MACBook Advice

[pratlou]

Hi All
I have been working with windows environment for quite sometime, i run win 8.1 from phone, tablet and PC(Notebook).

I would like to move to Apple but i am sceptical whether apple does support for some of my dev software's like Xamarin, Notepad ++. Beside that which macbook is best to handle dev requirements?
*Mind my english*

 

[Joker]

It'll support Xamarin, but you can also run Windows on your macbook by either dual booting using 'Boot Camp Assistant' or running windows in a virtual machine like VirtualBox/Parallels/VMWare.

 

[GreGorGy]

TextWrangler and its paid big brother BBEdit will fast replace your desire for Notepad++

 

[Maverick Jester]

TextWrangler and its paid big brother BBEdit will fast replace your desire for Notepad++

Hmmm... I've never been partial to text editors, but love Notepad++.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

What reason do you want to move to OS X?

There are plenty of excellent editors on Mac like TextWrangler, Sublime Text, Brackets, etc.

Requirements will depend on what kind of development you're doing (e.g. C++ vs Python development will have very different requirements).

 

[koffiejunkie]

Xamarin does appear to be available on Mac although I would recommend you make sure it's the entire program/suit/whatever and not just some parts of it.

+1 for DrJohnZoidberg's question - what are you after in this move?

As for hardware, they're all very capable. Pick your size/resolution/budget and be merry

 

[weelzSA]

TextWrangler and its paid big brother BBEdit will fast replace your desire for Notepad++

This!!!

 

[$m@Rt@$$]

This!!!

+1 TextWrangler is epic.

 

[SauRoNZA]

TextWrangler and its paid big brother BBEdit will fast replace your desire for Notepad++

Or Tincta.

 

[zippy]

I run Windows 8.1 using Parallels. I use Visual Studio, XCode, Android Studio, PL/SQL Developer

Just make sure you have 8gb ram if you use Parallels.

Boot camp is better if you don't need to regularly switch between Mac and Windows apps.

 

[Enigma_]

I'm also looking into purchasing a Macbook, just not entirely sure if I'd get used to it. It just feels a lot more restrictive than Windows, but that may just be me.

I've heard that it's best to run Parallels (as Zippy mentioned) to run your Windows orientated software.

Question for me though is; would it be worth buying a new Macbook Pro 13" now? According to Macrumours, the Macbook pro 13" was last updated in July. So we're not far off, but I'm not sure I can wait until then?

 

[zippy]

I'm also looking into purchasing a Macbook, just not entirely sure if I'd get used to it. It just feels a lot more restrictive than Windows, but that may just be me.

I've heard that it's best to run Parallels (as Zippy mentioned) to run your Windows orientated software.

Question for me though is; would it be worth buying a new Macbook Pro 13" now? According to Macrumours, the Macbook pro 13" was last updated in July. So we're not far off, but I'm not sure I can wait until then?

It's not restrictive. I'm not sure what you would call restrictive. It's upgradable. As upgradable as most laptops are. I'm sure there are laptops which are more upgradable, but I think the macbook is fine in that area.

As far as software is concerned, the App Store is far more mature than the Microsoft one. And you aren't restricted to it, as many seem to think. There are OS X versions of pretty much everything. Even Microsoft Office. Where there isn't it's because there is already an OS X alternative that so popular.

I use Paralles only for Visual Studio now.

Where you will find OS X frustrating as a Windows user is getting used to Finder. Finder is OS X version of Explorer. It will drive you mad until you learn the shortcuts. But Finder, once mastered is extremely powerful.

And you need to get used to not Clicking a Start option to shutdown. Many OS X veterans find this quite bizarre

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

It's not restrictive. I'm not sure what you would call restrictive. It's upgradable. As upgradable as most laptops are. I'm sure there are laptops which are more upgradable, but I think the macbook is fine in that area.

Unless we're talking about previous generations here MacBooks are definitely not as upgradeable as regular Windows laptops.

You cannot upgrade the memory.
On the new models you cannot easily upgrade the storage either (at a very high cost yes).

Those are the main two components that people usually upgrade in a laptop and on new MacBooks that is just not possible.

 

[Darko]

Unless we're talking about previous generations here MacBooks are definitely not as upgradeable as regular Windows laptops.

You cannot upgrade the memory.
On the new models you cannot easily upgrade the storage either (at a very high cost yes).

Those are the main two components that people usually upgrade in a laptop and on new MacBooks that is just not possible.

While it's true that you can't upgrade the RAM, you most certainly can upgrade the storage. So I'm not sure why you say that it's impossible?

With regards to cost, you don't buy a MacBook Pro to save costs.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

While it's true that you can't upgrade the RAM, you most certainly can upgrade the storage. So I'm not sure why you say that it's impossible?

With regards to cost, you don't buy a MacBook Pro to save costs.

I did say it can be done at a very high cost. In my eyes it's not a viable option unless you have tons of money to burn.

 

[koffiejunkie]

At this stage the upgrading hardware is a moot point, isn't it? There are really only two things on a laptop - storage and RAM. The MacBook Pros come with up to 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM, which is as far as you can upgrade any other laptop anyway (unless you have a laptop that accommodates more than one HDD/SSD, but then you're usually spending MBP kinda money anyway).

Yes, the i7 can theoretically take 32GB but no one is producing 16GB so-dimms yet. No one is making SSDs larger than 1TB either.

 

[Enigma_]

It's not restrictive. I'm not sure what you would call restrictive. It's upgradable. As upgradable as most laptops are. I'm sure there are laptops which are more upgradable, but I think the macbook is fine in that area.

As far as software is concerned, the App Store is far more mature than the Microsoft one. And you aren't restricted to it, as many seem to think. There are OS X versions of pretty much everything. Even Microsoft Office. Where there isn't it's because there is already an OS X alternative that so popular.

I use Paralles only for Visual Studio now.

Where you will find OS X frustrating as a Windows user is getting used to Finder. Finder is OS X version of Explorer. It will drive you mad until you learn the shortcuts. But Finder, once mastered is extremely powerful.

And you need to get used to not Clicking a Start option to shutdown. Many OS X veterans find this quite bizarre

Thanks. I think I'd still prefer a Windows machine over Mac OSX, but I'm keen to give it a try. Do you think it's worth waiting for the new macbooks to be released, or is it still safe to buy one now?

 

[zippy]

Thanks. I think I'd still prefer a Windows machine over Mac OSX, but I'm keen to give it a try. Do you think it's worth waiting for the new macbooks to be released, or is it still safe to buy one now?

There will always be a new model of something that will be released. I don't see any point of adopting a "wait for the next version" posture, because then you wait for ever. If the new model was coming out next month, I might consider waiting.

If you aren't sure, don't buy it.
(Personally I would never buy a Mac from anyone other than Apple, so wouldn't buy a MacBook in SA).

Btw, you should consider a Mac mini as an alternative, if you don't need the portability. As powerful as macbook (if not more so)at half the price. You just need your own monitor, keyboard and mouse. I bought one last week. Using it as my media server. Bolted it to the wall behind my wall mounted telly
I used my pc's monitor, keyboard and mouse to set up.

 

[Pegasus]

There will always be a new model of something that will be released. I don't see any point of adopting a "wait for the next version" posture, because then you wait for ever. If the new model was coming out next month, I might consider waiting.

If you aren't sure, don't buy it.
(Personally I would never buy a Mac from anyone other than Apple, so wouldn't buy a MacBook in SA).

Btw, you should consider a Mac mini as an alternative, if you don't need the portability. As powerful as macbook (if not more so)at half the price. You just need your own monitor, keyboard and mouse. I bought one last week. Using it as my media server. Bolted it to the wall behind my wall mounted telly
I used my pc's monitor, keyboard and mouse to set up.

Tomorrow is allegedly the announcement date of the new models.

 

[Darko]

Tomorrow is allegedly the announcement date of the new models.

I usually reference this site for any upcoming Mac releases and when it's a good time to get a new device

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Retina_MacBook_Pro