Why Mac?

[Southy_]

Hey Guys,

Looking for some enlightenment as to what made you go for Mac over the alternatives, hopefully not going to come across as Mac hating/bashing, or start a flaming war.
I am genuinely interested in the decision process that brought you to Apple.

Bit of background I guess.
I use my Windows PC for gaming.
By profession I am a code monkey, working with Java, Java EE and PHP mostly, and I do contracting on top of my normal job, so have a Dev computer (laptop) at home, currently running Ubuntu.

I am going to be getting myself a new dev computer, and from numerous sources people have claimed that Macs are great for dev work, especially web dev, and also really nice to use in general.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out why it would be better than a Linux based system.

The following 2 parts are how I see it, all IMHO.

1) The Dreaded Subject - Price:

Linux Based PC:
i3 550 3.2Ghz
4GB Memory
500GB HDD
All usual stuff.
~£450

(The iMac was picked as it is the closest spec to the PC)
21.5-inch: 3.06GHz - iMac
4GB Memory
500GB HDD
£1050

In fairness to the Mac, it has a better graphics card that would add £100 onto the PC's price, that I don't technically need, so call it £500 more for the Mac.

2) Software

OS:
Linux (call it Ubuntu for arguments sake) and MacOSX.
They have a lot in common, not going to go through all the similarities in look and feel, or the small differences in how to install things,
The main issue is the software that is available on Linux and Mac.

General use:
Web, Music, Videos
Linux - Chrome, winamp, vlc
Mac - Chrome, iTunes ?, vlc
Not much change, chrome is fine on both, vlc is good on both.

Dev work:
(Neither of these are comprehensive lists)
Linux - Eclipse, Bunch of text editors(all free) - Vim, Emacs, Komodo, Notepad++(using Wine), Kate, Gedit.

Might need some help here, not massively up to speed on Mac software.
Mac - Eclipse, Coda($99!), XCode, TextWrangler/BBedit, Komodo, Espresso.


So, based on those 2 general ideas, reasons I can think of that someone might choose Mac over Linux:

* Barely heard of/used Linux, Mac only mainstream alt to Windows.
* Prefer the ease of getting things up and running on a Mac.
* Software that I am not considering or haven't heard of.
* Better software support.
* The Hardware, quite a large area, mainly thinking of better hardware-OS compatibility than most Linux distros.
* Just plain love apple.

...and breathe

So, I am interested in the reasons you picked Mac, and I guess if enough good reasons come out then it may tilt me toward buying one.
Because as I currently see it, except for price, there really isn't that much difference between, a good PC with Linux, and a Mac.

Hopefully before the trolls have at we can get a nice discussion going.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Southy_]

hmm, so I guess most so far are coming from the peace of mind perspective.
The hardware is good, no hassle with drivers, switch on and know it will work kind of thing?

 

[Southy_]

The thing about prices is that Apple clearly do command a hefty margin on their hardware

This is the biggest thing that hits me when looking at them.
Not like it's a small amount either, even the cheapest Mac you can buy starts at £612 for a 2 (maybe 1, depends if you count sandybridge as a new generation) generations old processor and 2GB of memory.

 

[Southy_]

ok, so looks like, from my perspective, given that I don't have much issue getting linux to work, drivers and such.
The main areas that I should look into more are:
Hardware Quality.
3rd party software.

Thanks for the helpful replies so far, much appreciated.

 

[Southy_]

If you are going to use it for Java development then be aware that Apple recently stopped supporting their Java VM. So while Java runs fine on OSX, its future is uncertain on that platform.

Thankfully not long after the deprecation announcement, they also announced a new deal with OpenJDK for Java 7, so not too worried about that.

TBH if your a code monkey stick to ubuntu, its awesome - ONLY IF YOU DEFINITELY KNOW HOW TO USE IT, thats its biggest issue, its a ruddy nightmare even for some 'advanced' pc users, drivers, software compatability etc, im a yeeee old veteren PC user and im still finding myself frustrated with having to code/know how to code to use some stuff on ubuntu, or get it working properly etc.

TBH if lightroom/photoshop etc worked on ubuntu I would put the time and effort in to switch (which would be an entire weekend of effort to switch, backup, and make everything how I wanted it etc), but for now windows 7 is awesome on my PC (need the powah ) and I have a mac laptop as a general laptop, as frankly there is no better laptop iv seen that just does the job and I use iweb, which i rather use as I dont want to have to 'think' (i.e. code) when im making my website which I only use to promote my photography, i.e. im not that interested in showing I can code a website when I just want to drag and drop my latest pics etc.

I know Ubuntu very well, having used it for 4 years, doing Java dev, at my previous job.
Interesting that someone that has used Ubuntu for dev is recommending it over Mac, most people I know recommend the opposite.
Have you done much dev work on Mac?

 

[Southy_]

I'm going to assume you're interested in a Mac primarily for work purposes - if you're in it for the luxury it's a different argument.

There is a never ending stream of people that will insist they are "more productive" on a Mac but it quickly dries up when you want specific, objective reasons why this is the case. Yes they have great screens, yes they have brilliant trackpads with expose window management, yes they don't clutter the place up with wires and run very quietly - but these are fuzzy arguments and you have to question whether they are going to make a big difference? Because you're paying good money for them. If I was doing contract work I'd want to maximize what I earned and using low-cost hardware and open source software is a great way to do that. I think many people would envy your current position!

There are of course people who have a genuine need for a specific platform - they may have a significant investment in software, training and experience and it makes absolute sense to go with a Mac but you don't appear to have any such ties. One of the plus points of OSX is that it's the only really legitimate way of running all three major operating systems concurrenly (virtual machines) which might make sense for your dev stuff. Perhaps you could pick up a second hand Mac Mini and explore the range of alternative software available?

But to me, it sounds like you're doing fine with your current setup and are just curious about whether there is a better way. In my opinion by far the biggest contributing factor to "productivity" is the person sat between the keyboard and chair. A lot of people enjoy and place great value in some of the nuances of OSX and its range of apps and will happily pay for them, but if cost is an issue then it might turn out to be an expensive exercise just to find out whether you are one of them.

This is basically what I needed to hear from someone else, as every time someone tries to convince me to use Mac for my contracting this is what I think.

The VM argument is a good one for, especially for testing of web sites in multiple OS's.
The old mac mini to test software is a good suggestion.

Thanks.

 

[Southy_]

You don't need to own something to have valid criticisms - the problem with the typical Mac basher is that they're never or hardly even used OS X enough to have a worthwhile opinion.

That's my issue, all I really have are preconceived opinions based off the 2nd hand knowledge of Mac Lovers and Mac Haters.
Guess I need to find a not-too-expensive way of running a mac for a while, see if I should be in the Lovers camp

 

[Southy_]

snip

Thanks for that post Mac, was really useful.

Actually, when I was contracting I found that was one of things which pushed me more towards more expensive hardware and legit supported software - I needed things to work. Anything I might save by doing things cheaper was lost in the costs of any downtime, failures or delays.

That's not a Apple specific argument of course but a general one - better a £1500 Dell and RHEL with support than a £500 Acer and Ubuntu if you can't afford not to be productive. My rational was I needed somebody (preferably a specialist) contracted to fix it if it went wrong and quickly (I didn't have time for it to be my problem, even if it was my a couple of hours easy work), the potential losses (both financial and reputation) far outweighed the cost of expensive hardware and software.

This is something I hadn't thought about, haven't been doing the contracting long.
Hardware reliability really is something to consider.

From that perspective it may be worth getting the Mac, looking at dells with good replacement schemes and such, the prices aren't far off, and if I really didn't like MacOSX I could install Windows/Linux on the Mac.

What are peoples experience with Apple support in terms of broken hardware?