How many of you class your Mac as your primary work computer?

Cromulent

Cromulent

Cromulent

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I'm curious how many people here class their Mac desktop or laptop as their primary work computer? I'd also like to know what you do for a living.

The reason I ask is that I am thinking of getting an MBP, but I'm not sure how I'll get on with programming on it full time. I'd also want to run virtual machines using VMWare Fusion.
 
Cromulent said:
I'm curious how many people here class their Mac desktop or laptop as their primary work computer? I'd also like to know what you do for a living.

The reason I ask is that I am thinking of getting an MBP, but I'm not sure how I'll get on with programming on it full time. I'd also want to run virtual machines using VMWare Fusion.
Click to expand...

Fusion is OK - Not quite as full featured as some other VMware products, bootcamp is (or at least was) a bit better tbh. I know a few coders that use them but honest unless what your doing is native why pay more to jump through a load of hoops? This day and age the keyboards aren't mile better, hardware isn't miles better. Basically it's not going to be all that different, faster or more efficient.

Fwiw I have tried before but if your running a full MS stack at work like AD, Exchange, etc etc then the compromises are (or at least were) fairly significant. I went from my MB pro back to a Spectre x360 and have never looked back.
 
I work for VMware and we get a choice of a Dell laptop or a MacBook Pro. I've got the MacBook and I have zero issues with it. The only gripe I have is that there is no native Visio app on the Mac so for those occasions I have to fire up a Windows VM. I could never daily drive a Windows laptop. There's not one I've used where the build quality or the trackpad matches up with the MBP. Mine also gets hammered, running multiple VMs. The only gripe I have is 32GB of RAM is somewhat limiting at times. It's also worth noting that it is AD joined and I have no issues on that front.
 
Yes - MBP out and about, iMac Pro as main workstation, and a couple of Mac Mini units to run virtual machines. Spend most of my time designing/deploying comms type stuff so Skype/Cisco etc. Lots of Office365/Exchange migrations and the like.
 
OP: Unless you’re coding for Mac OS/iOS, buy a good Windows machine.

As Vince has already posted, you’ll be spending a good chunk of extra money and effort to make a Mac into a Windows machine.

I worked for Apple for 10 years in an engineering role and the only time I saw people use Bootcamp to install and operate Windows was when they used an old Mac to run Windows based automation. 99% of the time is was just faster and easier to run Windows as a VM, especially if the Mac in question needs Mac OS running in the background.

Pro tip: Use a good 1080p monitor as a secondary screen for your lowest resolution OS/application. Do not waste a pile of cash on the LG 5K displays (Apple stopped building their own displays a while back) unless you need that resolution.

I had several coke can Mac Pros and iMac Pros controlling test automation systems via VM Fusion and the sub £200 23” ASUS 1080p monitors were just fine for watching the Windows world do its’ thing.
 
I work as a DevOps Engineer and spent 60/40 split automating between Linux and Windows. I’ve been using a Mac as my sole primary machine for 5 years. We use draw.io to replace Visio, I have not needed to use a Windows machine for anything except for testing the automation as you would expect.

Depending on your day to day activities will determine if you need a Windows machine for anything.
 
I do a mix of roles from dev to qa to devops to project management depending on the role. Was always a windows user until about 4 years ago and have not looked back. Mac is a great place to work in once you get the hang of it
 
HP Spectre x360 15" as my main work PC, but if I'm working from home I prefer to use my Macbook Pro. No issues with either really, and I lead technical teams and manage a VMWare and Azure infrastructure for a large MSP.
 
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