Mac vs Windows for Software Engineers (best laptop for programming)

Ex-Google tech lead Patrick Shyu reviews Mac versus PC for programmers and software developers. For the tech field, is there a clear choice on which laptop/computer to get and what’s the reasoning? Why is it that every developer at tech conferences or in Silicon Valley seems to have a Macbook, and what’s the big deal behind Unix/Linux? How about Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Also, I should have mentioned Linux installations more. My opinion is that since it doesn’t support Adobe Creative Suite / Photoshop / Lightroom / Premiere / After Effects (dealbreaker for many), Sketch, iOS, and other general quality-of-life apps, I think that overall limits its usage towards just backend engineering. It may be restrictive for general product/ui/full-stack work – - I can’t even do my YouTube video stuff on a Linux since there’s no software for it. As for dual-booting, it’s a pain to manage two computers, especially with different OS’s – - you have to do everything twice: app installs, OS updates, system configuration, etc., You’re getting yourself into years of extra computer management in exchange for slightly better hardware. If you’re a college student or beginner, your life would probably be far simpler to avoid that route so you can focus on the code and not fussing with the OS, in my opinion. One more bonus of a Mac is you don’t need to run antivirus.