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I'm not sure if this is even available at this time, but has anyone used it, or is anyone planning to use it?
After a couple of years on OSX, I've kind of had enough of Apple's terrible window and file management, and I'm thinking this might be an opportunity to go back to the extremely usable Windows 10, maybe on something like the Dell XPS 15 which is supposed to be an awesome machine and FINALLY a Windows laptop with a decent (read, normal) trackpad.
If not, I might take a look at Linux!
Any thoughts?
Git bash is fine on Windows in order to have some sort of shell.. If you want it for development there's vagrant otherwise I'm working on an article how you can boot all that up yourself in virtualbox and Debian (which I believe is the most amazing Linux)
I'm moving apart from Mac as well, mostly for the price to value ratio, which is now horrible on Macs. Although a better terminal is very needed in Windows, the comfort of the one on Mac is outstanding
I literally shout at my Mac hourly. If Mission Control isn't doing something un-asked for or spasticated with my windows, I'm trying to save a file into a folder I can't find in an anonymous-feeling file system, or opening up my umpteenth Finder window to look blankly at its contents, or swiping through desktops trying to find the one with the window I need, or having to come out of Full Screen Mode on some app because it won't let me do something with it, or having to hover the cursor at the top of the screen so it will momentarily animate down so I can see title of the window in one of four maximised Source Tree instances I need to have open, or it's animating another desktop into view after I click on something else in an unrelated application... the list is endless.
Yeah, I just want to be able to work in an OS that helps not hinders me, with access to development tools that let me do my job :D
I must say that this subsystem is the most competitive thing Windows have made for years
@SaeedPrez - just checking you read the title and clicked on the link I posted!? ;P
I used to use ConEmu as well, but my main gripe with Windows vs Mac when it comes to development, is the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to set up and configure everything! Once you have a system that (mainly) works, it's like "RIGHT! No one touch this machine on fear of death!".
Saying that, it took a while to configure OSX as well, but overall felt like less of a hack-job.
Source tree ? Step one is to use git commands :-)
Source tree ? Step one is to use git commands :-)
I'm happy to sit back and watch you git yourself happy Emil! I like to see all my files in a nice list with checkboxes I can click and a diff I can interactively click, and stage lines or hunks, or that kind of thing :P
Its support for Git Flow and handling SSH keys is also a HUGE reason I use it over the command line. No more Putty / Pagaent - it just works.
My git commands are generally reserved for when things go wrong and Stack Overflow provides the answers!
Git didn't really make too much sense to me with branches and so before I started to use the commands instead of a GUI
@davestewart hahaha, omg! Sorry buddy. I was so excited a Mac user was thinking about something else I totally missed the link, I couldn't waste a second to answer :)
I know what you mean, but Vagrant was pretty painless to setup and I have ConEmu, Sublime, PHP, FileZilla, HeidiSQL, Putty, etc all setup on a separate drive as portable apps. I even have them sync on Dropbox so I can use my portable apps on other computers. The only things to install was really composer and npm I think.
Edit: I also use subst.exe to link X: to my portable app folder and Z: to my work folder (where I have my projects)
We think alike!
I generally partition my machines into OS and Data partitions, and generally avoid the User folder in favour of a D:/Personal/ folder that has my own folder layout. I also install ALL the hacks to rid Windows Explorer of all the ridiculous extra folders it keeps adding to the folder tree.
You guys may also be interested in this, which I made before making the leap to Mac about a year ago:
I was so excited I even made a video for you :) but now you already know the program so I will post it for other people..
I'm using your skin already, but I removed the icons and changed the color to red to fit my laptop (red keyboard back lights)
No, that's super cool! I would certainly be interested in swapping settings and such like when / if i make the move back.
I actually dual boot on this MBP, but keeping two sets of settings up to date is more of a drag than I cared to imagine, so I generally just work in OSX these days.
Sooo nice to see Windows antialiasing in that screenshot. Text on the Mac looks like it's forgotten about the diet and has taken up eating lard.
Anyway.. You can install OS X in VMware
Do any of the windows folk here use chocolatey? I've been wondering about trying to use it to port Valet to Windows (actually thinking about making Valet fully cross-platform - Windows would just be part of the *nix/*bsd/mac/win mix). But with the ubuntu shell coming to Windows that might be easier, if hackier ;-)
Is there a version of Windows 10 I don't know about? I hate it. It takes forever to wake up! Its always doing things I have to keep track of. Constantly wants to download. I switched to MAC a few years ago for dev and will not go back!
@davestewart I have been using Bash on Ubuntu on Windows, they are refering to it as WSL as that is way to much to type :). Also testing the new Docker for Windows beta and running laradock. I wrote some info today on my blog - http://www.mrwilde.com/
WSL works pretty well. At present you need the insider preview and there is a link to a how-to install. I have installed it, done a apt-get update, installed composer and Laravel installer, installed Laravel and run php artisan serve, works just fine. It is beta and missing some things, can't run nginx or apache just yet but they will get there.
docker for windows is pretty sweet also, using Hyper-V, witch comes with windows (Pro, Enterprise,Education). needs a little tuning and I need to learn some more about it but it has masive potential as well. Next line of Windows servers will include the ability to run containers and the implementation for that in Windows 10 will be fantastic.
@jimmck if a windows machine takes more than 15 secs to start, then there is a hardware issue, usually called a Hard Drive. Operating system works just fine but each to there own. Just lay blame where it is due. Weather Mac or Windows most problems are miss diagnosed by untrained, inexperienced end users.
@ohffs I have skimmed by choclatly once or twice but find composer does most of what I need. I have been put onto another windows command-line tool called Scoop http://scoop.sh/ witch is very good for installing a lot of the neccesitys like node, grunt, python etc. installs through powershell and is nice and simple
@MrWilde Rodger. I am almost out of punch cards. Thank You So Much!
Its support for Git Flow and handling SSH keys is also a HUGE reason I use it over the command line. No more Putty / Pagaent - it just works.
Yeah, before SourceTree I always screwed up Git Flow. I could never remember all the stages, or which way around the merge went.
I completely gave up on Git Flow until I got SourceTree.
Ah @MrWilde, thank you - some top information there! That scoop looks amazing.
I tend to do only the most basic command line stuff I need to to get sites set up, install things, set permissions, that kind of thing.
But one thing that Mac does have the edge on is having things like Python, Jekyll, and having a bunch of other command line stuff "just work". When I'm trying some tutorial online, generally they're Mac-based, and it's pretty straightforward. When I was on Windows often I wouldn't get to even try the tutorial as I'd be pissing about with setup or config and would eventually give up in frustration.
Also, I do have one major client who is completely Mac based, and when I was Windows only it was such a pain to have to do two sets of setup documentation (software, config, paths, network, tools, etc).
Taken all together, do you think these tools are a panacea?
I am thinking about running a Windows / Linux dual boot, as opposed to a Mac / Windows dual boot just in case - or do you think with VMs and these kinds of tools that will be unnecessary?
@davestewart things have certainly improved with Windows, I have used every desktop and server version from 3.11 on, was not fun sometimes but it has its pros and cons. Editing the path file for things is a lot easier than before and using scoop it's mostly unnecessary. I have had to do some re-installs in the last few months, doing stupid things with PSU's. I did not check the cables and destroyed my RAID 0 SSD array. I have had to setup my dev tools again java, node, npm, python, gulp, grunt, GIT, and it's not that hard. I do believe I have seen a Powershell script to do them all at once.
If you are working on your machine, as in it is your tool for business, you should, or actually must have at least Windows 10 Pro. With that, you get Hyper-V ability as well as some other exceptional features like RDP. You can then make VM's of anything; I have about six on mine, several a Linux instances as well a Windows install or 2 for testing. You can run the VM in full screen and across multiple screens, works very well. The new Docker for Windows depends on hyper-v to work, and the beta has been excellent so far.
Should go without saying but just make sure you have a decent machine and by that I mean reasonable gaming or entry level workstation. I run XEON E3-1230 v2, 32GB ram and multiple SSD's for daily access storage with an SSHD for archive and scratch. About to replace this baby with 2011 5820K and move up to the NVMe 2GB/s SSD.
I don't like to wait, and if you use your machine all day every day, and then some, it has to be the best you can get. Afraid to think what a Mac with my specs would cost but, I still look at ways to run OS X in a VM, so that I can play.
@davestewart I think dual booting is better if you want to learn more Linux - it just makes it more effort to boot back into the other OS compared to having a VM where you can just 'minimise and forget' ;-)
I like to have a fairly minimal desktop to use so at work I use xubuntu as it doesn't bug me very much. At home I've got OS-X as I need to edit photographs and use photoshop though :-/ It doesn't bug me as much as Windows, but it still bugs me :-/ The last version of Windows I used to any great degree was '98 - when I try 8.x or 10 I just find there's so much chrome/bling/notification 'stuff' it makes me wonder how folk can use it without going crazy. The mac notifications are also deeply annoying, but not as 'hello! look at me! now!' as they seem to be on windows :-/
The first GUI system I used in earnest was GEM mind you, so pretty bare bones - I think I'm always trying to get back to it though ;-)
@MikeHopley I found another desktop tool for Git they I really like called GitKraken - https://www.gitkraken.com/
@MrWilde I ditched the desktop last year when I got my MBP and it was the best thing I ever did. I used to be so tied to the machine, and being able to just pick it up and go somewhere is awesome. Having a desktop and a laptop was always just a nightmare, as I could never, ever, manage to keep files in sync, and I've never been a big fan of webmail - Outlook just works for me, as I have about 10 email accounts for various projects, and there is NO good email client on the Mac, period. My VBA rules manager also helps loads :P
The other main reason I went to the dark side was Macbook Pro itself - it's simply the best laptop. The responsiveness of the trackpad and gestures in OSX make working on the road almost as productive as being at home, on a desktop, with a mouse and 2 screens. Honestly, unless you've tried it, you simply can't imagine. It's a HUGE achievement for Apple, and one which so far, Microsoft nor any other Windows manufacturer has not even come CLOSE to emulating. The battery life is astounding as well.
However - I've been reading very good things about the new Precision Touchpads, and the latest 2015 Dell XPS13 is in my sights to test out. I had a 2015 model, and the trackpad was the single-most appalling trackpad I'd ever used. About 20% of touches would simply be ignored, and I had the thing replaced by Dell, so it wasn't a fault, it was just Dell/Synaptics saying "F*ck you, we can't be bothered to make it actually usable, live with it". However, if the new touchpads are as good as they say they are then it might be time to come back to Windows.
@ohffs I LOVE Windows 10! There are some rubbish things about it (Settings, Start Menu) but the things that actually matter (not Settings), or can be tweaked (Start Menu), combine to make it the best operating system I've ever used. It is so, so, so easy to manage windows, apps, files, and just makes you so productive. I haven't really noticed all the bling stuff you mention, and I find that the entire Adobe suite seems to run better on Windows too.
I'll be sticking with Mac probably for at least 6 months, and perhaps by then Dell will have brought out a new XPS, and maybe they'll have put the camera in a sensible place!
@davestewart I so agree on the Mac book, I had one for almost 5 years. Did a cady conversion on the DVD drive and had 2 SSD's in it, was awesome until it started getting so hot I had to have a folder specifically putting it on my lap. Would have got another one but they started embedding everything into them and I like to play, swap things out and upgrade when the price is right.
I bought mine with 4GB of ram because at the time Apple want $400 + dollars to put in 8GB but a few years later and I did the upgrade for $40.
My son has a Dell Latitude 7000 series and it is BOSS. Extremely light weight lots of power and you can upgrade the drive and memory. I got something a little more obscure last year as it was 15" with Full HD resolution, GTX 860m video card and has SSD and 2 x M2 PCIe ports. Lots of expansion but still not as slick as MAC Book.
I need the desktop, I am a screen junky and currently run 4 screens. I can only work on the laptop for short bursts.
Funny you should say that - actually, apart from the trackpad, the other thing that WILL stop me from returning from OSX to Windows is... display scaling.
Windows / Windows apps simply do not have the props to properly scale, and the problem is particularly compounded on mixed density setups.
My MBP setup is 1 x 1440x900 (built in) and 2 x 1920x1080 external screens from the dual thunderbolt ports. In OSX, everything is perfect. Move apps from screen to screen, and you don't even need to think about it.
On Windows - it's nothing short of a NIGHTMARE. Windows / Windows programs cannot seem to decide which display scaling setting to use, resulting in:
When I boot to Windows 10, the only way I have found to have a usable experience is to disable the retina display, and only run the two external screens (or if on the road, just use the built in screen).
I've done so much research on this topic, and it seems to be unsolvable, until developers take the plunge to update their software, but I've heard it's extremely difficult to do as the way how pre-retina layouts are described in code are simply not automatically upgradeable, and they would need to essentially rebuild their apps. But even more weirdly, Windows itself can't seem to decide what to do. It's crushingly depressing.
Shouting at my screen with Apple's rubbish Mission Control vs not being able to even work with Windows 10 display scaling, I have to settle for the shouting :(
PS @MrWilde - love the fun typeface on your site for titles, but it's no fun to read paragraphs of. I had to use the development tools to change it to Arial!
@davestewart I think it's coming largely from a desktop with no animations/transparency/bling/notifications at all - win10 is quite a shock. I guess it's like living in the sleepy countryside then ending up in las vegas - if you lived in the city you might just think 'what neon?' ;-)
I went from 3 to 4 screens about two years ago and had been running multiple screens on windows since XP. Back in the XP days, there were certainly some weird issues, especially with different resolutions but I have had no problems at all since maybe Windows 7 but certainly nothing from Windows 8 and on.
I have 3 x 24" and a 27" and they all run Full HD 1920x1080 - here is a shot of my setup - http://www.mrwilde.com/img_20160428_214950/
I have had multiple GPU's and looking at going to a single. Seen some weird things on client machines, usually due to underpowered video cards. After the hardware upgrade soon, wanting to go up to maybe 29 " 2560x1440 see how that works. I also use an awesome tool called ultramon, love it.
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