One Year with macOS After Five Years on Linux: A Developer’s Perspective

This month marks one full year since I started using macOS as my primary operating system and I have some thoughts.

My Background

Before switching to macOS, I spent about five years living in the Linux world, specifically with Pop!_OS, a popular Ubuntu-based distribution. As someone who doesn’t game much and spends most of my time building systems and writing backend code, Linux quickly became my home. I loved the Gnome desktop environment for its ergonomic design, and I appreciated the control Linux gave me over everything on my machine. Tools like apt, Docker, and systemd weren’t just utilities, they were part of my daily workflow and helped me understand how things work under the hood.

In short, Linux taught me a lot about systems and computing in general. It’s a developer’s playground if you’re comfortable with the terminal and know how to solve problems on your own.

The Switch to macOS

About a year ago, I got my hands on a MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip. It’s a powerful machine, and after using it for a while, especially over the summer, as I finished my first year of university, I started to lean into it more for coding.

To my surprise, macOS has grown on me.

In particular, I’ve come to really enjoy web development on macOS. The development experience feels smoother than I expected. Apple’s Unix-like underpinnings combined with its polished user experience makes for a great no non sense machine.

What I Like

• Homebrew is amazing. Honestly, I think it’s better designed than apt. On Linux, you end up juggling multiple package managers (apt, Snap, Flatpak), each with their quirks. On macOS, almost everything I need is available via Brew and it just works.

• macOS on a MacBook is unbeatable. The window management, trackpad gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and overall polish make using the system a pleasure. The hardware-software synergy is real.

• The ecosystem is just… smooth. Whether it’s Git, Node.js, Docker (with some caveats) it just works. You can really see how much effort companies actually put into their macOS releases (wish they did the same with linux).

What Still Annoys Me

• Docker. The lack of a true native Docker runtime on macOS is still a pain. I’ve heard that macOS 26 is introducing native support for Linux containers, so I’m hopeful things will improve soon.

• External monitor support. macOS feels optimized for laptops. When I dock my MacBook and try to use it as a desktop with an external monitor, the user experience feels like it falls apart, especially compared to something like Gnome’s handling of multiple displays.

Final Thoughts

I’m still a Linux enthusiast at heart. There’s a level of freedom, learning, and customization on Linux that macOS will never quite match. But at the same time, I’ve come to appreciate the thoughtful design and polish that Apple brings to the table.

For the kind of development I’m doing now, especially front-end and web-focused work, macOS has been a fantastic tool. I don’t see myself fully replacing Linux anytime soon, but I’ve found a workflow that combines the best of both worlds.

If you’re a developer wondering whether to make the jump from Linux to macOS, I’d say: try it. You might be surprised how much you like it.

And for the people who say don’t use a mac for engineering. I’d agree unless you are linux user who is use to finding workaround for everything (also if your doing mech eng or its derivative, then stay far away, its not worth it )