Goodbye macOS

In 2007, when I replaced a computer that really needed to be replaced, the new laptop came with Windows Vista. I was not a happy camper. I put up with it for a while, and was tempted to "downgrade" to Windows XP, which I liked. I hated Vista. And so did many others.

Let me take some time to tell you why I think Vista was so bad. Before Windows XP was released, Microsoft begin working on an OS code named "Longhorn." Note that all versions of Windows had code names prior to release, with Windows XP being "Whistler." Well, Longhorn was being developed before XP was ever officially released. The plan was a stop-gap OS release between Whistler (what became Windows XP) and Blackcomb (the planned next major release).

As development progressed, many features intended for Blackcomb were incorporated into Longhorn. However, as Longhorn was not originally intended to have those features, this "scope creep" began to overwhelm the project. Blackcomb was eventually canceled, as many of its features were incorporated into Longhorn.

Longhorn was finally locked down and released as Windows Vista. It acted like an unfinished operating system. And, it really was, as so many Blackcomb features were kludged in, without the full vision of Blackcomb being realized.

Internally, Vista was Windows 6. And it was a flop. Many hated the experience, including me, and many paid to "downgrade" to Windows XP. I chose to not do that, but to simply change to a different operating system. I chose Mac OS, known as OS X at the time.

In the summer of 2007, I bought my first MacBook, and I liked it. I liked it a lot. And I've used Macs since then.

Fast forward to summer 2022, when Apple announced the latest version of macOS. The announcement included a list of devices that were supported. My MacBook was not on the list. That means that my perfectly good MacBook will not receive the new operating system update that is being released this month. No macOS 13 Ventura for me.

That is disappointing. I get that they need to draw the line on support somewhere. However, I don't want to shell out $1500 for a comparable new MacBook. That's a lot of money, because Macs cost a lot of money. And, one of the reasons they cost so much is they are very well built machines. That's why my 7 year old MacBook runs as well today as the day I bought it.

I've mentioned before that I bought a new SSD for my MacBook and replaced the one in the MacBook, and installed GNU/Linux on it. That has gone very well, and I am very used to the Linux experience. And I have decided that I will not buy a new MacBook, and will continue using my current device running Linux.

No, it's not the same as running macOS. It's not the same as running Windows. But, it's a good experience, and I'm quite happy to keep using Linux as my everyday OS on my laptop. I need to do more with my Linux desktop, because I use the device for different stuff. I use that for video editing. I need to do that with Linux, rather than the Windows desktop that is my current video editing machine.

When that's done, I'll probably shut down the Windows device, as it will at that point be taking up space.

It's been a weird route that has taken me to this point. It started with a side project in my Streaming Life, and that led to something which led to something which led to something. Now, I'm giving up macOS officially. I would never have seen this coming a year ago.