I use MS Office for Windows in Parallels because it's feature set is (deliberately) miles ahead of Mac Office. I don't trust the MS Office's auto update, as we have had really major problems with some enforced updates that causes serious issues as it was not possible to roll back. I don't want a monthly upgrade cycle. I want something that works, is secure, and has an interface that doesn't change too often.
I loathe Windows 10. I mean really loathe it. Windows 7 wasn't so bad. It was mostly consistent, whereas Windows 10 does things without telling me, the Start menu has been ridiculously buggy, changes things without asking, and frequently used to become unavailable, requiring a restore from a previous saved build. MS's attitude to customer choice and confidentiality is completely ****ed up. Stupidly, each time I deal with another W10 issue I say next time I will go back to W7. I'm getting used to ignoring the "Stupid user" interface, and going straight to the Control Panel, where I can, but sometimes it's not possible.
I have kicked Office for iOS off my devices because I simply don't use the apps. They have huge frequent updates, and demand login credentials all the time. I use a password manager and very strong passwords, so there is no way I can remember the password for every poxy account. That's partly the point of having a password manager: I'm not going to give out the password because I don't know it. So I have to spend a couple of minutes just to open a document on the spur of the moment.
Don't get me started on OneDrive for Business/Sharepoint. (Shame. Too late...) Frequent failures to sync. I simply couldn't trust it, and much like iCloud, not really cross platform, even with Parallels. So I run my own server with Resilio Sync and WebDav which works fine for most things on iOS except B****y MS. (Dropbox would be a solution except for privacy & cost)
OneNote is quite good for cross platform, between Win10 and iOS, with Apple pencil support for handwritten notes. But it still keeps logging me out just when I need to take a quick note. And then I have to go through the long process of getting my credentials and pasting username and password into the app. Do they have any idea how annoying this is for someone who cares about security?
Almost everything else is Mac. And I would love to switch everything to Mac. So here I am: making daily comparisons between W10 and MacOS. And there is no comparison of the platforms. Microsoft Office has pro features I need, but in every other respect, Microsoft is not just inferior, it is loathsome.
My business uses Dropbox combined with an application called Sookasa. Sookasa keeps all data encrypted within Dropbox and maintains the ease of use. There is an annual fee for both, however it's not that much.
My business uses Dropbox combined with an application called Sookasa. Sookasa keeps all data encrypted within Dropbox and maintains the ease of use. There is an annual fee for both, however it's not that much.
That's a good type of solution in some circs. I don't think it is viable in my situation where I need direct access in iOS apps to the server. Eg. A large part of document workflow involves PDF Expert on iOS. I don't think there it's possible to have a layer between it and the file server.
PDF Expert accesses and syncs Dropbox and others. It edits PDF and acts as file manager and viewer for other file types. I tried it with OneDrive for Business, which was a mess.
I use MS Office for Windows in Parallels because it's feature set is (deliberately) miles ahead of Mac Office. I don't trust the MS Office's auto update, as we have had really major problems with some enforced updates that causes serious issues as it was not possible to roll back. I don't want a monthly upgrade cycle. I want something that works, is secure, and has an interface that doesn't change too often.
I really don't understand this paragraph. I too use MS Office for Mac and MS Office for Windows on my company issued Dell. I actually found that MS Office on a Mac is much better designed than on Windows. So much better that I actually pay for an Office 365 yearly subscription. I also use Outlook on my iPad and iPhone for work. I find that MS has done an admirable job in adjusting their software on Apple's mobile platform. I really don't understand the comment about enforced updates. Please be more specific about them causing serious issues.
There are many features that are available on PC that are not on Mac. Google is your friend. But to be fair, the Mac interface is better designed.
I tried Outlook on iOS and was totally outraged that instead of connecting to my accounts just on the device, MS - without asking or informing - took all the data to their own servers. It took months of incompetence, prevarication and in my view, dishonesty until I was half satisfied they had deleted the data I never gave them permission to access.
There are so many things in Excel and Word that can not even be represented in iOS, so it is safer just to use a viewer and avoid editing in iOS.
The specific issue over upgrades was to do with a deep system of Building Blocks that was wiped out and unrecoverable in an automatic upgrade to Office 2016 from 2013. Hours on support through a succession of people through several days to identify what had happened, and finally managing to restore 2013.
Granted we are power users. Edge users even. And MS Office for Mac is useful to many basic users. But not to us.
So think hard about this all of you who are upset at the recent direction of Apple re iPhones and Macs. Would you actually consider moving to the abomination that is Windows 10? Many of you have taken to threatening just that but would you actually do it? All those years of railing against Microsoft and Ballmer and the abortions they have let loose on the world. And you would suddenly embrace that? Because Apple has let you down?
I recently purchased an HP laptop for my wife to run her expensive (the software cost more than the HP did) Bernina Embroidery software on as it is Windows only. I can tell you that Windows 10 is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever dealt with. I have a friend who bought a new PC because his old one crapped out. Now he tells me he can’t even operate it with Windows 10. He’s 70 years old and was still using XP.
If you take up this offer you are definitely getting screwed twice. First, you are getting much less than fair market value for your Mac. Second, you are having to deal with the Surface. I have to support all sorts of things at work, and the Surface (I've only dealt with the Pro 4 model) requires a disproportionate amount of support. We are having all sorts of hardware problems and the software (Win 10) goes wonky all the time. The sleep of death is a HUGE problem. 80% of the users can't stand them (and they were an opt-in only crowd). Compare this to the iPad crowd (mostly forced upon those users) which 80% really like them. And the typical biggest problem that I have to deal with on them are training users on some apps that don't behave nicely with the server on a terminal emulation program.
My biggest gripe with Windows 10? UAC asking for all sorts of confirmations for actions that should only need them on buried tasks -- like asking for approval for Task Manager -- seriously? All I wanted to do was look at the CPU utilization. Ask for approval if I need to kill a process. UAC ends up being useless when users blindly approve everything because they are so ingrained with clicking 120 approvals per day.
I understand Microsoft trying to do competitive conversions but what possible use would Microsoft have for the traded-in Macs? There is no monetary benefit to Microsoft from these Macs compared to the handling costs and discounts they are giving up. Seems like a total waste unless the traded-in Macs are donated to charity or education.
Anyone silly or vindictive enough to give up their Mac for a PC obviously has a low customer lifetime value (CLV) to Apple and will not be missed. These same low CLV customers would also likely switch from Microsoft back to Apple with a relatively trivial perk like the one Microsoft is waving. No great loss either way.
These kinds of marketing ploys may have made sense a decade ago when ecosystems had little impact on brand stickiness. Today the disruption to quality of service, usability, and ecosystem bound content makes switching platforms undesirable at best for high CLV customers in the relevant mature market segments. This is one reason why upgrade frequency has gone down across all hardware products in Apple's portfolio. The Apple hardware platforms are all very stable, well integrated into the ecosystem, and feel totally relevant well beyond their previous generation upgrade cycle expectations. Yeah, this is a disappointment for Wall Street investors but it pays tremendous dividends to Apple customers who are the beneficiaries of superlative ROI and awesome through-life costs on their Apple hardware platform investments. The growth in the Apple services offerings only accentuate the value of the Apple ecosystem and the growth in these areas shows that Apple customers are pulling even more value from their existing Apple platform investments and brand loyalty.
Leaving the Apple ecosystem when it's delivering maximum value is very shortsighted and will incur thrashing and context switching losses.
Totally not worth it. Thanks but no thanks Microsoft.
Does anyone know how you use the ear pods that came with your iPhone 7 with your new MacBook Pro?
You wait for the new Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter to come out
But, in all reality, you probably don't get to use them. If anything, you'll be expected to go full wireless, third party or buy the 3.5mm equipped EarPods.
I've been using a Surface Pro at work for the last 6 months. Unfortunately it was the only portable solution for us as we needed a Windows based computer to run our ERP system. The Surface is a f*cking joke, honestly. The only good thing about it is the pen is pretty sensitive and works well, but as a laptop, it's terrible. The keyboard and trackpad are so subpar compared to a Mac...especially my 12" MacBook, which is the most comfortable and portable computer I've ever used. The trackpad on the Surface is tiny and not nearly as responsive and the keyboard is a joke (loud and clicky). And of course running Windows 10 is no fun. Constant changes to user settings for no reason. Apps crash all the time. And don't even get me started on the battery of the Surface. About 4 hours of usage if you're lucky.
And a touch screen. Unless you're a graphics designer, I just don't see why anyone would ever want to use a touch screen on a laptop. It just not natural, not fluid, and using a touchscreen in a Windows environment is a joke. When we first got our Surfaces, we tried it because it was something new and different. Now EVERYONE that has one in the office resorts to the trackpad and keyboard and never uses the touch screen, because it's just not natural.
And running Windows 10 at the native resolution is nice and crisp when using the Surface as a tablet, but everything on the screen is so small, it's almost impossible to click on anything with your finger accurately. There's a reason there' s a difference between a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system.
Anyone who trades in their Mac for a Surface is making a huge mistake.
The Surface tries to be a tablet and a laptop at the same time, makes too many compromises, and fails at both. It's like merging a Ferrari and an 18 wheeler and expecting it to do .8g cornering, 0-60 MPH in 5 seconds, and haul 20,000 pounds of freight. It won't even make a decent commuting vehicle.
$2800 for a 13.5" with 512GB/16GB? Microsoft is even crazier than Apple. Seems to me there's a Microsoft tax, not an Apple tax. I thought the 15" new MBP was too expensive, but this is even more expensive. Geez. Who is buying these things?
There's an article in The Information today which claims that insiders (i.e. Apple employees) are saying sales and operations run the show now. It was part of a broader article advocating for Apple to add a technologist to its board. I fear we're back to 2013 when people were floating rumors that the board was looking to replace Cook. In the minds of the tech community and Wall Street others are innovating (or innovating faster) and Apple is not. Whether true or not often times perception becomes reality and right now the perception seems to be Tim Cook is not the guy to move Apple forward. Apple needs to do something to counter that perception.
You really have to stop mistaking anonymous insiders and your twitter feed for the universal truth.
I use MS Office for Windows in Parallels because it's feature set is (deliberately) miles ahead of Mac Office. I don't trust the MS Office's auto update, as we have had really major problems with some enforced updates that causes serious issues as it was not possible to roll back. I don't want a monthly upgrade cycle. I want something that works, is secure, and has an interface that doesn't change too often.
I loathe Windows 10. I mean really loathe it. Windows 7 wasn't so bad. It was mostly consistent, whereas Windows 10 does things without telling me, the Start menu has been ridiculously buggy, changes things without asking, and frequently used to become unavailable, requiring a restore from a previous saved build. MS's attitude to customer choice and confidentiality is completely ****ed up. Stupidly, each time I deal with another W10 issue I say next time I will go back to W7. I'm getting used to ignoring the "Stupid user" interface, and going straight to the Control Panel, where I can, but sometimes it's not possible.
I have kicked Office for iOS off my devices because I simply don't use the apps. They have huge frequent updates, and demand login credentials all the time. I use a password manager and very strong passwords, so there is no way I can remember the password for every poxy account. That's partly the point of having a password manager: I'm not going to give out the password because I don't know it. So I have to spend a couple of minutes just to open a document on the spur of the moment.
Don't get me started on OneDrive for Business/Sharepoint. (Shame. Too late...) Frequent failures to sync. I simply couldn't trust it, and much like iCloud, not really cross platform, even with Parallels. So I run my own server with Resilio Sync and WebDav which works fine for most things on iOS except B****y MS. (Dropbox would be a solution except for privacy & cost)
OneNote is quite good for cross platform, between Win10 and iOS, with Apple pencil support for handwritten notes. But it still keeps logging me out just when I need to take a quick note. And then I have to go through the long process of getting my credentials and pasting username and password into the app. Do they have any idea how annoying this is for someone who cares about security?
Almost everything else is Mac. And I would love to switch everything to Mac. So here I am: making daily comparisons between W10 and MacOS. And there is no comparison of the platforms. Microsoft Office has pro features I need, but in every other respect, Microsoft is not just inferior, it is loathsome.
MS office 2016 for Mac is good. Much better than Office 2013 for Windows.
Just the photo of the finger / hand / arm outstretched and pointed at the screen of the Surface Pro tells me everything I need to know about what a BAD idea it is to make a laptop or desktop screen touch sensitive. This idea that it makes sense to have to hold your arm / hand / fingers up, unsupported, while touching a screen - but not too much as to push the screen back, while manipulating what can be very tiny on-screen elements, is just lunacy.
There is a reason why Apple has stayed away from touch screens on anything other than hand held devices - because it's a completely idiotic thing.
Once we move into the age of non-touch screen manipulation, it may make sense, but today, it just doesn't. And I'm not even getting into the mess of having fingerprint smudges all over a high res screen, that's bigger than a tablet or smartphone (that can be easily wiped with your shirt sleeve).
Surface Pro relies on solid kickstand, not hinges, to keep screen (and rest of tablet) in desired position, though.
You can apply solid pressure without changing device's angle. Actually, you might push whole device across the desk, but you are unlikely to change angle.
In my experience - have been using Surface Pro 3 for over a year now - touch is fine on small screen, where device sits low on desk, and close to user. Large screen, screen attached to monitor arm... I'm not convinced... but small screen, no problem. I'm finding myself using screen and touchpad roughly 50:50, with attached type cover.
Anyway, people use iPad attached to physical keyboard, too. Surface Pro at least has touchpad and can use mouse, for those who don't want to use touchscreen while in laptop mode. With iPad, one doesn't really have choice... but I haven't heard many complaining about this "handicap", so it must be quite easily achievable?
So think hard about this all of you who are upset at the recent direction of Apple re iPhones and Macs. Would you actually consider moving to the abomination that is Windows 10? Many of you have taken to threatening just that but would you actually do it? All those years of railing against Microsoft and Ballmer and the abortions they have let loose on the world. And you would suddenly embrace that? Because Apple has let you down?
I recently purchased an HP laptop for my wife to run her expensive (the software cost more than the HP did) Bernina Embroidery software on as it is Windows only. I can tell you that Windows 10 is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever dealt with. I have a friend who bought a new PC because his old one crapped out. Now he tells me he can’t even operate it with Windows 10. He’s 70 years old and was still using XP.
Being 70 years old and still on XP might be a part of a problem... just saying
There are a lot of different stories. Of my close friends, only one is MacBook user. He was Windows user until maybe 5 years ago, but now he is fully Apple. In the process, he has also ditched Android (and Blackberry) smartphones, so at present he is iPhone/iPad/MBP/iMac.
For rare work related needs, he was keeping his old Dell Win 7 laptop around. Skipped Win 8 and 8.1 completely. But funny part is - he got quite impressed with Win 10, and it runs in VM (or BootCamp) on both his Macs today. Not as his primary platform of course - that is still OSX/MacOS. But, he has finally retired his Dell. Much as he is concerned, Win 10 is much better than Win 7 (which would be his 2nd Windows choice). XP is long forgotten, and 8/8.1 he would not touch with 10-foot pole.
Personally, Win 10 is my favorite Windows, too... but then, I am Windows user on pretty much everything - tablet, laptop and desktop. Tablet/desktop mode switching on Surface is quite neat, especially for those who do use Surface equally with and without keyboard... and it makes sense running same OS on other machines in my vicinity. Maybe I was somewhat lucky, but I had basically no problems with Win 10 so far.
Comments
PDF Expert accesses and syncs Dropbox and others. It edits PDF and acts as file manager and viewer for other file types. I tried it with OneDrive for Business, which was a mess.
I tried Outlook on iOS and was totally outraged that instead of connecting to my accounts just on the device, MS - without asking or informing - took all the data to their own servers. It took months of incompetence, prevarication and in my view, dishonesty until I was half satisfied they had deleted the data I never gave them permission to access.
There are so many things in Excel and Word that can not even be represented in iOS, so it is safer just to use a viewer and avoid editing in iOS.
The specific issue over upgrades was to do with a deep system of Building Blocks that was wiped out and unrecoverable in an automatic upgrade to Office 2016 from 2013. Hours on support through a succession of people through several days to identify what had happened, and finally managing to restore 2013.
Granted we are power users. Edge users even. And MS Office for Mac is useful to many basic users. But not to us.
I recently purchased an HP laptop for my wife to run her expensive (the software cost more than the HP did) Bernina Embroidery software on as it is Windows only. I can tell you that Windows 10 is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever dealt with. I have a friend who bought a new PC because his old one crapped out. Now he tells me he can’t even operate it with Windows 10. He’s 70 years old and was still using XP.
My biggest gripe with Windows 10? UAC asking for all sorts of confirmations for actions that should only need them on buried tasks -- like asking for approval for Task Manager -- seriously? All I wanted to do was look at the CPU utilization. Ask for approval if I need to kill a process. UAC ends up being useless when users blindly approve everything because they are so ingrained with clicking 120 approvals per day.
I understand Microsoft trying to do competitive conversions but what possible use would Microsoft have for the traded-in Macs? There is no monetary benefit to Microsoft from these Macs compared to the handling costs and discounts they are giving up. Seems like a total waste unless the traded-in Macs are donated to charity or education.
Anyone silly or vindictive enough to give up their Mac for a PC obviously has a low customer lifetime value (CLV) to Apple and will not be missed. These same low CLV customers would also likely switch from Microsoft back to Apple with a relatively trivial perk like the one Microsoft is waving. No great loss either way.
These kinds of marketing ploys may have made sense a decade ago when ecosystems had little impact on brand stickiness. Today the disruption to quality of service, usability, and ecosystem bound content makes switching platforms undesirable at best for high CLV customers in the relevant mature market segments. This is one reason why upgrade frequency has gone down across all hardware products in Apple's portfolio. The Apple hardware platforms are all very stable, well integrated into the ecosystem, and feel totally relevant well beyond their previous generation upgrade cycle expectations. Yeah, this is a disappointment for Wall Street investors but it pays tremendous dividends to Apple customers who are the beneficiaries of superlative ROI and awesome through-life costs on their Apple hardware platform investments. The growth in the Apple services offerings only accentuate the value of the Apple ecosystem and the growth in these areas shows that Apple customers are pulling even more value from their existing Apple platform investments and brand loyalty.
Leaving the Apple ecosystem when it's delivering maximum value is very shortsighted and will incur thrashing and context switching losses.
Totally not worth it. Thanks but no thanks Microsoft.
But, in all reality, you probably don't get to use them. If anything, you'll be expected to go full wireless, third party or buy the 3.5mm equipped EarPods.
And a touch screen. Unless you're a graphics designer, I just don't see why anyone would ever want to use a touch screen on a laptop. It just not natural, not fluid, and using a touchscreen in a Windows environment is a joke. When we first got our Surfaces, we tried it because it was something new and different. Now EVERYONE that has one in the office resorts to the trackpad and keyboard and never uses the touch screen, because it's just not natural.
And running Windows 10 at the native resolution is nice and crisp when using the Surface as a tablet, but everything on the screen is so small, it's almost impossible to click on anything with your finger accurately. There's a reason there' s a difference between a mobile operating system and a desktop operating system.
Anyone who trades in their Mac for a Surface is making a huge mistake.
You can apply solid pressure without changing device's angle. Actually, you might push whole device across the desk, but you are unlikely to change angle.
In my experience - have been using Surface Pro 3 for over a year now - touch is fine on small screen, where device sits low on desk, and close to user. Large screen, screen attached to monitor arm... I'm not convinced... but small screen, no problem. I'm finding myself using screen and touchpad roughly 50:50, with attached type cover.
Anyway, people use iPad attached to physical keyboard, too. Surface Pro at least has touchpad and can use mouse, for those who don't want to use touchscreen while in laptop mode. With iPad, one doesn't really have choice... but I haven't heard many complaining about this "handicap", so it must be quite easily achievable?
There are a lot of different stories. Of my close friends, only one is MacBook user. He was Windows user until maybe 5 years ago, but now he is fully Apple. In the process, he has also ditched Android (and Blackberry) smartphones, so at present he is iPhone/iPad/MBP/iMac.
For rare work related needs, he was keeping his old Dell Win 7 laptop around. Skipped Win 8 and 8.1 completely. But funny part is - he got quite impressed with Win 10, and it runs in VM (or BootCamp) on both his Macs today. Not as his primary platform of course - that is still OSX/MacOS. But, he has finally retired his Dell. Much as he is concerned, Win 10 is much better than Win 7 (which would be his 2nd Windows choice). XP is long forgotten, and 8/8.1 he would not touch with 10-foot pole.
Personally, Win 10 is my favorite Windows, too... but then, I am Windows user on pretty much everything - tablet, laptop and desktop. Tablet/desktop mode switching on Surface is quite neat, especially for those who do use Surface equally with and without keyboard... and it makes sense running same OS on other machines in my vicinity. Maybe I was somewhat lucky, but I had basically no problems with Win 10 so far.