[dpifke]

That's basically WSL.

My work laptop is Windows, and the only native applications I run on it are a web browser, Zoom, and the company's VPN software. Everything else runs inside WSL.

I greatly prefer Debian to Homebrew, so if I can't run actual Linux, this is (to me) superior to trying to develop on a Mac.

[illusive4080]

I agree that Debian beats Homebrew. But wouldn’t a persistent Debian container on Mac be better? WSL is nothing more than a container on the system, no?

The Mac hardware is vastly superior to most Windows laptops, especially enterprise Windows laptops.

[spankibalt]

> The Mac hardware is vastly superior to most Windows laptops, especially enterprise Windows laptops.

Man alive, what you mean is normie "Apple-style" Windows laptops with a bit of an "enterprise" makeover. Mobile enterprise workhorses (e. g. Panasonic, Getac)? Apple has no hardware in this segment. Detachables with extended five-year warranties plus certified dual-OS support? Nothing. Some of you fruit afficionados need to get out more.

[dpifke]

With Windows 11, WSL has X and Wayland support, so you can run graphical applications as if they're native (e.g. share the same cut-and-paste buffer, switch between windows using alt+tab, and so on). It's also much easier to attach USB devices like Yubikeys to an already-running container than the last time I tried to do the same with Parallels. (That was quite a few years ago, so maybe it's gotten better.) You can also launch Windows applications from Linux, which is makes it trivial to control my (Windows-native) browser from within WSL.

I strongly disagree about Mac hardware vs. Thinkpads or Framework, but to each their own.

[pjmlp]

My Thinkpad has CUDA and native Vulkan support, with hardware specs that are 1000 euros cheaper than getting the same capabilities on a Mac laptop.

[Wingy]

You can do that at least for CLI apps with OrbStack. Not sure if it has X or Wayland support.