Mac or Windows

[ArnieCarnie]

Next year im about to start a computer science degree, would you recommend a Mac or Windows and Why?

[79wjd]

Whichever you prefer to use. Both are good for CS. 

[Xanthe_2871]

1 minute ago, ArnieCarnie said:

Next year im about to start a computer science degree, would you recommend a Mac or Windows and Why?

I would recommend windows because macs are good for specific uses, and if you have to ask the question, then you probably won't benefit from the higher priced macs. 

[79wjd]

Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

I would recommend windows because macs are good for specific uses, and if you have to ask the question, then you probably won't benefit from the higher priced macs. 

Mac's aren't really any more expensive than any other ultrabook. 

[Evil Genius Jr.]

2nd year computer engineering student here. I have a PC and get along fine, however if I had to do it again I would get a Mac, especially if the new ones are any good.

A couple of the classes at my university require a Unix environment. For a PC user this involves dual booting or installing a buggy VM image from the professor. The mac students can do everything right from the command line. It is also incredibly easy for them to install a VM with windows on it, basically removing the downside.

If you want a PC over a mac because of different hardware specs or price then that's a no brainer. But if you're really stuck I'd take a good look at the possible courses you might take and see if they require unix, if so you would be very happy with a mac.

 

[Wyzzy Moon]

personal preference, mac, windows or even linux is all fine. Only relevant if you need software that is only available for one.
However, if you want both, installing windows on a mac is easier than installing MacOS on a pc

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, Evil Genius Jr. said:

2nd year computer engineering student here. I have a PC and get along fine, however if I had to do it again I would get a Mac, especially if the new ones are any good.

A couple of the classes at my university require a Unix environment. For a PC user this involves dual booting or installing a buggy VM image from the professor. The mac students can do everything right from the command line. It is also incredibly easy for them to install a VM with windows on it, basically removing the downside.

If you want a PC over a mac because of different hardware specs or price then that's a no brainer. But if you're really stuck I'd take a good look at the possible courses you might take and see if they require unix, if so you would be very happy with a mac.

 

FWIW, I'm also a CS student and I do a lot of my work in a Linux VM provided by the courses/school and I never had any buggyness issues (although, I also do a decent bit of work through command line when I have a non-local VM -- i.e. the school provides a physical VM that I can SSH into). Depending on how the code is graded/ran, it's a good idea to develop in the same environment that it will be tested in.

[Xanthe_2871]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

Mac's aren't really any more expensive than any other ultrabook. 

That's true. While high end windows machines do match macs in price, there aren't really 'cheap' macs like there are cheap windows machines. He is a college student, after all. 

[79wjd]

Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

That's true. While high end windows machines do match macs in price, there aren't really 'cheap' macs like there are cheap windows machines. He is a college student, after all. 

Yes, but someone who is considering spending $1000+ on a Mac will also probably be looking at similarly priced windows computers. (plus cheap windows computers are miserable to use)

[Wyzzy Moon]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

Yes, but someone who is considering spending $1000+ on a Mac will also probably be looking at similarly priced windows computers. (plus cheap windows computers are miserable to use)

cheap ones (300-500) are miserable but there are decent windows laptops in the 6-800 area. And that's still a few hundred bucks cheaper than a mac

[Akolyte]

Personally, I would recommend Linux, so Windows.  Unless you are going to get into app development and need Xcode, Microsoft has really good tools at your disposal like Visual Studio Community, Microsoft Academy is great because it gives you a bunch of resources for a bunch of Microsoft products, tools and services like c#, ASP.net, Powershell, SQL Server etc. 

 

Linux is probably the best though because it's free (as in free fries) and you have access to way more open and free tools and resources, it's a better programming environment and it's also easier to write tools for in my opinion because you've got so many libraries, languages and free software already on there, you can access or do anything which makes writing software that interacts with the OS, Kernel easier and also gives you exposure to the fantastic Linux and free software community which I would totally work for. 

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, Mike_The_B0ss said:

Personally, I would recommend Linux, so Windows.  Unless you are going to get into app development and need Xcode, Microsoft has really good tools at your disposal like Visual Studio Community, Microsoft Academy is great because it gives you a bunch of resources for a bunch of Microsoft products, tools and services like c#, ASP.net, Powershell, SQL Server etc. 

 

Linux is probably the best though because it's free (as in free fries) and you have access to way more open and free tools and resources, it's a better programming environment and it's also easier to write tools for in my opinion because you've got so many libraries, languages and free software already on there, you can access or do anything which makes writing software that interacts with the OS, Kernel easier and also gives you exposure to the fantastic Linux and free software community which I would totally work for. 

You do realize OS X is far more like Linux than Windows is....right? 

Plus, he likely won't need Visual studio or SQL Server (if he takes a databases course it will probably use MySQL). 

[DogeOfTech]

I'd say go for a Mac if you can, and then boot camp windows onto it. In the tos for apple, you're not "allowed" to download MacOS onto a non-Mac product.

[Akolyte]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

You do realize OS X is far more like Linux than Windows is....right? 

Plus, he likely won't need Visual studio or SQL Server (if he takes a databases course it will probably use MySQL). 

Oh, I know OSX is far more like Linux.  It's based on BSD is it not?  Unix-based? 

 

But in my opinion why should you get a mac and be in a Unix environment that is restricted when you could be in a Unix environment that isn't restricted. There is so much more to explore and do on Linux than there is on Windows and OSX.  Buying something like the Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu edition would be far better (in my opinion) than buying a Mac or Windows laptop.  The biggest reason for Windows over a Mac is that on Windows there are more open and free software available for it, and better IDEs.  Sure, you can argue that you can use Xcode, Xamarin or Ecplise on OSX, but Visual Studio (in my opinion) far out performs those.  (c++ or c# or ASP.net) 

 

And with Microsoft Virtual Academy behind that.  You've got a powerful FREE learning resource for anything you might run into while on Windows. 

[Wyzzy Moon]

2 minutes ago, DogeOfTech said:

I'd say go for a Mac if you can, and then boot camp windows onto it. In the tos for apple, you're not "allowed" to download MacOS onto a non-Mac product.

And can be a real pain on a laptop.
(I use a hackbook as a daily laptop for school, and it's awesome, but I wouldn't recommend it)

[itsmyjobtoknow]

15 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Yes, but someone who is considering spending $1000+ on a Mac will also probably be looking at similarly priced windows computers. (plus cheap windows computers are miserable to use)

 

I would beg to differ, my 350USD laptop (with an added 256GB SSD) is one of the better laptop I've used after 2 full years of CS and I've gone through 2 other 500USD - 600USD 2 in 1 that barely was able to compile simple code in C++ and had much lower spec then my current one. 

[Enderman]

26 minutes ago, Evil Genius Jr. said:

2nd year computer engineering student here. I have a PC and get along fine, however if I had to do it again I would get a Mac, especially if the new ones are any good.

A couple of the classes at my university require a Unix environment. For a PC user this involves dual booting or installing a buggy VM image from the professor. The mac students can do everything right from the command line. It is also incredibly easy for them to install a VM with windows on it, basically removing the downside.

If you want a PC over a mac because of different hardware specs or price then that's a no brainer. But if you're really stuck I'd take a good look at the possible courses you might take and see if they require unix, if so you would be very happy with a mac.

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/265900/everything-you-can-do-with-windows-10s-new-bash-shell/

[CookieMaster]

Windows, you will save money and will be able to do more. Easier to make programs for windows vs mac in my opinion. 

 

[Wyzzy Moon]

2 minutes ago, CookieMaster said:

Windows, you will save money and will be able to do more. Easier to make programs for windows vs mac in my opinion. 

 

depends on the programs, it's easier to make mac programs on mac

[79wjd]

 

24 minutes ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

 

I would beg to differ, my 350USD laptop (with an added 256GB SSD) is one of the better laptop I've used after 2 full years of CS and I've gone through 2 other 500USD - 600USD 2 in 1 that barely was able to compile simple code in C++ and had much lower spec then my current one. 

So you're saying that the third POS you got was better than the first two overpriced PsOS?

 

You can compile a simple C++ program on a literal potato. 

[itsmyjobtoknow]

8 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

 

So you're saying that the third POS you got was better than the first two overpriced PsOS?

 

You can compile a simple C++ program on a literal potato. 

My third "PoS" was a Broadwell i3 with a 1080p display. It was more powerful and cheaper then the first two PoS that were more expensive and had an Intel Atom processor. Dual core and Quad-core respectively. 

 

Mind you, at the time (2 years ago) most 2 in 1 were PoS, but were bloody useful when you had a presentation.

 

And yes, I could compile C++ on a potato, but it would be slow at it.

[Pendragon]

33 minutes ago, Mike_The_B0ss said:

Buying something like the Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu edition would be far better (in my opinion) than buying a Mac or Windows laptop.

Stole the words right out of my mouth

 

54 minutes ago, ArnieCarnie said:

Next year im about to start a computer science degree, would you recommend a Mac or Windows and Why?

Um Linux > Mac > Windows in that order for me. Linux you're going to have to be willing to always tinker. One of my engineering friends gave up on Linux after every update on his custom version broke his multi monitor setup and he just got frustrated and went with a Mac. Like everyone mentioned above, Macs are expensive. Linux has tons of software incompatibilities with programs and while running VMs are great on Linux, it's still annoying. You'll probably want to consult the school to see what environment you'll be developing in and find out which is more suitable. 

[NA_NotAvailable]

Get a PC then make it a hackintosh.:) like a pro.

 

Mac is Linux with a pretty facelift.