4. Switch from Apple's Messages to a universal messaging service, like Google Hangouts.

Having Messages on the Mac to send and receive texts you're also getting on your phone is a pretty tough feature to leave behind if you're ditching the Apple ecosystem, especially since you could get standard SMS messages on your Mac – not just iMessages between Apple devices – after OS X Yosemite was released.

Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn't have an equivalent native app that will work with Android phones to send and receive text messages. There are some third-party apps, like mySMS, which received decent reviews, but they're not ideal or as good as Messages on Macs.

To send quick messages to your contacts from both your computer and your phone, the best solution is to use a messenger app that's cross-platform (available on both computers and phones, just like iMessages) rather than using text messages at all. It helps to use a service where many of your contacts are likely to have accounts, like Facebook or Google.

Google Hangouts is a great messenger app that also has video and voice chat. It's not quite the same thing as getting your actual phone calls on your Mac based on your actual phone number, but it's a pretty good alternative. You can use Hangouts from your Gmail account online, the Android app, or from the Hangouts web app.