From Windows to Mac and Windows

 

 

 

Updated: 9/10/2011 – I’ve added Diigo Awesome Screenshot to my list of  software I use on my Mac.
Updated: 8/5/2011 – I’ve added Diagrammix to my list of Software that I use on my Mac. It has fairly decent Flow Charting capabilities, it’s $15 and it runs on Lion.

 

I’ve slowly been removing the Windows computers in my house over the past year. They’re not all gone, I still have a few to replace but for the most part I’m now operating on mac hardware nearly 90% of the time when I’m in my home.

This isn’t really a post about mac vs. windows or why I think one is better than the other. I switched for my own reasons and windows continues to remain a big part of my professional life. Today however, I feel like I get to run both of the best operating systems in the market today… side by side. Resulting in access to great applications in both environments which allow me to do the things I want.
So, what I’ll do is share my thoughts, applications and tips on how a windows person can operate in both a windows and mac environment over several posts.
If you’re going to migrate to a mac and still need to run windows then you’ll absolutely need to get familiar with virtualization. There are several options available. I personally have selected VM Ware Fusion though I’ve heard many good comments about Parallels and Boot Camp. Thus far, I have no reason to dislike the VM Ware product. I will add this comment though. Don’t skimp on memory when buying your machine. Running both windows 7 and OSx side by side seems to put some overhead on things…. even with a 64bit i7 core.
I’ve installed both instances of Windows Server and Windows 7 and have settled on that later.

Virtualization Options

Having virtualization in place allows me to continue using the Microsoft developer tools that I rely on:
  • IIS
  • SQL Server
  • VS.Net
  • Fiddler – Get Charles Web Debugging Proxy for your mac http debugging, it’s similar to Fiddler but not free.
And also run:
  • XCode
One downside to VS.Net seems to be debugging. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to map my keyboard debugging keys for VS.Net. This is a major bummer and I hope to resolve it soon. Comment if you’ve been able to do this.
I’ve not installed any other software on my Windows 7 virtual. I want to see if I can accomplish everything that I need to accomplish using the mac and so far I have been able to do so though some things aren’t the same but some are better. Set yourself up a shared folder between the two operating systems to share files. It comes in handy for things such as image sharing if you have the need.

Software

I installed Microsoft Office 11 for the mac. It seems to do the job. If I had any complaints thus far they’d be:

  • Outlook for mac suffers with volume. I have 20K+ emails in my Gmail Account and Outlook on the mac isn’t too swift at dealing with them
  • Spell check in Outlook for mac sucks. I’d have to classify this as simply not working right. I’m more productive in gmail.com than I am in a fat client. It’s not supposed to be that way.
SnagIt for mac hasn’t been the same great experience I’m used to on windows. I downloaded the trial but was disappointed so I’m not purchasing for the mac. The software does a good job at snipping but seems to fail when copying to the clipboard. 90% of what I use a snipping tool for is either documentation or to copy something into an email. When that doesn’t work then what’s the point of purchasing the tool? I’ve been trying Little Snapper but it’s just not the same. SnagIt sets the bar very high. I guess I’m puzzled as to why it doesn’t work so well on the mac, I wish it would.
MindNode Pro is an amazingly simple Mind Mapping tool that is not available on Windows. Nor will you find anything like it in either Visio or SmartDraw (which happens to be fantastic). I’ve introduced this tool to 3 other people that I work with and they have all purchased copies for either their iPad or mac books. I’m running it on every piece of mac hardware I own. It’s under 20 bucks and well worth the investment.
For image editing, I’d love to have Photoshop but it’s just too much money to personally own. I’m not a professional graphics designer or artist so I cannot really justify that kind of investment for me. I got turned on to Pixelmater and I’ve been blown away. It’s under $30 bucks and if you’re an amateur graphics person like me it’s all you need and it will allow you to open original layered photoshop files and edit, save, export etc. Thus far, best buy for my money, you’re gonna think it’s photoshop… I love this software.