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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?

#41

Post by zmimon »

Since you mention eclipse I would say "proceed with caution". There are two issues:

a) Eclipse itself is less usable and less stable. I have colleagues who are unable to debug, experience crashes etc. which I never see on Linux / Windows.

b) probably you are doing java development. Java itself has very weak commitment on the Mac and often lags years behind the latest releases and even then may have issues. If you make your bread and butter doing Java stuff, you should probably run an evironment that natively has first class support for it.

Of course, if your Eclipse use is just incidental then these may not apply.

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

#42

Post by kirse »

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.

Depends on how urgent your development is at this point. If you're trying to bang out some code for a goal or deadline, don't bother switching now.

You'll only frustrate yourself when your flow is constantly being interrupted by having to figure out how something works on a Mac when you know exactly how it works on a PC.

That's not to say don't try out a Mac, I'm all for new perspectives because I believe more perspectives are the foundation for creativity and successful problem solving.

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

#44

Post by nickd »

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…

Actually one thing I really love about OS X is the placement of the command key. Keyboard shortcuts like Command+Q and Command+W are much more convenient then something like Alt+f4. Keyboard shortcuts in general in OS X have been a one of the great advantages in my experience. I also switched from Linux to mac about 4 or 5 years ago. At first it seemed very awkward. I think any change like that would be, but I was instantly appreciative of how seamless the system worked overall, and how much less I had to mess with it to get it to work right (Like I said, this was a few years ago). It's not perfect, though. I would suggest that anyone who is interested in making a jump to a new OS to try and get their hands on it before buying and see what they think.

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

#45

Post by mhartl »

Poleris wrote: post #35

I was in your position recently and decided to switch. 3 months later and I'm back with Windows - it is simply more efficient for me . I'm really big on productivity, so I really tried to customize every tool I've listed below. To give some background, the main programs I use are: 1. ( http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/04/09/launchers.h... "Launchers - SlickRun vs QuickSilver + Butler/Launchbar") a) Ported a…

We can't ignore it. It's shoving everything off to the right.

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

#47

Post by nickd »

drwh0 wrote: post #37
jimbokun wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any mention of Apple sure gets your dander up, doesn't it?

yes, i get particularly pissed by so-called counter-culture hipsters pissing all over the unwashed masses yet slavishly dedicated to the hypocrisy of crass consumerism when they think its "cool". the appletards go miles beyond any shopping-zombie i can think of in their pursuit of buying shit. and yes, it is shit. its stunning that there are morons buying the new macbooks for $2k!!!...i mean, you have to be braindead…

You seem pretty upset about this stuff. I think you're over generalizing about Apple users. Everybody buys things for different reasons.

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

#48

Post by neovive »

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 will definitely continue using my Microsoft Ergo keyboard -- the Apple keyboard is definitely not as comfortable for me. Interesting point about the Crtl key vs command key positioning. I agree that the control key is positioned better for editing. I just noticed this thread in Apple support (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8238419) about modifying the control key to simulate the command key. Not sure if this would impact anything else.

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

#49

Post by drwh0 »

nickd wrote: post #47
drwh0 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, i get particularly pissed by so-called counter-culture hipsters pissing all over the unwashed masses yet slavishly dedicated to the hypocrisy of crass consumerism when they think its "cool". the appletards go miles beyond any shopping-zombie i can think of in their pursuit of buying shit. and yes, it is shit. its stunning that there are morons buying the new macbooks for $2k!!!...i mean, you have to be braindead…

You seem pretty upset about this stuff. I think you're over generalizing about Apple users. Everybody buys things for different reasons.

i also vent on the other hypocrites who piss on people for buying bottled water yet are sure to lease a new mercedes every nine months

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

#50

Post by drwh0 »

raffi wrote: post #27

I switched from Linux to OS X several years ago. I tend to live on the command line so my experience is a bit different. First, I installed Fink which brings dselect and friends to MacOS X. Fink let me install all the packages from Linux that I use. For giggles, I installed the Apple X server and ran KDE from Fink. It worked but felt sluggish. I also realized this was very pointless and stopped doing it after 5 minut…

I tend to live on the command line so my experience is a bit different.

then why would you go to an OS that mandates the use of the mouse??

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