To some degree OS productivity is subjective based on what you grew up with. Your neural pathways form around a certain way of work management and it becomes hard to change that after ten years.
I'm naturally biased then to early Windows and MATE-esque environments. And, it's worth noting that I despise Win11 overall, so a better comparison is indeed Linux Mint MATE[1]. Part of the project inspiration is to never use Windows 11 again, actually!
Before I started the project I wrote down what I consider productivity boosters for me:
1. Fast context switching between open apps and windows, natively. All open apps are in front of me by way of the taskbar, always, and never hidden. I never have to think about where to find my immediate work. I can group apps, pin them, and create custom behavior for them.
2. System tray apps for things that you interact with often, but aren't necessarily immediately working on. Macos has something similar but it isn't really pluggable or widely used yet, and nowhere near as customizable. With Win10 I can add, remove, or hide system tray apps based on how I use my workstation best.
3. Optimized Start Menu. I press a button, I get access to things I've favorited, recent apps/files, and categories of apps I use often. It is highly customizable in Win10, while I struggle to have something as efficient in macos (even though macos global search is wonderful!).
I feel like the old UX rule of "don't make me think" applies heavily here. The macos app dock is a great example of this. You're forced to think about what you want to do with 10-20+ options glaring at you. Disabling the dock is the first thing I do on a new Mac ;)
Lastly, Win10 lets me customize my system to a high degree as my needs change. I just don't get that with macos, nor have I found apps that hit the mark for me.
I'm curious about your own experiences if you care to share :-)
I'm naturally biased then to early Windows and MATE-esque environments. And, it's worth noting that I despise Win11 overall, so a better comparison is indeed Linux Mint MATE[1]. Part of the project inspiration is to never use Windows 11 again, actually!
Before I started the project I wrote down what I consider productivity boosters for me:
1. Fast context switching between open apps and windows, natively. All open apps are in front of me by way of the taskbar, always, and never hidden. I never have to think about where to find my immediate work. I can group apps, pin them, and create custom behavior for them.
2. System tray apps for things that you interact with often, but aren't necessarily immediately working on. Macos has something similar but it isn't really pluggable or widely used yet, and nowhere near as customizable. With Win10 I can add, remove, or hide system tray apps based on how I use my workstation best.
3. Optimized Start Menu. I press a button, I get access to things I've favorited, recent apps/files, and categories of apps I use often. It is highly customizable in Win10, while I struggle to have something as efficient in macos (even though macos global search is wonderful!).
I feel like the old UX rule of "don't make me think" applies heavily here. The macos app dock is a great example of this. You're forced to think about what you want to do with 10-20+ options glaring at you. Disabling the dock is the first thing I do on a new Mac ;)
Lastly, Win10 lets me customize my system to a high degree as my needs change. I just don't get that with macos, nor have I found apps that hit the mark for me.
I'm curious about your own experiences if you care to share :-)
-
[1] Linux Mint MATE: https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_vanessa_mate_whatsnew.php