# macOS 1041 Hacker News commenters recommended macOS and 1928 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 11 years (183 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for consistent keyboard shortcuts, strong security, tight Apple ecosystem integration and getting work done without fiddling, though critics cite recent bugs, CPU spikes, clunky window management and UI regressions. ## Why people recommend it - Consistent, powerful keyboard shortcuts (5 comments): "Shortcuts map to menu item titles which means you can set a "Select Next Tab" shortcut and that shortcut will work in every single app that uses "Select Next Tab" in a menu - it's one of the best features on macOS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47348527)) "the best things from macOS (drag and drop everything nearly anywhere, consistent keyboard shortcuts and interfaces, scriptability of everything, etc.)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48451550)) "I'm a heavy keyboard user so rotating apps and windows in apps means I always know where I am and don't even notice the costs you're talking about." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46026098)) - Strong sandboxing and security (6 comments): "Not only is every app sandboxed in a usefully robust way (even ones distributed outside the app store) but this has been done in a way smooth enough that users didn't revolt." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48060258)) "The way macOS handles permissions with user prompts might be the wrong UX, but giving every program carte blanche by default is definitely not the answer either." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47721491)) "macOS has the best system here in principle with its bundle signing, but most developer tools are not in bundles so its of limited utility in this circumstance." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46266521)) - Works well without fiddling (4 comments): "MacOS (or whatever they're calling it now) for all its faults is still probably the best desktop OS for getting things done without having to fiddle around much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46116265)) "Primarily due to suspend/resume working properly, the touchpad, and certain user interface things in MacOS that make working with a single smaller screen easier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49368088)) "the overall combination of Apple Silicon (hardware) and Mac OS (operating system) is the best combination you can buy today for most people" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49898076)) - Excellent ecosystem and hardware integration (4 comments): "Many people, mostly folks who adopt the Apple ecosystem, see this as a positive thing that allows them to delegate undifferentiated decisions on security and ways of working to the vendor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47946465)) "Unless they speed up a major internal shakeup they don't seem to be in a position where their products will be interesting. Amazing hardware though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46101699)) "Ecosystem integration is the shining difference between Apple and others, as it is radically better than any other available implementation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47342473)) ## What people warn about - Liquid Glass UI hurts usability (6 comments): "This isn't to take away from legitimate criticisms such as the issue with the resize hotbox not being updated to match the more rounded corners" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46590047)) "Nothing deal-breaking for me, but there are all kinds of little things that just don't have the polish long-time macOS users are accustomed to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468853)) "In default MacOS setting, the scrollbar is invisible, which literally spent me many minutes in some cases to even find that I could actually scroll down to find more options." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47217066)) - Bugs, leaks and CPU spikes (5 comments): "There's a really nasty bug in Golden Gate 27.0.1 which causes ANECompileService, mediaanalysisd, duetexpertd, and other apple intelligence-related features to thrash and permanently spike your CPU." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50211022)) "In macos 25, there's no throttle for mds (spotlight), and running builds at a normal developer pace produces about 10x more indexing churn than the Apple silicon can handle." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46027195)) "Look no further than the various Mac subreddits for applications such as TextEdit, Calculator, Safari, and other first and third party applications leaking like a sieve" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47550662)) - Clunky window management (3 comments): "For those it works for, it works really well. For those who came from windows always being maximized or split into a grid, it’s a nightmare." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46997923)) "It's been a few years since I had to use OSX for work, but last I used it, you couldn't maximize windows without a 1+ second animation playing when you cmd+tabbed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47943808)) "There's a windowing bug that was introduced in 2009 that I'm confident will persist until MacOS has another MacOSX-style transition to something entirely new." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47719007)) - Increasingly locked down and restrictive (2 comments): "MacOS is following the same trend as windows as to become measurably worse over time, with bloat, slop, user hostile/dark pattern, removing freedoms configuration and escape hatches" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49797056)) "Similar with MacOS. Sure, if you do a bunch of songs and dances, you can get what resembles root. But every version closes and makes being a owner harder." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50169423)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows.md): 1287 recommend - [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux.md): 745 recommend - [Haiku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/haiku-os.md): 115 recommend - [NetBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netbsd.md): 100 recommend - [ChromeOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chromeos.md): 91 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "macOS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).