Why I Switched to Mac and What I Have Learned
February 21st, 2008I am not a Mac Fanboy nor a Steve Jobs disciple. I am a Technology Professional with more than ten years of experience as both a Developer and a Manager but more on the specifics later. Three days ago I traded my Dell D620 with Vista for a MacBook Pro with Leopard after never having spent more than 30 minutes on a Mac at one time in my life. My entire professional life revolves around my laptop and I typically spend at least 10-12 hours a work day and several hours on the weekends in front of it. Making the switch could cause a significantly negative impact on my life if I was wrong.
Many have tried to make the switch and failed, including local Venture Capitalist Brad Feld who blogged about his frustrations particularly with Exchange. Our CEO, Tim Higgins, made the switch some time ago and has successfully run the business on the Mac Platform since then. It was his recent upgrade to an Air that freed up a MacBook Pro for me to take the plunge.
The majority of my Technology career has actually been spent at the wheel of a Linux box of one type or another – RedHat, Gentoo, and Ubuntu mostly but I also have significant stints on Windows including 98, XP, and Vista. The bulk of my development experience has been with Java on Linux but I have also written .NET, Perl, and PHP applications.
My daily tasks involve the management of dozens of Windows and Linux servers. We have real sysadmins that do the heavy lifting but I frequently contribute when I can including writing Perl and Bash scripts. I also do quite a bit of work with Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server. On the application side, I frequently troubleshoot and modify Java and .NET Web Applications. Recently I have been writing WordPress Plugins and Drupal Modules in PHP as well. In addition to the technical tasks, as a manager I spend significant amounts of time in Outlook and our office completely revolves around Exchange.
Why did I do it?
- I think and work best in a shell for many tasks. I feel slow in Windows doing simple things like editing Apache files, restarting Apache, etc. WAMP development just doesn’t feel right. Where is tail?
- Putty is underwhelming.
- Vista really is unstable. When unplugging and replugging the power cord into the laptop can cause a freeze there is a real problem. Hibernation is a crap shoot.
- I could have switched back to Linux but the Exchange integration is even worse, at least with Mac I have a semi viable solution.
- Suck up to the CEO. On a serious note, we do have several other folks on a Mac in addition to the CEO but no one in IT that can identify with their struggles.
- My eyes like candy.
Here are some things I miss about Windows:
- Google Picasa is a fantastic tool for managing photos. I am anxiously awaiting the rumored Mac version for later this year.
Here are some things I have learned in the last few days:
- VMWare Fusion is a great Virtual Machine solution for Intel based Macs and it performs quite well. This allows me to easily complete my time sheet that requires IE as well as pop into IE to look at a bug quickly. I have not tried Parallels yet but I have heard good things about it. I will be starting a .NET project in a couple of weeks and plan on developing within the Virtual Machine using Visual Studio. That should be a good test.
- Two finger click on the trackpad is a nice configuration to avoid trying to find the control key to induce right click behavior.
- Leopard does a great job adapting to external monitors with nothing more than a push of the ‘detect displays’ button. In the last three days I have successfully connected to a 42″ Plasma, a Sony Projector, and a 21″ Samsung on my desk. It was never as smooth with Vista. Once connected, configuring the arrangement is intuitive and easy to use.
- OS X Unix is annoyingly different than a typical Linux distribution in terms of configuration file locations and the behavior of many of the utility programs like find, netstat, route, etc. Annoyances aside, it still acts rationally and my old friend Vi behaves properly as well.
- Adium is a nice little IM client and combined with Growls far surpasses anything I have used on the Linux or Windows platforms.
- Entourage 2004 is a disaster. The performance is embarrassing. Do not even think about trying to delete or move large numbers of messages. It will make you very sad. Other than just the trivial reading and responding to email or managing your calendar, it makes more sense to run Outlook on Fusion as it performs far better. There is no excuse for this. I have read reports that Entourage 2008 is much better, perhaps 33% faster. That would mean that the 6 hour deleted items purge from yesterday would complete in 4 hours. FAIL.
- The Leopard UI is fantastic and intuitive.
- The new Remote Desktop Client is completely usable and far better than the 8 color 640 pixel wide catastrophe I experienced on the Motorola based G5.
- The nearest printer that is configured to speak Mac will cause my physical fitness level to improve as well as become more acquainted with the Creative Team.
- The MacBook hibernates very well. I never knew what I was going to get with Vista when it woke up. I often wished I had just shut it down because it didn’t like being disturbed from its nap.
After a few days, I feel as though I am as productive and quickly becoming more productive then I was on Vista. Part of this is due to the return of a real shell to my intimate daily life, part of it due to not having to fight with Vista, and part of it due to the intuitiveness and stability of Leopard.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. Should I try to move the entire business to Mac? No, it really doesn’t make sense for the majority of the staff. Certainly not for the .NET Developers and the lack of a viable Exchange client are a real handicap to general use. It can make good sense, depending on individual preferences, for various members of the Development and IT Staff as well as the Creative Team.
15 Responses to “Why I Switched to Mac and What I Have Learned”
By Sara Pacheco on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Have you thought about a dual boot w/ Windows XP loaded so you can run Outlook, etc.? I’ve been looking at the MBP’s for a while and I really want one but I haven’t been able to pull the trigger just yet. I think I’ll migrate over eventually with a dual boot because I’m so heavily invested in my PC software. As a side note I also happen to be a UNIX geek so the thought of working with vi on a regular basis again warms my heart. Thanks for the insights!
By Mike Minton on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I am willing to suffer a little bit of a performance hit to run the VM as opposed to rebooting. Fusion really does perform well and can be run in full screen mode. Once I add the additional gig of memory as I am only running on one gig now, I expect it to be even better.
In the past when I dual booted Linux/XP, it always seemed that I was in the wrong OS for what I wanted to do next. Sharing documents between the two partitions can be a pain as well.
By Kevin on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Sara: Could always use Gvim( http://www.vim.org/download.php#pc ) for windows? In fact, they have gvim for macs as well, ( http://macvim.org/OSX/index.php ) though it isn’t’ nearly as nice as the unix/linux/windows versions.
If you do switch, I’ve found TextMate to be a good mac editor, http://macromates.com/.
Mike: I’m also using Fusion instead of Parallels, but one benefit of Parallels is that windows applications can run outside of the vm, more or less on your desktop, http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html#c25447 . The only real downside would be looking at that ugly outlook exchange icon in your dock.
I’d encourage anyone in the IT/software development industry thinking about switching to a mac to read this, http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/mac/2002/05/14/oreilly_wwdc_keynote.html?page=1.
It’s a bit dated, but some valid points are made.
By Ryan Hadley on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I’ve _just_ discovered andLinux. It was not easy to get running in Vista… but now I have Konsole, amarok, vim, grep, sed, ssh, all the essentials, all running in Vista.
I missed Konsole so much… It’s making me long for a full KDE desktop.
By remi on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
When I used a Windows workstation at my last company, I simply always ran a Ubuntu VM in the background and used Xming as an X server to run apps on the Windows desktop, via ssh X forwarding.
I started by always having an SSH session open, and eventually scripted something to manage keeping a session open and to run things via ssh X forwarding when I needed it. I wish andLinux existed when I was doing this!! But it was all worth it *just* to have gnome-terminal (similarly to how Ryan missed Konsole).
Now, I simply run Ubuntu as my primary desktop @work (had been running my personal PCs with Ubuntu for about a year and a half). I couldn’t be happier. And, with compiz-fusion, everyone always asks me if i can setup their Windows/Mac’s to look the same
I’ve been so happy since switching to linux. I always have a WinXP VM for testing (or for printing … my office has a Brother printer with awful *nix support) but there aren’t any apps that I need to run in Windows. I’m a software developer, so 99.9% of my work is in the terminal, anyway.
By remi on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
P.S. (Cause you mentioned running VS in a VM) When I ran a linux VM in the background of my Windows box … it was so I could run gnome-terminal … for coding .NET
Yes. I installed linux on my MS Windows box so I could code .NET in linux.
w00t.
By tracyanne on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
“he lack of a viable Exchange client are a real handicap to general use. ”
There’s an exchange client that is available on Linux, I use it all the time, it’s called Evolution.
By Mike Minton on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
@tracyanne – I was referring to a Mac exchange client. Regardless, for both it is my opinion that neither platform has a viable exchange client. By viable I mean provides the full suite of functionality and performs well. I know very intelligent folks are finding ways to work around it, including our very own Ryan Hadley here: http://blog.indigio.com/index.php/2008/01/23/goodbye-outlook/.
From what I understand – Outlook uses a proprietary Extended Messaging API to communicate with Exchange and everyone else is using various other mechanisms like IMAP, Calendar WebDAV, non-extended MAPI, etc to provide various pieces of functionality. But then again I probably don’t understand much other than it ain’t the same.
By Dave on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
Mike, I “made the switch” around this time last year and I have no regrets. I was pretty nervous until I discovered some great apps that helped make things a bit easier…
iTerm. If you haven’t already discovered it, give “iTerm” a try for your terminal app. It allows for a tabbed terminal windows (which is handy if you have multiple windows open at once). It’s free.
Textmate is also a must. It is a text editing workhorse that moves lightning fast. Great for PHP, Rails, and even terminal access.
Coda. Wickedly cool web design app that combines text editor, FTP, terminal, CSS editor, etc into one app. Makes design so easy. The CSS editor alone is more robust than some dedicated CSS editors.
VMWare. When I need to connect to the Citrix server at work I find that Windows works much better than OSX. I usually put the Windows virtual machine in Space-2 so I can flip back and forth between OSes easily.
Adium – I totally agree with you. Great messenger app.
Vienna – great free RSS reader. When I know I won’t have access to an internet connection (traveling, etc) I download my feeds with Vienna. Otherwise Google Reader is my RSS reader of choice. I can’t believe Vienna is free. It’s that good.
Skitch – Amazingly simple screenshot/image editing app. And free.
Quicksilver – Best. Application Launcher. Ever. If you talk to Quicksilver gurus, they would be offended by just calling it an app launcher, but that’s mainly what I use it for. It can help keep your dock pretty light and nimble (if you use the keyboard more than the mouse). It’s also free.
VooDoo Pad – A “personal wiki” is the only way I can really describe voodoo pad. You can dump text, images, contacts, etc into voodoo pad and it allows lightning fast searching across all related data. Great for note taking about specific projects and linking ideas, contacts and projects together.
SuperDuper – Amazing backup utility that does something Time Machine doesn’t. It creates a bootable backup of your machine. Saved my bacon on more than one occasion. So even if your completely fry your HD, you can boot from your backup drive.
CocoaMYSQL – Nice GUI database manager. Also free.
Transmission – If you’re into BitTorrents (only to trade Linux distributions and open source software, of course), Transmission is a very simple and straightforward app to do so.
Twitterific – If you happen to be a Tweeter.
I’d be interested to know the Indigians’ favorite Mac apps…
- Dave
By tracyanne on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
Of course if you really must use MS Outlook, there’s always WINE. Get a copy of Crossover Office and installing it is a doddle.
By Donkeyotee on Feb 24, 2008 | Reply
“Putty is underwhelming” … what does this mean?
By George Medina on Feb 24, 2008 | Reply
I can see running Vista on a spare machine until a workable release comes out but not for day to day running a business. XP will fill this space at least another year or two.
I consult for a company that is 90% Windows, with a few Sun servers for Oracle, and they are dead set against using Linux
As the UNIX administrator I was given an old Sun Ultra 5 (slooooow) and a PC running XP (less slow). After getting fed up with the performance on the Ultra 5, I installed Cygwin on the XP. A few months later I retired the workstation and stayed with Cygwin since I could do all my work on ONE machine; no dual boot or desk clutter, and I could use two monitors on ONE machine for a really nice workspace.
Now I install Cygwin on all the Windows workstations that I use which gives me:
X Windows, bash, pksh, ssh, lftp
perl, python, ruby, vi, emacs, cron,
gcc and other development tools.
This is a very short list of what is available but its what I use the most on a PC.
Cygwin gives me the environment I need, is a breeze to maintain, and lets me access Windows shares in a UNIX forward slash way (e.g. //windows-share/some/directory). Its not perfect (e.g. handling Windows file permissions and cron with AD) but it works very well.
As for the Mac, its cool if you can afford one but if you work in a Windows/UNIX/Linux environment I do not see the need for introducing yet another OS into the mix.
By Mike Minton on Feb 24, 2008 | Reply
@Donkeyotee – Putty is simple, useful, and it does work. By underwhelming I was referring to lack of tabs (yes, I know there are 3rd party solutions) and multi-terminal binding. For the most part it does the job pretty well. However, if I was still on Vista I would probably investigate Konsole per Ryan’s comments.
By Tim Higgins on Feb 24, 2008 | Reply
Using a mac running Leopard is useless unless you install Mac Office 2008. Entourage, word, powerpoint and excel all work excellent. In fact, I like them all better than their Windows counterparts.
If you have multiple Macs, then get .MAC. it is worth it and keeps them all up to date. Back to Mac is great when you need to help someone out on another Mac or you forgot to do something on the other Mac before you left.
If you have an iPhone, the new Entourage will sync through a built in sync to address book and iCal seamlessly.
Time Machine is very cool and works well. The new Airport Extreme with a built in hard drive will be a must have.