I want a Mac

[bobspud]

What is the degradation in battery life with age like on macbooks? Same as any other machine?

Had mine since January and it lasts as long as it did when I got it. Until I bought the screens I used to run off the battery most of the time and then recharge in the afternoon.

It does better running in osx than windows. Main difference is that my power pack is so small i don't mind carrying it.

[stek]

Just got my new iMac - 27" i7, 16gb ram...

Lovely! Got a trackpad too, don't like it, gone back to Magic Mouse....

Should be fine for invoices and time sheets though

[PAH]

Now I've had a taste of using VMs I've found out how useful they can be.

Yep. Only got into using a VM so I could isolate a VPN used to remote into the client site (allowing me to access my network and the internet outside of the VPN ) while working from home.

But found plenty of other uses since and wouldn't like to go back to having just the host OS.

Main benefits of using a VM I've found so far:

1. isolate problems (my PC was crashing with a BSOD when browsing from the host, fixed now I browse within a VM)

2. flexibility (can have seperate VMs for Dev and other regular functions, ensuring they contain only the software I need and can be transferred to a laptop of other PC very easily if required. Can also be rebuilt if new software comes out, without having to reinstall the host)

3. security (can surf dodgier sites using a locked down VM that has no access to anything other than the internet)

4. testing stuff (from work related to new software, so easy to rollback after without affecting any other VM or host)

5. evaluating new software or operating systems (makes more sense to evaluate in a VM than buy a Mac to find you don't really find OSX more useful - this is the bit relevant to the thread )

Moving to VirtualBox is the best thing I've done since going SSD. Loving it.

[b0redom]

Chef. Take a sharp intake of breath find some spare cash and take it down to the nearest apple store and ask them for a 15 inch mac book pro with full memory and the 8 core processor.

Do NOT do this. Get the bare minimum of memory you can with the purchase, then go online to crucial.com and have them send out the maximum you can install. It will be MUCH cheaper. Also Apple have many corporate agreements. I know for a fact Yahoo and Logica for example get around 7% discount. If ClientCo are on their corp discount list, you only need to show your ID and they'll discount at the till.

[realityhack]

wb0redoms

They charge the earth for RAM. DIY as much as you can cram in.

+1 for buying new. I got a 15" Pro in Summer which is the dog's bollocks.

My only regret is that, because I'm not (really) a power user, it feels like I've bought a Lamborghini to pootle about in my driveway. I haven't made it crash yet, not even slow down, despite concerted efforts. Based on previous Mac ownership this should be good for the next 6 years at least.

[bobspud]

Do NOT do this. Get the bare minimum of memory you can with the purchase, then go online to crucial.com and have them send out the maximum you can install. It will be MUCH cheaper. Also Apple have many corporate agreements. I know for a fact Yahoo and Logica for example get around 7% discount. If ClientCo are on their corp discount list, you only need to show your ID and they'll discount at the till.

As a small business they will negotiate you a fairly good discount. I think mines 10% at the moment...

Don't forget that you will get a 20% discount as soon as you get over 2K so saving a few quid could cost you more (my mac's vat was over £400 (so I got the memory free)

[Sysman]

It does better running in osx than windows. Main difference is that my power pack is so small i don't mind carrying it.

Apparently the power management software isn't as good on the Windows side as it is on OS X.

[DaveB]

What others have said.

Bite the bullet and shell out for a new 15" MB pro. I got the glossy HD screen on mine and it's excellent. If you have the cash then go for the SSD as well unless you need oodles of storage.

From power on to useful work takes around 10 seconds from cold. It used to be longer but I ditched MS Office when I upgraded to Lion and use OOO instead.

MrsB has my old iMac now, 6 years old and apart from a new hard drive still going strong.

Apart from Client co. machines I haven't used Windows for almost 7 years.

[Sysman]

Yep. Only got into using a VM so I could isolate a VPN used to remote into the client site (allowing me to access my network and the internet outside of the VPN ) while working from home.

I've been using them to run private networks without disconnecting from the outside world. According to one book I have I was supposed to have up to 7 PCs all sitting on a separate network to do all the exercises. All done with just 2 systems, and with more RAM in the main box, that would have done on its own.

But found plenty of other uses since and wouldn't like to go back to having just the host OS.

Main benefits of using a VM I've found so far:

1. isolate problems (my PC was crashing with a BSOD when browsing from the host, fixed now I browse within a VM)

2. flexibility (can have seperate VMs for Dev and other regular functions, ensuring they contain only the software I need and can be transferred to a laptop of other PC very easily if required. Can also be rebuilt if new software comes out, without having to reinstall the host)

3. security (can surf dodgier sites using a locked down VM that has no access to anything other than the internet)

4. testing stuff (from work related to new software, so easy to rollback after without affecting any other VM or host)

5. evaluating new software or operating systems (makes more sense to evaluate in a VM than buy a Mac to find you don't really find OSX more useful - this is the bit relevant to the thread )

6. No need for KVM devices, and you can copy and paste between OS instances. VMware Fusion and Parellels take it to the point where you can integrate hosted apps into your normal desktop.

7. No need to fight with dual or treble boot solutions. There's nothing worse than going "WTF do I do now?" at a boot prompt, and having to go to another system to Google for an answer (and good luck with that anyway).

8. Snapshots. If you are about to do something which might break your system, simply take a snapshot before you start.

9. Suspend a VM at any time. Just put it to sleep and come back later, exactly where you left it.

10. Reduction in burning of physical CDs and DVDs. Just boot directly from downloaded ISOs.

Moving to VirtualBox is the best thing I've done since going SSD. Loving it.

Yep. SSD next on the list for me. I have been spreading my VM stuff across spindles, but when you have several VMs hammering away, disk I/O is definitely the bottleneck.

[scooterscot]

Yep. SSD next on the list for me. I have been spreading my VM stuff across spindles, but when you have several VMs hammering away, disk I/O is definitely the bottleneck.

One of my virtual machines is hooked up to a external raid connected via firewire 800. Even then windaz makes it sound like a grinder.