Work laptop.

[Pusha]

Looking for a new work laptop,

I work in finance and use it for email/web/MS office/PDF and running various types of software that I use for documents/quoting.

I was looking at the surface pro 8 but after looking at the horrendous battery life (advertised 16 hours) and people are only getting 4-5 max, I've decided to look into getting the mac air or pro model.

So my question is will I be able to open some of the windows software on the mac via some sort of software/app?

is there anything else I should know about before going ahead to switching over to mac?

Any info or windows laptop alternatives you guys can give me will be a massive help.

Thank you.

 

[Omnibus]

Mac can cost upto £1k. Had mine for 6 years and you would need to purchase the software, specifically for the macbook.

The software can come from Amazon and you can get certain packages separately from a mac to customise for your use.

I would recommend a Windows 10 dell laptop. Mine was provided by my workplace. I charge it every 4-5 hours.

 

[Pusha]

I don't mind paying more to get a durable, quality laptop that will last me a few years.

I just can't seem to find any windows laptops that actually stand up to the battery life tests in comparison with the macs.

The surface laptop seems the best choice but £1,250 for the full metal body version of which I could get the macbook for the same price.

Other one as you say was the Dell XPS.

 

[mir2pion]

So my question is will I be able to open some of the windows software on the mac via some sort of software/app?

You have two software Windows emulators on Mac, Parallels and Fusion. I think Parallels is better (probably has more features and integration into Mac - so you almost don't notice you run windows programs...) and likely costs more than Fusion. But you can get both emulators hacked and in the same spirit, there is tons of hacked or genuinely free soft for windows which is not the case for Mac. I started my computing life on Macs and always felt like second rate citizen of computing world. Almost no free or hacked soft and paid software was at premium prices compared to windows and if you need help, you need to go to Mac specialized sites whereas for windows, help is all over places.

Mac are a luxury items to this day, in the longer run that is definitely true - I can still install latest windows11 on a ten year old PC that came with win7 but not so with Macs, you are pushed to buy new hardware every few years. I take care of computers for one family and iMacs 24" & 27" & MacPro that still run just fine but can't update OS for many years now and internet browser Safari won't access many websites (due to https mandate) and other browsers also refuse to install and you need to get old version and stop it from updating (not an easy task) and you still have 'old' browser, even if with better functionality than Safari.

Hacks to install more up to date OSX exist but you need to be really accomplished hacker to swing it in most cases.
I have been given iphones and ipads that could still be used but kids forgot passwords and so it is a totally useless junk, which is not the case with other non-mac hardware.

None of that is a problem if you are buying into a Mac now, as I say it is a longer run perspective.

 

[Omnibus]

You have two software Windows emulators on Mac, Parallels and Fusion. I think Parallels is better (probably has more features and integration into Mac - so you almost don't notice you run windows programs...) and likely costs more than Fusion. But you can get both emulators hacked and in the same spirit, there is tons of hacked or genuinely free soft for windows which is not the case for Mac. I started my computing life on Macs and always felt like second rate citizen of computing world. Almost no free or hacked soft and paid software was at premium prices compared to windows and if you need help, you need to go to Mac specialized sites whereas for windows, help is all over places.

Mac are a luxury items to this day, in the longer run that is definitely true - I can still install latest windows11 on a ten year old PC that came with win7 but not so with Macs, you are pushed to buy new hardware every few years. I take care of computers for one family and iMacs 24" & 27" & MacPro that still run just fine but can't update OS for many years now and internet browser Safari won't access many websites (due to https mandate) and other browsers also refuse to install and you need to get old version and stop it from updating (not an easy task) and you still have 'old' browser, even if with better functionality than Safari.

Hacks to install more up to date OSX exist but you need to be really accomplished hacker to swing it in most cases.
I have been given iphones and ipads that could still be used but kids forgot passwords and so it is a totally useless junk, which is not the case with other non-mac hardware.

None of that is a problem if you are buying into a Mac now, as I say it is a longer run perspective.

Are Parrallels or Fusion free by any chance?

 

[Pusha]

You have two software Windows emulators on Mac, Parallels and Fusion. I think Parallels is better (probably has more features and integration into Mac - so you almost don't notice you run windows programs...) and likely costs more than Fusion. But you can get both emulators hacked and in the same spirit, there is tons of hacked or genuinely free soft for windows which is not the case for Mac. I started my computing life on Macs and always felt like second rate citizen of computing world. Almost no free or hacked soft and paid software was at premium prices compared to windows and if you need help, you need to go to Mac specialized sites whereas for windows, help is all over places.

Mac are a luxury items to this day, in the longer run that is definitely true - I can still install latest windows11 on a ten year old PC that came with win7 but not so with Macs, you are pushed to buy new hardware every few years. I take care of computers for one family and iMacs 24" & 27" & MacPro that still run just fine but can't update OS for many years now and internet browser Safari won't access many websites (due to https mandate) and other browsers also refuse to install and you need to get old version and stop it from updating (not an easy task) and you still have 'old' browser, even if with better functionality than Safari.

Hacks to install more up to date OSX exist but you need to be really accomplished hacker to swing it in most cases.
I have been given iphones and ipads that could still be used but kids forgot passwords and so it is a totally useless junk, which is not the case with other non-mac hardware.

None of that is a problem if you are buying into a Mac now, as I say it is a longer run perspective.

Thank you for the detailed response mate.

Just to clarify, do you mean running Parallels or Fusion on the mac makes it more susceptible to being hacked? this is paramount for me as dealing with large sums of money and customer details is the main part of my work.

 

[mir2pion]

No susceptibility, it is as secure as the operating system you run in it, windows here (as virtual machine).

Parallels is just a program interfacing between mac hardware and windows OS to make it look like PC hardware to the windows installed in it.

Used to be that windows could be installed on a separate partition on macs (it was called 'bootcamp') but it is not available anymore with new mac chips. Parallels is better choice anyway to run windows on mac since it lets you use both OS at the same time. with bootcamp you had to reboot computer to use one or the other OS.

 

[Omnibus]

No susceptibility, it is as secure as the operating system you run in it, windows here (as virtual machine).

Parallels is just a program interfacing between mac hardware and windows OS to make it look like PC hardware to the windows installed in it.

Used to be that windows could be installed on a separate partition on macs (it was called 'bootcamp') but it is not available anymore with new mac chips. Parallels is better choice anyway to run windows on mac since it lets you use both OS at the same time. with bootcamp you had to reboot computer to use one or the other OS.

Is this available on Google or by a particular link?

I dont want to charge a service and would need it for gaming.

I think this could benefit the OP if he has instructions on how to install it.

 

[Martyn]

I’d recommend dell xps, really solid machines, I’ve got a Dell XPS 13 2 in 1 9310x UHD model, it’s so nice, light and I honestly feel like it’s too nice for me haha, I don’t want to ruin it!

 

[Jev]

I’d recommend dell xps, really solid machines, I’ve got a Dell XPS 13 2 in 1 9310x UHD model, it’s so nice, light and I honestly feel like it’s too nice for me haha, I don’t want to ruin it!

Yea jizz really messes up the keys