To windows 10 and Microsoft services from Apple ecosystem
A few years ago, when my desktop PC needed an upgrade, my wife veto’ed changes to components and instead asked me to look for something that reduces cable clutter on my desk. After considering laptops and All in Ones, we ended up with a Mac Mini. The tiny BYODKM (bring your own display keyboard and mouse) was more than enough and perfect for my daily needs. I used to play games on Xbox One anyways. Then a year later, I moved fully to Apple ecosystem, thanks to iPhone 6. Today, I am back on Android and Windows 10. Want to know why? Read On!
If you want to know my experience with Apple ecosystem, you can go through these articles that I had penned earlier:
A year with the phone that every droid is compared with.
Signs of Ageing
My Mac Mini is from 2012 and iPhone 6 was from 2013. Powered by Intel Core i5 3210M and with a 5400rpm hard drive, the mini started lagging a lot but I was able to fix the lag. Here is how I fixed severe lag on my Mac Mini. Last year, I was able to fix slowness in my Mac Mini and was able to avoid unwanted expenses. With MacOS High Sierra and new heavy applications, the lag became unavoidable and even Safari would sometimes lag. Application lag time went up and there is nothing that I can do this time. The only option is to upgrade to MacBook Pro (as I do not want to have a desktop anymore). With iOS 11, my iPhone 6 too started showing lag and on top of this, the battery would barely last 5-6 hours. I am not complaining as this is a three-year-old phone and I have heavily used the phone day in day out. I am not interested in getting iPhone 7 or 8 as I am more interested in iPhone X.
Not so easy on purse
One rather painful aspect of Apple ecosystem is the upgrade cost. If I was using my old desktop and wanted to upgrade to the new laptop, I can get 5th generation Core i3 powered notebooks for as low as 30k. But with Apple, the minimum I have to pay for a notebook is 58,000/- INR. And even this gives me the MacBook Air that is not exactly a preferred choice anymore, has very slow CPU and an average quality display. So, to get the hardware that suits my needs, I have to shell out 1,29,000/- INR. If I have to buy a Windows notebook that suits my needs, I only need to shell out some 45,000/- INR and that is a massive difference.
A similar issue arises if I have to upgrade my iPhone 6. I have to shell out 74,000/- INR or higher for iPhone X This would mean that I have to shell out 2,00,000/- if I want to continue with Apple ecosystem. This absolute lack of flexibility over upgrade costs gave me nightmares. The other option is to keep on getting two generations old hardware and do some upgrades (SSD, RAM etc) and I rather not go this way.
Saved by Big Billion Days
There was one particular offer during Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale that made me move back to Android. I got Samsung Galaxy S7 for 16k after exchanging my iPhone 6. Along with it, I got 100GB of OneDrive storage (free for two years), one-time screen replacement (999/-), Reliance Jio double data offer and guaranteed exchange price of 12k (if I sell within one year). This turned out to be the life-saving deal for me as I can wait it out for a year for second generation of bezel-less iPhone.
Though the Galaxy S7 is last year’s flagship, it is still a formidable phone. The processor is still super fast and better than other chips used in midrange phones. Water and dust resistance gives me more freedom as I do not have to hide my phone every time I ride in Bangalore drizzle. The display and camera are still among the best out there.
What about the Mac Mini
Yes, what about the Mac Mini? What about the lag that is causing productivity issues? The solution was rather simple. Dual boot with Windows 10 and move to Microsoft’s services that work better than Apple’s services on Android phones. When I saw this video of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and decided to take the plunge.
I was using iCloud storage and sync heavily earlier but with Android, it’s a pain to connect to iCloud. Thanks to Samsung’s 100GB OneDrive storage offer, I started moving massive data from iCloud to OneDrive. There are a couple of subscriptions that I was using and started ended those subscriptions. But I needed a similar experience on Android. Microsoft has been actively pushing their services to Android users.
And it is done
This week, I installed Windows 10 on my Mac Mini and updated to Fall Creators Update. Though there are certain things that I miss (mainly gestures using Magic Mouse), the lag-free experience masks all small niggles or changes w.r.t MacOS. New Photos application is amazing, ability to use snap features has vastly improved productivity as I can now use four applications at the same time (dual monitor setup, two apps snapped to each monitor). There are other things that I would like to discuss Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Do subscribe to our RSS feed so that you are34 notified once I update my experience of switching back to Windows.
