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Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#141

Post by lallysingh »

neovive wrote: post #22
bprater wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Important point here: you WILL have an adjustment period. You'll have to learn the quirks of the OS. (Where's the damn menu bar!) You'll have to find similar apps to the ones you've used in Windows. (Assuming you don't want to VM everything -- and if you do -- maybe you should question why you're moving to Mac.)

I found equivalent apps for everything except TortoiseSVN (Versions or SCPlugin seems like a fit). I would only use the VM for testing on IE and a few Windows-only apps. Keyboard shortcuts are one of my big concerns -- I'm a big Ctrl key user on Windows.

Would svnX fit your needs? Does wonderful for me.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#142

Post by beta »

giles_bowkett wrote: post #55

I've used both and find OS X preferable. For me it's really OS X vs. Linux, and I like OS X because you get so much shiny stuff, you can run consumer software on it, and it's not really that much work to make OS X really really hacker-centric. YMMV. Anyway, in terms of the question, workflow, yes, overwhelming improvements in workflow. You get all the shiny goodies of a consumer GUI OS and all the power-user magic of…

hacker-centric?

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#143

Post by natch »

In two years of owning a Mac, I have made more progress in improving my personal productivity than I made in the ten years prior to owning a Mac. If that sounds worth it to you, then yes, it's worth it.

But then, I got my Mac for the solid "just works" UNIX implementation, not for the nice UI. From that standpoint, Windows pushed me onto the Mac platform, and Mac OS X pulled me. Carrot (Mac UNIX) and stick (Windows, um, Cygwin? Cough). You didn't mention what your impetus for switching would be, so YMMV.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#144

Post by lallysingh »

minalecs wrote: post #18

I recently switched from linux to mac, and I would not pay the apple tax again. I force myself to use the fisher price os they call osx, to justify the apple tax i payed for the hardware. But being a windows to mac user may be a better transition. For those that say use Vmware.. why not just buy the cheaper hardware and run windows. The hardware is all commodity, and you are not getting any benefits from the hardware…

I was going to go into a rant here, but I don't feed trolls anymore, I'm too old for this shit.

1. Map control to caps lock, like you should be doing on any keyboard you have.

2. Use the 'enter' or 'return' key to make paragraphs.

3. Use your left thumb for the command key.

4. Stop pretending that this is an Ubuntu box. It's a mac, treat it like one & give the mac versions of software a look first, before running back into RMS's hands. That's the rational thing to do on any platform.

5. You'll notice you'll be paying for software. You'll also notice that you're a crap-ton more productive.

6. Apple doesn't sell low-end hardware, get over it. Then again, hackers usually need more machine than the low-end crap.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#145

Post by msharman »

spydez wrote: post #76
peterb wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One more data point. I switched and found it very painful to internalize keyboard commands while still having to do Windows work (i.e. switching back & forth). Once I went "mac-only", it got much easier, but now I suck at using Windows again. Was it worth it? No. You can be fully productive in which ever platform you choose: Windows, Mac, or Linux. Each platform is fully mature. Productivity comes from your commitmen…

My day job has me coding on Windows for 9 hours a day. My home computer is a Macbook Pro. I don't have any trouble switching between the two every day, except for the occasionally accidental keyboard shortcut (e.g. hitting alt-t in Windows Firefox instead of Ctrl-t). But then, I use a dvorak keyboard layout and run into qwerty all the time, so maybe I've trained myself to easily switch gears.

I too run different platforms between work and home. Linux at work (Since id prefer to use linux over windows and I have the choice where I work) and a Macbook Pro at home.

I found my biggest annoyance was the keyboard shortcuts, and i solved that problem by remapping my Control Key on my linux work machine to be the alt key (next to the space bar), in the same place as the mac, and it is SO much easier to switch between platforms reguarly. It also makes emacs less painful as an added bonus

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#146

Post by vegai »

DOS/Windows for a long time was a gaming platform. By which I mean that the only reason to have it installed around was because some very good games worked only on it.

Suddendly, I noticed that I'm keeping an OSX box around the house for the same reason. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

Pointless anecdotes aside: map your requirements. If you absolutely need an application or a game that works best on platform X, choose platform X. Otherwise, it's Linux. Then you only have the tiny problem of choosing a distro :P

(oh and the emulators on Linux are pretty good these days)

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#149

Post by siculars »

I switched a few years back. first with my laptop via a macbook g4 runnin tiger. that whetted my appetite for mac and allowed me to realize the potential of the platform as a development environment. ultimately i moved my entire development operation over to a mac pro tower loaded up with 16gb ram and a few tb of space specifically so i could develop on whatever platform i wanted through the use of virtual machines.

for most of us that are doing web oriented software development, the ability to run multiple versions of client side browsers not to mention multiple versions of server installation through a virtualized environment is a major boon to productivity. if as a developer you are researching a platform to use as your main development you should really take that into account. if you are a device driver developer or working closer to the hardware thats another story.

also, ask yourself: are there any developers contemplating switching to windows?

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching to a Mac?

#150

Post by gaius »

minalecs wrote: post #18

I recently switched from linux to mac, and I would not pay the apple tax again. I force myself to use the fisher price os they call osx, to justify the apple tax i payed for the hardware. But being a windows to mac user may be a better transition. For those that say use Vmware.. why not just buy the cheaper hardware and run windows. The hardware is all commodity, and you are not getting any benefits from the hardware…

I force myself to use the fisher price os they call osx

The thing about OSX is that it may look simple, but when you tell it to do something, it does it. I've lost count of the time I've left my Windows PC to do some long running task only to come back and find it's actually done nothing, it's waiting for me to confirm that I'm really, really sure. Or it's simply ignored me or failed silently. That is worth paying the "apple tax" for. It's paid me back many times over.

You can buy alternative keyboards, you know...

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