I’d got to the point where, faced with my MacBook Air M1 (2020) and my Lenovo X1 Carbon (2020), I was increasingly choosing the X1.

“Why?” I hear Mac fans crying.

“Who cares?” I hear others crying.

The comparison is not exactly fair, as the X1 was a higher specification machine, but when it came down to it, the difference was the keyboard. The X1 is such a joy to type on.

Operating systems and applications are much of a muchness. Each platform has its own idiosyncrasies. I wrote before that I didn’t intend to go out and buy new kit - I have an embarrassment of computers.

Yesterday, Mrs L announced that she would need her laptop again for private tutoring, so my access to the X1 is now curtailed. Also, I was chatting with a friend who was lamenting the decline in performance of her 2013 Imac. “I may be able to help with that...” So, my Mac mini and an LG monitor will soon be off to a new home, where they’ll be doing something much more useful than backing up my desktop.

For the time-being then, my experimentation with Windows is curtailed, and I’m OK with that. When I moved from Windows to Mac, it was revelatory. Mac OS was streets ahead of Windows. Now, comparing the operating systems side by side, I’m not desperate to use one or the other. They’re both very good.

This week, Windows will announce its new Surface, the chip of which is rumoured to be broadly equivalent to Apple’s M series in terms of efficiency. I’ll be watching with interest.

My “main” computer, a Mac Studio, is from 2022 and is plenty powerful enough for the tasks I assign it. I have no need to replace it just yet (as if that’s ever stopped me). The Air is a couple of years older, and in terms of RAM was the basic specification - 8MB. For light use, it’s fine, but it can get a bit tied up by resource-hungry applications and web pages. It’s likely then that the next machine I’d be after would be a laptop. When that moment comes, I’ll definitely be looking at both platforms and if I were a gambling man, I’d back Windows.

Why? Choice. Apple will offer me an iPad Pro with accessories, a MacBook Air, or a MacBook Pro. For Windows, I’d be looking at Lenovo, HP, Samsung, Dell, Windows, Asus, Framework, and probably more. Each company will have a range of products and specifications that I’ll be able to consider. Apple will likely ask me to choose between Face ID or fingerprint. On Windows, both will be standard. I'll be able to get a cellular laptop, but probably not an Apple one.

Whatever I go to - I suspect I will be thinking of moving to a modular, one-machine system, so the laptop will be intended to gradually take over all the computing roles, moving the Studio to a backup role.

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