Six months after my switch [to Mac], an update

David Alison's Blog ^ | 08/16/2008 | David Alison

[Swordmaker]

I'm now just past the six month mark since tentatively purchasing my first Mac and beginning to switch away from Windows. At the time I bought my MacBook I had a number of machines in the house, all running either Windows or Ubuntu. What I've tried to do on this blog is provide a kind of running commentary on switching, hitting on some of the challenges I've encountered, the native Mac applications I've found and the general feelings I've had about making the switch.

What I find interesting after 6 months is the impact buying that little MacBook had not only on the way I handle my personal computing but to a large degree the influence it has had on the way I do my development work. You see after I bought the MacBook I found myself doing more and more with it. I had a Windows XP development / gaming rig parked directly in front of me but I was constantly sliding my hands over to the MacBook.

My entire development platform—at the time Visual Studio—was completely set up and I had my after-market libraries installed and was using it to build my next online service business. Even with all of my development experience being Windows based I constantly found myself pushing away from my XP system and over to the MacBook. This was not helping my productivity, at least on the development front.

I rationalized that if I bought a Mac Pro that I could install VMware Fusion on it and use that as my primary development platform. I was obviously hooked on OS X and the idea of having a machine with 8 cores and 12GB of RAM running it was pretty cool. I bought the Mac Pro, placed it in the position of being my primary workstation (pushing the Windows XP machine off to the side) and I was off and running.

I was quickly able to get the Mac Pro up and running with Windows XP and my development environment in a VMware Fusion instance. With a couple of minor exceptions it worked great, providing me with everything I needed to build my web based solutions just as I had been on my native Windows XP machine.

Not long after all this I started to look at Ruby on Rails as an option for development, something that would serve as a replacement for my Visual Studio environment. Why? Much like with Windows itself, I had been doing the same kind of development for a very long time. Given the recent sale of my last company I have the luxury of defining fully the tools I could use to build my next generation of products and I wanted to see if there was an easier way to build Web 2.0-like web applications.

Though it took me a month of getting up to speed on Ruby on Rails I found it to be a fantastic platform for building what I needed to create. With a very English-like language, an extensive library of free plugins, nice Ajax support built in and the ability to get a basic application framework up and running in a matter of hours, RoR was exactly what I was looking for. In two short months I've made far more progress than I did in the 4+ months I spent building my solution in VS .NET / C#.

On top of all that, it turns out most of the core Ruby on Rails guys are Mac people too. OS X already comes with RoR and the fact that I could use TextMate, easily one of the best programming editors I have ever experienced, was a huge plus.

I suddenly found myself using my Macs exclusively. I wasn't even firing up the Windows XP instance because I only needed it for Visual Studio. The Windows XP gaming rig was powered down and resting in the corner, serving mostly as a device to crack my knee on if I swiveled my chair too quickly. Fortunately I was able to find a buyer for it, leaving me without any native Windows hardware (well, my wife and son are still using XP).

Selling the XP rig gave me the money to purchase a MacBook Pro, giving the MacBook to my youngest daughter. She couldn't be happier ditching the Dell she had for it and is constantly using the machine. Photo Booth alone has provided her with endless amounts of fun and she's using the iSight camera to do video chats with her cousin in California.

Then, suddenly, the iPhone became part of our digital lives. When Sprint dropped the ball and our service failed miserably I bit the bullet and bought my wife and I both a couple of iPhones. It's been a fantastic device and my phone reception (contrary to many reports I've read) has been excellent. The best part of getting the iPhone though was watching my non-technical wife not only use it but embrace it completely. Between pulling down her e-mail and doing some web browsing while out shopping, I was shocked by how quickly she took to it. This from a woman that had up to this point in time never sent a single text message. She sends text messages regularly now with our daughters.

She now finally wants a Mac of her own and is going to get one for her birthday next month. I'll be writing about how she adapts to using it as well. Now that summer is winding down and our extended vacations are coming to an end I'll have a little more time to commit to blogging.

[Spktyr]

You must have gotten one of the ONLY ones that they built properly. I’ve had friends, neighbors, and clients that had Taurii and they were nothing but trouble after a while.

Perhaps a better example for you would be Toyota Corolla vice Ford Escort.

[AFreeBird]

>> In fact, I'll go so far as to say that with a Mac you treat it like an appliance, and use it to email, read FR and play games. You end up never learning about the innards of the hardware or the OS, because you don't need to.

Again this sums up how the typical Apple user I meet are like. Sure there are exceptions but the majority are like this.

You mean like how most people treat their cars, appliances, etc..?

I would think from a computer vendor's point of view, that would be a good thing. One of the greatest impediments to marketing computers to the masses has been the complexity levels. Now what I never liked about MAC's up until OS X, was you couldn't, or couldn't very easily, get to the inner workings of the OS.

Now it's easy, and it looks very similar to my Linux systems under the hood. And it [Mac] even comes with compiler and developer tools.

That's like getting the service manuals and a complete mechanics tool set with your car.

[Cold Heat]

Put the same effort into learning what VISTA can do, and you would be way ahead of the game and not tied to a overpriced windows hating club with some sort of blind mob mentality.

LOL

[texas booster]

I remember the work done in the 80’s so that our systems wouldn't be so complex.

20 years later, it still takes a wizard to fly in and save the day when the majority of users have a problem.

When I was younger, I learned something new about computers nearly every day.

To put it another way, I was always uncovering some problem that I (and many tech support teams) had never seen before.

The Mac OS is still the closest user experience to a phone that I have discovered. You pick up a phone and just use it.

If you have time, then you learn additional functions. If you don't care, you don't have to learn anything else.

BTW, are any of your rigs folding for Free Republic? ;’)

[merp]

Actually I lied.
Yes, you did. What does that say about you, that you'd lie to support your viewpoint, hmm? Why should I or anyone else believe anything you say from this point forward? "But it was such a small lie, it doesn't matter!" Like the definition of "sexual relations," right?

Frankly I couldn’t possibly care less what you think.
Apparently you do, or you wouldn't have responded.

You seem frosted because you obviously paid 3 times as much for an Apple and actually got less.
Actually, I paid one-fifth the going rate for a UNIX-based digital video workstation five years ago, when it was the top of the performance heap for desktops, and it's every bit as fast and reliable as it was then, if not moreso, what with Apple's penchant for improving the performance of their products over time. Had I gone the PeeCee route, I'd have spent just as much money, had regular but sub-par machines, had to deal with sub-optimal software for accomplishing my computing task, and given my average downtime prior to having the Macintosh, I'd actually be showing a loss for money and time, given that I'd have had to reinstall Windows at least three times. Avoiding that headache is worth the up-front cost, especially considering I've spent exactly zero on it since.

life sucks then you die, eh dude?
Only for you, "dude."

[Spktyr]

Bingo. Also, keep in mind other parallels in other markets; the semiauto pistol didn’t take off in the US civilian market until someone introduced a reliable, safe autopistol that was as simple as possible to use, while not requiring the user to be a gunsmith. That weapon was the Glock 17 and its descendants, and ever since then the market has been trying to catch up. It even forced the 1911 makers to stop producing a “some assembly/modification required” kits needing intervention from a gunsmith before being useful weapons, and start producing weapons that were good to go out of the box.

Most people who own Glocks do not know that their weapon doesn’t even have a hammer and is striker-fired. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. It just works, so the operator can concentrate on other matters like the job at hand, instead of “oh God, is the safety off?”

[Spktyr]

Ahem... why should anyone be forced to “learn” the vagaries of an operating system if they aren’t immediately obvious? Why can’t it just work?

Speaking of which, tried making a network of Vista and XP (or other OS machines)? Vista doesn’t play well at all with other computers.

[mountainbunny]

Not seeing the “repair nightmare”.

I'm glad you aren't, but many have, and your good experience does not negate the negative ones.

By the way, no less than Steve Jobs himself has admitted to problems with customer service and quality issues. See "Apple loses shine with networking, supply chain issues (pops)"

I miss my Apple, but I didn't want to gamble the money on a much more expensive computer if they customer service wasn't going to be there. It was that simple. Maybe if they address those issues, I'll reconsider next time.

After all, the consumer shouldn't have to write to Steve Jobs himself to get their laptop repaired under warranty (pops).

[Blue Highway]

That’s why I have backups or a Raid array. It’s all about CYA.

[Blue Highway]

Again if you neglect the car mechanically sure it will fail. If you do proper maintenance then it will run like a top. I hold this view with everything in life.

[Cold Heat]

Works,if you like limitations and simplicity.

For those who do, Mac will fit the bill for a period of time, but VISTA is the first iteration of a much more complex OS that can do the raft of complex tasks that are the future.

had Apple been able to directly compete with it, they would, but they can't. This is why they launched what is essentially a political type of smear attack and it seems to have been successful.

However, when it becomes evident that Mac's cannot do the new things and apps coming in now, they will once again fall way behind as a matter of reality. The same issues are facing others, like AMD processors, and AMD took a big hit and they are now turning the corner. Mac is just starting to feel it, and it will be obvious soon enough...IMO...

I once had one, but they did not advance and essentially stayed the same where VISTA broke through some barriers, and is going to break more. It's a new dynamic with new potential and Apple is milking a OEM marketing scheme that always has it's up's and downs like a bad case of depression.

Because of their marketing, I removed all Apple apps. and it should not have to be that way, but it is what it is and I can't help it that they chose the road they travel.

BTW, VISTA is real secure, so I would not worry about this aspect of a very popular OS. With that issue gone, Mac had to go to lies and distortions, and Microsoft did not respond, until a recent effort was launched. I suspect you will hear about it.

[Spktyr]

As an IT consultant, I deal with service departments for major vendors on a regular basis. None of them are as good as Apple (save Cisco and Sun, but those don’t count for most desktops). And this is backed up by numerous quality studies and surveys, most of which have already been posted to FR in the past. Check this one out, for example:

http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/customer_satisfaction/index.asp

[TheBattman]

[Spktyr]

Um... how is Vista more capable and more extensible than UNIX? Not seeing it.

Also, thanks to Parallels... anything a PC can do, a Mac can do.

Yeah, I’ve seen the new Microsoft commercials. They really need to examine that, as the message most people seem to be getting from their ad campaign is “Vista sucks, but not as bad as you thought it did.”

I will let someone else tackle the security issues, as that’s not my strongest debate issue - and I’m due out to a client to fix their Vista machine. Again. Because it got exploited by viri. Again.

[Cold Heat]

Speaking of which, tried making a network of Vista and XP (or other OS machines)? Vista doesn’t play well at all with other computers.

Yes, I ran into that myself. What's I found is that older machines have lower encryption standards and you have to lower the VISTA standards to match the older machine and router, which you can do.

Or, you can sometimes buy a new card if you are using wireless for the older machine and It might be compatible.

I had that problem with my newer wireless N machines.

I have never had any issues with wired networking, but VISTA does have a different interface for making connections and I found it is best to open up the old machines files that you want access too, access them with the VISTA machine and then add back the security you need. VISTA should add the elements it needs to maintain the connection or flag you about a problem with the interface and suggest a list of fixes.

In other words, use the VISTA to do the work on the connection with a exposed XP machine, then add back your protections until you find what is causing the problem. Usually it's a XP issue. I ran into this with remote desktop access issues.

[Cold Heat]

Just remember what I said in a year or so, maybe 18 mo.

VISTA is a major tech jump, but the programming for it is only beginning. This is why it has so much memory demands. I found that three Gs seem to satisfy it. It has the capability of running multiple complex apps simultaneously and the multiple GPUs are just now coming.

[Cold Heat]

I might add, that last year it needed 2gs, this year 3 and next year, who knows!

[Swordmaker]

One annoying thing I haven't been able to resolve yet is the musical chord when the system starts up. I don't like it and haven't found where to turn it off.

The chord tells you that the system passed it's hardware tests. I generally never shut down my Macs. I just put them to sleep. Startup is almost instantaneous.

However, if you want to get rid of the chime or merely to make it quiet, try this:

Arcana Software's StartupSound.prefPane.

Warning, this is a BETA software and you use it at your own risk.

You can also merely try muting your iMac before you shut down. I have found that works most of the time.

[merp]

VISTA is a major tech jump, but the programming for it is only beginning.

You don't know what you're talking about. Stop. Vista still uses the archaic and byzantine Win32 API, with about a dozen or so layers on top of it, that have all been shipping for over three years now. Why have all these layers? Because Win32 is an architectural mess, with almost zero consistency, so MS tried to fix this with MDI, .NET, Forms, all of which leave out functionality in some form or another that requires the programmer to go back down to Win32 to get back. This makes for a hellish development experience, so much so that not a single bit of MS product ships with a program built using their premiere "managed code" product, .NET 3.0. It's kid of telling that they don't use it, don't you think?

Three Gs? What are you, a third-grader? No, you're at least twelve. Here's a clue: Both Windows and Mac OS X are modern, protected-memory, multiprocessor-aware, preemptively multitasking operating systems. So both are "capable of running multiple complex apps simultaneously." What matters is the degree to which their respective functions are exposed to the developer and user, and how far the vendor (that's Microsoft and Apple) goes to encourage good design in the applications written by developers. A good series of articles, if you're interested in learning more, was written by Ars Technica's Peter Bright, a full-time Windows developer who recently switched to Mac development.

[antiRepublicrat]

Everything you say is possible

Possible, yes. As integrated and easy, especially for a beginner, a resounding NO. That big difference creates value above and beyond the bare hardware specs that everyone always compares.