Moving to a Mac

I never said that all corporates use Windows for servers and in my experience the vast majority do not use Unix based servers, although I could name a few that do use big Unix boxes.  But I could also name more that use Windows 2000 server boxes.  It is quite common to see MS SQL Server running on a cluster of Windows boxes.  Yes Oracle and MS SQL Server do feature highly but personally I prefer the MS product.

My next puter will be a mac.

Huh?

The vast majority of installed servers (of any type) are in fact *nix-based (including Linux in its various flavors, Solaris and Mac OS X); once you start to include firewalls or other appliance-level proxy devices, (embedded) Windows Server solutions are no longer feasible, cost-effective or functional enough.  The times have changed, and the days of six-figure MCSE positions will never come back.

I possess only two devices that run Windows full-time; both function as legacy servers which got much use over the last five years for imaging & deployment development, but see very little use now.  There are (well) over two handfuls of devices here that run various flavors of Linux (or Mac OS X) and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

If one starts to include Android and iOS as well, Windows devices are now clearly in the minority worldwide.  I would not hire someone in 2014 whose sole platform experience was with Windows-based solutions, unless I was running a refurb shop.

Well I can think of a few of my old clients (City based dealing floors & large Insurance groups) that still use win2kx servers for app servers (.net components/aspc) and database servers.  Also some peeps do not like to use Mono on Apache, especially after Attachmate wielded the axe.  IIS is a better supported option here but I am sure you will disagree.

I know that Win2kx were in common use up  until 1 year ago because I was working on them.  So its changed that quickly has it?

My old company (I am still a partner until the finances are sorted) still have plenty of work in this environment.  They certainly would not look for projects writing Android/IOS apps unless it was connected to some other mission-critical project.

One thing you are right about is that desktops/laptops (not just windows devices) are in decline, but I doubt that at the moment a futures trader (for example) would be that happy if you gave him an iPad and said get on with it.  No they still have their place and go into any Dealing Floor/Back Office or large corporate and win PCs are still much more in evidence than Apple machines.

And as much as it pains me to congratulate MS do you know what market share they now have in the Phone/Tablet market with win8 devices?  The answer might surprise you and I can see it increasing because the concept behind win8 makes more sense than Android or IOS - not that means it will be the biggest of course.

btw I did not say that the vast majority of servers (of all types) were win based I said that the vast majority of servers (of all types) were not Unix based and I stand by that.  Vast majority I would take to be 90+%.

When I was working at BT we used MS based products, but we also had a quite large IT supporting said machines, one phone call normally sorted them out, "have you switched it off and on?"  it's a lot different when it's your home machine and you don't have that level of support. So quite easy to a maybe biased view of said products.

Your guesstimate as to server numbers are, with all due respect, wrong, and even a prosumer site such as The Register would probably concur.  My current work involves a Tier 1 (cloud) storage vendor with extensive history on a variety of platforms, and I can assure you that their numbers are definitely pretty accurate.

I too loved Win2K, but its time has passed--and I still set my desktop appearance to Windows Classic (with a blue background!) in tribute, when I must use Windows in a VM.

Desktop-browser based apps on low-cost, Linux-powered virtualized servers are very much the norm on this side of the pond, as well as in continental Europe. Qt skills have suddenly become very much in demand as well, relative to the glut of .NET / Mono folks that were earning a decent living (and will for a little while longer).

As noted previously in this thread, there also seem to be a lot more OS X machines than I remember seeing before the dawn of the iPhone / iPad, especially within industries where their build quality & premium price is seen to be an asset (no pun intended) rather than a concern.  Nearly every developer I know walks around with a MacBook Pro, often to run Linux (Ubuntu or Fedora etc.) on it.

Even in the defense-industrial and automotive spaces, Linux (and QNX) have very much walked away with the greater portion of Microsoft's business due to their inability to streamline their licensing model for embedded and enterprise installations.

As far as electronic trading goes - the real work here (on this side of the pond, in Eastern Europe, and in the Far East) happens on specialized hardware (CUDA, graphics co-processors, FPGAs) and extremely tweaked software, and definitely considered proprietary (custom Linux builds, tweaked network drivers, QuickAssist acceleration, etc.).

The times have most definitely changed--three to five years ago, I'd have largely agreed with your assertions regarding the corporate space...the great thing about this is that much of this technology flows back into this (the hi-fi) industry at a lower cost.

Yeah DavidDever I was obviously imagining things the last time I went round a machine room in the London offices of one of the World's top 5 Insurance companies and one of the largest Investment Banks in the UK.

Or the London Stock Exchange - oh wait - didn't they end up changing their Windows / .NET-based trading systems to Linux a few years ago, so that they could catch up with their competitors (most of these systems also running on an RT-patched Linux)? Strange innit.

The snail's pace of start up was one of the reasons I ditched Windows based PCs.  Delving into the start-up menu and cutting down on the number of programmes which load automatically didn't seem to help much.  My MacBook Pro is a Porsche v Trabant in comparison. 

Well, my original post has morphed somewhat. All I can say is that I'm very pleased so far with the Macbook Pro.  The feel, build and overall response are leagues ahead of even the Vaio.  And yes, a fast start up is rather nice.  I really like it - so Ive just treated it to a rather nice leather slip case which fits like a fine glove. Mmmmm...  

All Mac since falling in love with the original Macintosh in the 80s but have to use Windoze at work - client and servers - although with virtualised servers /SAN installed (VMware & Sphere) - Linux virtual servers are starting to replace Win boxes. Finance still run bespoke Windows / SQL Server software.

However - there is now a standalone Mac network for 'creatives'  and an increasing number like myself rely on their MacBook Pros during the day.

At home a mixture of iMacs, Mac Minis and MacBooks rule the roost with the exception of a Unix box providing music serving duties. Most important of all the Mac Mini dedicated to Plex has replaced the cable box. 

Enjoy the MacBook Pro Richard - it will go on and on - and hold a good secondhand price. My favourite model was my trusty 12 inch aluminium PowerBook which I took everywhere with me in 2003/4 - my last but one MacBook Pro is currently being used to serve Spotify up to my Dac V1.

Tog

No idea what the London Stock Exchange use and I wouldn't say they were a competitor of a large Investment Bank would you.

Anyway David I think we have traded insults back and forward enough, others will be getting fed up reading our rants.  So this is my last post on the subject and, therefore you are more than welcome to have the last word.

It's true, Apple users are w@nk€rs 

(It's a link)

... one of the advantages of the Retina screen

Yes Carbon Copy Clone is the way to go, I use it myself. 

I knew it!

I did the jump in February after 9 years of PC.

The Mac does have much to commend it.  But it is not quite the computing nirvana people so easily make out.  Also, be prepared for some familiar and helpful Windows functionality to be missing (which I do find irritating).

Any creeky old windows in your house !!

...and you wouldn't be able to that with most flimsily built Windows-based laptops.

Though not a problem for my Thinkpad, my daughters Vaio or even my sons 9 year old Acer.....

Willy.

Great to see someone found a use for an Apple machine - FINALLY!

Well, having actually bought an iMac, and having given my Windows laptop to my eldest daughter, I have now found at least one thing that is TOTALLY CRAP on the Mac.

This is the RENAME function.  Having just returned from visiting the 'out-laws' (aka in-laws) in Malta, I have a large collection of photos taken by SWMBO to edit and rename.  On the PC, a five minute job - copy in the photos from the SDHC card, load them up into Photo Gallery, apply any minor edits required (usually just red-eye), delete the obvious duds, then select various files for batch rename (right-click, rename) and hey presto, renamed with same name (e.g. Malta) and all will receive the filename Malta plus a sequential number.

On the Mac?  No facility built into filer to accomplish this VERY simple function.  No, you have to use another application.  Automator will apparently do the job, but you've got to "program" it first, and it's not immediately obvious to me how to do this, so I'm going to have to work it out tonight - either that or do the process on SWMBO's laptop.

I thought Mac's were supposed to be friendly.   Hummppphhh

I should also add that "Shift-left select" to select multiple files is IMO 'broken' on the Mac.  In anything other than list view (on my iMAC) selecting one file (other than the first in a directory) then clicking shift-select elsewhere in the folder window, only additionally selects that file and the one originally selected, rather than all the ones in between as well.   Bloody annoying if you are using the icon view and trying to select multiple photos taken at the same event.   Even my old Archimedes filing system got that bit right, and making batch renames worked just the same as Windows.

And for those Mac users who think XLD is an adequate substitute for dBpoweramp - it ain't.  You would really need to add at least an ID tag editor to get something like the same functionality.  Still, at least the full Mac version will be issued some time this year. (he said, hopefully)

At least the Mac doesn't want to install updates every five minutes ...

CMD - A will select all files in a folder.

Examine iPhoto and you will probably find that you do not need to rename the image files as the files will be in project or activity related folders.

Failing this book some time at a Genius bar in an Apple shop and learn how to do the things you want to do.

Have your bought and READ any of the transferring books on how to get things done on a Mac compared to a 'doze machine.

Have you looked out for a Mac user group in your area?? They are a great place to get help.

CMD-A is great if you want to select ALL the files in a folder, but there is a need to be able to select a subset of contiguous files from ANY point in the folder.  Select-CLICK (at least on my iMac) only does this if in LIST view (or if you choose to select from the first file in the folder in other views) - hence my opinion that it is 'broken'.

Batch rename is not JUST for photos, so the comment re iPhoto is not helpful.  I have already set up Automator to do this function, but object to having had to spend time learning how to configure that program.  Why couldn't Apple have included simple batch rename as part of Finder?

I have no intention of putting all of our >200GB of photos into iPhoto!  I use iPhoto as a sort of Mac equivalent of  Windows Photo Gallery - for simple review and editing of recently taken photos (mainly red-eye, and occasional exposure correction or cropping).  The photos themselves are stored on one of our NAS drives, with external HDD backups, of course.  Just think how long it would take to put all of those photos into iPhoto and 'arrange' them.  Simple batch rename was/is part of the filing system (Finder equivalent) on Windows and Acorn machines.

I am not an idiot, Derek.  Of course I have purchased a couple of books on moving to Mac.  I even read one of them cover-to-cover, and dip into the other to look things up.(Switching To The Mac - The Missing Manual - Mavericks version).  I am pretty certain I will also need to buy a 'missing manual' type book to fully get to grips with the version of iWorks installed on my iMac, as I intend to use this rather than purchase a Mac version of MS Office.

I have owned many computers over the years : Sinclair Spectrum, BBC B, other Acorn Computers from Archimedes to RISCPC, various Windows computers from XP onwards.  I have also extensively used earlier Macs (including my youngest daughter's now 6 year old Macbook), and various MSDOS machines, Commodores, Ataris and Windows computers from 3.0 onwards.  I have rarely come across a problem I couldn't solve for myself by logic, reference to manuals, reference to internet.

My only contact with computer user groups are previous membership of an Acorn User Group, where I was usually one of those GIVING advice, rather than receiving it.  My nearest Apple Shop is Leicester (about 20-25 miles away), so I don't really feel like going all the way across there every time I can't solve something myself.  In fact, you will note that I do not say I don't know how to do something, only that IMO the Mac way is sometimes seems rather cack-handed and unnecessarily convoluted.  As with all other things, I will only learn by continued use, but will not actually try something until I have a need or wish to actually do it - after all, life is too short for that sort of activity unless it happens to be your job!

Every type of computer I have ever owned has had its own quirks and peculiarities (good and bad), and the Mac is no exception.  Although I am overall happy with the iMac (especially the lovely big retina screen), it is not perfect.  I just get tired of comments saying basically 'mac is always better'.  I am just agreeing with JWM that a Mac is not Nirvana (incidentally, JWM, I have the same initials!)

John