Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac One of the selling points of a Mac these days is the ability to run Windows software on it, via virtualization or Apple’s own Boot Camp.

Of course, I would never advise you buy a MacBook Pro just to use Windows 10. Something like the HP Spectre x360, Dell XPS 13, or a Surface in most cases is significantly cheaper, come with a better selection of ports, have nicer displays, and offer neat things like facial recognition or flip to become tablets. Still, Windows 10 on a 13-inch MacBook Pro (2880x1800; though Windows for some reason recommends 2560x1600) is more than fine.

Sure, there's no touch screen, but personally, that is not something that bothers me although I get that for some users this is a deal breaker. I will point out that because there is no digitizer the display is sharp, bright, and has an excellent color gamut. Plus, like the Surface series it has a less-wide aspect ratio (16:10), which I prefer (seriously, I think PC manufacturers need to go to 3:2 or 16:10 at least).

Battery life is on par with most Ultrabooks in this category, and I can get 6 to 8 hours depending on some settings. While I agree that the new 'Butterfly' mechanism for the keyboard and very low key travel is different, I surprisingly do not hate it. In fact, I type just fine on it and sometimes even prefer it. I do agree though that it's a very divisive feature amongst users and one that you either get used to or you will forever loathe. I find that result surprising if only because mentally I was prepared to hate Apple's new keyboard design, but I don't. The Force Touch Trackpad is stupidly huge on the new MacBook Pros. Being able to click through something as you can in macOS understandably doesn't work in Windows 10 (there's no function for it to perform anyway), but the solid-state trackpad does 'click' as expected through its 'taptic engine'.

While not the best out-of-the-box experience on Windows, Apple still does make very good trackpads that feel great. I'd still recommend installing something to bring back gesture support and more configuration options. Overall, the trackpad experience with a MacBook Pro is shockingly still better than some PCs, but far behind something like Microsoft's optimized Surface Book. Turning to ports what's there to say?

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has four USB Type-C ports, all supporting Thunderbolt 3. There's no SD card slot, no HDMI, or anything else besides a headphone jack. Despite the angry blowback and #donglegate controversy, how much an all-Type-C machine bothers you will vary on your daily habits. Is it weird that for my daily use I don't mind an all-Type-C layout? I do not deny people have qualms with Apple's decision, and I get how it's a deal breaker for many, but in my case, it's not a problem. At least for PC users, we have a choice though for laptops, manufacturers, and models.

Those tied to Apple have none, hence the greater outrage, which is understandable. Quickbooks pro for mac. What about the Touch Bar and Touch ID?

The new MacBook Pros (all except the low-end 13-inch version) come with Apple's somewhat gimmicky Touch Bar and Touch ID for fingerprint logins. Both systems are optimized for macOS, but Apple does provide fundamental drivers for Windows 10 to at least use the Touch Bar. Here is what you get: • Escape key • Brightness Up and Brightness Down • Keyboard Brightness Up and Brightness Down • Skip Back, Play/Pause, Skip Forward • Mute, Volume Down, Volume Up Missing, of course, are important things like Print Screen. To get to the useful function keys you just hold down the FN button and the Touch Bar will show F1-F12. You can also set the function keys to display be default instead of the media and system keys, which is a nice nod.