Joshes and Joshettes, I know it's Monday but I'm still doing a tech post. I've wanted to write this post for over three weeks but I haven't written anything this month. In other words, this topic is perfect for my first post of the month.

Right now I'm writing this post on my MacBook Pro using my iPad Pro as a second monitor, a Magic Mouse 2 and an Apple Pro Keyboard from 1999. Some may call me Apple fan but my desktop is a custom-built overclocked machine with three monitors running Windows 10. I actually enjoy using my desktop and as a power user, Android allows me to do more. That being said, I no longer use either as my daily driver and this post will explain why. Before telling you why I switched, let me give you some history. The first computer my family owned was a custom-built pc in 1995 running Windows 95. That computer later became my personal computer after my family received a newer one in 99 (another custom built pc) running Windows 98. In my sophomore year of high school, we purchased our first prebuilt desktop and I fell in love with Windows XP. I needed a laptop for college and even though I was a life long Windows user I purchased a 2007 MacBook in white. There were two reasons behind my switch, the first was Windows Vista ( it sucked) and the second was everyone in college had a Mac. I used that laptop until 2010 when I purchased a thirteen inch 2010 MacBook Pro. In 2014, I had no computer so I decided to build a desktop which is the one I'm still using today. In 2016, I needed a laptop so I picked up a Surface Pro 3 which I hated. As a laptop, it had no power and it took over eight hours to render a ten-minute clip that contained no effects. After less than a year of use, I stopped using it and just did all my work from home. I decided to get a used 2013 MacBook Pro at the end of 2018 and fell in love with the OS and purchased a new 2018 15 inch model.

Now let's talk about mobile operating systems, my first smartphone was a T-Mobile Dash running Windows Mobile 5. From there I went to the HTC Mogul running Windows Mobile 6 (it had a touch screen and a slide-out keyboard). In the summer of 2008, I purchased my first BlackBerry and I would use Blackberries as daily drivers until 2011. In 2010, I started using an HTC Hero ( AKA the G2 and the second android phone) as my secondary device. The HTC Evo released the year after and I immediately started using that as my primary device. Android was still a baby and battery life was bad even with an extended battery, a CPU under-volt and under-clock. So I purchased an iPhone 4s and used that until the iPhone 5 released. I loved iMessage and the battery life was decent, unfortunately, the 5 was a bad model for me. In 2014 I purchased a used 5s and used it until 2016 when I became bored with the operating system. I purchased a Nexus 6p and used that phone for a year and a half until a repair center damaged my screen while replacing my battery. I bought a OnePlus 3t and used it with two sims until it refused to power on one day (about a month and a half of owning it). I caved in a purchased a Galaxy S8+ and used that as my main phone until a software update made the phone unusable as a main device. I purchased an iPhone X and haven't had any issues in the twenty months that I've owned the device.

As a techy, I also owned a bunch of tablets and smartwatches so let's talk about those. I was never a fan of the original iPad because it felt like a big iPhone with a poor resolution. But in 2012 I was doing network marketing and was advised to purchase a tablet. So I ended up picking up and iPad 3 and used that until the iPad 4 came out. I still have it and it works for basic web browsing. In 2015 I started using a Tab S and it was fine except Samsung never updated the software. Since I wanted a tablet that would stay up to date I purchased a discontinued Nvidia Shield Tablet. Earlier this year I bought a used 2017 iPad Pro so that I could use sidecar in Mac OS X Catalina. For smartwatches, I purchased the original LG G watch and used it for my Nexus 6P. I got bored with the limited functionality and purchased a Huawei watch. I used the watch until I lost it while doing some construction work. After that, I switched back to iOS so I purchased an Apple Watch Series 2. I'm currently still using it.

Even though Android is more open and I can do much more with it (such as controlling a DSLR with a USB OTG adapter) it's not reliable. Depending on the manufacturer, software updates can be scarce and device support may only last a year. An Android update made my IRIS unlock unusable and with it was enabled the phone would freeze and lock up. Apps on iOS just work and the same can't be said for android apps. I purchased a camera app on my android devices and it no longer works. It wouldn't load and I've uninstalled/reinstalled and cleared the app memory but it still doesn't open. Even though the Apple App Store offers better apps I still prefer some Google-specific apps. The G Suite apps, in my opinion, work better than the Apple offerings and I enjoy Play Books over iBooks. Also, Google Opinion Rewards offers you Google Play credit (iOs version offers PayPal credit but doesn't give as many surveys) which I can use to buy books and movies.

The main reason I still use a Windows desktop is that I use it to game. Mac OS doesn't support OpenGL or Direct X, it only supports Metal which is horrible for gaming. Other than gaming I don't use my desktop because my laptop works well with my phone. I can make and receive calls and text from my laptop without looking at my phone. When I used Google Fi I was able to take calls and messages on my desktop but that only worked while I used that carrier. Since Airdrop is built in so I can send files between my devices easily without the need for third-party applications like send anywhere. Features such as universal copy and handoff allow me to continue my work even when I switch between devices. When I synced my AirPods to my phone, iCloud made them available on my laptop, iPad and watch. When I was using a Samsung tablet and phone it only allowed me to take control of the phone using the tablet. It sounds like a good thing but it meant I could only use one or the other and not both devices at the same time. To be able to answer my messages between devices I had to use PushBullet which wasn't always reliable. The Apple Eco System just works well together without the need for third-party apps.

This whole post has been my own personal opinion formulated from years of on-hand experience. You may agree or disagree with certain things but that's okay. Hope you enjoyed this post.