Dave,
I don't understand that argument. We do have a Macbook in our house that
belongs to my wife that I use once in awhile and I don't see anything
special about it.
I can't speak for Jon. But I also think the unibody Macbook Pros are
very well engineered. If you think your Dell is more solid, then
perhaps you are comparing to a plain Macbook instead of a Macbook Pro.
The Mac runs OSX and can run
run Windows in a virtualized environment. I've gotten OSX to run in a
virtualized environment on my Dell.
Although you can't get a supported environment doing this. OSX
license terms explicitly prohibit running OSX on anything but an
"Apple branded" computer even if you purchase a retail version of OSX.
I have had to use OSX some so that I could develop mobile applications
for iOS devices such as the iPhone, and the more I use it the more I
appreciate some of the things in OSX. In particular, I absolutely
love all the multi-touch gestures on the trackpad -- especially with
Lion OSX. My Lenovo trackpad under Win7 Ultimate just seems so
archaic to me now I find it frustrating.
With having to develop for iOS devices now too, I find myself needing
both OSX and Windows. I currently still doing that on different
machines because the older Macbook Pro which I am using is too
underpowered to run both concurrently, and so is my Lenovo z61p. My
next laptop needs to be able to run both. I am leaning toward that
being OSX running a virtual copy of Windows instead of Windows running
a virtual copy of OSX.
Sadly, the most recent refresh of the Macbook Pro line earlier this
month was still the same form factor as the last couple of years.
Rumor has it the next generation will be thinner and lighter. I might
even settle for a 15" Macbook Air when they come out, if you can put
8GB memory in it.
Granted, Windows doesn't come with
Garage Band or iMovie, but come to think of it, don't you need to buy
iLife to get those for a Mac?
FWIW, they can be purchased separately at $14.99 while iLife is $49
USD. Lion OSX itself is $29.99 USD. So even if you need iLife, a
copy of it plus Lion OSX is still cheaper than any Windows upgrade.
midrange.com
