iOS, MacOS, etc. 26 is making me seriously consider switching

[ncted]

You answered your own question. The music streaming services have been including "you might also like" artists for a while now.

I can see that (kind of) when I am searching for music or looking for suggestions based on my listening habits, but this is in my music library -- stuff I "own." If I click on an artist, I only want to see that artist's work.

I've started on path to reduce the amount of Apple in my life. I realize I probably cannot eliminate it completely, especially without switching to an even worse user experience in many cases, but I am less and less enamored with what I am getting from Apple for my money these days. I go out of my way to avoid vendor lock-in at work. I thought the benefits outweighed the risks with Apple in personal life, but it is becoming clear that may no longer be the case, so I am going to start reducing my exposure. I am currently using a Dell running Linux at work, and I've been playing around with other streaming devices.

 

[harshness]

If I click on an artist, I only want to see that artist's work.

Business is business, and companies make "business decisions" (what appears to be financially advantageous versus what represents appreciable technical progress). Apple under Tim Cook has made more than a few prickly business decisions. Apple hasn't been immune to following various industry trends for a while now.

I've started on path to reduce the amount of Apple in my life.

It is good not to be too beholden. The worldwide auto industry has driven that point home with a 16lb sledge.

I realize I probably cannot eliminate it completely, especially without switching to an even worse user experience in many cases, but I am less and less enamored with what I am getting from Apple for my money these days.

The Apple user experience has never been all wine and roses. The hardware interfaces to many popular peripherals requiring some manner of fiddly adapter, and software innovation arguably gathering a modicum of moss with each passing year.

I am currently using a Dell running Linux at work, and I've been playing around with other streaming devices.

Putting Dell ahead of its competition is perhaps jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Dell has historically had more than its share of situations where it was beholden to its vendors (Intel, Microsoft), and that's not turning out ideally today.

 

[ncted]

Putting Dell ahead of its competition is perhaps jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Dell has historically had more than its share of situations where it was beholden to its vendors (Intel, Microsoft), and that's not turning out ideally today.

The Dell was what was available from the spares pool. I will say Dell and Lenovo have both upped their support for Linux significantly in the past 5 years or so. Anything not ARM-based works out of the box. I'm probably a couple years away from a laptop refresh unless I want to buy something myself. We've been getting Frameworks 13 and 16 laptops for Linux users who seem pretty happy. The biggest complaint from the ones converting from Apple is the trackpad. The Dell and Lenovo Linux users seem pretty pleased with their hardware as well.

Anyway, the only things I am missing by using the Dell vs. the MacBook Air are:
1. The trackpad is just not as smooth and accurate as Apple. This speaks to Apple's hardware quality overall, but the trackpad tuning on Apple laptops is simply the best I've ever seen.
2. Apple News - Not a big deal. I can look at it on my phone, and I really don't enjoy reading the news that much these days anyway.
3. iMessage - Again, I can use it from my phone, but that is so much slower and annoying compared to messaging on my laptop.

Other than those things, I haven't really noticed anything. Of course, I also use a Linux desktop all day at work and have one at home for various tech projects, so I am very used to being in that environment most of the time. I've been using open systems since the early 90s, so I really feel most comfortable with them anyway.

I am planning on focusing on trying to move away from Apple services as that is where the vendor lock-in really happens. I've already done Music as I have YT Music with my YT Premium subscription. Photos will be the next one on the list. I have a home NAS I could use, but I want to explore the options.

Edit: I know this will take a while.

 

[harshness]

Edit: I know this will take a while.

Ultimately, the only thing I really miss is a good Income Tax application.

 

[ncted]

Ultimately, the only thing I really miss is a good Income Tax application.

Yeah, I use TurboTax online which is only slightly less painful than doing everything by hand (most years). Of course, I am not even sure if you can do it by hand anymore. I thought I saw something about them doing away with paper submission.

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[harshness]

I thought I saw something about them doing away with paper submission.

Paper submission will probably always be an option. IIRC, it is the free federal self-e-filing that is under pressure to be eliminated.

In any case, the PDF forms for online filing aren't yet available (assuming they become available to individual taxpayers).

 

[ncted]

Paper submission will probably always be an option. IIRC, it is the free federal self-e-filing that is under pressure to be eliminated.

In any case, the PDF forms for online filing aren't yet available (assuming they become available to individual taxpayers).

I just googled, and I think it is paper checks that were being phased out that I was remembering.

IRS to phase out paper tax refund checks starting with individual taxpayers | Internal Revenue Service

IR-2025-94, Sept. 23, 2025 — The Internal Revenue Service, working with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, today announced that paper tax refund checks for individual taxpayers will be phased out beginning on Sept. 30, 2025, as required by Executive Order 14247, to the extent permitted by law.

www.irs.gov

 

[Foxbat]

Or, you could just marry a Tax CPA…

 

[ncted]

Or, you could just marry a Tax CPA…

LOL. I am married to a CPA who did a tax concentration when she got her masters, but she does corporate finance now. She used to work in stock compensation, and she did the taxes for a couple of years so she could answer questions for other employees. I've done our taxes every other year since before we got married. She was a chemist back then.

 

[ncted]

Well, I spent the weekend messing around with different streaming platforms, and here is what I found.

1. Roku would be an acceptable alternative to Apple TV, but there is no Channels DVR app. This is really too bad as I already have Roku hardware on hand and have always found the UI to be nice to use.
2. I tried Google TV (Android), and there are definitely things I liked about it but it has some annoying behaviors/bugs, at least with the hardware I had available, which consisted of an ONN 4K Pro and the built-in Google TV on my Bravia 9. The Bravia 9 actually has better streaming hardware built-in than the ONN box or even Google's own dedicated streamer, at least on paper. Audio Dropouts after pause/resume were the biggest problem, but I also found the UI to be sluggish at times, with an inconsistent delay between a button press and the function being performed on screen.

The Roku (Ultra) had more of a delay than the ATV 4K between button press and action, but it was acceptably short and consistent. The problem isn't so much that the Google TV was really slow at times, but it was often hard to tell if the button press was recognized, so the instinct is to press the button again after a couple seconds, at which point the first button press takes effect, but you've already pressed the button again, so then that button press takes effect. Sometimes it was really fast and others it was unexpectedly slow. I tried alternative launcher Projectivity which were supposed to speed things up and simplify the UI. It did the latter admirably, but not the former. Anyway, the user experience was not acceptable and made the ATV's frame packing and occassional audio drops seem minor in comparison.

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