|
I too wish Apple would narrow the development gap between their iPad and Mac products.
I'm playing around with MonoGame and considering an Apple version of my game. Regrettably, as I understand it, I need to purchase a Mac for this task. I wouldn't mind getting an iPad, which would serve other purposes, but I have no other use for a Mac.
Oh well...if I can figure out the minimum required Mac, maybe I'll pick up a dinosaur off eBay.
|
|
|
|
|
Or is a hackintosh still an option?
|
|
|
|
|
Maybe...not sure. Though, in case I ever decide to throw it onto their App Store, I don't think I want to risk the licensing cops coming after me 
From what I understand, you can pick up a used Mac cheap enough...simply don't want to go through the hassle for a single-purpose (for me) device.
Originally, I hoped I could purchase a legit macOS license and run it in a VM...oh well, wishful thinking.
I guess I've been spoiled by Android. Simply fire up an emulator for free or purchase a device that is almost free. Sometimes I wonder if Apple is actively discouraging independent developers.
modified 2-Nov-18 18:23pm.
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I looked into it about fifteen years ago. At the time, I probably would have gone with a Mac mini.
But then I found work using C#.
|
|
|
|
|
Eric Lynch wrote: I guess I've been spoiled by Android. Simply fire up an emulator for free or purchase a device that is almost free.
You get what you pay for.
|
|
|
|
|
This is actually why I initially bought a Macbook: I wanted to develop occasionally on a Mac but my primary world was Windows. The Mac hardware is beautiful and runs Windows exceptionally well (faster than my desktop at the time, and my desktop was a beast) so I got a great laptop with fast Windows that allowed to develop on a Mac.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
Doh! Chris, you may have chagrined me
I began thinking about running macOS in a Windows VM (to save money). This may have led me to box in my thinking. I hate it when that happens.
Running Windows in a Mac VM, on a notebook, might work for me. It would buy me some portability and I'd get the Windows licenses for free with VS Pro. Less than ideal, from a cost perspective, but more useful than a Mac Mini, if I can get away with it.
Dang! Now I have to Google VM options for Mac. Any suggestions/preferences for best VM solutions on Mac (assuming this is an option)?
Probably, I should start a new topic.
EDIT: I would have given you two votes up for the knock on the noggin, but was limited to one
SECOND EDIT: Nope, doesn't make sense for me. I can buy a recent Mac Mini AND a Windows notebook for the about the same price as a recent MacBook. Seemed like a good idea at first, but the economics simply don't make sense.
modified 4-Nov-18 15:51pm.
|
|
|
|
|
Eric Lynch wrote: I can buy a recent Mac Mini AND a Windows notebook for the about the same price as a recent MacBook
This is a personal decision but I've had a few mac minis and the performance is on the wrong side of Really Awful. I'm also trying hard to find a Windows laptop that meets or exceeds what I get in a Macbook and so far nothing. The DELL and the Matebook has the webcams at the bottom of the screen so in conference calls everyone gets a gret view of your nostrils. You also need a shoehorn to open the Dell. The Yoga has those odd hinges that look like they'll scratch anything that comes within a foot of them. The Surface products have no USB-C. The Macbooks just feel so nice and have been unbelievably reliable (previous Windows laptops would last 18 months max).
I've tried VMs in macOS and it's just not there yet in terms of performance. I've tried Parallels and VMWare Fusion, and I'd lean more towards VMWare if I had to, but I tend to stick to Bootcamp (and in fact there's nothing stopping you from having both at the same time using the same Windows partition - it's actually kinda nice if perf isn't an issue)
The old Macbook Air is still, IMO, the best laptop they've made. The new ones have truly awful keyboards (esp. the arrow keys which I use all the time for programming). Another big knock against the newer Macbooks is that Apple have Thunderbolt initialisation in the OS, whereas Windows expects it to be in the firmware, so you don't get hot swappable Thunderbolt in Bootcamp. This means if you unplug an external monitor from the USB-C port in Bootcamp you need to restart your machine, otherwise your display will quickly start flickering and you'll lose connection.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
I've been running various Windows and Linux OSs in VirtualBox on my MBP since it was new in 2010.
|
|
|
|
|
Chris Maunder wrote: I've been waiting for the "perfect" laptop for over 20 years now
Youngster. I've been waiting 30 years for a laptop that's better than "it didn't suck."
BTW, for a basic tablet, I really like the Surface Go.
|
|
|
|
|
…at least they've gotten better than that stone tablet (and chisel) we used to lug around 
|
|
|
|
|
You were lucky to have a stone tablet and chisel; we had....
|
|
|
|
|
Not quite a laptop but ... kaypro portable [^]
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
|
|
|
|
|
My older brother used one of those for a while (he bought it from a neighbor after I sold my Apple II+ to buy a car.)
The first portable computer I used on a non-trivial basis was a Toshiba 3100[^]. It was heavy (16 pounds), but lighter than the Kaypro II (29 pounds).
|
|
|
|
|
Yes!! That was the first machine I learned to code on. What a blast from the past.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
I'd guess this couldn't be used for the massive scale dev you probably do, but, this might be of interest, Chris: Continuous: Professional C# and F# IDE for the iPad [^]Quote: What's New
Version History
Jul 12, 2018 Version 1.2
* C# 7 support
* Import files from other apps
* Support for Reflection
* Play button now shows full screen
If I had an iPad, I'd check this out: for US$9.99 on the Apple Store.
«Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?» T. S. Elliot
modified 2-Nov-18 22:24pm.
|
|
|
|
|
Now that is pretty cool! Probably not sufficient for me to move CodeProject development over to it, but we're getting there!
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just not a fan of them. I've tried to like them, but each time I pick one up and take it for a spin it just doesn't do it for me.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
Chris Maunder wrote: laptops will go the way of desktop PCs
What, they'll be around forever, because a hand-held device with a touch-screen will never attain the productivity levels of mouse & keyboard use?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
|
|
|
|
|
Firstly, If a keyboard and mouse is the pinnacle of human-computer interaction then I'm quitting this industry now. The keyboard and mouse are a stop-gap measure - a long term stop-gap measure - but one that needs to be replaced.
Secondly, I'm not suggesting that our current input methods will go. We still need keyboards and mice and big screens. The industry has been moving (for years) towards replacing desktops with laptops, and now laptops with tablets (surface, iPad Pro), and then it'll be foldable phones replacing tablets (eg the phones in Westworld[^]). All of these will, I assume, still allow us to connect to more spacious input and output devices.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
Chris Maunder wrote: Firstly, If a keyboard and mouse is the pinnacle of human-computer interaction then I'm quitting this industry now. The keyboard and mouse are a stop-gap measure - a long term stop-gap measure - but one that needs to be replaced.
Let's hope you never have to deal with Linux people: they think the pinnacle of human-computer interaction is typing on a keyboard. No mouse. No touch. No voice. No scroll. No click. No pen. Just tap.
|
|
|
|
|
My first 10 years of programming was in FORTRAN using vi in a research lab with a bunch of scientists who didn't trust these new fangled "PC" things. In 1996.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
|
Goodness. You've made about 5 people stare in awe at me, when I said "1996" . Most guesses were around 1981-1986.
Pointer arithmetic and stuff like that is why you can't let scientists develop software. I mean, someone had to invent the bloody things, but leave the actual programming to Computer Science.
|
|
|
|
|
Science would never get done if scientists weren't able to roll up their sleeves and hack something together. The apps are merely a means to an end.
This is why things like R and Python are so great. Easy to learn, powerful, readily available, and no C-snobbery to get in the way of your string and duct tape.
cheers
Chris Maunder
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
