Moving forward Windows, or Mac?

What do you use for development?

I'm currently at cross roads, invest money into my PC, or get an iMac - choices!

Which do you use and why? Who has made the transition from WIndows to Mac, and how long did it take for your productivity to become back on par to that of Windows?

I use Mac. As a designer I find Mac much better as Windows, but I know many programmers does not have any problems with windows; I mean, Mac does not necessarily has more options to program than windows, but the few apps that I have seem to me much better than those that my colleagues use in Windows

I use Windows & Linux. I have to use Windows for lots of MS dev (C#, SQL Server, .NET, etc.), but then I love using all the dev tools in Linux for HTML & PHP (MODX).

I run Linux in a Virtual Machine on my Windows machine (using VirtualBox). It's cool because I can just snapshop the complete dev environment and move it to another machine really easily.

I just find the dev tools in Linux makes me so much more productive e.g., install, setup of LAMP stack is just so seamless, and version control tools just seem to work (it always seems a lot more hassle to configure these things under Windows - might just be my preference though).

Working with other design studios I do get to use the Mac tools, and from what I've seen it's all really good, but the biggest barrier is the cost of changing - not just hardware, but all the software too!

In my opinion, Linux can easily deliver a 'Mac experience' without the cost!

Windows desktop running WAMP, dev sites all sync'd with Google Drive, and git repository stored in Skydrive.
Macbook, sync'd with Google Drive and I point my browser to my Windows (WAMP) box. But it does also have MAMP for when I'm travelling.

Sublime Text 2 is my weapon of choice, because it's awesome and I can use it on windows and mac os x with the one license!

Mac for me.

A few years ago I fought tooth and nail to stay on windows but my employer forced me onto a mac, within 4 weeks I'd gone out and purchased one for home and never looked back.

Sublime Text 2 for coding
Transmit for FTP
VMware for running windows ( only for testing )
Xampp for developing localy
Navicat for remote database editing

Mac. It's unix underneath, so there’s a ton of nifty utilities that'll run on it and you've got a great shell, if you’re into command line stuff.

Utilities worth considering:

• CodeKit — nicely handles preprocessors (SASS, etc.), linting, minification, image optimization
• TotalFinder — augments the file browser with some handy features
• Dropbox — not Mac-specific, but in addition to backup and multi-device syncing it provides simple and super easy “version control” for projects which don't need full-blown version control.

Plus another vote for Sublime Text and Transmit.
For IE testing, Fusion or Parallels. You can set up snapshots for different IE versions.

Oh, it's great for iOS testing too since you can connect an iPhone or iPad and do remote inspection/debugging with Safari 6's web inspector. [ed. note: jgrant last edited this post 13 years, 6 months ago.]

Tried them all.
Started on Mac back around 1994. Switched to PC around 10 years ago.
Switched back to Mac about 1 year ago. Productivity way up using the Mac.
Would recommend it.
I use Parallels from time to time to do browser testing but otherwise, have no regrets. Should have done it years ago. Only thing I find truly annoying is lack of 'Cut' when moving files.

Quote from: eladnova at Apr 19, 2013, 09:29 AM

Only thing I find truly annoying is lack of 'Cut' when moving files.

⌘X (cut) works for files. Or hold down the command key while dragging to move instead of copy whenever you’re moving files between different drives.

Hi Graeme.
What was the outcome? Did you get your shiny?

Have you thought of getting a MacBook Pro instead of the iMac. iMac is essentially a non portable laptop, right? I got the entry level power book, beefed up the ram and have it hooked up to a 24" monitor. Best thing about it is the PB runs like this in clamshell/closed mode so takes up tiny desk space. And of course it's portable then for meetings. Fastest computer I ever owned and I own and have built a lot of my own high end rigs

Here's a nice stand for such purposes
http://twelvesouth.com/products/bookarc/

A wooden dish rack works well for this; you can use the slots for holding papers, and even break out slats to make wider slots for books and the computer. Or drill a hole in the back of a desk drawer and put the computer in the desk drawer.