If you’ve watched/read my latest tutorial and screencast, you may have noticed a change: I’ve switched from Windows to Mac. If you’re curious about this change, wonder no more. I’ll tell you why I made the change and give you some reasons you might consider switching, as well as what trip-ups you might run into in the process.
The Story
Have you ever tried to resist brainwashing?
Before I get into why I switched, there’s some background you need to know. A year or three ago, you’d be hard pressed to find a more dedicated self-ordained Windows evangelist. I even wrote a lengthly piece about Mac vs. Windows and how I thought Windows had a stronger position (thankfully, that was only published on Google Docs, so no one can ever find it, as it was obviously biased). Over time, a few things happened. First, a couple of my cousins—shoutout to Britt and Matt—came in possession of a couple of MacBooks. Since I see them rather regularly, there was no shortage of opportunities for them to tout their new tools.
Have you ever tried to resist brainwashing?
The next big shift was dabbling in several dynamic programming languages, like Python and Ruby. It seems that it’s always easier to start up with these languages if you’re using a Unix-based OS. While it’s definitely not impossible on Windows, they don’t seem to integrate with the OS in the same way they do with Unix flavours.
Of course, there were better reasons than peer pressure (more on that in a minute). However, when my Windows 7 Release Candidate ran out, I gave myself an ultimatum: either buy Window 7 and secondary monitor, or get a used Mac. After a week or so of deliberation, I found myself in a miniature Starbucks in downtown Toronto, buying a 20-inch iMac off a third-year psychology student.
The Reasons Why I Switched
So what came out of those few weeks of deliberation? Here’s why I switched:
1 Unix
Probably the biggest motivation to switch was the fact that Mac OS X is built on Unix. Being a real geek, I’m reasonably comfortable with the terminal; if you’re the same, you probably know that a Unix shell offers a lot more power than the Windows command line. Yes, I’ve tried Cygwin, but it’s not quite the same (and I never actually got it to work on Window 7 RC). Then there are Ruby and Python, so much more at home on Unix. And of course, there are so many other low-level benefits to running Unix.
So why didn’t I just switch to Ubuntu? Well, Ubuntu is really nice, especially the latest release, but it really just didn’t work for me, not for a full time gig.
2 Hardware
This one’s a no-brainer: Apple just makes their hardware better than most of the competition. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that all that’s beautiful is not aluminium. However, I like Apple’s minimalistic stance. And of course, it’s what insides that matters most, and Apple does an excellent job there, too. There’s a catch to Apple hardware, though, and we’ll talk about that later.
3 Software
The final reason was simply this: there’s a lot of great software for Macs that doesn’t have a good Windows counterpart. There are two cases I ran into. First, there’s nothing on Windows that does as well, or at all, what I’ve found in a Mac app. Example: I use Simplenote a lot on my iPod Touch; there are four or five Mac apps that sync with Simplenote; before I switched, I had to use a perl script to do this on Windows. (Now, Uri Fridman has made Notes, which is based on Notational Velocity, and will soon support Simplenote sycing! Check out his site for other great nuggets; Codex is another of my favourites). Then, there are programs that do the right things, but aren’t as aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly as the Mac apps. For example, I use Evernote a lot; their Windows client does as much (and a bit more, I think) as their Mac client, but it’s just not as pretty.
However, there’s a catch on the software, too.
The Good What I’m Liking
So now that I’ve switched, here are my favourite things about the Mac; some may seem rather insignificant, but when your working full-speed and don’t want to break that flow, little things matter a lot.
1 The Terminal
I’ve already pointed out that the Terminal was part of my first reason for switching; it’s every bit as glorious as I expected it to be, and has motivated me to use it more that I have on Windows. Anyone who has used the Command Line on Windows and Terminal on Mac will know exactly how much better a Unix shell is.
2 Languages Preinstalled
I was surprised and delighted to find that my Mac came with Ruby, Python, Perl, and even Java (which I need for university) already installed.
3 Mounted Drives on the Desktop
This is a feature of Unix that I’ve always loved and could never find a way to duplicate on Windows. Not huge, I know; but, huge.
4 Quicklook
Another tiny feature that saves me a second-and-a-half, dozens and dozens of times a day. I’m working mainly with text files, but for everything from code to Word docs, I’m just a tap on the spacebar away from inspecting the contents of that file. Only gripe: I can’t copy from the quicklook panel.
5 Time Machine
It’s kind of a hassle to do backup and restore on Windows. With Time Machine, it’s easy and fun. I do wish I had a bit more control over what it backs up and how often (without the numerous hacks), but for daily backup and revisions, it works flawlessly and easily.
6 Installing Apps
Installing apps on Mac is much different from installing them on Windows. They both use extremely different methods; and overall, I think the Mac does it much more smoothly.
The Bad What I’m not Liking
But all’s not perfect in any OS; here’s what’s bothering me about the Mac:
1 The Trash
I really don’t get the philosophy of the trash on the Mac; I know you’re not supposed to use the Trash as a holding place for the files you’re not sure about, but why can’t I delete individual files? Why? Here’s a scenario I’ve had: I wanted to get rid of several gigabytes of files, in multiple folders that I’d just zipped into an archive; so, I moved them all to the trash, and then opened the trash to get rid of them permanently. First, I wanted to sort the files by the date/time they were moved to the trash, but that’s not a feature Jobs would ever need, and so I can’t do it. That’s when I found I couldn’t delete individual items; just all or nothing. Mighty inconvenient, if you ask me. I should have used the Terminal to terminate them.
2 Too Few USB ports
My 20-inch iMac has fewer USB ports than my Dell Laptop did; it only has 3; my Inspiron 1520 had 4; how do you explain that? Then, the old USB extender I was using on Windows doesn’t appear to work on the Mac; not Mac’s fault necessarily, but certainly less than ideal.
3 “Enter” doesn’t open the file/folder
This one is just a matter of muscle memory, but it’s rather annoying. On Windows, hitting enter opens a file or folder; on Mac, the enter key renames the item in question. To open it, I’ve got to use two keys: cmd + o. On the same note, it now takes two keystokes to send files to that crooked Trash: cmd + delete instead of just delete.
4 Home and End Keys
This has to be the most frustrating part about the Mac. On Windows, the home key places your cursor at the front of the current line; the end key places it at the end. However, on a Mac the respective commands are cmd + left-arrow and cmd + right-arrow. This has been pretty hard to get used to; and, since I’m in text editors a lot of the time, hitting home and end (which, by the way, bring you to the top or bottom of the line but does not move your cursor) has been a dizzying experience.
5 Keyboard shortcuts
I know I’ve already talked about two specific keyboard shortcuts that bother me, but keyboard shortcuts in general have been hard. It’s mainly because the cmd key takes the place of the ctrl key in the shortcuts, but it takes the place of the alt key on the keyboard. So if you’ve used Windows for a long time, caveat emptor.
The Other What I’d also like to mention
I’ve shown you what’s good and what’s bad, but there are a few things I have to mention that don’t really fit into either of those categories. Welcome to miscellaneous.
1 Closing Windows / Programs
One of the biggest differences between Windows is Mac what happens when you close a window; on Windows (and with a name like that, they should know how to deal with it) the program closes; on Mac, the window closes but the program continues to run. I think the idea here is that it will be quicker to open just a window instead of the whole app next time you need to open it. This is nice for the most part, but I think some apps of a certain nature should really and truly exit when you close their windows. And some do, like System Preferences. I really wish Preview did this. This is one of those fundamental feature of Mac OS X that really takes a paradigm shift to properly grok.
2 Knowing what’s going on
I’m familiar with Windows, to say the least. I had my A+ certification, which deals mainly with Windows, so I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on under the covers when working on Windows PC. I really miss this intimate knowledge of the system when working with a Mac. I know it’s not an unsolvable problem, but it’s been pretty different to not have that background knowledge. For example, I was recently surprised to find that Time Machine has maxed out my external hard drive; it turned out that iTunes copies all the imported media into the iTunes folder, so I had a two copies of the entire library being backed up. Like Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge [about how the system works] is power.”
3 The software catch
There’s a ton of great software for Mac; however, it seems that the moving from Windows to Mac also requires a move from free software to quality software. Now, I know there’s quality, paid-for software for Windows, and free software for Macs. However, for every quality, paid-for app on Windows, there are five or six free ones that will do the same job decently. On Mac, the same isn’t quite so true. It seems that Mac developers just put a lot of thought and sweat into their products.
4 The hardware catch
Like I’ve said, Apple makes great hardware. However, one thing I know I’m going to miss is the ability to upgrade it. Apple does make it easy enough to add RAM. But when I’m ready to upgrade my hard drive, well, it will be scary at best. But I’d gladly sacrifice the single-piece back-side of my iMac for an easy-to-access hard drive slot.
5 Switching?
Throughout this article, I’ve talked about switching to a Mac. And yes, I’ve switched to a Mac as my main workhorse. But my trusty old Dell hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s still in good use, and syncing services like Evenote and Dropbox (referral link) more than ever.
The Resources What I’ve found Helpful
Switching operating systems is a pretty big change; here are the resources that have been the biggest help to me while doing so; don’t forget to let me know about other great sources in the comments!
A Very Important Conclusion
Switching to Mac has in no way made me an Apple fanboy or a Microsoft hater. I couldn’t say it better than this:
“Mac vs PC debates make me want to throw up. Does your OS of choice work for you? Great, problem solved!”
- Drew Douglass
Enjoyed this Post?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!
By Andrew Burgess
Join our newsletter!
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Nettuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
I agree with the people who asked why this was posted here. It is a good article but a bit out of place if you ask me. Since I also work on both PC and Mac I can relate a lot with what he has said. Since I did some work with Ubuntu prior to working on the Mac I am a little more in tune with what Mac has to offer.
I do agree on the bit with the trash can though. Everywhere I have read people say why would you put it in the trash can if you didn’t want to delete it. My only response to that is why have the files there at all if thats the mentality. Why wouldn’t they just be instantly removed as soon as I put them in the bin if thats how we should look at it. I am aware of the terminal shortcut but if enough people use that wouldn’t it be smart to just simply be able to have a button or use the delete key to remove them instead?
Good article, but wrong venue.
I’m getting tired of these kinds of posts.
I use both and I see no reason why these posts need to be on this site.
Consider my subscription canceled if this crap continues.
About the home/end buttons: make it at the UNIX way, CTRL+A and CTRL+E. It’s way more efficient.
“the UNIX way” involves Home – End buttons too…it’s not my problem that mac users have a non-standart 102 keys qwerty keyboard. freeBSD reads it, pcbsd reads it openbsd reads it (talking about home/end keys)…my point is…those OS are UNIX so there is no “UNIX way” or “Windows” way…it is just apple…being ridiculous..again >.>
All on all these are just global hotkeys but apple tries to be so much different than a PC (yet using PC hardware ! Which is the funny part). See Mac was not so popular before they started to use intel-based hardware :) ( PC ) Needless to say…a Mac is a funny copy of PC architecture with MANY limits yet they try to sell it as better :S now that’s sad :(
Sk1ppeR…
You should really stop talking like you know what you’re talking about. ctrl-a/ctrl-e ARE the unix way. Its the ksh standard, as well as many other shell’s. Remember, when UNIX was first created, there were no arrow keys OR home/end/page keys…
Modern shells definitely do allow for mapping to the home/end keys, and some default to those for ease of use by cross platform users. I can map them in OSX the same way (literally, through the same commands) as I would in a *nix/bsd environment.
Well “the UNIX way” evolves. It doesn’t stay on the same level you should stop really talking because you sound just like another fanboy. What do i mean with evolves…well if it all was simply shell in unix, i doubt that Mac would’ve exist or the least it wouldn’t use unix at it’s core ! The number of commands is different. Kernel handling is different. It’s not the same as it was at 1995 for example. The computer industry (some refer to it as PC industry !) evolves so with that being said you can’t say that home/end keys does not exists in unix and thinking you are right ! If you can do it…fine ! Why Apple doesn’t ? If it is possible ? Mac is all about being easy to the user right ? Well the users find migrating hard…why they doesn’t ease it a bit ? I’ll tell you why. You are a fanboy of a company that tries to be Microsoft ( yet MS was the company that almost made apple bankrupt :) ) yet they don’t have a standing chance.
PS: If the rumours are correct in the next 4-5 years you will forget about being with intel based CPUs :D D (Intel allies with google to bring down apple at the mobile market ^.^ ) We all know that intel always make the best CPUs so…if apple lose that contract…Mac will be more than a piece of shit…it will be aluminium piece of shit :D
Damnit Simone, thank you very much! That was easy.
Why not just triple boot Mac,Windows and Ubuntu.
Thats how i have it set up. I’ll boot to mac for Design and other.
Boot to Windows 7 for games and other.
Boot to Ubuntu for cool graphical desktop and free software.
If you wanna learn the shortcuts for a given application on the mac, then install keycue. It helped me when I started using a mac.
http://www.macility.com/products/keycue/ its free to try
I recently switched to Mac and I love it. Coda is far better than dreamweaver.
Good luck wading through the comments, but I liked this article and agree with every point you made. One suggestion: pick up a free app called iTerm. It’s terminal with tabs, and transparency if that’s your thing. Oh, and Unix freaking rocks. Ruby and rails is so easy it’s laughable.
Aaron,
Terminal has had tabs for at least 2 versions of OSX now… and iterm is lacking features compared to terminal at this point… :)
The shortcuts are very useful and much easier to use than windhoos.
Still a very sad article.
as far as your issue with home and end keys just do CMD+UP ARROW and CMD + DOWN ARROW
and for page up and down just hold the ALT key problem solved.
oh and btw I liked the post as an apple guy I always love to hear when someone switches
a little out of place but I liked it. I totally agree with you on the very last comment liked the quote I totally agree. I have only been using mac for about a year now.
Thanx. Very nice.
Terminal has tabs AND transparency. Just look in the terminal preferences.
Nice Article. I’ve been on a Mac for 4 years and I would never go back to PC. I don’t hate PC’s but I like Mac’s a lot better. I’m ordering a new 15″ MBP and 24″ Cinema display in the next few weeks – cant wait!
you need to learn the basics mate! it gives a huge hadache to read what you wrote. nice peace of bullshit.
…the mac user
blah blah blah…
It’s okay, switch to mac if you want. BUT: Never ever say again Apple has great hardware! This is NOT true!
You spend THOUSANDS of Dollars on a Machine, that has NOT more power than a PC at the same price. This is a FACT. So, please, DON’T say Apple has great hardware!
Amen ! 1 rational thinking person
Agreed. Although I want to switch to a mac, getting a desktop pc or laptop at the same price is so much more. Powerful….what to do…
I stopped reading the rest of the article when I read that Macs have powerful hardware -.-’ This is kind of funny, or sad?
You can build a PC with 6-core, dozens gigs of RAM, 2… 3 GPUs with 50% of an iMac price. It seems like their parts are made of gold, titanium… I don’t know.
I’m switching to Mac because it has TextMate and is easy to deal with Ruby.
C ya!
Many of your negatives are in reallity positive…
You can use CMD-Arrow(up/down) to browse throug your finder or starts apps, enter lets you rename the file
With ALT-Arrow(up/down) you can jump to the top of a list in many apps, in text editors you can jump one word forwars/backwards with ALT-Arrow(left/right)
In general, your gonna see that MAC-shortcuts are much more intuitive and easier (like cmd-w, and cmd-q for closing an app) and work in most apps the same way
I like the font size of this post. really rare blog post that i dont need to zoom in to read the whole context.
About the Home and End keys…
This was for me too, probably the most frustrating thing when I switched from Windows.
But luckily, it can be modified to emulate Windows Home / End key behavior with the app called DoubleCommand ( http://doublecommand.sourceforge.net/ )
Mac vs PC debates never end up with a victory…
I’ve been an Apple/Mac user since the 80′s but at the end of the day I don’t care what others use, use what works for you. But don’t kid yourself, there are fanboi’s on both sides, both are just as annoying. Far as the hardware goes Apple’s puts A LOT of thought into their hardware AND software, unlike Microsoft (software company, imagine that). If you don’t like Apple’s hardware model for their products then go buy a PC. No one is twisting your arm forcing you to buy a Apple products.
I have been using Macs for almost 3.5 years now, I agree with almost every good and bad point except for the software one, There is only one piece of software (other than a few games) that I paid for, which was Microsoft Office. http://opensourcemac.org/ has tons of opensource (free) apps for the mac.
Ubuntu Rocks Baby,…
Death to the double M team!
Free means power, it means liberty, it means Linux!… And by the way Linux, it’s better than unix!
Hi,
I’d just like to say that the first headline (the “UNIX” reason”) is either incorrectly named or it’s just a total misunderstanding about what a UNIX system really is.
If it’s just to have a terminal to type in commands, then keep any Windows OS (avoiding non-final version is better btw) with cygwin (which works fine and do what it’s asked for). That will do the job perfectly.
One last acronym about “Knowing what’s going on” : RTFM.
Was this article written a bit too early ?
It took me 4 years to get our studio off Macs especially because we used to spent most our time trying to simulate what a PC users was seeing anyway designing mostly for the web
so I found you article perhaps a little waist of time… I have a beaut Dell XPS workstation and wow its a powerhouse, good looker and way cheaper than a mac, why would you want to?
Helpful article. And contrary to some of the comments, this article fits perfectly here. This is a venue geared towards serving developers (of all platforms and frameworks and tools) with helpful tutorials and resources. This is a resource for developers who are considering switching platforms (which actually includes me) and gives some insights on what to expect.
I used to be an avid PC lover, building my own rigs even (which admittedly I still do to some extent). But in past couple years, I’ve become an OSX lover. Honestly, I don’t think any web developer can really be a true developer without both environments.
But other than that, I prefer OSX for designing, and for the almighty Coda.
tralala.. Any OS is shit… ha ha.. But from any OS can do what you need. Install programm and tune it. You can tune delete files instantly, but if you not have brain…. Lightening the workload – it is the degradation of brain. ha ha ))
Macs always think they know best. They don’t. I know what’s best.
http://www.hahastop.com/pictures/Mac_Vs_Pc334.jpg
ps Coda does reign supreme
Just install Windows 7. Everything is perfect.
They are all tools. Windows has the best and most programs available. Linux comes second with the most open source and Mac comes last.
They are all tools, at the end you just choose what are you comfortable with.
Huh, no thanks. I’ve used Macs on and off and don’t really see a compelling reason to switch. Sure it is a decent OS and has some good features; there is also some nice programs. But nearly everything has a Windows counterpart and there are many programs on Windows that Mac doesn’t have. I could see your argument to a point with XP, but Windows 7 is much more usable and has some great new features.
I can’t comment on the Ruby/Python stuff as I don’t use em much, but from what I’ve seen those aren’t that hard to setup on windows, or you could just run a VM with Linux installed…
As far as time machine goes, if you are talking about design files I just use TortoiseSVN, or for larger things I use SyncBack (which,BTW, has versioning, incremental backups and automation)
#3 on other is very very true… There is dozens of application on Windows to do one thing (usually) and some of those are free. On mac there may be a free option and a couple paid. Quality wise i would say they are the same, just less choices with Mac.
Anywho, I’d much rather build my own computer for half the price and spend the rest on either better hardware, computer games, or other stuff that I’d like to have.
very goood site. thx
Wow, users on this site whine a lot huh? I searched for this tut, I found it, he nailed the questions that I had, it finished with 3 useful links to more information. Yeah it was a little narrative, but I don’t see where the argument that it doesn’t belong on this site comes from.
It got me off.
As for my Mac (I bought a MacBook Pro 13 inch about 6 weeks ago), I’ve been in IT for 15 years and .Net programming for 7. I love my Mac and anything I need to do on Windows is just fine using VMware or Boot Camp. I’m going to love this Mac of mine for a long time. The discovery of tutplus.com has made me so happy, if Starbucks had free refills and a co-ed dorm I’d be set for life.
The discovery of tutplus.com is an unexpected bonus. I enjoyed the article. I just switched to a 17″ Mac Book Pro i5. It’s my first Mac. Thanks for posting it. ~snowbird
very goood site.. thx.. :)
I always follow your site thank you.
This is crap.
If PC is 2nd, Mac is not 1st.
Remember, all of languages run on Windows.
Mac can not even run .NET by itself.
No PC, I will go for Linux.
A MS SQL Server DBA for 10 years….just made the switch and never going back. Quality over quantity…
Nice article.
I was quite happy working with Windows, until I started using Ruby. Now I’m looking to get a Mac. I don’t know what kind of magic Windows Ruby developers invoked before configuring their dev environments, but I’ve only found it to be a giant headache on Windows. This is the straw that broke the camels back, too many times am I wishing for a UNIX based system so all these neat development tools just “work”. Now I’m just fed up with it.
And yes, Linux is there and trust me I would LOVE to use it, it’s just that it doesn’t work at all with my hardware, and has actually been LESS stable than my Windows 7 install. I’ve got it ready to dual boot but every time I do I always regret it. Dual monitors are not working correctly, power options not working correctly, fuck it all, I’m getting a Mac.
There’s a point where you’ve wasted so much time fiddling with configurations in order to just get your goddamn work done that you’re willing to pay 2x for something like a Macbook Pro.
I always looking for nice post and this post is the same which i actually want. i like this very much the way you present whole things its very good. Keep sharing and i m following you