS doesn’t provide tools and software that you can use to optimize and utilize every bit of power that the hardware can bring. Windows on the other hand have a lot of built-in and third-party tools and software that you can use to overclock to get more power out of your hardware.
To make things worse the built-in parameters on macOS mostly favor battery saving instead of performance. In my experience, I had to install a third-party app that allows me to control my 2015 MacBook Air’s fans since MacOS will throttle the CPU instead of bumping up the fans and I wasn’t even playing games.
The last and biggest reason why Windows are just better at gaming is developer support and market share. Macs in 2022 are very powerful we already know that, and even if we solve the last problem by installing every app available to bring more juice out of the processor, still, games aren’t optimized for macOS since developers don’t prioritize development or at least optimizing their games for Macs since only 14% of all computers are Macs, and the number of people playing on their Macs is even smaller.
In contrast, Windows has 75% of the current market share and it would make sense why everyone would prioritize making games run better on Windows.
Productivity
Productivity is a very debatable aspect of both systems, and a lot goes into making a productive friendly OS, one of those is the Ecosystem we talked about earlier but we’ll take a look at the OS’ features that either promotes or hinders productivity and to help you decide which is better for you, we’ll break it down to a few important points.
Apps
When it comes to productivity, it’s important to have an app to work on in the first place. If you want to work on simple documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, Macs have the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps which are great but also free! On the Windows side of things, you’d have either have to use free software like WPS Office or Google Docs or paid software like Microsoft Office.
If you want to work on video editing either OS will work great, but macOS has Final Cut Pro which a lot of video editors love.
The same goes with DAW (digital audio workstation) apps for music production, a lot of DAWs are available for both OS, but Apple takes it up a notch with GarageBand which is free, and Logic Pro which is one of the best professional DAWs available.
The point I’m getting at is Macs and Windows can perform similarly but Macs have great exclusive free and paid apps for creatives and professionals, and Windows can cater to everyone with support for most apps. So if you need compatibility with more apps, Windows might be the one to get, especially if you need to run specialized software and apps.
File Organization and Security
Managing your files in Windows and Mac might be another tie, File Explorer and Finder have almost the same features, although, as usual, macOS’ Finder will also prioritize ease of use thus removing the Quick Access Tool Bar and showing fewer details at a time which isn’t a deal breaker but might be annoying if you’re used to Windows File Explorer.
A deal breaker for Windows is the lack of something similar to macOS’ Time Machine which automatically backs up your files, photos, music, and documents onto an external drive or an Apple AirPort. Not only that, but Time Machine will also save several versions of your files so you can go back in time to a certain version, thus earning the name “Time Machine”.
Macs don’t crash as often as Windows but if you crash or even brick your mac, you’ll know that all your files are protected through Time Machine.
If you don’t have an external drive to use with Time Machine then backing up files to the cloud is also easy on macOS through iCloud.
Windows also has a handful of options for backing up files but it’s hard to beat macOS’ built-in and easy-to-use Time Machine and iCloud, and in terms of productivity, the less set up the better.
Shortcut Keys
One of the most important aspects to make a system productive is through shortcut keys, and Windows has a lot more of it, and not only that it’s also much more customizable, you can set specific shortcut keys for a plethora of actions, and that doesn’t only work with the main system, it also applies to in-app shortcut keys. Setting up macro keys on keyboards and other peripherals is also much easier on Windows, and in general, the shortcut keys on Windows will make any professional happy and keep their productivity going.
Customization
It’s already a given fact that Windows is much more customizable than macOS, you can change way more in terms of looks through themes, cursors, and app icons, and you can install a lot of apps to further add to the looks, heck, you can even make Windows look like a Mac without much effort.
Since Apple controls both the hardware and software of their products, Macs typically aren’t very customizable in terms of hardware since their parts are soldered on together and if there are user-replaceable parts like the SSD, it’ll most likely have proprietary connectors to limit compatibility to first-party parts. In contrast, Windows PCs or any other PC are much more customizable with it being compatible with more parts through universal connection and drivers for different hardware are much easier to install.
This last one is a bit unexpected for most people, but in terms of the OS itself, macOS is more customizable since the OS itself is mostly open source and is based on UNIX. Developing device drivers are much easier, scripting is simpler and programming is generally easier. It’s just the User Interface and Settings that Apple provides that makes macOS limited in terms of customization, but open up Terminal and if you know your way around, there are a lot more options and a lot more to tinker with.
But in terms of tuning and customizing how much power your hardware brings out or customizing the system without looking like a hacker, Windows still takes the point on this one.
Security
macOS is the best one with security, but not in ways you might expect, in truth, macOS is as vulnerable as Windows and other OS, it’s just that macOS has a lower market share that fewer hackers target and create malware that’ll run on Macs.
Another reason is Apple controls both hardware and software and they produce significantly fewer Mac models which are why they can monitor and fix any vulnerabilities sooner.
Even though Macs are more secure, you should still be careful with what you do online and don’t think that Macs are invulnerable.
Conclusion
To sum it up macOS is best for people who love simplicity, elegance, and ease of use on their OS. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use computer that doesn’t require much technical knowledge, MacOS is a good choice.
Windows, on the other hand, is more versatile, functional, and flexible due to its large market share resulting in more developers investing in making stuff for Windows. Windows also has the benefit of being compatible with almost every hardware and software out there, so if you’re looking for something that can do a bit of everything, and if you want to play games, this might be your best bet.
But what do you think? Is one better than the other? Is Windows really for everyone? Comment down below!
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