The Journeyman

Back to Windows

For nearly four years, I’ve used Macs and OS X professionally. Most of the company and the industry uses Mac and all seemed fine in the world. At Automattic, we update our hardware every 18 months, which I deferred for six months waiting for the new MacBook Pro update.

I was underwhelmed by the updates. Not the latest chips. A TouchBar that feels more gimmick than innovation. Simple stated, I’m disillusioned with the status quo thought that Apple makes the best devices for geeky work.

After investigating the Surface Book, which is an amazing feeling device from demoing in store, I ended up going with Dell’s new 13-inch XPS 13 2-in-1 device. The keyboard folds completely back to go into tablet mode, Intel i7 7th generation chips, good price, with Thunderbolt 3 support on the USB C ports.

I’m reserving final judgement, but so far, it isn’t as elegant as what Apple once was (the new MacBook Pro’s doggle-city puts this in the past tense). I purchased a power companion which acts as a power adapter, battery back-up, and USB charging device in one. As advertised, it is great for plugging into the laptop while it is in the bag from one place to the next, charging on the go.

I haven’t had a chance to put it through a real-world scenerio, but it was painful once I realized how it all fit together.

First, in comes in five parts. 1, 2, 3 are the power companion components, which requires a power adapter as it does not include any way to plug into the wall.

  • Item 1 plugs into the computer and into the battery pack.
  • Item 2 is the battery pack itself, includes 2 USB ports for charging phones, etc.
  • Item 3 is the Dell propritary power connector to USB C adapter.
  • Item 4 is the USB 3 power adapter that shipped with the laptop.
  • Item 5 is the North American power cord for the adapter.

To make this device functional on the road, I need to have all five items in my bag.

I’m trying to be optimistic and remind myself that my first days on OS X felt strange as I figured out the operating system and the various must-have apps and utilities.

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Comments

5 responses to “Back to Windows”

  1. Lisa Schuyler Avatar
    Lisa Schuyler

    Wow! I can’t wait to hear how this Windows experiment plays out.

    Reply
  2. Charles Stricklin Avatar
    Charles Stricklin

    My understanding is that Apple is no longer actively updating MacOS, and that bothers me. That the Surface seems it be running circles around the MacBook Airs should concern them. I’d like to see MacOS and iOS merge a bit and MacBooks become more like the Surface, but Apple has never liked adopting ideas that originated anywhere else.

    Reply
  3. Mikey Arce Avatar
    Mikey Arce

    I keep having the same dream – wanting to switch to Windows… but then… Alfred.

    Reply
    1. Brandon Kraft Avatar
      Brandon Kraft

      There is a clone that sounds interesting. I’ll let you know how it goes. At the exact moment, Ubuntu is really interesting too.

      Reply
  4. Chris Wiegman Avatar
    Chris Wiegman

    I just got a new MBP (and although I had planned on a Windows machine for work they bought me a new MBP instead) but I do believe this might be my last one. If the integration with Google’s services continues to improve and I won’t be able to justify Apple much at all anymore.

    Reply

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