
Programmers shunning Vista for Mac OS and Linux - nickb
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/18/survey-programmers-shunning-vista-for-mac-os-and-linux/
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aneesh
_Could programmers be developing an interest in something beyond the size of
the installed base?_

You mean, like developing something that they think is cool? Are programmers
even allowed to do that??

 _But any increase in Mac and Linux development is surprising_

Not really. Even thought usage numbers for both are still small, I'm pretty
sure both are increasing. So it's only natural for developers to increase
interest.

~~~
Andys
I don't think I've met anyone who went back to Windows from Mac or Linux.

~~~
niner
OK -- I'll jump in here.

My first personal computer was a TRS-80 with a tape drive, so I'm not new.
I've owned and used just about every type of personal computer since then. In
1984 I got my first Mac -- the first Mac -- and didn't use Windows again until
I went to college in 1991.

Flash forward to today. I haven't owned a Mac in about 10 years, and I've been
listening to a lot of people rave about them, so I picked up a 15" MacBook
Pro.

It was OK, but I wasn't exactly blown away. In fact, I spend most of my time
on my desktop, and old Dell Precision 360 running XP, which I have set up
perfectly for my needs. Mostly pictures and videos of the kids, web, personal
finance, but I"m also radiologist and all of the software I use to read
studies remotely is PC only. I also do some 'light' programming, mostly Python
and Django (I'm the guy behind instantdjango.com).

I also have an old laptop running Ubuntu, which I ssh into from work so I can
tunnel around the web filter.

Long story short (too late), I ended up getting rid of the MacBook. I traded
it to a friend for an equally priced Dell Inspiron 1720, which has a 17" high-
def 1920x1200 screen and a bluray burner. I'm even running Vista on it, which
is suprisingly fast and stable.

Anyway, Windows can do everything I need to do, and it does it very, very
well. I'm experienced enough that security hasn't been a problem. I can't
really see any benefit to switching to Mac at this point. In reality, anytime
someone starts talking about being more productive with a Mac, I wonder what
the hell they're talking about. As near as I can see there are a few Mac-only
things like iLife, textmate, etc...but I'm pretty happy with Office,
Notepad++, and Picasa. Actually, I think Picasa is better than iPhoto, but
that's just me.

So, in summary, I switched back to Windows.

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demallien
"But any increase in Mac and Linux development is surprising"

I don't know about Linux, but the installed base for OSX/XCode just doubled in
one year, with the release of the iPhone platform. I am a Mac user since
forever, but it was this major increase in the user base that finally
encouraged me to get off my butt and get back into desktop app programming.

~~~
notauser
The plural of anecdote is not data, but in our engineering office there is
only one iPhone (and it's owned by an accountant). There are a couple of
hundred 3G nokia handsets though. In the UK the combination of no 3G and
limited carrier/plan selection seems to have killed the iPhone off pretty
well.

I suspect the same is true of most other non-US countries where the carriers
are much less dominant and good handsets, network portability and competitive
pay as you use deals are well entrenched.

On the other hand the number of Linux based devices is truly staggering. I
can't find the reference at the moment but I believe that something like 300m
embedded units were shipping a year. A million plus Eee 700 series devices
alone were distributed. 10-15 million phones running Linux were shipped just
in Asia(1) which should put iPhone sales of 2-3m in perspective.

(1) <http://linux.sys-con.com/read/182937.htm>

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
Over the last few years I've bought four embedded linux devices without even
seeking it out. My two wireless routers have embedded linux. My HD-DVD player
runs linux. So does my network-accessible hard drive. The OS really is making
inroads.

------
bigtoga
I gotta hand it to cnn for coming up with a creative twist on the fact that
Windows strangelhold is decreasing. "Hey guys, I know: Instead of the
umpteenth article on how *nix or Macs are becoming more popular, why don't we
do a related story on how more programmers are developing for those platforms?
It will seem new and fresh 'cuz no one's done it. And I bet no one will catch
on to our little ruse either!"

