[Off Topic] Mac or PC for development

Well, any computer can do web developement. It's just how much hassle you want to go through or which OS you know best (or want/can learn).

I personally find Mac (or Linux) the best since it's so far near the final OS type of the server I'm hosting my code on (Linux). To me, Windows desktop (not server), isn't built for a web server to run on - Linux/Unix is.

Mac/Linux also provide great tools for CLI, Windows too but it's just not as good. Macs last, they keep their value and there's so many nice tools that run on it.

I used to do my dev on my iMac but decided I needed a laptop for portability, so installed Ubuntu on my old Windows laptop.

For the coding I use Sublime Text and just started with Phpstorm, so there's no difference in coding in Ubuntu or on the Mac.

The only issue I have with Ubuntu is the lack of decent mySQL clients. On my Mac I have Sequel Pro, which I love. The Ubuntu clients just don't cut the mustard.

Yeah, people make a lot of good development software for Macs. That's a good reason to use it. My productivity on Mac is through the roof compared to Windows (used that until late 2013 until I got my MPB).

I switched to a MBP last year. In terms of software, it's great, you have many of the best features of both Linux and Windows. However, I'm not so impressed with the hardware. I find the keyboard quite uncomfortable to use and have started to develop RSI in my wrist.

Currently looking for an good alternative keyboard to use with it if anyone has any recommendations?

Mac has the advantage that it’s built on a Unix platform, and working with the command line is a lot more familiar. It also has built-in SSH, unlike Windows.

@DanSmith Hardware as in peripherals or hardware inside? I find the keyboard fine but at work I use the USB version since it's an iMac. Quite scary how much you must of been typing on that to get a RSI... are you prone to it or just work on it a lot?

Get a keyboard with a wrist placement so your hands aren't facing up. Also a mechanical keyboard is amazing if you get the right switches for typing.

@bashy Internal hardware is OK although quite expensive for what you get. My main problem is the keyboard, I love the trackpad however.

I've also been using a USB Apple keyboard at work (I use a Mac Mini there) and have had the same problem, although I've recently switched back to an old plastic Dell keyboard which seems much more comfortable.

@DanSmith Yeah the hardware for the computer is oldish but still powerful. It gets old because they make them as is then sell that model for years. You can buy the same one I bought back in late-2013 now for the same price. It's just how Apple works which is good for us since products retain their value.

Yeah sounds good. I use a keyboard 12 hours a day but I make sure I have proper breaks and make sure I type properly with all fingers. Make sure to stretch your hands out every 10 minutes.

I'll only add that if you look through the forum and count how many times people are posting threads with titles like "How do I get ***** to work on Windows?" and compare that to the same for OS X it's no contest. As @bashy pointed out, so many of the tools are built on/for Unix based systems so using them in a Windows environment is always going to be more work/difficult.

I had developed on PC for a number of years, but i think i only stood for it for so long because i had access to a dev server. Therfor only required certain tools on windows and everything else could be done through Putty.

I bought a MBP last year and have been developing on that for the majority of my personal stuff since, the difference between the two platforms i didnt find that much of a big deal, however the Mac does seem to have an easier flow to development, so i would always suggest one or atleast a unix based system.

yes, im working with windows, and is a pain in the ass configure your work flow, I need two kinds of terminal and my homestead have problems with gulp notifications

With vms it really comes down to preference. I'd prefer a mac but to justify the premium price is hard for me to justify.

I set up my vm with a phpmyadmin for MySQL on it's own domain (admin.app). This allows me to utilize a plug and develop environment with MySQL in any OS.

With Ubuntu's GUI learning Linux is a lot easier then before.

I am forced into using Windows at present because my day job only provides Windows approved software to connect to the office however they now provide mac software.

To be honest I struggle to justify the price too at about £1,500 for the `mi range Imac but as @bashy said I think productivity would go up for me. I hear people say that all the time when they switch to a mac from a PC. Well eventually as there is quite a bit to learn when moving over.

I hate Windows for anything local though, I stopped using it about a year ago. I now use a few VPS's which allows me to code wherever I am with codeanywhere.com which is great. But I would rather do it all locally.

I could dual boot windows and Ubuntu but it's not really an effective solution for me.

Yeah I know your pain, a few years ago it was even worse.

I was a bit worried about paying out so much for a "laptop" but since doing so just over a year ago, it's been worth every penny...really has. As long as you give yourself time to get used to it (maybe you know how to use them), you will be overwhelmed at how great they are.

I could sell mine today and get around 70% of what I paid in 2013 for it, I think that's great.

@bashy - Indeed, I may well go down that route, I mean the £1k I paid for the Air and it gets used all the time compared to the HP laptop of the same price range which is gathering dust for a long time now. My wife won't even use the HP she loves the Air.

Mac, hands down for me. I couldn't imagine coding on Windows at this point.

When I was learning, I always develop on Windows with Notepad++ (you can laught :p) and one day I decide to buy a MAC, never go again on Windows except for playing video games.

@JeffreyWay - Yeah, you should see me trying to keep up with you on video, not happening, constant pauses. But that is partly what attracts me to the Mac, okay you are way, way ahead of where I will ever be however the way you do things on a Mac just seem right when watching it compared to Windows.

I haven't used a PC for about 7/8 year now and won't go back to using one, a mac is much easy to use, configure for web development, running commands etc.

I've been using a late 2010 macbook pro for the past 18 months after buying for £600 on eBay, it has 8GB ram, 2,4Ghz i5 processor & NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256 MB running Yosemite and works sweet as a nut every single day and I use it for development mostly and I also play Football Manager on it and again runs perfect. I will however be looking to get a newer macbook this year just for more power, but it's been great a well designed piece of kit. That said there is some decent PC notebooks out there now, just a shame they are installed with Windows 8, not a good OS in my opinion, XP was the best, and 7 wasn't bad, but everything else I thought sucked!

Just my opinion and my story, no offense to anyone.

I agree and the way Windows is going now is moving much further away from being usable for development in my view.

Dammit, sold. I will look for an Imac this week.

A few weeks ago I have installed the latest Linux Ubuntu. I like how I was forced in some way to use terminal, Google around and memorize some of the commands I'd use the most, and I really liked it.

As I've understood - the Mac OS X runs the very same terminal, the commands are the same, the environment and filesystem is pretty much the same. So why would I, as a PC user that dual-boots Windows and Linux, pay thousand(s) of euros for a MBP?

Yes, it's easier to and more suitable for development, built-in ssh, cool commands and all that good stuff. If I have/want to work on *nix, why wouldn't I just choose Ubuntu and install it on my PC? That way I don't have to pay lots of money to get MBP and still have pretty much the same result. Yeah, there's some cool software on MBP (that you have to pay for most likely) that you can't get to work on Ubuntu but there are alternatives. Is it really worth it paying thousand(s) of euros just to be able to purchase yet some more software and run it on MBP, considering the alternative software on Ubuntu where you get it all for free?

Just my two cents. I didn't mean to troll or anything, I am just curious. Don't get me wrong - I'd buy a MBP right away if it's really worth the money. I just want to know why's all that "my-dev-efficiency-increased-so-much-i'll-never-use-anything-else-ever-again-besides-mbp" fuss :)

I personally use Linux for coding, Windows for my photography and design work. The only thing lacking for me is portability. Would love to consolidate everything into one machine and be mobile, but the price tag is hard to overlook for a new MBP. Having said that, I'll probably bite the bullet and purchase the damn thing eventually, when it makes sense for me. Currently, the setup I'm running is just fine.

The efficiency argument I don't buy, you can be efficient on whatever system.

@toniperic - There are lots of reasons for and against. Like I said earlier, in my case I need mac or PC I have no options for Linux. If I did Mint would be installed as my main OS in a flash.

For many people, Linux can still be a complete PITA to work with. Try booting into a Linux install CD with any non standard mouse or keyboard and you are screwed before you can even get it installed then if you intend to use it for anything reasonably basic as an odd game or whatever then again, unlikely without a lot of tinkering.

Linux has it's place as does the Mac. People will pay good money for the simplicity factor.

@HC-Lee Linux Mint is my flavor as well. Love that distro.

@toniperic Whatever works for you and if that's Linux, great! Windows, great!

With regard to spending Apple money for a MBP I would say that I would go crazy using those terrible trackpads that come with most inexpensive PC laptops, and once you move up to better quality hardware and get a better hardware experience the price difference becomes small. Finally when you consider how well Mac's hold their value the price differential is non-existent to minute.

The flip side is Microsoft does have some compelling development products with their .Net line, but if you're using them you're highly unlikely to be using Laravel or Laracasts.

I have been a Windows user since the days of '95 (I feel so old, that was almost two thirds of my life ago!). I can happily get everything I want running on Windows 7.

Windows 8 and 10 just don't compare with Yosemite, so I'll be switching to Mac this year. Sublime Text, Sourcetree, L/MAMP stack are no different as far as I can see. The only downside is that at work we use SQL Server, and there's no great solution to running it locally. You might as well get a separate box, just for that.

A friend of mine showed me the shell on a Mac, the whole wrapping of text blew me away - which sounds odd I'm sure! Apple just nail the "little things" that take the OS from great to super-polished: the integration, windowing environment (which I don't think Microsoft will ever master).

Mac isn't available here in Egypt :/, So I use Ubuntu 14.10 with "Mbuntu for unity" (Mac theme) and Compass icons pack. i develop directly on my main machine, i have pretty much everything installed, and sometimes i use homestead.

The efficiency argument I don't buy, you can be efficient on whatever system.

@alenabdula You literally cannot know it unless you've used one for a year every day. I can do the exact same thing across Windows or Linux and it will be quicker on Mac, no question.

Anyway, I don't get the high price of MBP, how is it high? My PC costs more :P

@bashy I've bought a solid PC in Croatia for 1000€ (including a 27-inch Samsung full HD monitor).

Buying a new 13-inch dual-core MBP costs no-less than 1500 euros.

I'm sure if I used it a lot, that might be the case. I do use it at work, but only for last 4-5 months. Main reason I want to get one is for the portability factor and having everything in one place.

Price is always high if you don't have money. :)