Yes, there is a huge advantage to using Macs:
Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
21–30 of 118 posts
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#22Devices always work on Windows first, and then drivers are eventually made for UNIX. Software that make hackers productive are always first in UNIX, and then eventually ported to Windows. A hacker who had to use one system for everything is faced with either the horror of having to use XFree86 or the horror of having to build an executable in Windows. Traditionally people got around the problem by having a Windows PC for the devices and a UNIX server for getting work done. With a Mac, you often get the best of both systems in one machine: devices just work, and compiling UNIX software is easy.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#23pg said that Mac lets him drag and drop code from vi to repl - and he was very happy about it you can do that on any OS with the GUI shell for Vim (with Vim running in Vi compatible mode if that matters) [edit]: actually it doesn't look like it's possible. i could have sworn it was though i'm guessing the iPod has something to do with macs becoming more popular
I tried this now but it didn't work for me. I must be missing something. Please help. I am running GVIM (I am at work so I am on Windows). I am trying to drag and drop a block of code to Python REPL. It is not happening.
oops. i thought i had done that some times. i'll see if i can come up with any useful mechanisms to compensate for lying
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#24The keyboard feels great on the macbook pros. The downside is the lame insistence on a single mouse button.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#25I have a macbook which I run linux on. I get the best of both worlds having a great laptop with lots of 3rd party hardware(and now x86). And all the fun of recompiling my kernel.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#26I was a mac user when macs weren't cool. Mac OS 9 was like that edgy indie band that suddenly became an overnight success. Sellouts! :-)
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#27Personally, I got a macbook for the amazing hardware design. It is one of the few laptops I have seen which is sleek, beautiful, and very very effective. The laptop is very well designed. OS X is also well designed but for a different demographic. Thats why I use Linux for the software. Still, the hardware design is amazing.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#28I tried to switch over to a mac a year ago. It didn't work, so I switched back after three months. I found that a lot of little things were annoying, and made me spend more time than I needed on doing trivial things sucha as resizing of windows. On mac it can only be done from one corner, on windows from all four. There are lots of these little things that mean you have to spend three clicks instead of two. I see why they make sense if you're a beginner - it's almost impossible to do anything wrong. Other things that annoy me the fact that it is impossible to find a lot of the little shareware programs I use under windows, and that their equivalent of Outlook really sucks. And I simply don't understand why there is only one mousebutton. That alone was enough to switch back.
Overall my opinion of macs is that they are excellent for beginners, and for looking cool in the cafes but for me it simply didn't make the cut for serious work.
I don't code, but work in outlook, excel, word and a browser. This might make make a difference.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#29When Linux can get it's GUI in shape, I will gladly move to it. I will miss TextMate dearly, but I will use Linux when the GUI (Gnome and KDE) people can get this one thing correct:
Separation between line editing commands, and GUI commands.
It is very simple. What happens on Linux when you are in Thunderbird and you do "^a"? It selects all! What happens when you do that on the command line? It takes you to the beginning of the line! Why a different experience for the exact same universal command?
On a Mac, "^a" always brings you to the beginning of the line, whether you are in Terminal, a Safari text edit box, a Mail email message, etc. "command a" always selects all, whether you are in Terminal, a Safari text edit box, a Mail email message, etc. The same goes for "^k", "^y", "^e", etc.
Cocoa uses basic Emacs bindings, and the user experience because of it is hands down better. I drove myself nuts on Windows for 3 months, then Linux for 8 until I told my employer that I either get a Mac or I leave. They gave me a Mac. My hands, brain, productivity, and my employer are all better off as a result.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#30pg said that Mac lets him drag and drop code from vi to repl - and he was very happy about it you can do that on any OS with the GUI shell for Vim (with Vim running in Vi compatible mode if that matters) [edit]: actually it doesn't look like it's possible. i could have sworn it was though i'm guessing the iPod has something to do with macs becoming more popular
I can also do this in IntelliJ (using my Arc plugin).