Mac/Windows Switching

Question

About 2 years ago I dropped windows from my home PC and switched 100% to linux (fedora, then ubuntu) - The missus wasn't too happy but she got used to it and learned a thing or two. Then about 6 months ago I got myself a shiny new Macbook and since moving to OSX have never looked back; Unfortunately I've not been successful in getting my employer to buy me one for work (and I can't be carrying mine back and forth) so I have to "put up" with windows.

I started out with windows over 8 years ago so I have a really good understanding of how it works and have done my fair share of Win32/MFC/.NET development.

My question is; Who else has to use a windows box at work (and have a mac at home) And how do you cope - what windows apps/configurations do they use that let them work in a similar fashion to OSX? - I was just thinking how cool it would be if I could get some sort of keymapping app that re-mapped my windows keys to the OSX variants (Apple+W, Apple+Q, Apple+Left, Apple+Right, etc etc).

I miss expose (TopDesk is nice but not free)... I miss the simplicity of finder... I miss the nice smooth dialogs and windows and shadows (YzShadow can juuuuust cope) I miss the underlying unix framework (I run andLinux at work) I miss OSX :(

Unfortunately 90% of our clients use IE so windows is a must; They also can't justify the expense of a mac for a developer; Especially a Mac Pro :-p

Ah well.

Answer 1

Operating System is just a tool, if you are building cross platform applications (or web applications[it depends only your target web browser]) and you can use whatever operating system you like , you can install windows xp in virtual machine on your osx for using IE for example, but if your company forces you to login on their domain controller, using outlook for email and task management that project manager assigns to you, this is different story. As you mentioned multiple operating systems at work and home, personally I use Linux at home but I use Windows at work because in my day to day job I write a lot of C# .NET code but at home I spend time by programming with open source technologies and I use it because I've used Linux since October 2001. So try to get used to it.

Answer 2

I don't have a lot of pain switching from one to the other on a daily basis. At the end, I spent the most of my time either in Eclipse, which is quite plateform independant, and Opera web browser.

For the rest, I use launchy to poorly mimic quicksilver and e as a replacement for Textmate.

In the end, I'm more statisfied of my mac, not because of the software it provide, but rather for the software it don't provide, such as Toad or IE that I'm force to use for my work.

Answer 3

Although there are many ways to skin Windows to look like OS X, none of the solutions deliver the real OS X experience. Not in terms of OS Features, that'd be impossible, but the look and feel is always different. I remember skinning for the sake of pleasure, my Windows XP box (like 5 years ago) and used Windows Blind plus a lot of tools (YZDock!) to have a "WS X" ;)

It never felt the same.

You could try a "hackintosh", if your hardware is "ok" with OS X. Then run VMWare/Parallels.

Or else, you just do like me:

Cry a river. Build a Bridge and get over it. :)

I use OS X (Mac Pro) but I code in C#, so I'm 90% of the day in Windows VIsta in Full Screen in one of the many Spaces; the advantage is that VMWare (and Parallels) let you map your keys so I can cmd-c/v inside Windows.

I understand your frustration :S

Answer 4

As a software developer I pretty much live in my text editor and shell. In the jobs where I've been forced to use windows I install emacs and cygwin and I'm off to the races.

I don't focus on the periphery -- control panels, window managers, etc -- I focus on what I really use 90+% of the time and don't sweat the rest.

Answer 5

I think the single best thing I've done to maximize productivity is to standardize my text editor across platforms. Personally I use vim as mush as possible. I use viemu to integrate into visual studio on windows, have replaced notepad with gvim, and I use vim on mac and linux alike.

You could remap shortcuts, but the simple ones are the same anyhow. Personally I dont have a problem remembering both. I do go through a mental exercise every few minutes to look for OS specific landmarks to remind me Im on Vista or OS X, which helps me to stay focused.

I'd also look into Powershell if you're a fan of Linux scripting, its the coolest shell going IMNSHO. Failing that there is always Interix

Answer 6

A little bit of cygwin to take the pain out of windows. Any virtual environment will work. A mac can run parallels hosting windows with the enforced outlook requirements.

Answer 7

Might I suggest if you like life on the command line that you try PowerShell as a replacement for cmd on the windows box. It has aided me tremendously in my transistion from a Unix Server environment.You have a profile and the ability to create aliases and modify things. Now I never have to worry about using one of my trusted Unix commands, and if I find one that wasn't already taken care of by the PowerSHell team I just create it and add it to my profile. ls, process grep, top, and find for the the win!!

Answer 8

If it's not a financial burden and your company allows it, just get yourself a macbook. I bring my macbook to home and work everyday. I have external 24" screen at work, and it's no difference to working on a windows box. I run parallels when I need to use windows/IE, otherwise, all my time are spent on the mac.

Another important item in this arrangement is an external harddrive for backup at work. Time machine hourly backup + windows work file sync and you're all set. This way, you don't have to worried about losing your work if you get robbed or get into an accident.

Answer 9

I was in the same situation - Mac at home, Windows at work. There isn't really any way to bring the Mac experience to Windows without something breaking or a badly-written program misbehaving. You just have to get used to adjusting between the two.

The only three things that constantly caught me out were hitting Shift-2 for the "@" sign in Windows (I have a UK keyboard, but the Mac uses the American key position), trying to use two fingers and a mouse click on the Windows laptop trackpad for a right-click, and hitting F9 for Expose. Swapping between Command-C and Ctrl-C didn't really bother me.

Answer 10

I use Windows XP at work and Mac OS X and Linux at home.

Windows XP frustrates me everyday. If I only used it I would get used to the limitations, but being exposed to them daily (and the plethora of awful software for it, from the dire Checkpoint VPN client, to the clunkiness of Outlook) and then experiencing decent software in the evening just underlines XP's limitations (and to be fair, XP is venerable these days).

However making the switch on a daily basis isn't a problem, @/" issue aside.

Answer 11

Unfortunately 90% of our clients use IE so windows is a must

IE6 works under OS X without Windows (fonts aren't quite right, but it's enough for everyday testing), and you can get it 100% perfect under virtualisation (Parallels, VMWare, VirtualBox).

Answer 12

The only thing I ever did to make the Mac more "windows-like" was install Office for Mac. I've never had a problem with files I couldn't read or write, and the "student edition" is pretty cheap. Recently, for dealing with IE6 I used bootcamp bought and an MSDN copy of XP to install XP on partition on my Macbook. No problems.

I regularly use OSX, Windows and Linux and the only times I get confused is when I'm running XP under VMWare on my Macbook. For some reason, when my fingers are on the Mac keyboard, I have a lot of trouble using Windows key strokes.

Otherwise, no real problems.

Answer 13

I don't have much of an issue. I can do most of my development work in OSX, eclipse works, Coda is an awesome web development tool, but when I need to use Visual Studio, I can, either by running in Fusion, or booting into windows via bootcamp. Having the luxury of a windows install on bootcamp means I can also run games better than most of the Windows PC's i've owned!