Switching from Windows PC to Mac and why I switched back

I am a SEO and web developer that has been using Windows since more than two decades. In may 2021 the fan of my current lap top started to make a lot of noise and I bought a MacBook Pro M1 which was highly recommended to me by coworkers - I was told that I will thank myself in the future for making the switch to mac. So I pulled the trigger.

Here follows a summary of my experience.

Positives with the M1 Mac

Super silent, I have yet to hear any fan.
Quick and powerful. Apple M1 chip, super fast. But my PC laptop is also super fast so not really a difference.
Long battery life. Really long.
Light, easy to travel with.
Should be more stable and lasting more years.
Access to Safari for web dev testing.

Minor things

Computer did not come preloaded with crapware.
No drives that has to be updated or give problems. For example no need to install my printer, it just worked.
Better ways to preview files in Finder (their File Explorer) using spacebar and then arrows.
Unix under the hood, possible to run shell commands with a terminal that is included in the OS. No need for PuTTy.
Keychain built in, passwords are stored encrypted.
Fingerprint to open computer is cool.
Autocomplete suggestions on the keyboard when typing is cool.

Negatives with the M1 Mac

Only 8 GB of ram memory. I did normal office work and I noticed that the computer got slow and acted weird, mouse was lagging a lot. I checked the Activity Monitor It was swapping more than 3 GB! I had firefox open with around 13 tabs (few with google sheets), dropbox, slack and skype. Nothing out of the ordinary and the mac could not manage it. It seems that on PC the mouse cursor is the last thing that will lag but on mac it is the first thing that lags, extremely annoying.
The ctrl button is now the cmd button and is located more to the right and requires use of the thumb instead of pinky finger. So all those common commands such as ctrl+c will take a long while to get used to and caused me a lot of frustration.
Any good alternative for WinSCP does not exist (active sync of files to servers). Cyberduck seems to be the popular option for mac users but is a joke in comparison. I have an established work flow using active sync when I develop so this was a huge bummer.
The way to write { and } has been changed completely, cumbersome to type.
Small screen, only 13.3 inch.
Keys I often use that has been removed: delete button, F2, home button, end button, page up, page down (use cmd+backspace to delete a file in Finder).
Accessories and the computer itself are more expensive than regular PC. Perhaps around double the price it seems. The Macbook with a small connector costed around €1600, for 8 GB ram on 13.3 inch screen.
No ports for usb or hdmi, you need some external docker for that.
The M1 does not support connecting 2 monitors in the current macOS Big Sur 11.4. Might work with some hackery third party drivers and third party hardware. Will probably/maybe be solved one day in the future in an macOS update.
Right click in a folder to create a file (text file) is not possible. First you need to open the program, save the file to some temporary location and then move it to the correct folder.
Window management is much much better in Windows. One example: in mac the menu is now at the top of the screen, not on top of the window which makes it more cumbersome when you work with a number of different windows at the same time (external monitor). Another example: I had to copy data from Sublime to cells in google sheet back and forth and it took much longer than on a PC. You click on a cell but that only activates the window and you need to click again on the same cell to edit the cell. Many other examples exist.
The Dock will seemingly randomly move to the external monitor, extremely annoying. Info.
Scroll up to go down? Easy to change but the touchpad is still reverse for the scrolling.
File management is done by Finder and there is some very strange things. For example to enter a file (open it) you do not use the enter key but cmd+down and enter is for renaming (wtf!).
Closing an app using the mouse and clicking the red dot will actually not close the app, it will still be open and consume memory. Use cmd+q to close an app.
When replacing text in Sublime (something I often do), current selection will not be prefilled in the find box. It has to be copy pasted causing frustration.
In general more dumb or for children (?) For example the program used for sending files to a server, Cyberduck, is a duck and bounces up and down when being opened. Lots of settings are hidden, only basic settings visible. Things such as holding down the alt key to make hidden settings and buttons to appear is a common thing.
Clicking on the clock to see a mini calendar does not exist.
Not possible to pin common text files in the dock.
Ctrl+scroll in Sublime to resize text not possible.
Right delete in Sublime requires short command as there are no delete button.
For taking screenshot Ctrl+shift+s is replaced with shift+command+4 but it also gives you an annoying sound and requires you to right click the image and click “copy to clipboard”.
It was not fun to work anymore, endless annoyances and frustrations.

What went smooth

Firefox with sync, lastpass and uBlock Origin,
Github gui client for code sync. Default was to place local files in documents folder but that is synced with iCloud so I had to redo the process and saving to /user/Repos/ instead.
Dropbox sync
Installation of discord, skype, slack, Sublime.

Neutral

I could use my pc mouse. Right click IS possible.
Buttons for close, minimize and maximize now at the top left instead of top right.
Short commands are changed: win+d for see desktop is now fn+f11 which is more cumbersome.
Cursor movement speed in text very slow. (easy to change)

One week of pain

So I spent a week on the mac … my productivity level was cut in half during that period. Then I had enough, took a decision and went back to the PC. I was so happy.

What I learned about the fan in windows

It is possible to safely almost turn off the fan in windows. If you use a high end computer for office work (not gaming) and are annoyed by the fan you should probably do this. Go to power settings -> Additional power settings -> Change plan settings -> Change advanced power settings -> Processor power management -> System cooling = Passive. This will make windows slow down the cpu if needed instead of turning on the fan. I have that enabled together with 50% maximum processor state (because my fan is broken and noisy) and it works excellent for me with only a minor difference in speed.

What's the big deal about active sync of files to servers?

I work in 5 different code bases more or less in the same time. I don't normally use localhost but have ways how I test code either in dev environment or other methods. So when I save in sublime I see the results directly online. At least 2 of the code bases does not support localhost at all.

For me a computer is a tool to get things done, the faster the better. Changing how I work to suit the computer does not make any sense at all. Mac does not have a good program for active sync such as WinSCP.

Why did I buy a mac with only 8 GB ram and such a small screen?

I was told that mac uses ram in a much better way and I thought that I could connect 2 monitors. I was told to buy the one with the M1 chip. I bought the most powerful one with M1 that was available in the store (Spain).

Conclusion

I am back with my windows lap top. I will buy a new soon, and it will be a windows computer.