My computer history is zx81, zxSpectrum, Atari ST, Atari Falcon,Sun (something), SGI Indy, and PC.
Whenever I fire up a Sinclair emulator, I mostly lose interest right away. It is too primitive. Getting my favorite game fired up I dont want to play it. The database I wrote for it, it is kind of fun to see it running again but not really.
I am not able to recreate the magic that I felt back then.
The upgrade from the ZX Spectrum to the Atari ST was the biggest improvement I have ever had and probably ever will as far as computers go.
My second one was from probably Windows 3.11 to WindowsNT.
For the longest time DOS And Windows16 felt incredibly primitive compared to the ST.
What came before and what has come after feel more like incremental improvements.
Now so for me the earlier computers are not doing it.
I was able to get an emulator to run Atari TT, and with some fixes here and there, I could get it running at an acceptable resolution with more memory and speed than a real TT could ever have.
Finding software that was able to take advantage of the increased resolution was not easy.
So for me, a souped-up Atari TT running MultiTOS is a retro platform that I could use for some things as my daily computer.
I am hoping others can share their retro experience and maybe i will learn about a plattform I haven't really used but that can make (some) use of modern resources.
Most of the games I played and am playing can be run on Windows 98. Only a few modern ones have to use Windows 7/10. So I'm content with that.
The only issue is that I don't know how to pick a retro platform for my kid. I never owned a real computer back in the 80s so I know nothing about Apple/Atari/C64/etc. Some people suggested that I should use a modern platform for that purpose (e.g. Pi) and I'm considering that approach. Basically I want my kid to start from something as basic as BASIC and directly go for C or assembly, just like what old timer kids did on Apple/C64. I'd like to introduce some resource restriction and low level programming to him from the beginning (POKE, anyone?).
If you're talking about gaming only, my dad still has a working 386 running DOS and Windows 3.11 with a few games from 30 years ago. The clickity-claky noises made by the spinning disk and floppy bring me warm nostalgic feelings and I enjoy 20 - 30 minutes of Prince of Persia or Wolfenstein 3d when I get to visit, but it quickly looses its appeal and I would most definitely not want to be using it as a "daily driver".
Alternatively, I could probably live in Windows 2000 Server, or Windows 7 forever.
I understand what you mean regarding the emulators not being so impressive. However don't forget that an emulator isn't the real thing. If I fire up my Atari 800XL it feels very different than an emulator. Actually loading something I wrote from tape feels different too. Only the display is hard to emulate: I no longer own CRT TVs.
I had an Amiga 500 afterwards and I can imagine what you mean about the biggest jump. The Amiga had pre-emptive multitasking in the time of Windows 3. The games and graphics were amazing. But for me the biggest jump was to the HP-UX boxes at college. They really felt like 'big' computers. I still own one also for old time's sake. But when I think of this 'wow this is a real computer' feeling, that's what I'm thinking of. Working with a room full of X terminals on one single server, all that stuff.
But I don't really use anything retro in daily life. I do have a VT520 terminal (a real CRT one) and I use it sometimes. I love the soft orange glow and the fact I can make it so dim that it's not eyeblinding in a completely dark room at night. LCDs absolutely cannot do that anymore. They're tuned for max brightness, not minimum. I use it sometimes when I really need to focus on something to write.
But the number of console apps that still actually obey termcap or terminfo (the database of terminal commands for each different terminal type) is ridiculously low now. Most of them just blast out xterm without checking the terminal type. Which makes for really poor terminal UI as some xterm is VT220 compatible but an awful lot is not, which end up being crypting escape sequences on screen. Also, 80x25 is not ideal in this day and age, and while the VT520 can do 132x50, it is not very well defined. There's a reason nobody really used it back then.
But if I really had to pick one it'd be the HP-UX box :) I loved VUE's little "computer" at the bottom. Though it really missed a taskbar (it used icons on the desktop for open programs which is really not handy as they don't stay on top). But I could work with it and it's a capable linux system. Around 2000 I had a whole gnu userspace on it but these days it's too hard to compile modern stuff.
PS: I always wanted an ST and my dad could get one from work, but he picked the PC instead. In the end it was the wise choice, no doubt. I upgraded the thing from 8088 to well into the 486 age until I had to get a new case to fit ATX motherboards. But I still regret it a bit.