Development Platform: Mac/Windows

[stanley]

All:

I am an in-house developer and am building a case to argue that the development team should be working on the Mac. All of our users are on Windows XP laptops, and all the development is currently done on the same IT Department standard issue laptops. It is no surprise that these machines have proven insufficient for development purposes. They are invaluable for testing (as well as being sufficient for travel, meetings, etc.) but don't have the power or stability to be used as development boxes, even with docks, external monitors and the like.

And sure, most of the developers on the team prefer the Mac (inluding yours truly), but I have to make a business argument for the switch. In the corporate IT world, this is not simple.

I'm looking for input (pro or con, I'll take anything) of any sort: anecdotal, technical, tech specs, whatever, to help me make my case. I've been working on both platforms pretty much since they were invented, so I am extremely conversant in the differences; I'm hoping that you Forums members might share some personal/professional insights from a FileMaker development perspective.

I don't want to start a Mac vs. Windows flame war. If your opinion is that we should stick to XP but use workstations, then please let me hear it. But I'd rather hear why we should be working on the Mac.

Thanks,

Stanley

[mr_vodka]

Hi Stanley.

If most of your users are on Windows, then I think that you should stick to Windows for development of their solution as well.

Just my 2 cents. :

[stanley]

Hi John:

Actually, I don't think that's a valid statement. When I was a consultant, all of our work was done on the Mac even though most clients were on Windows. We tested on Windows, and there were cases (usually involving files or printers) where the development had to be done on Windows. Otherwise, I found that FileMaker worked better on OSX than on Windows, and that there was more to gain than lose by working on the more modern and stable environment.

Thanks,

Stanley

[mr_vodka]

Hi Stanley.

Lol. Of course I am not saying that development cant be done on a mac for Windows users. However you asked for an opinion and I gave you mine.

My point is that if you are in a all Windows environment, why not develop on the same machine. Then you wont have to worry about the little nuances that differ between the Mac and Windows machine. To me it just seems like double the work. Work on a mac then test everything on Windows; especially any flashing effects that you will incur... You will have to check every tab, layout, etc.

[stanley]

Thanks John.

It's probably a moot point anyway, as our IT and Procurement people will no doubt insist that we stay on Windows.

-Stanley

[Cortical]

I work up on both, but predominantly mac. Mac is just that more efficient, and if you are used to working on Mac, then that efficiency time really adds up; you work faster doing the same mechanical tasks because you are more programmed to the environment.

One downside aspect, is window treatment. On mac using pop windows for filtered selections is a no brainer, the windows behave. On Win 'adjust' doesn't of course, and one has to deal with the vagaries of maximise and layout sizing and windows in windows... The point being that working up on Win, tends to modify your approach to certain design issues, that you may otherwise take for granted on Mac.

[stanley]

Well, I wrote what I guess was a convincing brief, and we're going to be able to move to OS X for development. We're keeping Windows machines to do testing, debugging and client-mirroring, but the actual heavy lifting will now all be done on the Mac.

Which is good for us.

Stanley