Anyone using microsoft 365 on their mac? thoughts.

I have been using MS Office since the beginning of the 90's soon after it was ported on Macs. It has always been very well integrated. Some versions were even better than their counterparts on Win.

The question is about what you want to use it for. Let's imagine you want to buy a car: is it just to commute to your work and go shopping for grocery, or is it to go off-roading in the wild, or do you plan to have fun on a track?

Word and Excel are professional grade softs. They are however very easy to use just to write and print one or two page letters and notes. But most word processors will do it just as well, for example the soft that's bundled for free with Macs: Page.

It's the same with Excel compared to Numbers.

OTOH if, like me, you have to write 400+ page heavily structured documents with footnotes, chapters, an index, etc., Word shines. Its only competitor, the free, open source LibreOffice is way behind.

So before paying a high price for the Pack Office you assess your exact needs.

Nick

Tom_N said:

Roxburgh22 said:

Yes, you can buy a one time license which is only good on one device. You get Word, Excel and Powerpoint and the cost is $150. I don't need Powerpoint and $150 is too much when I get Numbers and Pages for free.

Click to expand...

If you go with the subscription for one person, it costs $70 a year. Over ten years, that would add up to $700 for the rental of your word processor.

There is LibreOffice, which is free, and supposedly can open many Office documents.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Click to expand...

At work they removed microsoft office and installed libre. It's junk. Crashes multiple times when we are trying to do stuff, and other times, just won't open at all. I would pay 700 bucks over 10 years to have stability.

I have just finished reading this topic thread and you have received plenty of useful feedback. Bottom line, I don't see any issues assuming normal use (thinking of post that referenced Excel pivot tables) for combining Office 365 with a Mac.

My product use has been wide and varied, starting with WordStar on a CP/M computer and WordPerfect on early X86 computers. I have been using MS Word since v.2 on Windows. I have a similar experience with spreadsheets (VisiCalc, SuperCalc, Lotus, Excel...). I have favored Android starting with the early Galaxy phones before moving to the Note phones. After retirement, I moved to the iPhone for better family communications but still keep a Note 9 as a second phone. My work computer use was strictly Windows & MS Office products for the OS & Office apps. In 2010, I added a MacBook Air to my personal Windows laptops and by 2012, had switched to a MacBook as my primary personal laptop with multiple MacBook purchases since then and currently have an M1 MacBook.

My wife is an Office 365 subscriber and at present, Office 365 is installed on our 2017 iMac. We are both senior citizens and are retired (no work requirements). Both of us have modest word processing requirements and I am the only spreadsheet user. For the last two years, I have moved to Apple's Pages, Numbers, etc. and do not have Office 365 loaded on either of my current MacBooks. We are waiting for the next release of the iMac to replace our current iMac and have no plans to continue with Office 365.

Jim

Google Docs is an interesting alternative for documents/spreadsheets/presentations, with Cloud storage and group-work capability. We use it at work, in a mixed Apple/MS environment.

Heck, no! I went with a Mac years ago to get away from Windows. Why on earth would I want to contaminate any Mac with Windows crap? Apple offers what I need. Of course I realize that other people may have other needs....

Clix Pix said:

Heck, no! I went with a Mac years ago to get away from Windows. Why on earth would I want to contaminate any Mac with Windows crap? Apple offers what I need. Of course I realize that other people may have other needs....

Click to expand...

For one it has nothing to do with windows, secondly office and windows is far from crap as you say. I am just thinking of adding a Mac to our work flow for something different.

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Click to expand...

I meant not doing anything only moving the cursor around. I was opening photos, safari, mail etc. All the "optimized" software that comes on the mac from Apple. I don't keep software open unless I am using it. If I am video editing, I have resolve, file explorer etc open. Once I am done, I close out my software. There is no reason to keep apps/programs open. I keep mail open and phone link, as I use them constantly, but the rest are open and closed when needed.

If adobe takes longer to open than safari, or photos, It must be brutal.

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was opening photos, safari, mail etc. All the "optimized" software that comes on the mac from Apple.

Click to expand...

These programs all open instantly on my M1 Mac Mini - no perceptible delay - certainly no long pauses. It makes you wonder about those Staples demo machines - maybe base memory and lots of other memory intensive programs running in the background? It certainly doesn't seem like normal Mac behaviour.

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Click to expand...

I was opening photos, safari, mail etc. All the "optimized" software that comes on the mac from Apple.

Click to expand...

These programs all open instantly on my M1 Mac Mini - no perceptible delay - certainly no long pauses. It makes you wonder about those Staples demo machines - maybe base memory and lots of other memory intensive programs running in the background? It certainly doesn't seem like normal Mac behaviour.

Click to expand...

I went in and double checked the background apps running. Nothing. On all four. It was a base model air 13, base model air 15, base model Pro 14 M1 pro, and the 24 inch imac.

All four exhibited the exact same behaviors. I moved to a few windows systems from acer, HP and asus they had on display as well to see if it was Staples WIFI causing the issues. All windows systems I tried opened the same software like edge, explorer, photos, microsoft store much faster than the apple systems. I was disappointed to see this as I was almost all in on getting macs for the family for the "ecosystem".

But after the lag, "others on macforums were talking about the same thing too. It's not just me. I went to staples after reading about it", I think I am going to stay on windows systems and just upgrade to new windows systems instead. I can't take the chance on the lag being on my systems and then go through the hassles of returning, and re purchasing new systems. Everything I have to do is via mail order. So it's a hassle. If I had an apple store and a good computer store near by I would probably try it.

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Click to expand...

I was opening photos, safari, mail etc. All the "optimized" software that comes on the mac from Apple.

Click to expand...

These programs all open instantly on my M1 Mac Mini - no perceptible delay - certainly no long pauses. It makes you wonder about those Staples demo machines - maybe base memory and lots of other memory intensive programs running in the background? It certainly doesn't seem like normal Mac behaviour.

Click to expand...

I went in and double checked the background apps running. Nothing. On all four. It was a base model air 13, base model air 15, base model Pro 14 M1 pro, and the 24 inch imac.

All four exhibited the exact same behaviors. I moved to a few windows systems from acer, HP and asus they had on display as well to see if it was Staples WIFI causing the issues. All windows systems I tried opened the same software like edge, explorer, photos, microsoft store much faster than the apple systems. I was disappointed to see this as I was almost all in on getting macs for the family for the "ecosystem".

But after the lag, "others on macforums were talking about the same thing too. It's not just me. I went to staples after reading about it", I think I am going to stay on windows systems and just upgrade to new windows systems instead. I can't take the chance on the lag being on my systems and then go through the hassles of returning, and re purchasing new systems. Everything I have to do is via mail order. So it's a hassle. If I had an apple store and a good computer store near by I would probably try it.

Click to expand...

OK understood - I would do the same as you - but I don't understand - I have both Mac Mini M1 and 14 inch M2 MacBook Pro - the Apple programs you mention all start instantly on both machines.

I have 16GB of memory on both machines which shouldn't make any difference without other apps running.

The only other thing I can think of is that I have 512GB of storage on the Mac Mini and 1TB on the MacBook Pro - having more than base storage on these machines makes reading faster.

Greybeard2017 said:

OK understood - I would do the same as you - but I don't understand - I have both Mac Mini M1 and 14 inch M2 MacBook Pro - the Apple programs you mention all start instantly on both machines.

I have 16GB of memory on both machines which shouldn't make any difference without other apps running.

The only other thing I can think of is that I have 512GB of storage on the Mac Mini and 1TB on the MacBook Pro - having more than base storage on these machines makes reading faster.

Click to expand...

As a Mac and Microsoft word user, I have wondered why there is a quite long lag when first opening the application. As a guess, it would seem to be to establish a network link back to MS. I have seen the same or longer lag when opening the DxO PL app. This is on a SSD intel MBP. Do you know what is causing the lag?

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Greybeard2017 said:

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

I was on macrumors reading around and a bunch of users there were talking about how there is a lag when you open a program etc. I said nah, no way. I went to staples today and tried 4 Macs, 13 and 15 in air, 14 pro and 24 in imac. Plus a bunch of windows systems to compare. Those users were right. Opening any program there was a considerable lag. Opening the comparable software on the windows systems were basically instant. Once open the Mac was Swift but the wait for it to do anything is a deal breaker.

Click to expand...

How often do you open a program? I never open the programs I use most.

Click to expand...

I open and close programs constantly when using my computer. What do you do circle the point on the wall paper and nothing else?

So, I prefer a computer that can open my software I am using instantly, without this long pause before it does anything.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what circling the point on the wallpaper means.

Everything I have running now will let me check mail, browse the web, work with spreadsheets, develop applications, view images and all my other day to day tasks.

I see no reason to close any of those programs between uses and have no need to open and close programs constantly.

Applications optimized for Apple silicon - such as Photos, Maps, Weather etc - even MS Word - all open instantly so I don't care one way or the other with those.

Some programs - maybe the Adobe products I would close to release memory but they only take a couple of seconds to start - I wouldn't say a long pause - and then they stay open until the end of an editing session.

Click to expand...

I was opening photos, safari, mail etc. All the "optimized" software that comes on the mac from Apple.

Click to expand...

These programs all open instantly on my M1 Mac Mini - no perceptible delay - certainly no long pauses. It makes you wonder about those Staples demo machines - maybe base memory and lots of other memory intensive programs running in the background? It certainly doesn't seem like normal Mac behaviour.

Click to expand...

I went in and double checked the background apps running. Nothing. On all four. It was a base model air 13, base model air 15, base model Pro 14 M1 pro, and the 24 inch imac.

All four exhibited the exact same behaviors. I moved to a few windows systems from acer, HP and asus they had on display as well to see if it was Staples WIFI causing the issues. All windows systems I tried opened the same software like edge, explorer, photos, microsoft store much faster than the apple systems. I was disappointed to see this as I was almost all in on getting macs for the family for the "ecosystem".

But after the lag, "others on macforums were talking about the same thing too. It's not just me. I went to staples after reading about it", I think I am going to stay on windows systems and just upgrade to new windows systems instead. I can't take the chance on the lag being on my systems and then go through the hassles of returning, and re purchasing new systems. Everything I have to do is via mail order. So it's a hassle. If I had an apple store and a good computer store near by I would probably try it.

Click to expand...

OK understood - I would do the same as you - but I don't understand - I have both Mac Mini M1 and 14 inch M2 MacBook Pro - the Apple programs you mention all start instantly on both machines.

I have 16GB of memory on both machines which shouldn't make any difference without other apps running.

The only other thing I can think of is that I have 512GB of storage on the Mac Mini and 1TB on the MacBook Pro - having more than base storage on these machines makes reading faster.

Click to expand...

Could be. I will do more reading and investigating and see what I find.

I have been an intensive (but not Power) user of Windows, Office and OneDrive for years both at work and home for as long as they've been around. For personal use, I went across to Mac about a year ago (had iPhones and Apple TV for several years, now have MBP, iPad, Studio display, Watch and AirPods Pro). My wife still uses a Windows laptop and is unlikely to change any time soon - she likes what she's familiar with.

So, as a relative newcomer to a Mac (and therefore I'm still learning) here are my thoughts:

Firstly, 365 on Mac: In general Office and OneDrive work just fine - I can't say I have noticed any significant differences. I would also say that they (particularly word) seem to be a lot more stable these days than they used to be.

Secondly, "Office lag": I wasn't aware of it but went and tried it on my wife's machine and agree, first opening is quicker on hers (and I have a faster processor). That said, I realise now that I never knowingly close word and excel and don't see why that would be a need these days. Then again, I have a lot of RAM. I think Macs use regular disk space these days if they run short on RAM. On reflection, I just see no benefit to changing my practice. YMMV but I'd invite you to consider whether your practice today is dealing with a historical issue.

Thirdly, I think there's more to the decision to move across to a Mac than those and I would counsel considering the broader picture:

There are some initial downsides for a Windows user:

• The UI has quite a lot of differences - they just take some time to get used to. Some of the functionality is quite well hidden - Google is your friend!
• No delete key on MBP. There is a workaround "fn backspace"; it's OK but it's not the same.
• Mac Finder is nowhere near as good for me as Windows explorer or I need to learn how to use it better.
• Splitting screens (windows key + arrows). There is an equivalent function but it's steam age by comparison.
• I use Office (including Outlook over the Mac equivalents - as others have said they are a must for my needs.
• Some apps don't have Mac versions. I have an organiser app (MLO) that falls into this category. Fortunately you can buy something called Crossover that allows you to run Windows programs and this works pretty well. It's not seamless but, for me, good enough on MLO.
• Some key apps (e.g. WhatsApp) not available on iPad.

Then there are some things I really like:

• Performance: yes you pay but Apple silicon (at least as of a few months ago) seems to comprehensively outperform Intel chips. You wouldn't bet against Intel catching up though. The biggest benefit for me is battery life - my MBP last all day while I had never had a Dell that lasted more than a (very) few hours.
• The charges are light and extremely fast.
• Comprehensive integration between devices.
  • Calendars, photos, Notes, probably others, all sync seamlessly between devices. My wife and I share selected calendars via her iPhone, works pretty well although I have discovered that some minor data (e.g travel times doesn't get received at the other end).
  • I have set up my Studio display with my MBP open on a tray next to it and the extended displays work quite well. I today discovered that I can extend the display wirelessly to my iPad. I believe that you can use your iPhone as a camera for your laptop but haven't tried that yet.
  • My Watch automatically unlocks my MBP.
• Great display.
• The hardware by all accounts has amuch greater longevity I know and read about people who have devices still running happily after 10 years. My Dells at least usually started showing their age after 2-3 years.
• I am an amateur photographer and Apple silicon seems to be very well suited to post processing apps.
• My MBP hooks up wirelessly from my armchair to my Apple TV to use my Samsung TV as a big monitor. All I do is press the MBP share button and both the Apple TV and TV itself both get turned on.
• I use a Logitech keyboard and mouse at my workstation - they work seamlessly.
• I had all sorts of fun and games with Windows updates over the years, thus far at least, not a single issue with my Mac.

Would I go back if I could get my money back? No.

Best of luck, whichever way you go!

--
Richard

No Time To Lose said:

I have been an intensive (but not Power) user of Windows, Office and OneDrive for years both at work and home for as long as they've been around. For personal use, I went across to Mac about a year ago (had iPhones and Apple TV for several years, now have MBP, iPad, Studio display, Watch and AirPods Pro). My wife still uses a Windows laptop and is unlikely to change any time soon - she likes what she's familiar with.

So, as a relative newcomer to a Mac (and therefore I'm still learning) here are my thoughts:

Firstly, 365 on Mac: In general Office and OneDrive work just fine - I can't say I have noticed any significant differences. I would also say that they (particularly word) seem to be a lot more stable these days than they used to be.

Secondly, "Office lag": I wasn't aware of it but went and tried it on my wife's machine and agree, first opening is quicker on hers (and I have a faster processor). That said, I realise now that I never knowingly close word and excel and don't see why that would be a need these days. Then again, I have a lot of RAM. I think Macs use regular disk space these days if they run short on RAM. On reflection, I just see no benefit to changing my practice. YMMV but I'd invite you to consider whether your practice today is dealing with a historical issue.

Thirdly, I think there's more to the decision to move across to a Mac than those and I would counsel considering the broader picture:

There are some initial downsides for a Windows user:

• The UI has quite a lot of differences - they just take some time to get used to. Some of the functionality is quite well hidden - Google is your friend!
• No delete key on MBP. There is a workaround "fn backspace"; it's OK but it's not the same.
• Mac Finder is nowhere near as good for me as Windows explorer or I need to learn how to use it better.
• Splitting screens (windows key + arrows). There is an equivalent function but it's steam age by comparison.
• I use Office (including Outlook over the Mac equivalents - as others have said they are a must for my needs.
• Some apps don't have Mac versions. I have an organiser app (MLO) that falls into this category. Fortunately you can buy something called Crossover that allows you to run Windows programs and this works pretty well. It's not seamless but, for me, good enough on MLO.
• Some key apps (e.g. WhatsApp) not available on iPad.

Then there are some things I really like:

• Performance: yes you pay but Apple silicon (at least as of a few months ago) seems to comprehensively outperform Intel chips. You wouldn't bet against Intel catching up though. The biggest benefit for me is battery life - my MBP last all day while I had never had a Dell that lasted more than a (very) few hours.
• The charges are light and extremely fast.
• Comprehensive integration between devices.
  • Calendars, photos, Notes, probably others, all sync seamlessly between devices. My wife and I share selected calendars via her iPhone, works pretty well although I have discovered that some minor data (e.g travel times doesn't get received at the other end).
  • I have set up my Studio display with my MBP open on a tray next to it and the extended displays work quite well. I today discovered that I can extend the display wirelessly to my iPad. I believe that you can use your iPhone as a camera for your laptop but haven't tried that yet.
  • My Watch automatically unlocks my MBP.
• Great display.
• The hardware by all accounts has amuch greater longevity I know and read about people who have devices still running happily after 10 years. My Dells at least usually started showing their age after 2-3 years.
• I am an amateur photographer and Apple silicon seems to be very well suited to post processing apps.
• My MBP hooks up wirelessly from my armchair to my Apple TV to use my Samsung TV as a big monitor. All I do is press the MBP share button and both the Apple TV and TV itself both get turned on.
• I use a Logitech keyboard and mouse at my workstation - they work seamlessly.
• I had all sorts of fun and games with Windows updates over the years, thus far at least, not a single issue with my Mac.

Would I go back if I could get my money back? No.

Best of luck, whichever way you go!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I think I am going to get a mac mini when the M3's come out and see how it goes

The Point and Shoot Pro said:

Thanks for the information. I think I am going to get a mac mini when the M3's come out and see how it goes

Click to expand...

You can talk to lots of people first (I did) and read endless reviews (that too) but IMO the UI with our IT is so complex that you only really find out what a new system is like for yourself by using one for a while.