Hi

 

I am not sure if it really matters but just out curiosity what operating system is best suited for a development environment? I have toyed with idea of getting a mac or changing my current operating system so i have a better environment for my developments.

All views would be appreciated.

Regards

Chris

Yea, there have been several threads about it here. I've seen constant debates between PC and Mac and honestly, I think this is just another thing that's completely up to your personal choice as a web designer.

 

And then you have me..... a designer / developer who uses Linux as his primary OS. I actually enjoy surprising people when I tell them this.

 

Whatever gets the job done. I have a spare Windows laptop just in case I need it for anything, but haven't touched it in months.

Edited April 8, 201313 yr by Pete Prosper

You are talking about tools, and the meaning of tools is to get the job done. Have you ever asked yourself which brand of scirrors should you use to cut a piece of paper?

Whatever fits you is fine. If you don't know which tools should you use, I can give you my setup.

 

OS: Win 7

Browser (for test): Chrome + Firefox

Devel: Notepad++

Devel server: Uniform Server (WAMP)

Testing server: Ubuntu (LAMP) on a virtual machine

Versioning: TortoiseHg + Mercurial (keep track of your code!)

Backup: Bitbucket + Dropbox + Another physical local computer

Best development environment? Theoretically speaking, out of the box *nix systems (like Ubuntu or Mac OS X) are the better option. The primary reason for this is the pre-bundled components that come with these OSs. With Windows there are often work-arounds or third-party equivalents. You do need lots of time for Ubuntu, generally speaking, since it often requires numerous "plugins/hacks" to get it fully working on whatever hardware you buy. It's free, and very powerful though!

 

As Terix mentioned, he uses WAMP, whereas Apache is pre-bundled with a number of *nix distributions, including OS X. Python is pre-bundled and you also get Terminal. There's more than that, but you get the gist. The *nix environment is generally better packaged as a development environment, but that's not to say that Windows can't be tailored accordingly.

 

Switching to a Mac, or any other *nix distribution, may have a negative effect on your workflow if you've been using Windows for years. I'm slow on Windows now, because I'm used to OS X. Whatever you're used to.

Could be wrong as I'm not a developer but I don't think it matters that much and depends on what you're used to. I've used Windows most my life, dabbled with Ubuntu but suited to OS X. I'm not suggesting that OS X is the best, but it works best for me. The only real tools I use for it in terms of development would be Sublime Text 2, Codekit and MAMP. There's a lot more software I use, but the majority of it is cross platform. I recently downloaded XCode and looking to get stuck into that when I get some time.

 

I used to run in Nike but my preference is New Balance. I still run the same speed but I prefer New Balance. Same could be said with operating systems. I may use a Mac, but regardless, my development skills are rubbish

That's a good point 4li4s. You hear so many people saying "I want to be good at designing - should I get a Mac?". The same for developing.

 

I'm not saying that Chris is asking that by any means, but the OS you choose to develop on will not directly affect your development abilities. It's not like when you setup Linux, you suddenly master Objective-C!

 

That said, I can't imagine your development skills are "rubbish"!

Edited April 9, 201313 yr by andy9l

Ultimately it all comes down to personal preference. What are you used too?

 

I personally prefer using OS X, pretty much only because it's what I've been using for the last 3 years. Another big plus that I've just discovered with upgrading to 10.8.3 is multi-tasking features like Launchpad, and the ability to run multiple virtual desktops at once - you can have all your apps open fullscreen and switch between them with gestures. I've found this pretty helpful especially when going from Photoshop to HTML/CSS.

Like what everybody is saying, it really boils down to preference.

 

Whatever operating system you would use as long as it gets the job done, go for it.

 

Just an additional point for designers though, you might want to go for the retina macbooks as they render the near perfection quality you could see on a screen. If you are particular with colors, then that might be worth noting. It's more of a hardware issue than software though.