Why I Left Windows Behind to Focus on Productivity
For most of my working life, I was a Windows guy. Not a casual one either — I was 100% Windows, through and through.
Geeky getting under the hood
Then I got forced into buying an iMac.
Not because I wanted one.
Not because I was chasing shiny things.
But because my clients were.
At the time, Macs were the unofficial badge of the entrepreneur crowd. Designers, founders, agency owners, all Mac users. And if you’re helping clients with tech, marketing, or systems, you need to work on what they work on. So I needed a Mac on the desk, even if it lived on the sidelines.
That was the plan, anyway.
The iMac That Was Supposed to Stay in the Corner
I walked into the store intending to buy a 21-inch iMac. Sensible. Practical. Paid for by an insurance payout, so no drama.
Then I saw it.
The 27-inch iMac, sitting there like a smug, glorious billboard of pixels.
Put side-by-side, the 21-inch instantly felt… apologetic. The 27-inch screen was ridiculous. Immersive. Excessive. Completely unnecessary.
Naturally, I wanted it.
After some solid haggling (and convincing them to part with the demo model), I walked out with the 27-inch beast and a slightly lighter wallet.
At home, I set it up as far away from my main workspace as possible — but still within rolling distance of my wheelie chair.
Just in case.
The Slow Creep Toward the Centre of the Desk
What I didn’t expect was how quickly the iMac made everything else look… small.
My other 27-inch monitors? Suddenly underwhelming.
My Windows setup? Functional, but uninspiring.
Bit by bit, I started using the iMac more. Learning macOS. Discovering The Mark Operating System — my own way of working, thinking, and flowing through tasks.
Without realising it, the iMac rolled closer.
And closer.
Until one day, it was the desk.
The MacBook Pro Was the Point of No Return
The real turning point came when I bought my first MacBook Pro.
It could dual-boot macOS and Windows, which felt like the perfect compromise. One machine. Two worlds.
But something funny happened.
Windows became the backup.
macOS became the default.
And once that happened… oh wow.
Things just worked.
The friction dropped away.
The system got out of my way instead of demanding attention.
Who would’ve imagined a lifelong Windows user making a full transition?
Certainly not me.
Productivity Isn’t About Power — It’s About Flow
This wasn’t about Apple vs Microsoft. It wasn’t brand loyalty or tech snobbery.
It was about flow.
macOS didn’t make me smarter.
It didn’t magically improve my ideas.
But it removed just enough friction that I could stay in the zone longer.
Less fiddling.
Less fixing.
Less babysitting the operating system.
And more doing.
Where I’m At Today
I still own a Windows machine.
It sits at the back of the room.
It rarely gets turned on.
It’s there “just in case”.
But 99.5% of my work is now macOS-centric.
MacBook Pro
Mac mini
iPad
iPhone
And all the beautifully boring connected bits that quietly sync in the background.
Windows didn’t fail me.
I just outgrew the relationship.
Final Thought
This wasn’t a switch.
It was a drift.
A slow, accidental migration toward something that let me focus less on the machine — and more on the work, the ideas, and the life wrapped around them.
And honestly?
That’s the whole point.
MOS: https://markwhitby.me/the-mark-operating-system/
