Comments on: Blogging from my new MacBook http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/ General musings and programming stuff Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:40:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.3 by: Oliver Sturm http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-242620 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:00:46 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-242620 Hi Paul, Well, I spent roughly 950 quid (afair) on a MacBook (non-pro - these come with larger displays only, which I don't want) and a memory upgrade to 4GB, and the quality of the hardware itself is easily up to par with very high quality PC laptops like those built by Lenovo for instance. Certainly not comparable to any high-street price simple PC laptop, and as such better value for money in my book. Of course the experience of using the computer is only partly due to the hardware, and I have now been working very happily with the fantastic OS X operating system for months, running Windows in VMWare. I'm also still using other laptops running Windows, so I have a constant comparison going - but it's quite clear to me at this time that I like the software experience on the Mac better than that on Windows, partly due to the OS itself (which may well be a matter of taste of course - I love the Unix heritage and everything that comes with it), partly due to the high quality software that is available. Hi Paul,

Well, I spent roughly 950 quid (afair) on a MacBook (non-pro - these come with larger displays only, which I don’t want) and a memory upgrade to 4GB, and the quality of the hardware itself is easily up to par with very high quality PC laptops like those built by Lenovo for instance. Certainly not comparable to any high-street price simple PC laptop, and as such better value for money in my book.

Of course the experience of using the computer is only partly due to the hardware, and I have now been working very happily with the fantastic OS X operating system for months, running Windows in VMWare. I’m also still using other laptops running Windows, so I have a constant comparison going - but it’s quite clear to me at this time that I like the software experience on the Mac better than that on Windows, partly due to the OS itself (which may well be a matter of taste of course - I love the Unix heritage and everything that comes with it), partly due to the high quality software that is available.

]]> by: Paul http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-242619 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:48:52 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-242619 Hi Oliver - quick question what model of Macbook did you get? For example, if I spent £1900 on a Macbook Pro Dual Core 4GB etc etc I'd expect it to be bloody good :-) I wonder if you spent as much on a WinIntel lappy you would have just as good an experience? Most PC laptops are built for business customers which means they try to look nice and shiny but within they are running on integrated, share memory graphics, dull FSB speeds and slow hard drives. You buy a top end Macbook and wow - you get top end hardware specs and a machine that performs well as we would hope for such a cost. Are you comparing Apples to Oranges mate? top end macbook pro £1900, typical PC lappy <£800 Hi Oliver - quick question what model of Macbook did you get? For example, if I spent £1900 on a Macbook Pro Dual Core 4GB etc etc I’d expect it to be bloody good :-) I wonder if you spent as much on a WinIntel lappy you would have just as good an experience?

Most PC laptops are built for business customers which means they try to look nice and shiny but within they are running on integrated, share memory graphics, dull FSB speeds and slow hard drives.

You buy a top end Macbook and wow - you get top end hardware specs and a machine that performs well as we would hope for such a cost.

Are you comparing Apples to Oranges mate? top end macbook pro £1900, typical PC lappy <£800

]]> by: Masa http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-182522 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:58:37 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-182522 I got the 15&#34; MBP last summer, and have absolutely loved it. It runs Vista great - particularly with boot camp, but with Fusion it is pretty cool too. My experience is different that Peter's too. Apps that really helped me out were MacPar Deluxe, VisualHub, Transmit and Aperture. I love Mail, iCal, iTunes on a Mac, the Dashboard, the Dock and Preview. Xee is pretty cool for a quick photo viewer. I have found the little 'utils' to be amazingly high quality for the Mac - there seem to be quite a few one app shops that do a great job with their software - making a very simple, clean UI. Obviously, I run Vista quite a bit as a Dot Net developer, but I prefer to do everything I can in the Mac OS.. I got the 15" MBP last summer, and have absolutely loved it. It runs Vista great - particularly with boot camp, but with Fusion it is pretty cool too.
My experience is different that Peter’s too. Apps that really helped me out were MacPar Deluxe, VisualHub, Transmit and Aperture. I love Mail, iCal, iTunes on a Mac, the Dashboard, the Dock and Preview. Xee is pretty cool for a quick photo viewer.
I have found the little ‘utils’ to be amazingly high quality for the Mac - there seem to be quite a few one app shops that do a great job with their software - making a very simple, clean UI.
Obviously, I run Vista quite a bit as a Dot Net developer, but I prefer to do everything I can in the Mac OS..

]]> by: Renaud Bompuis http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176885 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:56:09 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176885 Now that you have a non-windows platform does that mean you're going to try to check out XPO and other Developer Express technologies on it? For Winforms, I doubt that Mono goes far enough and it's quite unlikely that any DX visual components would work. However, for server-side technologies like XPO there isn't any real reason why they couldn't be made to work with minimum effort. Now that you have a non-windows platform does that mean you’re going to try to check out XPO and other Developer Express technologies on it?

For Winforms, I doubt that Mono goes far enough and it’s quite unlikely that any DX visual components would work.
However, for server-side technologies like XPO there isn’t any real reason why they couldn’t be made to work with minimum effort.

]]> by: Oliver Sturm http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176028 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:12:40 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176028 Hi Peter, nah, I can't agree with that... I'm sure I don't have a complete overview yet, but applications I've found rather seem to be higher quality than on Windows. Free stuff - Adium for IM, iGTD todo manager, QuickSilver, Aquamacs Emacs, ... VMWare Fusion is fantastic, I wish they had that fusion feature on Windows, works fine with VS. Many apps like Firefox or Twhirl are of course pretty much the same as on Windows, so is MS Office (at least the main apps). So far I haven't found a single problem that wasn't solved easily, and the free apps I found are very good quality. For usenet I found Unison, which looks very good so far. Interesting how experiences can differ :-) Hi Peter,

nah, I can’t agree with that… I’m sure I don’t have a complete overview yet, but applications I’ve found rather seem to be higher quality than on Windows. Free stuff - Adium for IM, iGTD todo manager, QuickSilver, Aquamacs Emacs, … VMWare Fusion is fantastic, I wish they had that fusion feature on Windows, works fine with VS. Many apps like Firefox or Twhirl are of course pretty much the same as on Windows, so is MS Office (at least the main apps). So far I haven’t found a single problem that wasn’t solved easily, and the free apps I found are very good quality. For usenet I found Unison, which looks very good so far.

Interesting how experiences can differ :-)

]]> by: Peter Morris http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176022 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:42:45 +0000 http://www.sturmnet.org/blog/archives/2008/06/14/blogging-from-my-new-macbook/#comment-176022 I remember feeling the same just over a year ago. Soon afterwards I was installing a &#34;proper&#34; version of Windows using BootCamp and now I never use MacOSX at all. The reason is that the only well written software I could find on the Mac was by large companies like Adobe or Apple themselves, 99% of all other software I downloaded and tried was just utter rubbish. I found myself in my virtual Windows most of the time, only using OSX to check mail. When I had problems finding a Mac newsreader that did what I wanted I moved my mail / news over to Windows too, then there was no reason to use OSX at all so I installed BootCamp! As for stuff running faster in the VM I experienced that too, at first, but over time it reverted to a state I was more familiar with. I experienced it again when I switched to a full install of Windows. I suspect you are just experiencing &#34;New installation of Windows&#34; syndrome :-) I still love my iMac, great hardware, but I use Win XP! I remember feeling the same just over a year ago. Soon afterwards I was installing a "proper" version of Windows using BootCamp and now I never use MacOSX at all. The reason is that the only well written software I could find on the Mac was by large companies like Adobe or Apple themselves, 99% of all other software I downloaded and tried was just utter rubbish.

I found myself in my virtual Windows most of the time, only using OSX to check mail. When I had problems finding a Mac newsreader that did what I wanted I moved my mail / news over to Windows too, then there was no reason to use OSX at all so I installed BootCamp!

As for stuff running faster in the VM I experienced that too, at first, but over time it reverted to a state I was more familiar with. I experienced it again when I switched to a full install of Windows. I suspect you are just experiencing "New installation of Windows" syndrome :-)

I still love my iMac, great hardware, but I use Win XP!

]]>