So I said in a previous post that I would talk abut why I switched to Mac OS X. To be sure, it wasn’t an easy decision. I’ve never been a big fan of Mac and a large reason for that was the price. I also don’t like the fact that the OS hides a lot of control from the end user. Not to mention the fact that everyone talks about how Microsoft stole their UI From Mac but they neglect to mention that Mac stole it from Xerox first. Add that to the fact that it is becoming trendy to own a Mac and that about sums up the majority of the complains I have against Mac.
So how did I end up with this beast? My manager got a Mac a few months ago (the same laptop that I have). I went into his office and told him that I wanted a laptop instead of a desktop and he told me that I should get a Mac. I wasn’t at all convinced but in all fairness, I decided I would take some time to ponder what would be the most appropriate solution for my circumstance. I also talked to Scott about it he’s got a Mac as well). Obviously, I decided that the Mac was the right way to go and for a variety of reasons.
First of all, I did a price comparision with a comparably equiped Lenovo laptop and found that the Macbook Pro was actually a few hundred dollars cheaper. Since Macs and Windows machines all run on x86 based Intel processors, I could always turn it into a windows box. Secondly, I found a website that tells you how to chroot a Gentoo environment into your Mac OS X. I don’t use Gentoo, but I do need to compile all of my work on Linux (and sometimes in Windows too). This means that without rebooting my machine, I can compile projects under WIN32 and Linux and not have to run a virtual machine to do all of that. I was also hoping for a bit more stability than I had on my desktop. It had been running for 2 years without a reinstall of Windows (bad I know), and it was giving me a BSOD 3-4 times a week. Best of all, the Mac is light, thin, and rather sleek looking.
It has taken a bit of getting used to but there are definitely some aspects of the Mac UI that I prefer. I also like the look and feel over that of Windows. I really dislike that I have been unable to alt-tab between web browser windows but perhaps I am missing something? Camino doesn’t map Command-1 or anything like that to any of the windows. IT seems I have to just use Expose (which is awesome) to find the window I want if they are all buried.
I forgot to mention that most of the work I do doesn’t simply need to be compiled for a Linux platform. It needs to be compiled for a PPC Linux platform. The toolchain I have for that is limited to a few specific Redhat/Mandrake/etc distros. I haven’t had a chance to try and chroot one of those distros in. I still have a linux build box I can use via vpn.
The reason I want to chroot in a linux distro is so that I can build locally if i am on the road or at home. That way I can work w/o VPN except to get or checkin files.
Use Alt-Tab to switch between applications
Use Alt-Tilde to switch between windows within the active application
Usually, there is a way to do what you want, you just have to find/learn about it instead of assuming the Mac can’t do it.
BTW, there is a GREAT resource on the Apple website
http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/
Lots of productivity-boosting killer tips, many of which can’t be done on Windows.
Thanks for the great comments Paul!
I didn’t assume you couldn’t switch between windows in some manner, I was just waiting for my friend Scott to tell me how to do it but you beat him to the punch.
If you have any other tips, please don’t hesitate to post more.
You do it like that! =]