User Comments

You can keep using your current mouse. I’d imagine you’d a KVM switch to toggle between your Windows box and this beauty, although that might require sacrificing some of the video quality, as far as I’ve heard.

As for the IDE, Apple’s own Xcode does a fine job when it comes to syntax highlight and script execution, and compiling when the case (C, Java). http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/xcode/ The interface is very Mac-ish and some of the Mac only features like Cocoa will seevrely tempt a devotee of the GNU toolkit, but all in all, it will do the job.

There are plenty of Unicode text editors with syntax highlighting for OSX, using the platform-build spell checker and such, but you’ll have to start the build script by hand.

Why not a Mini? That would be less powerful, but a lot less expensive, wouldn’t it?

Congratulations! Welcome to OS X… heh.

Two things:

1. You need to learn emacs quick boy!
2. Check out http://www.dvforge.com/products.shtml

Looking forward to some new pictures of your setup when you’ve finished tweaking.

Congrats on the switch, I just made the leap myself a few months ago, and haven’t looked back since.

I use the Logitech MX700 (or whatever the cordless, docking station included) optical Logitech is. Works beautifully, and I higly recommend it.

On the text editor front, these abound, and range in price from free to extremely un-free. The best middle of the road solution I’ve found is TextMate, at http://macromates.com, which is new, but already quite feature rich and promising. Lots of coder-friendly goodies, with tons of macro and automation functionality built in.

Welcome to the dark side.

The MX 510 is a great wired laser mouse.

The Razer Viper is a freakishly high performance mouse especially if you also buy its special pad.

I suggest seeing if you can get the Radeon X800 XT instead of the Ultra. It offers better performance at a lower price. It can also hook up a 30 inch monitor. Unless you need to hook up two 30 inch monitor’s I highly recommend it instead. http://www.barefeats.com/radx800.html

For future reference RAM from elsewhere is often cheaper then Apple’s RAM. A gig or two will really make your system scream.

Check out 43 Folders for a list of useful utilities. http://merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/osx_inventories.html

I’ll add to the above statement, for your uses an iMac G5 would seem to be just fine. Any particular reasons you’ve gone for the Power Mac?

Oh, and Apple will probably update the Power Macs in the next two months. Rumor, but it has been some time since the last update.

For most of my coding I use Apple’s Xcode.

I also use Sub Etha Edit (http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/), it has syntax highlightning for MANY languages and it is relatively easy to add for another if you like. It can also sum up functions in a nice pop-up menu, it has a very powerfull search and replace based on regular expressions. But apart from that I mostly like it for it’s simplicity.

The best deature is that it uses Rendezvous to allow for colaborative work, many people can edit the same source at once. I have only used it for taking notes in meetings and on lectures. But it works great.

Does this mean you will be able to deliver your software on time from now on? ;)

With regards to your mouse I would agree with Andy, the Logitech mice are excellent I have 2 cordless MX700s in the office (which is handy when you forget to leave them in the charger!) and I use them for gaming too. They also do a bluetooth version MX900? which is a little faster I think.

Gabriel:

You can keep using your current mouse.

Yes, I know Gabriel. But, with a new computer, I was soliciting recommendations for a decent mouse to accompany it. My current mouse isn’t optical and I am sick of cleaning the bloody thing.

I’d imagine you’d a KVM switch to toggle between your Windows box and this beauty, although that might require sacrificing some of the video quality, as far as I’ve heard.

No, I’ll not be using a KVM. I am going to run both boxes independently. In fact I plan uninstall Windows XP from my current machine and replace it with Solaris 10 - which I am beginning to really like. Then, on those odd occassions when I might need XP, I can use Virtual PC (or similar) on the G5.

As for the IDE, Apple’s own Xcode does a fine job

Looks fine for C, but I don’t see any support for Perl (or Ruby, which I’m hoping to break into soon).

There are plenty of Unicode text editors with syntax highlighting for OSX, using the platform-build spell checker and such, but you’ll have to start the build script by hand.

I have had several people recommend BBEdit. Can anyone tell me how good BBEdit is with Perl source code?

Why not a Mini?

See my reply to Electric Monk below.

Noah:

You need to learn emacs quick boy!

Maybe I will Noah, Emacs is certainly well known and respected for any kind of text editing. I know it’s hugely popular with the Perl crowd (Larry Wall uses it!), so I should really follow their example. It’s got “mac” in its name too! :-)

Check out http://www.dvforge.com/products.shtml

No, stop it Noah. My credit card can’t take anymore! :-(

Looking forward to some new pictures of your setup when you’ve finished tweaking.

You bet. Expect many, many blog posts too (I anticipate having thousands of questions that’ll need answering).

Andy:

I just made the leap myself a few months ago, and haven’t looked back since.

That’s good to know. I’m really looking forward to switching. I’m really looking foward to formatting my XP box!

I use the Logitech MX700 … Works beautifully, and I higly recommend it.

I’ve tried it Andy. I’m afraid I didn’t like it. I prefer simple mice and I think I’ve found just the thing.

The best middle of the road solution I’ve found is TextMate

Great, TextMate is exactly what I’m looking for. If I can’t hack it with Emacs (sorry Noah), then I’ll definitely give TextMate try.

Electric Monk:

The Razer Viper is a freakishly high performance mouse especially if you also buy its special pad.

Ooooo… I forgot about the Viper. I’ve used them before and I agree, they are amazingly responsive mice. That’s probably the one, thanks for jogging my (terrible) memory Monk.

I suggest seeing if you can get the Radeon X800 XT instead of the Ultra.

But I’ve already ordered the Ultra. You must appreciate that extreme graphics performance is not a priority for me. I’m not a gamer, I don’t do heavy duty imaging. 90% of my computer time is spent coding (and 10% blogging). The only reason why I’ve upgraded from the standard graphics card is so that I can drive two DVI TFTs and, at some remote point in the future add Apple’s 30” Cinema Display. If it weren’t for that, the standard card would be perfect for my usage.

For future reference RAM from elsewhere is often cheaper then Apple’s RAM. A gig or two will really make your system scream.

Appreciated. I have an additional 1GB of Corsair RAM that should work in the G5 - boosting my total RAM up to 2GB. That’ll rock!

Thanks for the OS X Inventories link, that’s going to be really useful and heavily used.

for your uses an iMac G5 would seem to be just fine. Any particular reasons you’ve gone for the Power Mac?

Simple: I need processor power, as much of as possible. I am compiling code all day long, the faster the processor(s), the quicker I can compile. I also run a local MySQL server (databases are resource intensive) and I participate in a couple of distributed computing projects (SETI@Home, etc.) So my computing is all about grunt, horsepower, CPU cycles…

I’m also a total hardware freak and the G5 simply rocks - I guess no further justification is necessary!

Oh, and Apple will probably update the Power Macs in the next two months. Rumor, but it has been some time since the last update.

I would expect nothing else. But that’s the quandary we all face with new hardware purchases isn’t it? Sure, I could wait a few months for Apple to announce new kit (which might be delayed, or fundamentally flawed, etc.), or I can buy now and enjoy immediate productivity benefits with proven technology. It’s a no-brainer if you ask me.

Fedrik:

I also use Sub Etha Edit … it uses Rendezvous to allow for colaborative work, many people can edit the same source at once.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. I’ve heard about Sub Etha Edit many times and, while I can envisage using it for various document types, collaborative programming is not one of them. But hey, if it works for you that’s great.

AngelEyes:

Does this mean you will be able to deliver your software on time from now on?

It’s just a new computer AngelEyes - not a miracle machine! :-)

Quick Question: Does the G5 support RAID across its drives?

Keep in mind that memory in the G5 has to be paired, so that 1 GB of RAM you have needs to be two 512 MB DIMMs.

DarkBlue:

“Up to 500GB Of Internal Storage The Power Mac G5 has two Serial ATA hard drive bays for up to 500GB of fast internal mass storage — ideal for video, audio and high-resolution graphics. Built-in software RAID allows you to stripe the two drives for increased performance or mirror them for high reliability. And it’s easy to add storage as your needs grow. Single-drive systems come with the cabling to connect a second hard drive, and the easy-to-open side panel lets you insert a new drive yourself. Want massive system storage? Just use a Fibre Channel PCI card to connect to Xserve RAID, Apple’s high-performance storage system.”

http://www.apple.com/powermac/expansion.html

Also, could you post some speed comparisons with your PC box? I’m always intrigued by Apple to PC comparisons.

oharag

The MX700 is an excellent mouse but I would recommend the MX1000 laser. I bought it for all the people in my group and they love it. The rechargable battery lasts a long time between charges. Oddly enough there have been some funky problems with it on the PC (cursor jumping) but none on the Macs. I have a dual 2.5 G5 (2.5 Gb RAM). I know you will be happy (as I am) with the G5. BTW, there are 3 switchers in my group…all happy campers.

http://razerzone.com/diamondback.html

You know you want it :-)

Oh, and while you’re there, just pick one up for me too.

The mouse is a personal preference and since most USB mice will work with OSX, you should choose one that works best for you.

However, with regard to the text editing software, go with BBEdit. It’s simply amazing! You can try out TextWrangler, which is similar to BBEdit, but with some features stripped out. But, it’s free. :)

(And I know BBEdit works well with Perl.. not sure about TW, though)

Narrativium:

Keep in mind that memory in the G5 has to be paired

Yep, the spare 1GB I have consists of 2x512MB modules, so no problems there.

JPO:

Built-in software RAID allows you to stripe the two drives for increased performance or mirror them for high reliability.

Excellent. So I’m planning on striping for the performance boost. How reliable is Apple’s disk filing system? Can I trust my data and applications to a striped array (yes, I will be maintaining daily backups)?

Also, could you post some speed comparisons with your PC box?

I can, but they’ll be subjective comparisons. I have a busy few weeks ahead and don’t really want to waste time benchmarking.

Luk:

I would recommend the MX1000 laser

Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like a mouse I’d be comfortable using for extended periods (I have large hands).

BTW, there are 3 switchers in my group… all happy campers.

Again, that’s good to know. Interestingly I’ve never heard of a switcher who later discarded the Mac. Anyone know of any?

Won:

The Razor Diamondback looks good but, “7 physical buttons” is not what I want on my mouse.

Jack:

The mouse is a personal preference … you should choose one that works best for you.

Absolutely. I use my computer for around 12-14 hours a day, the mouse (keyboard and monitors) have to be comfortable and conducive to my work. Anything else just doesn’t cut it.

with regard to the text editing software, go with BBEdit

I’ll certainly try it out, but I must admit I am leaning towards Emacs - it’s so powerful and flexible (as Noah Slater recently demonstrated to me).

Just curious, but why didn’t you just use Linux or BSD or some other *NIX on your current computer?

Regarding the MX1000 mouse, I have big hands, and I also used to have a preference for simple mice. In fact I had the same mouse as you linked to at Amazon. Then one day I was wandering around PC World (of all places) and the shiny packaging caught my eye… And I’ve never looked back. I actually find some of the extra buttons useful!

Just curious, but why didn’t you just use Linux or BSD or some other *NIX on your current computer?

Because I’ve been lusting after the Mac since it was first announced… because OS X is more refined than KDE/Gnome… because my friends use Macs… but, perhaps most all…

Because the G5 is SEXY!!! Amen.

Amen!

1 year ago I had similar question. But now all ok :)