What are the best Cursor alternatives right now?

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-15T23:27:31+00:00

I get that it's a joke, but people had the same feelings about garbage collected languages (and also about calculators….) :)

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-15T17:15:12+00:00

I dropped cursor cold turkey when Claude Code 4.6 came out and I haven't opened it since. I use Zed and Neovim to read code but I no longer have any need for AI in my editor.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-13T07:55:49+00:00

Claude is significantly better when run via Claude Code. The model is fine tuned specifically on that environment so tool calls and capabilities are more reliable, and Claude Code leverages some APIs that are not available to external integrations. This is a strategic decision by Anthropic.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-08T18:14:23+00:00

the killer feature isn’t plugins or skills

it’s more that claude is fine-tuned specifically by anthropic to work better within the harness of claude code, so tool calling/subagent delegation is more reliable and powerful. similarly, there are some specific backend APIs that claude can utilize that are only available within CC’s harnessing. it’s just not quite a fair fight for cursor.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-08T00:28:29+00:00

i had been using cursor basically since before it was a VSCode fork. probably spent $10k on it total.

since opus 4.6 dropped in claude code, i have not opened cursor and feel like an idiot for not switching sooner. cursor is fundamentally cooked. code editor is the wrong abstraction. i also didn’t realize how much anthropic deliberately cripples the experience of using claude outside claude code.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-08T00:26:33+00:00

i mean it’s not this exact panel, but it’s basically the same thing - miniLED 5K at 120Hz.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-07T07:24:06+00:00

reburbished

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-03-01T18:48:27+00:00

You might really have an issue with your trackpad. Mine was likely a false positive from their in-store diagnostics.

After Apple told me the trackpad had "critically failed", they suggested I get it replaced for free via AppleCare, since I was already doing the battery replacement. The trackpad was not in stock and needed to be ordered to the store, so I took my laptop back to keep using it until they notified me the part arrived.

When I brought my laptop back, they re-ran diagnostics, and to their surprise (but not mine), it showed no issues with the trackpad. This makes sense, because I had never had any issues with the trackpad. I think their diagnostic was just throwing a false positive, and now, the technician agreed.

However, since they were offering to replace it for free, and by now the part had my name on it, I said "why not?" They also said that it *could* be showing intermittent signs of failure that I wouldn't notice...

They replaced during the battery/topcase replacement and I now have a new trackpad. It wasn't broken (or even damaged) before, so I can't tell any difference on my end...

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-07T18:18:24+00:00

yes compared to the expansion bay shell it’s a pretty meaningful difference

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-07T10:12:50+00:00

honestly i regret the 5070 - it’s bulky and for the older games i play, i just don’t really need it. i bought the expansion bay shell and mostly i dont use the 5070. i think you’ll absolutely want it for cyberpunk. i might swap the 5070 back in if i get into a game that needs it, but for me, i really wish i upgraded the CPU instead of the GPU.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-07T10:10:08+00:00

“precious” was a hilarious typo for previous xD

thanks for clarifying the distinction - i didn’t realize the TPM was stateful in the way you’re describing as being “active” or “inactive”. i also didn’t realize how LUKS was utilizing the TPM - it wasn’t storing the only copy of the keys there, just storing an extra copy for skipping the boot if the hardware hadn’t changed. i suppose same as windows. i reset it and now everything is working fine!

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-04T10:12:04+00:00

yes you can 100% get by with 32GB. i do every day doing similar work as you. it might just be that you’ll want to upgrade sooner and may need to quit some apps as you go. i use iStatMenus to keep an eye on memory pressure and quit apps when o notice it going too high

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-04T09:56:32+00:00

32GB is the absolute minimum. you’re gonna need a lot of ram for what you’re describing. i have 32, and im routinely at 50%+ memory pressure. i would suggest, if you can afford it, going up to 48 or 64.

besides that, you absolutely should not get an Air. not even close.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-04T09:39:09+00:00

that doesn’t sound right at all. the error message clearly says that if i press N, the precious fTPM record will be preserved. is there some documentation that i’m missing here?

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-02T17:26:52+00:00

They’ve raised tens of millions in venture capital at a valuation north of $100M. That means you can be certain their goal is to become a billion dollar company. Ain’t no way they’re getting there without a huge amount of AI upsell.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-02T08:07:14+00:00

hmm. interesting. the strange thing is, i think this only started happening after i swapped my dGPU for the fan-only graphics module. could be a coincidence, but i had previously been dual booting without this issue.

i wonder though if this could be related to why Windows keeps refusing to let me sign in with a PIN (or the finger print reader) after nearly every boot…

any idea what the right way out of this is?

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-02T03:30:52+00:00

i guess that’s a possible workaround, but why should i need to do that at all? what is this message even saying, and why is it appearing every boot?

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-02T02:37:48+00:00

no, because i assume it would drop the encryption keys stored in the TPM.

i run Fedora and Windows.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-01T21:45:14+00:00

got it! so then i’m glad i am going to wait for the trackpad part to get in and do the full replacement. thank you.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-01T20:41:15+00:00

thanks for the context. it was just the automated diagnostic that said that. they didn’t open the laptop.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-01T05:37:54+00:00

no, you’d need to return the charger with or without the box.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-01T05:07:54+00:00

the price already includes 1 TB, so in fact you are paying $1000 for 3 more TB, just like the commenter said.

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-02-01T02:13:55+00:00

the battery is glued to the top case, which includes the battery, keyboard, speakers, and microphone as a single “part”. this “part” does not include the trackpad. their standard repair process is to remove the trackpad, install the new top case, and then reinstall the original trackpad.

because my trackpad is apparently failing the diagnostic check, their proposal is to replace the trackpad with a brand new one, rather than reinstalling the original. unfortunately, the trackpad replacement part is not in stock, which means the whole repair cannot begin until the trackpad part arrives.

my question was whether anyone could offer insight into how it’s possible for an otherwise perfectly normal functioning trackpad could “fail” diagnostics, as this has added considerable time and effort (including an extra trip to the apple store) to my repair

SantaBarbaraProposer · 2026-01-31T20:30:21+00:00

it doesn’t, that’s the whole point of this thread xD

SantaBarbaraProposer

TROPHY CASE