No, I just don't agree. At work, that's a decision the corporate overlords make. At home, I will continue to prefer games + WSL over Apple's offering... despite having started in computing, back in the 1980s, on a Mac, and having owned a number of Macs over the years.
Apple has consistently made choices that make having a Mac less palatable to me -- killing all 32-bit binaries destroyed most of what was available on Steam for the Mac. Hassling me to logon is another unforced error. Eventually I dumped my Macbook Air and bought a Windows laptop.
Apple hardware is really good. I probably spend more on Windows laptops because I replace them more often. But it's a better experience. (And I can get a more adequate amount of memory.)
I agree with you here. My solution was to use Linux on my Desktop PC and its been great for work and gaming, and I have an M1 Mac with Asahi Linux on it for on the go. I love it and I'm really happy with it. I've used Windows most of my life and is has really worn me down, and I tried MacOS for around a year, and it is equally as painful but in different ways. Linux has some rough edges in certain areas, but I like that I can easily sync all my devices, emulation files (it pairs well with the steamdeck), and configurations... and I don't have to put up with being a data cow or being constantly badgered to engage in vendor lock-in.
Sorry, but Macs require an online account only if you want to use optional online services offered by Apple, just as is the case with Microsoft and something like OneDrive or Office 365.
You aren't required to use the optional services on either platform.
The difference is that Microsoft wants to force you to use an online Microsoft account to log into your own local computer. Macs do not require that.
You cannot install any apps on an iOS device without registering and logging in with an AppleID, which requires both an email address and a telephone number.
> The difference is that Microsoft wants to force you to use an online Microsoft account to log into your own local computer. Macs do not require that.
I have no OS or tech giant loyalty, but I think the pushiness is wash between MacOS and Windows. I still haven't found a way to stop my mac from nagging me to log into iCloud, I currently am dealing with a bug where the iCloud login modal shows up immediately after I dismiss it, in an unceasing cycle, and I have to launch the App store and the quit before the nagging stops.
I recently set up a Windows 11 laptop over the holidays and found out (from Google) esoteric "oobe*.exe" command I had to run on the CLI on first boot (pre-setup) that showed the option to create a local account in the UI. I didn't get any nags post set-up.
At any rate, Microsoft has made multiple changes over the years designed to hide the option of using a local user account in Windows, which is a bridge too far.
No, I'm not required to logon, and I didn't, but they absolutely do prompt for it and otherwise making ignoring their services less convenient. I put up with it for years, but I hated it.
Apple has consistently made choices that make having a Mac less palatable to me -- killing all 32-bit binaries destroyed most of what was available on Steam for the Mac. Hassling me to logon is another unforced error. Eventually I dumped my Macbook Air and bought a Windows laptop.
Apple hardware is really good. I probably spend more on Windows laptops because I replace them more often. But it's a better experience. (And I can get a more adequate amount of memory.)