<p>Hello, I'm going to be a Information/Computer Science student next year, and I'm currently looking for a laptop to purchase. I was planning on getting a macbook because I wanted something durable and light. However, I was wondering if Macs in general wouldn't be the best choice for computer science majors because not everything is compatible with the Mac OS, especially programmming softwares. Is this true? If there's any current CS students that could comment it'd be great too.</p>
<p>I realize that I can install more than 1 OS on the macbook. But rather than doing that, wouldn't it be better to get a PC with much better specs and a lower price?</p>
<p>I wouldn't exactly call the MacBooks ``durable''. If you really do want something that's durable, take</a> a look at the ThinkPads. They're well known for their sturdiness.</p>
<p>As for the OS, if you want to stay on the safe side, don't get a Mac. You never know what kind of requirements your college will have.</p>
<p>well the new macbooks are solid aluminum, and I've played around with one at the store and they feel really sturdy. My dad has an old Thinkpad that's built like a rock. But since Lenovo took over the Thinkpad line, the quality has gone down ALOT, especially for the T series right now. There's tons of complaints about keyboard flexing, and I was really dissapointed at the T400 when I got my hands on one at Microcenter. This isn't true for the X300 though because the "top of the line" thinkpads are still using the magnesium build, but the processors are way too slow and the price is also too high.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the quality has gone down ALOT, especially for the T series right now.
[/quote]
That's just FUD. They are still using the magnesium rollcage for the T series. It's mainly the IdeaPads that have soiled the name. The only ThinkPad series that doesn't use the magnesium rollcage is the SL series.</p>
<p>
[quote]
There's tons of complaints about keyboard flexing
[/quote]
That's been fixed for a few months now; they started using the T61 keyboards again. I got my T400 in November, and there is no flex.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But rather than doing that, wouldn't it be better to get a PC with much better specs and a lower price?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, if you don't care for OS X.</p>
<p>I'm not a computer science major, but as far as I know, there should be OS X ports of the most popular programming software. I know Maple, Mathematica, Matlab, and Eclipse all have OS X ports. </p>
<p>Besides, you could always go hardcore and old-school with Terminal.</p>
<p>I have a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 from Summer 2007, and it feels solid to me. I was under the impression that Lenovo always made the ThinkPads; IBM simply owned the trademark.</p>
<p>Srunni-I've heard that they're using the older keyboards now, but I'm talking about the one I tried about a week ago. There is still flexing toward the center, even my 2 yr old HP doesn't do that. Also, the build quality is just overall sub-par. There are gaps around the two sides and the screen isn't even glued in around the corners. </p>
<p>The T series do not use the same build material as the X series for everthing.</p>
<p>If you like OSX or are partial to macs in general as I am, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one. emacs runs fine on Leopard, and Windows XP and Debian run with no issues. I suppose you can get a comparably spec'd laptop for slightly cheaper if you were to buy a Dell or Acer or something (Lenovos are still relatively high-priced for a PC). Like I said though, it comes down to your preference.</p>
<p>I have a macbook that's 2.5 years old, and it has held up quite well. As much as I want to get a new computer, I know that makes no sense because my current one is still running just as well as the day I got it.</p>
<p>Granted, I've run into some hardware problems here or there. One time my HD crapped out, another time my "superdrive" stopped burning discs, but both those issues were fixed extremely quickly when I brought it to the genius bar. They even replaced the entire case so my macbook literally looks brand new. You're never, ever going to find a computer that doesn't have a problem here or there. The difference is in how the company handles fixing your computer, and Apple customer service is the golden standard. It's worth the slightly higher price, I 110% guarantee it.</p>
<p>You can dual boot windows, you can virtualize windows. Hell, you can even virtualize your dual boot windows partition from within OS X. I've even triple booted OS X/Vista/Ubuntu.</p>
<p>It may be hard to take the plunge initially, but I have not heard of a single person that has ever regretted buying a mac, so just do it ;).</p>
<p>Yes I also meant to bring up warranty like zapakovex.</p>
<p>AppleCare is a really good investment, you can get it for like $150 on Ebay and they'll fix any problems for up to 3 years, sometimes even if it's your fault.</p>
<p>The Mac weighs 5.5 pounds so it really isn't that light. If you're looking for something small and light, there are other options in the PC world. I have a Dell XPS M1330 that's around 4 pounds and it gets the job done most of the time despite running Vista x64.</p>
<p>My son requested a MacBook Pro a year ago for one of his CS courses. The course was designed for a Linux or Unix development environment and any hint that you did homework assignments on Windows got you a 0 for the assignment. His MacBook Pro is dual-boot with Windows and he has Microsoft Office (Ultimate Edition) installed on the Windows side.</p>
<p>Some of his classes require Windows and some require a Unix variant and the dual-boot solution has worked out quite well for him. Our daughter has the same setup - she will be taking a programming course this spring where they use Visual Studio. She has past experience using the Unix environment for development too.</p>
<p>If you're going to be taking mainly courses that require Windows development, then either go with a PC or go with Mac/OSX with dual-boot. If your courses require you to work in Unix, then perhaps give Mac OSX more consideration.</p>
<p>The old MacBooks hard very hard plastic, but they were not all that durable. The newer MacBooks are made from one solid piece of aluminum and are therefore extremely sturdy and durable. I wouldn't go throwing any laptop around though - whether or not the enclosure can handle it is besides the point -- hard drives are fragile. </p>
<p>A few years ago Apple added "SDS" (sudden motion sensor) to their laptops. What this means is that if the laptop detects a sudden motion (i.e. falling...), it shuts down the hard drive and "parks" it to avoid the shock from impact. This has saved countless number of laptops, but it's nothing magic and other laptops have similar features.</p>
<p>Regarding the use of Macs for Computer Science, most applications now have both mac and windows versions. In the chance that you would need to run something that requires Windows, you have a number of options including VMware Fusion and Parallels (virtualization that runs side-by-side with Mac OS X), or Boot Camp (dual-boot install of Windows that runs natively).</p>
<p>If you're a computer science student, check to see if your school has the Microsoft Alliance. If it does, you can get a free installation of Windows which you can use dual-boot or with a virtual machine.</p>
<p>SSDs are available on the 17 inch MBP now. Not sure about the 15 inch but they are expensive.</p>
<p>Macs can't run Microsoft Visual Studio (the premier development package for windows), at least not without dual-booting or running windows in a virtualization like Parallels, VMWare, virtualbox, etc.</p>
<p>CS students at most universities can get free copies of windows/visual studio/etc through microsoft academics, but best to check with the CS department you'll be attending. </p>
<p>Besides that, though, I'd say macs are in fact the better OS for CS students. It's essentially 100% unix under the hood. You can get all sorts of excellent free development tools for mac as well - Xcode/GCC/Java/Python/Mono/Emacs - that are great for any CS student developer.</p>
<p>So unless your CS department requires you run Visual Studio, I think Macs are an excellent option for CS students.</p>
<p>"Macs can't run Microsoft Visual Studio (the premier development package for windows), at least not without dual-booting or running windows in a virtualization like Parallels, VMWare, virtualbox, etc."</p>
<p>So dual-boot or virtualize. It's no big deal - especially since CS students can probably get free Windows from their departments. You can also run Linux on your MacBook *</p>
<p>"So unless your CS department requires you run Visual Studio, I think Macs are an excellent option for CS students."</p>
<p>My daughter is taking a CS course this semester which uses Visual Studio. She uses her MacBook Pro in the class.</p>