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Started By
Message
re: Do programmers prefer Macs over Windows computers?
Posted on 7/25/14 at 7:18 pm to euphemus
Posted on 7/25/14 at 7:18 pm to euphemus
quote:
Do programmers prefer Macs over Windows computers?
Yes, but some are stuck with Windoze due to corporate standards, developing native apps or because they use an industry specific tool.
quote:
but is there a reason Macs seem to be preferred by people in programming roles?
I prefer it because it is basically Unix under the hood and most everything I write targets the Linux/Browser platform. So my underlying structure mimics the target. In addition, I like laying out different desktops for testing and can easily swipe between them (windows probably has something similar, but I haven't heavily used it in so long I don't know).
0
Posted on 7/25/14 at 7:40 pm to FreddieMac
quote:
Switched from windows to Mac 7 years ago because I was tired of the crashes with windows.
Windows XP (and before) were not particularly friendly to users who didn't know how to maintain a system properly. And the default unrestricted administrative access just made it worse.
Apple gets around this problem by making it more difficult to do dumb things. That has pros and cons, of course.
Posted on 7/25/14 at 8:26 pm to euphemus
Mac 
No.
No.
Posted on 7/25/14 at 9:49 pm to foshizzle
quote:
Windows XP (and before) were not particularly friendly to users who didn't know how to maintain a system properly. And the default unrestricted administrative access just made it worse. Apple gets around this problem by making it more difficult to do dumb things. That has pros and cons, of course.
What? XP is the best ms ever produced, nothing but crap since. Nothing hard about it.
Unix is unix, if you need a point and click for everything, stay away from MACs...
Posted on 7/25/14 at 10:04 pm to Scream4LSU
quote:
Programming in a language does not depend on the Operation System (OS)
Operating System, bro
Posted on 7/28/14 at 8:30 am to FreddieMac
Sorry your company supplied you with poor hardware. Forrester and Gartner research firms disagree. .NET is dominant by a huge margin in companies with less than 5K employees. Java doesn't take the lead until companies with 20K +. Why? Because it is expensive and timely to build projects with Java and only companies that can afford that time and money use it. Academics and large companies predominately. I have run large shops and huge projects on both technologies using the agile methodology and I can promise the tool sets, controls and integration for dev/qa teams is much better in .NET. You really have to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) when you chose a technology if you are running a business or consulting especially if you need to support it in a production environment.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 8:38 am to euphemus
I live in the Silicon Valley and I'm a programmer. I would say most people here have macs. It is becoming weird seeing a windows PC. Personally I prefer macs but when I'm doing serious programming, I prefer Linux.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 9:45 am to euphemus
quote:
but is there a reason Macs seem to be preferred by people in programming roles?
They don't have to waste processor cycles and memory on anti virus programs?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 9:57 am to TigerGman
quote:
They don't have to waste processor cycles and memory on anti virus programs?
Ignoring the fact that it's a bad idea to assume you're safe on a Mac, even if you spot the Mac 20% cpu & memory (very high assumption for antivirus resource use), you still get more for your money with a PC.
And if resource use was your main criteria, might as well just go Linux.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 10:03 am to TigerGman
quote:
They don't have to waste processor cycles and memory on anti virus programs?
People still believe this..?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 10:07 am to Korkstand
quote:
you still get more for your money with a PC.
I've used both extensively through the years, and in my case, when you consider app costs and lifespan, MAC has had a much better TCO...
Posted on 7/28/14 at 10:13 am to ForeLSU
quote:
I've used both extensively through the years, and in my case, when you consider app costs and lifespan, MAC has had a much better TCO...
Care to break down your costs for us?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 11:21 am to Korkstand
quote:
Care to break down your costs for us?
don't really have the time to dig through all my costs, but lifespan is the biggest issue. I've gotten almost twice the life out of my MacBook Pro compared to my last Dell. So I'm on my second Win notebook. This was a mid-tier Dell, so maybe the comparison isn't quite fair. I travel a lot and work in semi-rough environments. Other cost factors are...
OS Upgrade Costs
Acorn vs. Corel Painter
OmniGraffle vs. Visio
Keynote vs. PowerPoint
both initial and upgrade costs for these
Posted on 7/28/14 at 11:30 am to ForeLSU
quote:
MacBook Pro compared to my last Dell
Seems fair
Posted on 7/28/14 at 11:38 am to GrammarKnotsi
quote:
Seems fair
did I not point that out in my post?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 11:39 am to ForeLSU
quote:
did I not point that out in my post?
Maybe open with it..?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 11:59 am to ForeLSU
quote:Probably a wash.
OS Upgrade Costs
quote:Uh, why not Corel Painter vs. Corel Painter? What's the feature overlap?
Acorn vs. Corel Painter
quote:Again, I'm not sure how much the features overlap, but if you buy the full suite of Omni stuff it'll run you $390 for the standard, or $580 for the pro stuff. Comparable to Visio, right?
OmniGraffle vs. Visio
quote:Once again, no clue what the feature overlap is.
Keynote vs. PowerPoint
It's obviously really hard to find and compare applications of similar features, quality, and ease of use. So, barring any must-have features, all of the apps you listed could be replaced with free alternatives: GIMP/Krita, LibreOffice, etc.
Also, are these common applications for programmers to use?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 12:30 pm to Korkstand
quote:
It's obviously really hard to find and compare applications of similar features, quality, and ease of use. So, barring any must-have features, all of the apps you listed could be replaced with free alternatives: GIMP/Krita, LibreOffice, etc.
Also, are these common applications for programmers to use?
again, I stated in my original point that I was only considering my unique case. I compared what I used on Windows vs. Mac. I selected the tools based on the feature set I needed after evaluating them. And yes, the TCO difference is mainly based on the fact that I didn't get the life out of the Dell Latitude that I have out of the Macbook Pro.
Posted on 7/28/14 at 1:58 pm to ForeLSU
Dare I ask, what affected the lifespan of the Dell? In other words, what were its symptoms leading up to the point you declared it to be end of life?
Posted on 7/28/14 at 4:58 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Dare I ask, what affected the lifespan of the Dell? In other words, what were its symptoms leading up to the point you declared it to be end of life?
Display died. I could have gotten it fixed but I also needed batteries and needed invest some time to clean up the system, performance was getting pretty bad.
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