Sorry for the delay... haven't been getting notifications for my comments :/

You have probably already made your decision but...

I'm loving my Mac. I ended up with Macbook Pro 15". It took me a few weeks to get used to the new keystrokes (e.g. there is no HOME/END/TOP/BOTTOM) but I'm pretty proficient in it these days after many months :)

All in all, I can see why people use Macs. The hardware *feels* really good... keyboard, case, touchpad, etc. So far I haven't had any "issues" that are major.

If I had to do it again, I'd definitely get the Mac.

Hi Katy!

I ended up getting a Mac last week. So far I'm quite pleased :) But, it cost about 3 times what I would have spent on a Windows machine! Crazy. I did splurge though and got a 512GB SSD so it's very fast.

I haven't done much with it except install all sorts of apps and set up MAMP to try out Drupal sites that way. I'll likely do a VM with Linux as well.

You going to DrupalCon Portland? If so, let's meet up!

Kristen

Do you use the touchpad? That is the issue for me. If you use an external mouse and turn off the touchpad, then I imagine it would work fine. That isn't an option for me as I like to move my computer to different places and the mouse isn't viable in some cases (like if my computer is actually on my lap).

Also, if you are using the touchpad but happen to type in such a way that you never accidentally touch the touchpad while typing, then maybe it wouldn't be annoying to you. My husband is using Ubuntu 12.04 with a new Toshiba laptop and he finds it somewhat annoying but not nearly as annoying as I do.

Thanks, the other Simon!

Yes, too many toys, too little time :)

I'm still dubious that the linux-laptop vendors have figure out the touchpad to my satisfaction... I was playing with some Windows laptops at Best Buy yesterday and they are triggering when I pause in typing and my hand is touching the far side of the touchpad. I found that the Macbook Pro I tested did *not* do this (I could rest my hand on the touchpad while typing and it wouldn't do anything weird).

The Best Buy guy claims this is due to how the touchpads are manufactured... Mac is like a smartphone (glass and can deal with touch via biometrics) whereas the PCs just go by pressure... I haven't research it yet, but it seems like he might be correct.

Another vote for Lenovo... they must be doing something right ;)

I returned the Toshiba as it was within the 30 day return window at Best Buy. I was impressed at how easy it was to return it, actually. I was expecting some fuss because my husband bought it and he was out of town so I didn't know if they would let me return it or not. My husband still has a Toshiba (same type I got) and does find it somewhat annoying but I think he's going to keep it since he thinks he'll get used to the quirkiness.

Thanks for the details... yes, I agree that trying them in the store is the best option for now (unless I can borrow one for a few days to really give it a workout ;) I found the trackpad on the Macbook Pro I tried in Best Buy to be fine as far as I could tell... but I was standing up and not using it in a "real life" situation. I'll go back and try some more though.

Here's another story of a Windows/Linux => Mac convert! I wonder if there is anyone out there that has used a Mac for awhile and went the other way (to Linux or Windows). Perhaps I need to do some research! The main reasons I see for *not* using a Mac are cost and fixability (for newer hardware). I'm not sure there are any other reasons though.

Awesome! Sounds like the Lenovo is a great machine :) I've heard this from several folks. Good to know it is so fast with the VMs... that is definitely a concern. Thanks for the details... I like the VM+git+linode syncing... I would likely do that as well.

I recommend you to also check out https://www.drupal.org/project/drupalpro

From the project page:
DrupalPro Development Desktop started in May 2012 as the 7.x-2.x branch of the Quickstart project. However, after a lot of work and a beta release, the Quickstart founder decided Ubuntu 12.04 Unity was not the way forward for Quickstart. I believe Unity is a more productive workspace than Gnome 2. Regardless, more choice is good. :)

I figured I'd need at least 8GB RAM for the laptop and ~4GB for VM so this sounds like it would be inline with your suggestions. I hadn't heard of the Quickstart Ubuntu, so thanks for the tip :)

An alternative to NFS is AFP (via Netatalk and Avahi on Ubuntu). I've found AFP works a bit better.

Wow, thanks for the detailed response... this is good stuff. I was at a Drupal user group meeting tonight (thus, the delayed responses to all the comments!) and there were 5 Macs, 1 Windows, and 1 Linux machine. One Mac user bought her Mac refurbished (it is a 2011 machine) and suggested doing that. I do like the NFS file sharing... that is very handy. I am definitely not interested in the retina models for the reason you give... I had read an article about how those machines aren't easily fixed if there are issues (unlike older Macs). I wish there was an easy answer!

I will definitely look into Vagrant if I'm using VMs! It sounds like the way to go... (I use vim and like the command line :)

My guess is that I'd prefer being in the Ubuntu VM to do my stuff and not use Windows tools as I mainly use the command line when possible ;) But, nice to know those options are available, thanks!

It's funny that you said:

...I haven't looked back ever since.

as that is the exact phase used at the Santa Cruz Drupal user group meeting tonight by someone who switched from Windows to Mac. :)

I did try out the Mac keyboard at Best Buy after I returned the Toshiba and, I must say, that the keyboard felt very nice. Also, the touchpad didn't seem to be bothered when my hand was touching it while typing.

I did try the "right click" at the user group meeting (using 2 fingers) and that didn't work very well for me... but I guess you just have to train yourself for some of it.

Hmmm....

You're right... I just retagged it. (Though, to be honest, I've seen a fair number of "marketing" type posts going to Drupal Planet that probably aren't appropriate as well.) I do hope that the comments will be useful for the general Drupal audience :)

Yes, I use (and have used) both Open/Libre Office and Google Docs extensively... they are fine for simple stuff, but if you want things to look "just right" or want to open a docx, xlsx, etc. file, these options don't often work well. In particular, I found that Libre Office would crash some times when open the "x" version of MS Office files (e.g. docx).

For example, my business partner and I were going to give back-to-back Drupal talks at a local Drupal user group meeting. My partner created a Powerpoint presentation and sent it to me so I could use it as a template for my talk (same colors, header, template slides, etc.) and Libre Office kind of mangled it. I could read the slides but the colors/text/formatting/etc were not very nice. I've found the same issues with Word docs.

So, I agree that these free tools are great for general communication, but if you want something polished, then unfortunately they just don't cut it.

You make some good points, thanks!

I'm only recently finding that their are vendors who specifically sell Linux laptops. I haven't done research on them so don't know if this is a good way to go or not. Any vendors you suggest?

I've heard that Lenovo makes good laptops. The Best Buy geek squad guys also recommended Samsung and Asus. I've read that Asus has good reliability but I don't know much about Lenovo and Samsung for laptops.

I agree that Macs are pricey. If they were the same price as a PC, then I guess I'd have one already... ??

I must admit, though, when typing on the one at Best Buy tonight, the keyboard felt pretty darn nice. I don't know why, but it did.

But, I am worried about the vendor lock-in and the hardware not being supported down the road. That is a very valid point and something to strongly consider.

The only way I'd consider staying on Linux for my main OS at this point would be to get a laptop from a Linux laptop vendor (due to the touchpad driver issues mentioned in my post). If the touchpad had been working well in Linux on the new Dell or new Toshiba, I wouldn't have been looking at possibly going to Windows or Mac. I would imagine that the Linux laptop vendors have sorted this out (how, I don't know... their own drivers?). But, I imagine the vendors are all online and I wouldn't be able to go down to a store and try it out. I'll have to do some research on that.

I used F-Spot for photos on my old Dell laptop. I'd like a better way to tag photos and share them with Picasa and Flickr with the tags.

I like Gimp and Inkscape okay. I've used Photoshop and Illustrator in the past. I only do photo processing and graphics stuff occasionally now but would like to do it more.

As for Open/Libre Office vs MS Office, I have another comment above about that... agree that the free versions are fine for basic stuff.

I had not heard of Pencil... I'll check it out.

Note that part of my quest is to have tools that are highly compatible with my new business partner's tools and she's on Mac and uses MS Office.

Wow, never heard of it before! That's pretty awesome... my boys have a Windows box with not much on it so maybe we can test it there to see how it works. Thanks for the comment :)

Running the VMs from an external SSD sounds interesting... hadn't even thought of that as an option. I guess there are pros and cons to that but certainly worth thinking about :)

I know Mac users who love their SSD for fast boot times... definitely worth considering as well.

I agree that Macs are expensive... though the people I know who have "converted" from Windows to Mac are all very happy and never want to go back... why is that? I never hear of people going the other way (Mac => Windows). Once you drink the Koolaid, then you are hooked for life, I guess ;) I guess this is actually one reason I am hesitant to get a Mac!

Thanks! I've heard that Vagrant is very nice for development but I haven't researched it yet. So many tools, too little time ;)