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Return of the Mac (2005)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#51

Post by jamieb »

walexander wrote: post #19

OK, someone convince me to go Mac. I've had essentially zero issues with Windows. I do 99% of my development in Linux (access my devbox through VNC). For desktop use, I have absolutely no problems. I work very fast zooming around with keyboard shortcuts. I don't get viruses or bloatware. Everything is calm and familiar. Every time I get my hands on a Mac, even to simply Google something, I immediately hit issues. Pas…

I can't win+d to the desktop.

Four finger swipe upwards if you are on a macbook or have a magic trackpad. Cmd-F3 otherwise.

Bottom line, if you're used to driving a car, getting around on a motorcycle is going to take some investment of effort and willingness to learn. I got to my mac from windows via a year or two of linux. I'm happy using all three. Happiest on mac.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#52

Post by r0s »

jorisw wrote: post #48
alanfalcon wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You use the command key to issue commands and raw keys to type. So: command-delete means it's fast and easy to delete a file without the worry of accidentally losing a file when your cat jumps on the keyboard.

> I should have the option though No. This is what good software design is. The designer chose this path, offering you the option to change this is what makes software bloated and unmaintainable.

No options in software, gotcha.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#53

Post by mise »

Tichy wrote: post #34
walexander wrote: post #19

OK, someone convince me to go Mac. I've had essentially zero issues with Windows. I do 99% of my development in Linux (access my devbox through VNC). For desktop use, I have absolutely no problems. I work very fast zooming around with keyboard shortcuts. I don't get viruses or bloatware. Everything is calm and familiar. Every time I get my hands on a Mac, even to simply Google something, I immediately hit issues. Pas…

I bought a Mac two years ago for iPhone dev (which I ended up not doing), and in my opinion you don't have to switch to a Mac if you are already a Linux user. I still prefer Linux. The only problem is buying any other notebooks that are good. It is very difficult to find notebooks with acceptable design and specs. I have to say I am not a Mac power user. I am too lazy to learn gestures (and hence don't want to update…

Agreed. When looking at laptops that have decent spec and to run Ubuntu on, you suddenly reach the same price as a Macbook Air.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#54

Post by robgough »

Tichy wrote: post #34
walexander wrote: post #19

OK, someone convince me to go Mac. I've had essentially zero issues with Windows. I do 99% of my development in Linux (access my devbox through VNC). For desktop use, I have absolutely no problems. I work very fast zooming around with keyboard shortcuts. I don't get viruses or bloatware. Everything is calm and familiar. Every time I get my hands on a Mac, even to simply Google something, I immediately hit issues. Pas…

I bought a Mac two years ago for iPhone dev (which I ended up not doing), and in my opinion you don't have to switch to a Mac if you are already a Linux user. I still prefer Linux. The only problem is buying any other notebooks that are good. It is very difficult to find notebooks with acceptable design and specs. I have to say I am not a Mac power user. I am too lazy to learn gestures (and hence don't want to update…

May I suggest you look into "Hot Corners", which is built into OS X and allows you to specify certain actions when moving the mouse to the very corner of the screen.

I heavily use the gestures, but I still find these rather handy

My setup is; Top Left: Show Desktop Top Right: Expose (on Lion, Mission Control) Bottom Left: Blank Screen (without sleeping) Bottom Right: Screensaver

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#55

Post by adambyrtek »

dazonic wrote: post #49
pizza wrote: post #11

Why do hackers like Macs that much? Wouldn't it be better to use cross-platform tools?

If you wanna get cross-platformy, Mac is the only system where you can run and virtualise every OS. It's a web dev's dream.

What do you mean? You can "virtualise every OS" on other platforms as well.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#56

Post by Toucan »

sid0 wrote: post #40
lallysingh wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for leaving windows, just leave. It doesn't matter where. There's a pain to using windows you just get used to, it's just more of a subtle irritation that comes from using a system where the creators didn't want to make something particularly good. It's literally painful for me to use windows now that I don't do it very often anymore. There are just so many little things that hurt that I just can't do it. I start…

They care so much they bind execute to cmd-down rather than the completely sensible Enter.

Cmd-O has opened files and applications alike since I can remember (OS 6.) It's no more/less sensible than Windows, just different.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#57

Post by kristiandupont »

Toucan wrote: post #56
sid0 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They care so much they bind execute to cmd-down rather than the completely sensible Enter.

Cmd-O has opened files and applications alike since I can remember (OS 6.) It's no more/less sensible than Windows, just different.

I would argue in this instance that open is a more common action than rename and thus belongs to the enter key.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#58

Post by masklinn »

cormullion wrote: post #44
masklinn wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every time I get my hands on a Mac, even to simply Google something, I immediately hit issues. You seem to hit issues because you want to hit them. > Paste is crazy squiggly hash v (or maybe apple v?) The key is called "command". Does "Command V" not make more sense than "Control V"? And free up the Control key for more interesting stuff? > I can't right click You can, unless it's a 4+ years old machine it's just a…

The Finder can be replaced with Pathfinder - the Finder for Hacker News readers...

Meh. I find Pathfinder clunky and ugly. For improvements to the Finder I much prefer TotalFinder: http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#59

Post by jasonkester »

walexander wrote: post #19

OK, someone convince me to go Mac. I've had essentially zero issues with Windows. I do 99% of my development in Linux (access my devbox through VNC). For desktop use, I have absolutely no problems. I work very fast zooming around with keyboard shortcuts. I don't get viruses or bloatware. Everything is calm and familiar. Every time I get my hands on a Mac, even to simply Google something, I immediately hit issues. Pas…

Here's how I did it:

Step One: Come up with some lame excuse for why you probably need a Mac. You know, Testing. Gotta make sure it looks right on Safari and all that. Maybe we'll be doing an iOS version at some point.

Step Two: Convince yourself that you'll install Windows 7 on it to see if you can maybe use it as your dev box. It'll just be a windows machine on cooler hardware.

Step Three: Go to Apple.com and configure the most pimped-out Macbook Air they'll let you specify. Hey, it's only Two Grand. That's less than your last laptop cost. And look at it! It's half an inch thick.

Step Four: Actually buy it. Get it home, take it out of the box, pick it up (between your thumb and forefinger it's so freaking light), and play with it.

(optional by this point) Step Five: Install Windows 7 and Parallels. It really does work as well as they say. It'll be the fastest windows box you've ever run. Oh, and if you're doing VS.NET web dev, specify a big partition because it won't let you run in debug mode if your project files are sitting on the main partition.

... And that's it. Now you have a Mac. It's actually a pretty cool little machine.

Re: Return of the Mac (2005)

#60

Post by sid0 »

kristiandupont wrote: post #57
Toucan wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cmd-O has opened files and applications alike since I can remember (OS 6.) It's no more/less sensible than Windows, just different.

I would argue in this instance that open is a more common action than rename and thus belongs to the enter key.

Plus every terminal (including on Mac) and every other OS uses Enter to execute a command or program.

Edit: wow, downvoted for expressing a fact. Stay classy.

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