How locked down macOS is these days? Is it still possible to use OS without account and freely "sideload" software applications? Is homebrew still a thing?
I haven't done a brand new install in a few years, but it's possible to run macos (not ios) without an account. You can't use the store, but it doesn't try to sell you things all the time either. Siri can be disabled. I don't think you can know how much it leaks and where.
You can install real software pretty much freely, but some of it may pop up with a dialog saying it was downloaded from the internet (OMG!) or that it doesn't pass a signature check. First one is a warning, the second disables the program. There's a workaround. That'll work as long as it works.
Brew still exists and is still terrible, but seems to still be the most common way and has a ton of things and updates pretty frequently. I think there's also Nix and some other things but I don't know how common "mac" software is on those.
And you can run VM's with pretty full real environments if you like. Also the OS itself has come a long way since the first os X releases. Nearly usable apart from the GUI stuff. Installing a real OS instead only works on M1/M2 and there's no sign of things getting better.
M chips and Retina screens (apart from the old 5k weirdo) are pretty damn nice.
I haven't done a brand new install in a few years, but it's possible to run macos (not ios) without an account. You can't use the store, but it doesn't try to sell you things all the time either. Siri can be disabled. I don't think you can know how much it leaks and where.
You can install real software pretty much freely, but some of it may pop up with a dialog saying it was downloaded from the internet (OMG!) or that it doesn't pass a signature check. First one is a warning, the second disables the program. There's a workaround. That'll work as long as it works.
Brew still exists and is still terrible, but seems to still be the most common way and has a ton of things and updates pretty frequently. I think there's also Nix and some other things but I don't know how common "mac" software is on those.
And you can run VM's with pretty full real environments if you like. Also the OS itself has come a long way since the first os X releases. Nearly usable apart from the GUI stuff. Installing a real OS instead only works on M1/M2 and there's no sign of things getting better.
M chips and Retina screens (apart from the old 5k weirdo) are pretty damn nice.