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Mac (potentially) for Engineers/Developers who use Windows.. Recommended or not? What issues did you encounter?

shabaz

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has made the transition from Windows to Mac and what difficulties were encountered. (I don't wish to move to a Linux desktop; as much as I love Linux for development, I would not like it for a desktop).

I need to start considering replacing my laptop, and it's tempting, from looking at the hardware specifications alone, to buy a Macbook Pro. 

However, I will have some legacy software that uses Windows. ARM64 Windows can run in a VM, and ARM64 Windows will perform x86 emulation, but I can't tell if x64 emulation is supported. I also have no idea, with typical engineering software, what problems may occur with connecting USB devices like debuggers. I don't know which hypervisor is most suitable for that.

For sure I'd need to move over to native Mac software to minimise the need to bring up a VM, but for a year or two at least, I'm sure I'd need a Windows VM to make as much of a transition as possible.

Depending on the above, I'd also need to think about whether it is worth it - because there would be a productivity hit since I've never used a Mac (apart from for a week or two about 15 years ago, when I decided to give it a go, and I didn't get on with it. Maybe I didn't make enough effort).

Any thoughts/opinions are gratefully appreciated!

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  • I love my new M3 Mac. It builds my project 5 times faster than the earlier 4 core i7 Intel Mac. I have Crossover for LTSpice and Parallels for other Windows only EE tools. I use docker for all the MCU builds now, so I do not rely on installed SDKs.

  • in reply to ggabe

    That's good to know! I need to get in the habit of using Docker more often, it will really help keep the machine clean. 

    I'm pretty much sold on the Mac simply because of the processor performance and the huge GPU memory possible if/when needed, with the Unified mem. My current laptop still seems to be trundling along on its last legs so I didn't get around to seeing any at the Apple store, but looking forward to doing that soon within the next week or two. 

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  • in reply to ggabe

    That's good to know! I need to get in the habit of using Docker more often, it will really help keep the machine clean. 

    I'm pretty much sold on the Mac simply because of the processor performance and the huge GPU memory possible if/when needed, with the Unified mem. My current laptop still seems to be trundling along on its last legs so I didn't get around to seeing any at the Apple store, but looking forward to doing that soon within the next week or two. 

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