> Just run an always-on (headless!) Linux VM in the background, and don't use the host macOS for anything besides desktop apps (Slack, VSCode, Browser, mpv, terminal emulator but always ssh into the VM, etc).
This is what I do. Specifically, I use Canonical's Multipass, and treat tmux as my "window manager," -- I even mapped my iTerm profile's Command+[key] to the hex code for tmux-prefix+[key], so that Command essentially feels like the Super key in, say, i3. For example, rather than having to type Control+p h, Command+h selects the pane to the left.
The Multipass VM is flawless. Closing the laptop doesn't shut it down, and with the tmux resurrect plugin, sessions persist between Mac restarts (which are rare). If I didn't know better, I'd think it was just a native terminal session.
If I need proper x86_64, I just ssh into my super beefy Linux NAS at home via Tailscale. Both Linux machines are identical in terms of dotfiles/etc, so it feels exactly the same.
I've truly never been happier with Linux. I no longer obsess over my window manager (which used to be a serious time sink for me), and I still get what is IMO the best desktop experience via my Mac. The only tinkering I do is checking out the occasional new neovim plugin, but I really enjoy doing that, as it has a tangible benefit to my dev workflow, and kind of feels like gardening, in a way -- I like the slow but persistent act of improving and culling my environment.
I still have a PC, but I actually recently uninstalled WSL2. It never felt truly finished or "right", and Windows Terminal can be incredibly sluggish -- keystrokes have far more latency than iTerm. I've actually started to embrace just letting "Windows be Windows," even learning Powershell (and enjoying it more than I'd expected).
I've also pretty much moved from gaming on a PC to PS5. So, for me personally, I don't really see a place for Windows anymore. Every single time I boot into my PC, something is wrong -- most recently, it literally won't shutdown unless I execute `shutdown /s`, and no amount of troubleshooting has been able to fix it. I know Windows like the back of my hand, and still it's a constant feeling of death by a thousand cuts.
This is what I do. Specifically, I use Canonical's Multipass, and treat tmux as my "window manager," -- I even mapped my iTerm profile's Command+[key] to the hex code for tmux-prefix+[key], so that Command essentially feels like the Super key in, say, i3. For example, rather than having to type Control+p h, Command+h selects the pane to the left.
The Multipass VM is flawless. Closing the laptop doesn't shut it down, and with the tmux resurrect plugin, sessions persist between Mac restarts (which are rare). If I didn't know better, I'd think it was just a native terminal session.
If I need proper x86_64, I just ssh into my super beefy Linux NAS at home via Tailscale. Both Linux machines are identical in terms of dotfiles/etc, so it feels exactly the same.
I've truly never been happier with Linux. I no longer obsess over my window manager (which used to be a serious time sink for me), and I still get what is IMO the best desktop experience via my Mac. The only tinkering I do is checking out the occasional new neovim plugin, but I really enjoy doing that, as it has a tangible benefit to my dev workflow, and kind of feels like gardening, in a way -- I like the slow but persistent act of improving and culling my environment.
I still have a PC, but I actually recently uninstalled WSL2. It never felt truly finished or "right", and Windows Terminal can be incredibly sluggish -- keystrokes have far more latency than iTerm. I've actually started to embrace just letting "Windows be Windows," even learning Powershell (and enjoying it more than I'd expected).
I've also pretty much moved from gaming on a PC to PS5. So, for me personally, I don't really see a place for Windows anymore. Every single time I boot into my PC, something is wrong -- most recently, it literally won't shutdown unless I execute `shutdown /s`, and no amount of troubleshooting has been able to fix it. I know Windows like the back of my hand, and still it's a constant feeling of death by a thousand cuts.