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better question: why were developers on Mac OS X to begin with? Honestly I think even Windows is a better os from a developer point of view.

by _ZeD_ 10y ago

dindresto 10y ago
I believe it's the combination of a UNIX-like system and the "It just works" / batteries included mentality. Also the amount of popular commercial applications available for OS X, as compared to Linux.
out_of_protocol 10y ago
As a fellow developer i say: Development on Windows is really REALLY painful. Any *nix is so much better. I chose OSX because it's "okay linux distro" ;) not real linux but close enough on practice
- alkonaut 10y ago
  > As a fellow developer i say: Development on Windows is really REALLY painful. I think the statement really is "development in a unix/linux style on windows is really painful". If you like doing development with text editors and shells and have any tools that are command-line only then yes - it sucks on windows. Windows development in an IDE is usually just fine, not to mention that it's often exactly the same as running the same IDE on linux.
  - hackits 10y ago
    I found that for my development pipeline that GIT (SSH)/Conemu together worked out really well on windows. Considering that vast majority of the time I'm connected via a shell to a Linux mainframe and or cluster does it really matter what I ssh into as long as its a working console?
hoodoof 10y ago
I left Windows many years ago because of constant crashes, application freezes, multitasking so bad that I felt the user interface was not under my control, often being unable to shutdown due to some freeze etc etc etc None of these things were problems with OSX. Are things different in the Windows world?
tqkxzugoaupvwqr 10y ago
Better question: Why were developers on Windows to begin with? I like the polished look of macOS, and its Unix roots which make it fairly easy to follow instructions for Linux on macOS.
- rangibaby 10y ago
  > Better question: Why were developers on Windows to begin with? Because EVERYONE used Windows. That changed mid-00s (Ubuntu and x86 Macs). Personally Firefox stoked a lot of interest in FOSS for me, and the mature version (2.0 was a big deal) came out around then too.
emsy 10y ago
It depends what you're developing for. These days, a lot of developers are web or app developers and for this purpose, Windows is terrible. Most app and web dev tools fit neatly into a *nix environment. You can get up and running with a few lines in the terminal, whereas you need a clumsy installer or cygwin and a manual with screenshots to start on Windows.
tannhaeuser 10y ago
I came to MacOS back in 2003 (PowerBook times) because - it was Unix (I'm a vi/command line guy) and you could run all the backend software (Apache, Oracle, WebLogic/JBoss and other Java stuff such as Ecplise) - yet you also could use commercial desktop apps (Adobe, MS Office, other graphics apps, the occasional game) - great out of the box experience with optimal hardware support and no time consuming tinkering required; practical innovations like Expose, Spotlight, later also TimeMachine Basically "Linux with QA and taste". And because using MacOS put a smile on your face. Now Mac OS and Apple's latest computers only serve to demonstrate a lack of vision for the platform. Apple seems focused to integrate/unify iOS and MacOS, which might make sense in a beancounter way of thinking (eg. seeing MacOS as a cost center), but sends out the message that Apple is willing to loose "Pro" users as collateral damage. I certainly hate to loose the ability to buy Apple equipment for my work, but without Apple taking really bold measures, Apple is a lost cause in the Pro market as it stands. Price itself isn't so much an issue as is the feeling that you're being ripped off for rigs that lack any "pro" features, yet are as expensive or even more expensive than the "pro" stuff Apple used to make.

better question: why were developers on Mac OS X to begin with? Honestly I think even Windows is a better os from a developer point of view.

by _ZeD_ 10y ago

better question: why were developers on Mac OS X to begin with? Honestly I think even Windows is a better os from a developer point of view.

dindresto 10y ago

I believe it's the combination of a UNIX-like system and the "It just works" / batteries included mentality. Also the amount of popular commercial applications available for OS X, as compared to Linux.

out_of_protocol 10y ago

As a fellow developer i say: Development on Windows is really REALLY painful. Any *nix is so much better. I chose OSX because it's "okay linux distro" ;) not real linux but close enough on practice

alkonaut 10y ago
> As a fellow developer i say: Development on Windows is really REALLY painful. I think the statement really is "development in a unix/linux style on windows is really painful". If you like doing development with text editors and shells and have any tools that are command-line only then yes - it sucks on windows. Windows development in an IDE is usually just fine, not to mention that it's often exactly the same as running the same IDE on linux.
- hackits 10y ago
  I found that for my development pipeline that GIT (SSH)/Conemu together worked out really well on windows. Considering that vast majority of the time I'm connected via a shell to a Linux mainframe and or cluster does it really matter what I ssh into as long as its a working console?

hoodoof 10y ago

I left Windows many years ago because of constant crashes, application freezes, multitasking so bad that I felt the user interface was not under my control, often being unable to shutdown due to some freeze etc etc etc None of these things were problems with OSX. Are things different in the Windows world?

tqkxzugoaupvwqr 10y ago

Better question: Why were developers on Windows to begin with? I like the polished look of macOS, and its Unix roots which make it fairly easy to follow instructions for Linux on macOS.

rangibaby 10y ago
> Better question: Why were developers on Windows to begin with? Because EVERYONE used Windows. That changed mid-00s (Ubuntu and x86 Macs). Personally Firefox stoked a lot of interest in FOSS for me, and the mature version (2.0 was a big deal) came out around then too.

emsy 10y ago

It depends what you're developing for. These days, a lot of developers are web or app developers and for this purpose, Windows is terrible. Most app and web dev tools fit neatly into a *nix environment. You can get up and running with a few lines in the terminal, whereas you need a clumsy installer or cygwin and a manual with screenshots to start on Windows.

tannhaeuser 10y ago

I came to MacOS back in 2003 (PowerBook times) because - it was Unix (I'm a vi/command line guy) and you could run all the backend software (Apache, Oracle, WebLogic/JBoss and other Java stuff such as Ecplise) - yet you also could use commercial desktop apps (Adobe, MS Office, other graphics apps, the occasional game) - great out of the box experience with optimal hardware support and no time consuming tinkering required; practical innovations like Expose, Spotlight, later also TimeMachine Basically "Linux with QA and taste". And because using MacOS put a smile on your face. Now Mac OS and Apple's latest computers only serve to demonstrate a lack of vision for the platform. Apple seems focused to integrate/unify iOS and MacOS, which might make sense in a beancounter way of thinking (eg. seeing MacOS as a cost center), but sends out the message that Apple is willing to loose "Pro" users as collateral damage. I certainly hate to loose the ability to buy Apple equipment for my work, but without Apple taking really bold measures, Apple is a lost cause in the Pro market as it stands. Price itself isn't so much an issue as is the feeling that you're being ripped off for rigs that lack any "pro" features, yet are as expensive or even more expensive than the "pro" stuff Apple used to make.