MacBook Pro as Desktop Replacement?

[Jeremy Roussak]

Windows is essential for anyone who is serious about computing just as the Apple operating system is.  I just wish that there was a way to virtually emulate/use Apple in a Windows environment.  The only solution for me so far is to have both native systems. 

That rather depends on what you mean by "serious about computing", doesn't it?

Anyway, a moment's use of Google suggests the there are several ways of running MacOS in a virtualised environment under Windows.

Jeremy

[vjbelle]

Not as easy as you think...... certainly not as easy as running Windows on a Mac.  As far as 'serious about computing' is concerned I include anyone who uses PS in that category.  YMMV.....

Victor

[armand]

... As far as 'serious about computing' is concerned I include anyone who uses PS in that category.  YMMV.....

Victor

Why would someone need BOTH Windows and Mac to deal with PS? As far as I can see, either does it just fine.

[kers]

Windows is essential for anyone who is serious about computing just as the Apple operating system is.  I just wish that there was a way to virtually emulate/use Apple in a Windows environment.  The only solution for me so far is to have both native systems. 

Victor

What you desire is what i have:  a hackintosh...  works well, when made well.

[vjbelle]

Why would someone need BOTH Windows and Mac to deal with PS? As far as I can see, either does it just fine.

Yes...... I agree.  Just an assumption that someone using PS would be fairly advanced and may need the benefits of both operating systems - each of which has its strengths. 

Victor

[vjbelle]

What you desire is what i have:  a hackintosh...  works well, when made well.

Thought many times about building one but I really always need an Apple portable so that becomes my Mac and I always use a PC for my desktop so that is my Windows.  Has worked out well for me. 

Victor

[Jeremy Roussak]

Yes...... I agree.  Just an assumption that someone using PS would be fairly advanced and may need the benefits of both operating systems - each of which has its strengths. 

What benefits does Windows offer that the Mac doesn't? I post the question that way as a very long-term Mac user and programmer but merely a Windows dabbler, who knows the answer were it to be reversed.

Jeremy

[vjbelle]

Mostly, FMPOV, the exposure to a multitude of utility programs that can aid with file and folder issues.  I also find both operating systems to help with HD issues when one or the other will make it extremely difficult to even perform a simple whole disk format eliminating multiple partitions.  Difficult on one and easy on the other.  Programming should be very similar on either platform just as PS is. 

Off topic....... I read that you are getting a 7RM4 which I own.  I also own a GFX and a 4150.  I use the Sony mostly as a digital back on an Actus and feel that it has the finest files I have seen so far - coming very close to the quality of my 4150.  It's a marvelous camera that I'm sure you will enjoy...... at least I do.

Victor

[Chris Kern]

Programming should be very similar on either platform

I used to manage an IT staff that included some Windows and UNIX programmers.  (MacOS is an Applefied variant of UNIX with a proprietary graphical front-end.)  Each faction had some experience programming in the other environment.  The Windows programmers thought the UNIX environment was antiquated and obscure.  The UNIX programmers thought the Windows environment fought them every step of the way when they tried to write code for it.*

From an end-user's perspective―someone who just needs access to application software that is available on both platforms―I think personal familiarity and preference are much more significant than any intrinsic characteristics of the respective environments.
_____

*A veteran programmer once said, "Windows makes the hard things easy and the easy things hard."

[armand]

What benefits does Windows offer that the Mac doesn't? I post the question that way as a very long-term Mac user and programmer but merely a Windows dabbler, who knows the answer were it to be reversed.

Jeremy

It's like home schooling vs public schooling 

[vjbelle]

I think it's more like hand holding vs. 'You can do it just think it through'....

Victor

[Jeremy Roussak]

Off topic....... I read that you are getting a 7RM4 which I own.  I also own a GFX and a 4150.  I use the Sony mostly as a digital back on an Actus and feel that it has the finest files I have seen so far - coming very close to the quality of my 4150.  It's a marvelous camera that I'm sure you will enjoy...... at least I do.

Thanks for that. I've not bought it yet, but it's on my list for later this year.

Jeremy

[Manoli]

Thanks for that. I've not bought it yet, but it's on my list for later this year.

Edit:
Post moved to a new topic.
New Canon EOS R

[BobShaw]

What you desire is what i have:  a hackintosh...  works well, when made well.

I think he wants a new computer, not a new hobby.
It is just a tool, and I have never seen the benefit of building a hammer.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Edit:
Post moved to a new topic.
New Canon EOS R

I'll reply here, nevertheless: it's vaguely interesting, Manoli, and certainly sticking with Canon would save me from having to get a new set of lenses. On the other hand, my interest in video is precisely zero; and not much in that article suggests that it will be an outstanding still camera.

Jeremy

[Jeremy Roussak]

I think he wants a new computer, not a new hobby.
It is just a tool, and I have never seen the benefit of building a hammer.

Quite. How much is your time worth?

Jeremy

[Craig Lamson]

Quite. How much is your time worth?

Jeremy

My latest Hackintosh build was a one day affair, computer build and software install.  Since I've done nothing to "fix" anyting and I did an app store update to the the original loaded Catalina, which required no work on my part at all.  There are some really great tutorials available to build with these days and they spec hardware that works perfectly.

My household is filled with real Apple products (many phones and ipads) and computers that include a 2017 Imac, three Macbook Pros and a Mac Mini.  If Apple built a desktop that was not priced out of line like the current Mac Pro, I would have that instead of my Hack.

YMMV

[kers]

...
 If Apple built a desktop that was not priced out of line like the current Mac Pro, I would have that instead of my Hack.YMMV

+1 same reason I am on a hackintosh.
Also this new very expensive Macpro will be less fast than an upcoming iMac soon. ( or pay 17000$)
Intell has cut its price level on multicore i9  by halve because of the AMD competition.
If Apple does not use them in the upcoming iMac they are fools that want to protect the MacPro.
In my Hackintosh-box i could just switch the processor and anything! put in 128GB ram... 8 hdisks, 4 NVME bars on a PCIe-card in a raid0 configuration,  2 GPU's whatever!
all bought at the much lower current price level and not at the mac price level of introduction.

What benefits does Windows offer that the Mac doesn't? I post the question that way as a very long-term Mac user and programmer but merely a Windows dabbler, who knows the answer were it to be reversed.
Jeremy

In some important cases much cheaper hardware that is just as good, or better and made for the specific purpose.
The simple Windows-tower that is missing in the mac lineup.
software: a lot of interesting programs for instance lack of certain VR-software.
I bought a used mac laptop from a VRstudent that could not use a mac for school.


Having said that, the 16 inch macbookpro seems about the best they have made- only i would like 10.14 on it since i use 32bit software that is essential to me.

[Manoli]

I'll reply here, nevertheless: it's vaguely interesting, Manoli, and certainly sticking with Canon would save me from having to get a new set of lenses. On the other hand, my interest in video is precisely zero; and not much in that article suggests that it will be an outstanding still camera.

/* off-topic

Jeremy,

'Twas just a heads-up.  My interest, like yours, is not centred on video. Canon, having announced that moving forward their focus and development is on the new RF line, have some remarkable lenses with correspondingly remarkable pricing. None of their range is what I'd call mainstream and £2,800 for an 85, albeit an L f/1.2, is unlikely to be considered loose change by many. The RF signature images I'm seeing have piqued my interest - a pro body is all that's missing.

As that old maxim goes : " you marry your lenses but only date your bodies ... "

Manoli

[BJL]

What you desire is what i have:  a hackintosh...  works well, when made well.

Thought many times about building one but I really always need an Apple portable so that becomes my Mac and I always use a PC for my desktop so that is my Windows.  Has worked out well for me. 

These comments are interesting, because they remind me of a difference I see between Apple and Microsoft. Not the cliché that "Apple is hardware, Microsoft software", but that a core Apple strength is offering integrated products, coordinating hardware with software, and these days also with services; Microsoft is mostly a parts maker, to both the trade and retail. Laptops and phones fit the integrated product model well, and AFAIK, laptops are a far bigger proportion of Mac sales than is typical of Windows PC makers. (Microsoft is instead far better placed for the cost sensitive/hobbyist DIY "desktop" computer market, and more generally for cost sensitive customers.)

So I am not surprised that Apple's most appealing (and likely best selling) high-end model is a MacBook Pro rather than a Mac Pro.