Long time no See - back in the Apple world

It's been a while since I've written about my views on Apple these days and what I'm missing with Microsoft by comparison. In the meantime I've somewhat rejoined the world of Apple based computing with the iPad Pro and so far the experience has been great. To be fair I don't use a lot if the power of the device yet as it is largely used for editing text (waiting on my Bluetooth keyboard from amazon as typing on screen is not really my thing) and using tools like things or OmniFocus.

The system feels much more appropriate to the device with iPad OS now then back in the days on my iPad 2 - back then it really was treated a lot like a big phone.

Things have changed

Back when I used to have an iPad it used to be mostly a device for consuming media, a good one mind you but still a device for consuming rather then producing things. Right now I am sitting here with a Bluetooth keyboard hooked up to the iPad (yes, a few days have passed since writing down the first sentences) typing this and it's great. Another thing: the CPU inside my iPad scored close to the somewhat older Intel Xeon In my desktop on Geekbench this weekend, so anybody with doubts about what this thing can do computing wise can rest assured that it is a very capable device. Especially on the iPad the app-ecosystem has also matured a lot. Apps like Things, Drafts (where I am writing this right now), OmniFocus - not to speak of tools for high end graphics work - and many others make iPad OS a great Plattform for working either on the go or even at home but away from your desk.

Drafts: the app I‘m writing this in. (The fact that I could upload this screenshot from the ipad was special to me as well.)

So what about the Mac?

This is a question that I've thought about on and off since getting the iPad. I have fond memories to working on a Mac and back then here were more limitations. For example the idea of playing games on a Mac was mostly, well ... an idea. Today, with the advent of technologies to make porting games to different systems easier this is no longer the case. Even when using Linux for a while I could go on Steam and just install a lot the games I wanted to play without having to do anything special. The toolset for working on the Mac had already been great, but things have gotten better here as well. Microsoft Office on the Mac today looks far better then when I got to use it shortly after the Intel transition, though I feel the same about the windows Version. Software like phpStorm provides great environments to work in as developer and being a UNIX based system is helpful in that regard anyways.

The main reason I am not seeing myself being a Mac too soon is the simple fact that I have working computers and they are not cheap. So I'd really need a specific reason to justify the investment in something like a Mac Mini (another thing that has gotten really great now).

All in all I guess I will keep ya'll updated on how this goes and write a few things regarding different apps that I'm using now. It is exciting at any rate.