Backstory/Context: My wife is an aspiring writer and wants to self-publish a novel that she’s been writing. Currently she’s typing on my old Asus ROG gaming laptop that I no longer use. It’s (barely) running Windows Vista, it was built with Crysis in mind (really shows you how old it is), it’s bulky & heavy, and the battery is completely dead (no longer charges)
Originally, I wanted to get her a MacBook because she can switch between MacOS and Windows (via Boot Camp) to get the best of both worlds, that’s until I found out Boot Camp no longer works/exists. I also felt sticking with the Apple ecosystem might be better in the long run, allowing her to sync her iPhone, use iMessage/FaceTime/iCloud etc… when she’s not near her phone, better laptop design & portability.
I’ve been using MacBooks since Leopard-era and have experience with Apple computers before (candy colored iMac and 5200LC) so I know my way around an Apple keyboard & the shortcuts.
She, on the other hand, has only used Windows.
Definitely looking for laptop recommendations in general. Sure, it might be bias to post this in an Apple community but as an Apple user, I’d like to hear other opinions. Maybe there’s a Windows laptop with a similar feel/design of a MacBook? Perhaps the MacBook is the better choice?
Might be worth mentioning that I’ve heard horror stories about people finding spyware on Windows laptops (I think Dell/Alienware was the big one) and I’m totally out of the laptop game.
Chromebook is only good when you’re online, and it will stop being supported ratger soon – unless you root it and install a modern lite Linux distro, which runs text editors and browsers decently even on 20 year old hardware.
I’m afraid your info is a bit out-of-date. Firstly, most Chromebook are pretty useful even offline these days - most importantly, you can create and edit documents offline, which is the primary use-case for OP’s partner. Second, you don’t need to root a Chromebook any more to install Linux - installing Linux is literally just 4 clicks (Settings > Advanced > Developers > Linux), which would then install Debian in less than 10 minutes.
Edit: Also, Google just announced that they’re extending the support for Chromebooks to 10 years now: https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-extends-chromebook-lifespan-to-ten-years/