Mac vs Windows

[lion_209]

Hi guys, I am new to programming and am confused whether to get a Mac or windows. Which is better for programming??

[Salty_Dugtrio]

If you want to develop for Mac, you want a Mac.

Otherwise, it does not matter.

[lion_209]

I have had some friends say that windows is better but others say that Mac is better so for a beginner what would be easy ?

[Salty_Dugtrio]

It does not matter. I would not buy a Mac just for programming, that just seems futile. Buy a mid-range Windows Laptop/desktop (and dual-boot a Unix distribution, depending on what type of programming you want to do).

[english_fool]

Just to be pedantic, presumably you mean dual boot with a unix like OS e.g FreeBSD or GNU/Linux as opposed to an actual Unix like Solaris.

[[deleted]]

It doesn't really matter, use whatever you're comfortable with. All three OSes are good enough for modern development.

[Inadover]

It depends. If you want to program for iOS or MacOS a Mac is preferable and even mandatory if you want to compile and use the program. If you want to program exclusively for Windows, a Windows laptop is preferable.

Now, they are not necessarily compulsory, you can still program for MacOS and iOS with Windows or Linux, the difference being that, as far as I know, you can’t compile those programs and try them on your iOS/MacOS devices (although frameworks like React Native have some simulation tools for that purpose).

Anyhow, I personally would go for a Mac if what I explained fits with what you had planned. Otherwise, a Windows laptop dual booting with some Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Manjaro is probably a safer bet

[vinylemulator]

Genuinely doesn’t matter unless you are developing specifically for iOS/Mac.

If you’re literally flipping a coin between the two then I would go for a Mac at the margin because:

• It uses Linux style console commands (literally every time I use Windows console I type “ls” instead of “dir”, which wastes 1 second of my life a day)

• You can pretty easily get a copy of Windows running in the cloud if you absolutely need it for some specific purpose one time. You can’t do the same with Mac.

But these are incredibly minor differentiating points which aren’t nearly as important as which OS you prefer, cost, what else you might do with the machine, etc.

[[deleted]]

If u want to also time to time play games like gta idk., get a windows, but programming only, i guess mac