What non-Mac users think they know about Macs (is probably wrong)

Apple computers five years ago are not what they are today. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was left with no fond memories when I had to use one at a job in 1997, which I think was running System 7. From what I hear, things didn't improve too much until the first version of OS X arrived.

A lot of people I talk to still presume that Macs are just as crash-prone, irritiating, and limiting as they were when I first used one. I've been gathering these various popular beliefs and will share them here in an attempt to debunk or validate them. I will constantly update this post as I learn more. So, in no particular order:

• Mac laptops are expensive, compared to, say, a Dell counterpart.
  A: This is true for most Apple products, but I don't think it holds much weight against the new Intel-based machines. From a company's point-of-view: $400 or $500 difference over the life of two years for a development machine = $30/month. If this is an issue for your company, it's not treating its knowledge workers (i.e. the developers) as it should; find a job that does.
• Comment: "Point one [above] would be debatable in my book. Most of us aren't lucky enough to have work buy our computer. I'm not convinced 500 bucks more (out of my pocket) for a similar machine isnt worth it."
  Response: Your employer doesn't buy you a work computer? That sucks. ;) Anyway, I'm mistaken regarding the $500 price difference: I just spec'd out a top-of-the-line, equally powerful Lenovo ThinkPad and it costs the same as a top-of-the-line, MacBook Pro. Don't need top-of-the-line? A less powerful MacBook Pro will roughly cost the same as a less-than-primo ThinkPad. MacBooks are arguably better engineered too: thinner, lighter, bigger and brighter monitor, and sexier. Pricing is just not a valid argument anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• You can't play games on Macs.
  A: Untrue. Take a look at the top 10 best sellers, which includes Quake 4, Civ IV, Call of Duty 2, and Jedi Academy. However, not all games that come out for PC are ported to work on a Mac, but this will change since Macs are Intel-based now. And if you must play something that works only in Windows, install XP on your Intel-based Mac using Boot Camp.
  
• Since 90+ percent of your users will be using Internet Explorer on Windows, you really need to be making sure your pages look right in that browser. Seems like you would need to keep a Windows machine around. So really you can't replace your windows box with a Mac, now you are just *required* to have two computers. (add another $1000 to that already higher cost).
  A: True, sort of. Microsoft no longer provides Internet Explorer for Macs, at least not IE5.5+. However, you have a few solutions regarding this issue, and since this issue is work-related they all are likely to be viable:
  
  1. Use Remote Desktop Client (RDC), created by Microsoft, to connect to any Windows machine from OS X. Point IE at your Mac (or wherever you've deployed your web app) and test away. Switching back and forth between your IDE and RDC is trivial when testing, especially if you have a dual monitor setup. Obviously this solution requires one to have a separate Windows machine, which is likely at your place of business.
  2. Use VMWare, such as Parallels.
  3. Install Boot Camp; develop using Firefox, then reboot in XP to test in IE. This is the least productive solution.
     
  Whether these solutions work for you is subjective; in my case using RDC is ideal (we have a server running Windows 2003 server that I have access to). VMWare is a good solution too. Oh, and regarding the "add another $1000": you can get a Dell desktop running XP with IE for at most $600, and likely much cheaper.
  
• Macs are primarily used for high-end multimedia processing/manipulation.
  A: Perhaps, but I thought that Silicon Graphics machines usually fit that bill. I know several developers that primarily use Macs, and they're not editing movies, images, and sound. They're writing and compiling code for various web technologies.
  
• It must suck using just one button on your mouse.
  A: It sure does, that's why I'm using a five-button mouse right now.
  
• Macs will drive you nuts as a development platform, since you will likely have trouble getting all your development software, configuring your development software, and then tweaking & debugging the OS when something needs fixing.
  A: I had no trouble. I prefer JDeveloper, SmartSVN, SQL Developer, Firefox (or using RDP for IE 5.5+), Ant, MySQL/Oracle, and Tomcat. A friend of mine prefers working with EMACS. Another prefers Eclipse for his IDE. We're all happy, and no one had to tweak or debug the OS to get that way.
  
• Cross your fingers for a Mac version of your favorite software. Be prepared to compile source code for open source apps.
  A: For OSS, use DarwinPorts or Fink. Both are package managers that simplify and standardize the process completely. In fact, this kind of package management system absolutely kills anything in the Windows world. DarwinPorts so far has provided me with everything I've needed: Subversion, Ant, Apache Tomcat, any many others.
  As for other software packages, this might be true, and you should take this into consideration before switching. Keep in mind that many software alternatives that Apple provides are often equivalent or superior.
  
• OS X assumes the user is more of an idiot than with Windows, requiring an understanding of BSD in order to get to the bottom of what assumptions some tool made about various OS & app configurations.
  A: I disagree. I've been using this Mac for a month now and have configured the hell out of it, most of which didn't force me to use the Terminal. While the default interface usually has the simplest options, a lot of the time if you hold down the option key as you open a menu, you get the Advanced settings.
  
• Macs require special considerations when purchasing hardware, because many device drivers are not written for Macs. Mac tries to guide you toward their hardware, bottom line.
  A: I have had zero problems with device drivers. I use a Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard, a Dell LCD monitor, a USB drive and USB key; none of these are Apple products. I've also connected other monitors and mice to it, plus various digital cameras. Not once has OS X had a problem. 100% flawless. In fact, one of those digital cameras wasn't recognized by Windows XP SP2, but OS X recognized it immediately.
  So, What hardware do you want? All mice work. All keyboards work. All external drives (firewire/USB) work. All monitors work. (OK, preface all of these with almost). You might need a different mouse driver from a 3rd party for mice with >3 buttons. The Macs bundle everything else you need out of the box.
  
• Spyware and viruses are 99% a non-issue on Macs, but this is slowly changing. It will never be as bad as Windows due to maturity of BSD, though.
  A: True.
  
• Macs have an annoying lack of VGA jack on their laptops.
  A: Macs come with DVI ports. They also all come with a DVI -> D-SUB converter cable, so no issue here.
• Macs crash all the time.
  A: True five years ago. It's now built on FreeBSD and it's stable.
  
• The keyboard layout will drive you nuts, particulary the command, option, home, and end keys.
  A: True, but learning the command and option keys will only take a few days, and I recommend remapping the home and end keys to work similar to Windows (home goes to the beginning of a line instead of the top of the document, etc.. Going to the top of the document is limiting and much less useful... bad Apple; type ctrl-home to go to the top.).