Moving from PC to Mac - Part 1: Making the Move
For some time now I've been toying with the idea of purchasing an Apple Mac. How long? Perhaps some months, perhaps a little longer than a year now. Why? Not sure. OK, when I say I'm not sure why that seems a little stupid of me. What I mean is that I've probably now forgotten exactly why I had this desire in the first place. It was probably a mixture of desire to get away from the Windows platform and the lure of something different and shiny, that and the fact that lots of people involved in the web industry seem to be using one.
More recently I've thought about writing iPhone apps and the Mac is the only, for me at least, practical way to achieve this. So there's another reason that I've given myself to get one.
I've looked at getting a PC laptop as an alternative to a Mac and it seems, if I aim for a higher spec. laptop, I'm starting to reach the same price that I would fork out for a Macbook Pro (15") anyway. OK, perhaps that's not strictly true and I'm using that excuse as some kind of justification for going down the Mac route. I'm actually a little nervy about taking the plunge. There's the price for one; the price of the Macbook then the price of software that I may need (such as Adobe Flex Builder, more on this in a later post). Then there's the thought of moving from the cosy world of Microsoft Windows, which has been familiar for many years now, to something a bit different. Exactly how different I'm not sure. Which leads me to the admission that I've not actually used a Mac before and that I'm still considering the jump into the abyss.
One thing is for certain - I am fairly sure that it won't be plain sailing and pain free. I know that all things Mac are supposed to 'just work', as I've read time and time again, but I'm pretty certain that this isn't wholly true. Especially when you're developing software and having to install open source software and plugins, etc. I spent some time with Ubuntu a while ago, trying to get to grips with it, not understanding some of the Terminal commands that I was using and trying to use different pieces of software that already had a decent alternative on the Windows platform. With my current line of development work I'm using Eclipse PHP Development Toolkit (PDT) and hope soon to be returning to Flex/AS3 development. Previously I used the excellent FlashDevelop to develop (well begin developing) AS3 and Flex applications and I'm considering the use of Flex Builder 3 instead if I move to the Mac. What I'm trying to say here is that I'm quite happy developing with a Windows-based PC at the moment and I'm wondering if I'm going to miss the Windows-based software when/if I move to the Mac.
When I began writing this post I was planning on making the Mac purchase but hadn't done so. As I edit and complete the post I've bought a new Macbook Pro and have been using it for several days now. More details of my findings to come...
Posted by Graham Blake on 28th February 2010 at 03:57