[ksk]

Just to give a counter point - every single device we use at work (biotech R&D) requires windows. All of our equipment (plate readers, flocytometry, purification systems, PCR, fermentors, congutators,etc etc) runs on windows-only software. And these are all several hundred million dollar verticals. Personally, I haven't run into a single piece of equipment that works with MacOS. Except maybe one of our bioreactors, which used a web interface, but that too required a windows tool for other things. Windows is used in a TON of proper manufacturing setups, traditionally only for SCADA/HMI, but more so now on the control side, with PC based automation becoming more prominent.

Which ecosystem is "poor" depends on your own current situation.

[xenihn]

As far as I know, you can somewhat easily run Windows on Mac hardware. The opposite isn't true.

[kn0where]

Microsoft does an excellent job making Windows run on just about any x86[_64] device (excluding ancient hardware). Windows runs perfectly on a Mac, whether in a VM or via dual boot.

[MikusR]

Even on Macs that can't run current Mac OS version

[rikkus]

Does the touchpad work properly now? Last time I checked was 2010 so obviously it might have improved.

[ksk]

Yeah, but I don't know if you can get your system validated, which is a requirement for us, and most people in this field. The HN audience is more aligned towards certain domains, and I merely wanted to present an alternate context. Not that it matters, but I like using OSX :)

[nathansoz]

Which is super unfortunate considering it is an artificial limitation.

[dawnerd]

> The opposite isn't true.

Sure you can. I've gotten macos installed in a vm and even ran a hackintosh for a while which was remarkably easy these days.

[0xFFC]

No it is not. It is not officially supported nor there is strong community support. When people like myself want for work, i want something 100% , I cannot explain it to my supervisor:”naaah, my hackintosh required a little bit of maintenance, so that’s why I submitted the paper late”.

[dawnerd]

Fair enough. Although I’ve had just as many issues running Windows in boot camp.

I do realllly wish Apple would open up and let us officially install on different hardware - especially if they’re only going to update the Mac pros every few years.

[pier25]

> Which ecosystem is "poor" depends on your own current situation

Indeed, I was speaking from my personal experience.