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Yeah, it doesn't seem like Apple really focuses on any development outside of their platforms (iOS, OS X). It has naturally become a popular choice for web desi

Yeah, it doesn't seem like Apple really focuses on any development outside of their platforms (iOS, OS X). It has naturally become a popular choice for web design and development because of the strong graphic design user base. Over time, the community has built a lot of great tools for web dev on the mac, though. "Their hardware [being] dedicated to their OSX thingy" is actually a great thing for every day use. Their software (OS as well as other pieces) can be testing against very specific hardware and think that is a big part of why it is pretty reliable. That and being unix-based is a big win over windows IMO.

WorldWideWayne 12y ago
I tried to use OS X as my main OS, but I just couldn't get past what I considered "illogical" and "inconsistent" keyboard acceleration, keyboard navigation and user interactions. For instance, in Windows and Gnome I can hunt through menus with the keyboard by simply press ALT and then the underlined letter of a menu (then use the arrow keys to look around and press ENTER or SPACE to pick one). This is consistent throughout those environments but on OS X you can't navigate like that, you have to memorize 2,000 hot-key combinations. Microsoft kind of ruined that nice feature with the "Ribbon" but the new keyboard navigation system for the ribbon is still more logical and consistent than what I've seen with OS X. That's why I like to just put my Unix dev environment in a VM on Windows. I get the best desktop experience (for me) and when I need it, I have Unix.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  Most of us define 'better' as 'what I'm accustomed to', me included. Explains the longevity of weird old editors etc. But to be truly objective, there'd have to be some argument about ease of learning a system, or even ease of adjusting as the system changes. By that measure, Windows' switch to the 'ribbon' has disrupted a large community accustomed to menu interation etc. I'd call it a big step backward.
  - WorldWideWayne 12y ago
    The ribbon is definitely a step backwards for people like me. (It works great on a touch device though - yay! for all those people not using Windows on touch devices...) I decided to advance my vim skills recently though and I'm certainly glad that it got evangelized so much around here because it's pretty awesome for people who like the keyboard.
- kosinus 12y ago
  With my Mac in repairs, the most painful thing about using anything else (currently Ubuntu) is the mess of keyboard shortcuts. On Mac, everything starts with Cmd. And it's like the Windows key, in that it doesn't conflict with anything in your terminal or elsewhere. (On that note, the Windows key is the most underused key ever.)
  - WorldWideWayne 12y ago
    You're right - the only Windows key shortcuts I really use are Win+E (opens file explorer), Win+P (switch 2ndary display on/off/make-primary) and Win+Arrow-Key (snap window to edge or maximize/minimize.)
- cweiss 12y ago
  FWIW - There's an app call CheatSheet[1] for OS-X that will display the foreground app's shortcut keys if you hold down Option for a few seconds. [1] http://www.cheatsheetapp.com/CheatSheet/ http://www.cheatsheetapp.com/CheatSheet/

WorldWideWayne 12y ago

I tried to use OS X as my main OS, but I just couldn't get past what I considered "illogical" and "inconsistent" keyboard acceleration, keyboard navigation and user interactions. For instance, in Windows and Gnome I can hunt through menus with the keyboard by simply press ALT and then the underlined letter of a menu (then use the arrow keys to look around and press ENTER or SPACE to pick one). This is consistent throughout those environments but on OS X you can't navigate like that, you have to memorize 2,000 hot-key combinations. Microsoft kind of ruined that nice feature with the "Ribbon" but the new keyboard navigation system for the ribbon is still more logical and consistent than what I've seen with OS X. That's why I like to just put my Unix dev environment in a VM on Windows. I get the best desktop experience (for me) and when I need it, I have Unix.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
Most of us define 'better' as 'what I'm accustomed to', me included. Explains the longevity of weird old editors etc. But to be truly objective, there'd have to be some argument about ease of learning a system, or even ease of adjusting as the system changes. By that measure, Windows' switch to the 'ribbon' has disrupted a large community accustomed to menu interation etc. I'd call it a big step backward.
- WorldWideWayne 12y ago
  The ribbon is definitely a step backwards for people like me. (It works great on a touch device though - yay! for all those people not using Windows on touch devices...) I decided to advance my vim skills recently though and I'm certainly glad that it got evangelized so much around here because it's pretty awesome for people who like the keyboard.
kosinus 12y ago
With my Mac in repairs, the most painful thing about using anything else (currently Ubuntu) is the mess of keyboard shortcuts. On Mac, everything starts with Cmd. And it's like the Windows key, in that it doesn't conflict with anything in your terminal or elsewhere. (On that note, the Windows key is the most underused key ever.)
- WorldWideWayne 12y ago
  You're right - the only Windows key shortcuts I really use are Win+E (opens file explorer), Win+P (switch 2ndary display on/off/make-primary) and Win+Arrow-Key (snap window to edge or maximize/minimize.)
cweiss 12y ago
FWIW - There's an app call CheatSheet[1] for OS-X that will display the foreground app's shortcut keys if you hold down Option for a few seconds. [1] http://www.cheatsheetapp.com/CheatSheet/ http://www.cheatsheetapp.com/CheatSheet/