Phil Dennis-Jordan2d ago
Amazing, macOS 26 really is like Windows. My Mac Mini rebooted overnight to install an update, without asking, and despite the fact I left Xcode in the middle of a debugging session last night. There's a proud notification about "background security improvement". IT'S NOT A BACKGROUND IMPROVEMENT IF IT THROWS OUT MY WORK-IN-PROGRESS AND REBOOTS THE COMPUTER.
(Automatic updates were disabled, but I had left the "download security updates" option enabled. So I guess I have to disable that too.)
Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan2d ago
(The Mac Mini isn't my daily driver, that's still on macOS 15 and behaved itself. I'm working on moving my daily driver to another OS before macOS 15 goes out of support.)
Show threadDmitry Rodionov2d ago
@pmdj Curious to hear what that "another OS" might be. As in: is that Asahi on a Mac, or something else entirely on a non-Mac?
Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan
@rodionovd Moving off Apple hardware too, most likely. Baby steps though; I'm currently experimenting with FreeBSD on my big tower PC. I don't know how feasible that will be for more mobile computing, and getting completely out of the Apple ecosystem isn't likely to happen anytime soon also for work reasons.
Still, I'm increasingly frustrated with the way Apple is mismanaging their platforms. Plus there's the geopolitical angle of reducing my dependency on US-controlled services and devices.
Mar 18 at 9:40amWeb
Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan2d ago
@rodionovd Portable hardware wise, I'd actually really like to try the convertible form factor one of these days. I don't see the point of distinguishing between a tablet for "casual use" and a laptop for "real work" and having to carry both with me when travelling.
Maybe it really doesn't work in practice, but in Apple's ecosystem I've not been able to try it out. Anyway, I'll worry about that once I've found something I'm comfortable with on the desktop.
Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan2d ago
@rodionovd I hear the Snapdragon X-based systems are becoming much more usable on non-Windows operating systems. Unfortunately the only tablets (detachable or not) with those SoCs are currently Microslop's Surface Pro devices. Which I'm not super keen on even if I wasn't using their OS.
Show threadDmitry Rodionov2d ago

@pmdj indeed I think we’re in a renaissance era of Linux-powered mobile hardware thanks to the gaming industry and the attention it brought to both PC handhelds and Linux.

I wish there was similar movement in the laptop hardware area, but alas, its 2026 and only Apple is capable of building a good trackpad it seems

Show threadPhil Dennis-Jordan2d ago
@rodionovd I do wonder how much of that is just unpolished drivers though. As far as I'm aware, the multitouch digitisers on non-Apple phones and tablets are fine, hardware-wise? (OK, pressure feedback is another matter, but I think I could live without that.)
I guess I should get a bunch of those keyboard+touchpad combos intended for pairing with tablets when I've got my desktop set up in a workable way, and see for myself what the big issue is.