So, I finally broke down and bought a MacBook Pro.
I did it for two reasons. First, I had a little netbook a few years ago that I really liked, but the battery wouldn’t charge anymore and they wanted almost $100 for a new one. The only laptop I have left is a giant desktop replacement type laptop from a few years ago. In other words, I was underpowered, and oversized (and way overweighted).
The second reason is that while I’m a solid web developer, I’d like to get into maybe the app space on the iPods and iPhones, if for no other reason than my kids would think that is really cool. Of course, Apple runs things the way Microsoft used to (vision of the future) and you really need an Apple system if you are going to be able to truly learn and use the Apple tools, especially Xcode, and Swift.
Plus, more and more of my non-Apple developer friends have MacBooks that they swear by, so I figured it was at least worth a look.
My impressions so far is that it isn’t necessarily as “easy” as some people like to claim. Part of that is learning curve. There is basically nothing I can’t do on a Windows computer (although Windows 10 has shaken that up a bit.) So, for the most part, I’ve been learning how to do some of the same things on the MacBook. Where it gets weird is when there is no real equivalent. Furthermore, I get the feeling that there are some things that are on the Mac that aren’t on the PC, which I have no way of looking for, because they aren’t even in my head as possibilities.
The biggest difference, however, is in the ecosystem. I’m fairly certain about Windows applications and which tools I want. Even if I’ve never heard of some software before, I have a pretty solid idea about what it is, and what it will do to my PC if I install it. I have no such reference on Mac.
For now, I’m mostly replicating what I have on the PC. I downloaded Chrome, for example, and Evernote, and so on.
I am excited about the various Mac only things that I’ve always wanted to take a look at. TextMate and Xcode come to mind, as well as GarageBand, and some other tools and utilities.
So far, it’s a fun journey, and I get the overall feeling that as I really get comfortable I’m going to be pretty happy with this purchase. We shall see.