A short story about my exposure to computer and Operating Systems.

My first exposure to computing dates back to 2011, when I was gifted an IBM desktop running windows XP for Christmas / finishing primary school / getting into one of the top colleges (at that time) in Mauritius. Computers were pretty expensive at that time and not everyone was able to afford one, Internet connection was limited and also not allowed due to its cost and I am not sure if there were computing books at the libraries at that time. In a nutshell, I was not like the other kids who started programming at an early age. The main use was playing games and later to support college studies. Long story short - I started using Windows operating system and windows XP was the first one.

Over the time, I learnt how to install OS and transitioned to multiple OSs’, mainly Windows Vista (short period), Windows 7 and while doing my degree, I got interested in Linux OS. I started by dual booting Linux Mint and then triple booting with Windows Server 2008 (while learning oracle database). Eventually, I reverted to Windows 7 due to lack of software. While I was moving to Sydney, I bought a Lenovo Ultra book which was running Windows 8. I dual booted Ubuntu but didn’t use it most of the time due to lack of drivers - there was a few obstacles running Ubuntu on Lenovo Yoga 2 pro - which I didn’t had time to look into and ended up updating to Windows 10.

Fast forward 2016 - Once I completed my course, I wiped off the OS and did a fresh Ubuntu install on the machine. While, I liked using it, there was a few aesthetics that I was not satisfied with and soon came across Elementary OS and started using it which was around mid 2017 and I decided to write a blog about my setup.

Fast forward 2018 - My Lenovo died after 4 years. Contacted support and they thought the motherboard died and need to be replaced. I was advised to get it done through a third-party as i might be a bit cheaper. I knew it was time to get a new laptop and started looking for one. Few considerations:

  • Dell XPS - Windows :(
  • Dell XPS Developer Edition - :O
  • Lenovo X1 Carbon - Windows :(
  • Microsoft Surface - Windows + + small :$
  • MacBook Pro - am anti apple products (why would I?)

I wanted to get either the XPS/X1 and install Elementary or Ubuntu but remembered the fixes I had to apply to get Linux to work on Windows native Machine. While I was doing my analysis, I came across a MacBook Pro deal which I thought was pretty good and decided to stop looking and bought it (optimal stopping). I have been using the MacBook for a few months now and have not faced any issue with. I am pretty satisfied with it. My work Laptop was also updated to an i7 MacBook pro (touch bar) - which isn’t too bad as well but I would not spend the extra for the touch bar. I haven’t found any use of it yet.

I’ll be posting the software and tools I installed on the Mac in the next coming weeks. Until then, Stay safe.