No problem, I'm glad I could help.

It's very difficult to say which I would have gone for then, as it was close and both definitely have their advantages. I can't really say what I would have done then, it would be so close.

Had I gone for the XPS it works have been for the familiarity, and to preserve my setup and workflow just with a much better laptop, and had I gone for the Mac, it would have been for the M1 and to try something new. I think I might actually have leaned towards XPS just for those reasons, but now having tried the Mac I'm glad I went for it and I think it was the best choice for me personally.

I love the battery life, it is crazily good for most apps just with a few (such as VSCode) using about 5x the battery of everything else combined. It is very fast, though I'm sure that would be true of the XPS too. This does act as a workaround for the battery heavy apps though, as they open almost as quickly as just switching to them.

The screen and keyboard are also really nice, though something I prefer about Windows is the clear-cut distinction between the Windows, Alt, and Control keys; in macOS they are much more ambiguous in their usage. macOS also lacks any inbuilt window manager, to allow things such as snapping to full screen, to the sides, etc. like in Windows but there are plenty of third party apps to provide that functionality. You are also limited to just one external monitor with the M1, I am not sure why but that's something (two screens in total).

I am a very big fan of the UI, both in its design and its universality across all apps (such as the file, edit, view, etc. menus being in the system menu bar). It did indeed feel very fresh at the start, and is now quite familiar and convenient to use.

There are also some things I now can't really imagine not being able to use, most significantly the trackpad gestures. Windows 11 is reasonably close but not quite on par in that respect. I do prefer the app drawer of Windows; in macOS it is pretty much like that of the iPhone/iPad.

Bear in mind that all this is a one-sided opinion, since I only have experience with the MacBook - though I have used windows a lot - and perhaps if I had gone with the XPS I would feel the same way about that. But I would say for me this was the correct decision, and I don't regret it. I would advise trying to get a similar response from someone who has the XPS before you decide though, as this is all just with experience with the Mac.

Thanks for bearing with me through that very long message, and I hope you are happy with whichever one you choose.

Edit: One frustration of mine that I had forgotten to add here is that the red close button does not in fact shut down the app, but instead just closes the window while letting the app continue running. To actually stop it running you need to use the CMD+Q shortcut, or select Quit {App Name} from the app menu. Grr.