Mac Switchers Ping!
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Posted on 03/27/2009 9:20:42 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Everyone knows creative types love their Macs, but a new breed of Mac enthusiasts is emerging in the most unlikely place.
— CIO — At Simply RFiD, a half-dozen software developers yearned for Macs at work. They liked the power and reliability of the Apple machines. Oddly, Simply RFiD made the switch to Mac Pros for its developers to write code for Windows computers.
"We're small and don't want to deal with tech support issues, and that's what Windows has become," says Carl Brown, a software engineer and president of Simply RFiD, which helps companies use radio frequency identification technology. "The only reason why we even run Windows is because we're a Windows developer."
[ Not just the creative types but even IT pros are demanding Macs. | In another twist, iMacs are a good bang for the buck, reports CIO. ]
Let's face it: Techies love great technology, and so it's no surprise that some Windows developers prefer working on Macs, which are considered by many to be the best desktop computers on the market today. Microsoft, on the other hand, is still trying to cover up its Vista black eye. For many techies, the much maligned Vista operating system has become a symbol of backward innovation.
Macs have made giant strides in the enterprise in recent years, thanks to Vista's woes, Apple's move to the Intel platform and emerging trends such as desktop virtualization and software-as-a-service that make it easier to access applications using a non-Windows computer. All have helped kick open the corporate doors to Macs. Last year, the Yankee Group surveyed 750 senior IT executives and found that nearly 80 percent have Macs in their environment, up from 47 percent in 2006.
"We wanted to use Macs exclusively five years ago, but it wasn't feasible because there were just too many Windows applications that had to run on a PC," Brown says. "We all had Windows PCs at work and Macs at home but couldn't justify the Mac as our main PC. With Intel boxes, virtualization and SaaS, now you can."
Windows geeks wanting Macs? Most Apple enterprise enthusiasts come from creative and sales ranks, such as marketing departments and iPhone-toting execs. "I don't think we'd ever entertain rolling out Macs unless there was some kind of creative or digital component," says Michael Iacona, CIO of TMP Worldwide Advertising and Communications. "They are much more expensive" and harder to manage.
Yet there are signs that techies want their Macs, too. At Simply RFiD, .Net developers run Visual Studio in a VMware virtualization machine on a Mac Pro—a very stable and fast platform for programmers. In fact, Brown contends that VMware on a Mac Pro runs Windows better than Windows runs Windows.
Moreover, with a click of the mouse, software developers can instantly flip to the Mac OS. They can quickly open up iChat videoconferencing or tap into one of many Internet services that Simply RFiD uses, such as Google Apps for email and collaboration and Netsuite for back office functions. It helps that Macs are known for their easy interaction with Internet-based services.
Simply RFiD engineers aren't alone in their affection for the Mac. Other IT pros are demanding Macs, often spurred by an appreciation of Apple's reputable hardware and zest for technological innovation. The fact that Mac OS X is Unix-based also means many developers feel at home.
Unbreakable Windows!
Software developers, though, can be a fickle lot. For instance, Brown spent the last two days hooking up a fully patched $500 Vista machine to a $2,000 Apple monitor to see what would happen. There were a lot of annoying prompts, he says, but the system worked well enough.
So well, in fact, that his team got together to discuss the latest Windows trends—and buzz started swirling about bringing PCs back. Microsoft's Live platform, along with its shared server for small or large organizations, "looks pretty cool," Brown says. He's also encouraged by new Microsoft products that are smaller rather than bigger, a sign Microsoft is moving away from traditionally massive, monolithic applications that requre two days to patch.
"We've been watching what [Ray Ozzie, chief software architect] has done there the last few years," says Brown, "and it's kind of exciting to see that Microsoft might have a soul again."
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
ping
Nope... they are coding in the Mac environment and testing on a virtual Windows machine on the same Mac. In addition, replacing an infected or hosed Windows installation is as easy as replacing a single file with a clean backup... mere seconds.
If this is a hardware pitch only, what about the fact that an Apple is 50-100% more than the equivalent Dell machine, which from what I understand is a pretty reliable computer.
It isn't. If you truly compare equivalent machines, processor, graphjics, sound, bus speed, equipment, software, etc., the Mac is often competitive or even less expensive than the name brand PCs.
I use a computer I built myself and (free) Ubuntu.
P.S.Mac hardware is no more reliable than my hardware.
You get what you pay for.
People are running their development environment in a virtual machine because it makes sense on a lot of levels; it's easier to stage and restage, to keep consistent across the network, and to run multiple VMs at the same time.
Once you've decided to use virtualization, the Mac has the same advantages it does for anything else: Ease of use, consistency of user interface, robust hardware and lower TCO.
“I use a computer I built myself and (free) Ubuntu.”
I am IT for our small company. I run our business websites and database (100,000 records) on a Fedora machine where the hardware cost $175. Mysql, Apache, Netbeans, PHP, Linux, Open Office, Gimp. Big savings and solid as a rock. Neener, Neener, Neener Microsoft.
Here is an example. (Better Specs in red):
Dell XPS1 20"
E4500 2.2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz bus, Intel® Core2Duo processor
2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive 7200RPM.
8X Slot load CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Integrated Intel® UMA5 graphics - shared DDR2 memory
Widescreen 20" High Definition: WSXGA (1680x1050) resolution at 16.7 million colors, Integrated camera/mic, Viewing Angle up to 80 degrees
$799
Apple 20" iMac
E8200 2.66GHz , 6MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz bus, Intel® Core2Duo processor
2GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive, 7200RPM.
8X Slot load CD/DVD Double Layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple OS X.5 Leopard full feature.
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of shared DDR3 memory
Widescreen 20" High Definition: WSXGA (1680x1050) resolution at 16.7 million colors, Integrated camera/mic, Viewing Angle up to 160 degrees
$1199
That you would have to run in a Virtual Machine... however, it could be transparent to the OS if you ran Parallels or VMWare's Fusion.
“...geeks...techies”...going from Windows to Apple? ROFL!
Someday, most of the machines connected to the Internet will go down just before an attack from a foreign enemy. After that exchange, the average IQ of Internet users will skyrocket.
(raising hand)
Guilty.
We are now using Macs at home to connect to our office via a Citrix server. It works noticeably faster and with better stability than running the app natively on the XP boxes in the office. I will never own another Windows computer as long as I live.
if your windows software development team is unable to keep their machines from getting infected with viruses...
maybe it’s time to find a new dev team, not buy new macs
I’m with you. We run Red Hat at work, with full support, mostly open-source tools. Our CM, source control, and Intel C++ compiler are licensed. At home I use Ubuntu. I’ve been a personal MS free zone for about 4 years now. Wife and oldest child just switched to MacBooks rather than go to Vista. I’m writing this on the newest computer in the house - an Asus netbook running a variant of Linux. MS - just some software that used to frustrate me. :-)
I have Windows 7 beta on a laptop. It is very driver rich. It will blow away OSX and the over priced hardware Apple demands you buy to use OSX
Windows 7 is Vista 2.0 but made lean and mean by refining and reducing code. Much faster than Vista and visually about 10% slicker. Has other features I’m not yet aware of
perhaps it is just the mac boxes running windows dirctly without the mac os system. The article seems a bit vaugue on whether this is harware vs software.
Since day 1, apple has pushed the “we have a better box” marketing but the sales have never carried the day.
I have noticed some people are far more suseptible to the “pretty box” marketing pitch vs. what can be doen with the unit.
(think of a person who opens the hood of the new car vs the person who buys the car for the pretty color)
Yes, through a virtual machine. But this isn't the old style VM since Visual Studio can run in its own window on your OS X desktop. Only the UI differences and the menu bar saying "VMWare Fusion" tell you it's not a Mac app.
“P.S.Mac hardware is no more reliable than my hardware.
You get what you pay for.”
Which is why I bought a MAC. Having dealt with numerous PC name brands that constantly needed repairs I finally switched to a MAC. Have been using it for three years with only one battery problem which the MAC STORE fixed while I waited for 10 minutes. My office bought 10 high end Dell laptops, 5 of which needed to be returned to the manufacturer for repairs within 3 months. Those Dells cost more than a mid range Mac.
Any feedback on new IE-8 browser? I’ve read both positive and some very damning comments esp how it cpontantly crashes. Any feedback most welcomed.
Can you give me a brief overview of the concept and process and if it uses Time Machine?
Reason I ask is that if Win XP on my PC gets hosed, I can't just replace it from a backup on an external hd. For one thing, it won't even let me copy the entire Win folder & subfolders, maybe I could if I tinkered with a few things, think it has to do with some files are protected.
I'm not sure I'm right, but even if I could copy the whole thing onto backup, I can't restore it because it will be out of sync with the registry or no? Maybe something like Norton's Ghosting will do it, heard about it but don't have it.
The only way I know to repair damaged Win is to reformat and reinstall, reinstall all your programs, and copy back all your data files (those are easy just have to take care not to lose any in the process, and I don't know a good way to be positive without manually comparing and counting because files sizes will be different). Believe me you don't want to do that except as a last resort whether your other files are backed up or not. Some say it isn't so bad.
I don't think so... if your Windows Software development team has to spend VALUABLE time keeping their machines clear of malware, then that is wasted resources and costly time. If there is a solution that avoids all of that and allows your team to work steadily without worry, then it is going to be more economical.
let’s see. how to keep your system’s safe. hmmm.
one hardware firewall from best buy for your dev subnet.
no external emails, it is work after all.
firefox on all machines, no exceptions.
no bringing in software from home (once again... this is work)
install trend micro’s internet pro
done.
yea, that was sooo time consuming.
like i said, if your dev team cannot figure this out... they are idiots and need to be replaced.
it’s more about your practices then problems with the software. if some moron runs an attachment without knowing what it is or where it came from, no matter the OS, that system is going down.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/430/1040430/firefox-wins-memory-benchmark
IE8 seems OK but I mostly use Firebox with Vista and Windows7 due to IE7 being a memory hog and IE8 seems to be the same
Check out the performance tab in windows task manager (control+shift+escape) as you open browser windows and tabs. Check out the memory usages after an hour on the internet
I only have 2gb ram with Vista/Win7. With more ram maybe this would not be an issue but Firefox keeps ram from being tied up
Processes tab in windows task manager will show exact memory usage of IE and Firefox
The name brand (off the shelf) computers can have cheap crap in them. I build my own with only quality components.The one I’m using now is about 6 years old.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
