Buying a laptop for Computer Science.... (1 Viewer)

[melissa92]

I just bought this an hour ago:

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/comp...macbook-pro-with-retina-display-2-4ghz/694390


I was wondering what are people's opinion/advice/experience on using a rMBP for Computer Science/Software Engineering is?

Should I leave it as it is (Mac OS) or dual boot it with ubuntu? (should I even dual boot it? - I heard there's no need for it because it is unix-based and therefore, all coding/programming can be done on MacOS without linux?).

Thank you.

 

[iJimmy]

leave it the way it is for the moment, ask your lecturer what he/she prefers.

 

[wkh]

I think just OSX should be fine since it's Unix based, but if you were to dual-boot, I think the computers that we use in the labs run on Debian. Not that there's much difference between that and Ubuntu anyway.

 

[melissa92]

I think just OSX should be fine since it's Unix based, but if you were to dual-boot, I think the computers that we use in the labs run on Debian. Not that there's much difference between that and Ubuntu anyway.

Thank you.

 

[ismeta]

Yeah, OSX is perfectly fine. Dualbooting, as you suggested, isn't needed,

 

[obliviousninja]

Top computer.

#swag

 

[Thief]

Tons of people have apple laptops in the lectures.

 

[Praestigia]

NECROPOSTING BECAUSE MY OPINIONS ARE IMPORTANT AND NEED TO BE HEARD (sarcasm)

Okay, so what if I don't want to use a Mac? Are there any good ultrabooks?

 

[Flop21]

I've heard Mac is best for CS students... last year I bought a windows ultrabook. Should I sell it and buy a Mac instead?

 

[sy37]

I've taken a few CS courses. I don't know *who* says mac computers are the best for cs? Most CS courses I took I had to use linux and then windows. Never had to use a mac, *ever*. I mean, can you even compile and run C++, C# or variants on a mac like you do on windows?

Under no circumstance should anyone even consider getting a mac, let alone a CS stud

edit: accidentally a word and accidentally left out a lette

 

[anomalousdecay]

At the end of the day, Mac, Linux and Windows are all fine for coding.

Also there is no "best". It just comes down to personal preference. At the end of the day, you can compile.

However, if you want optimised results, of course it will boil down to which compiler you use. However, I don't think this will be a worry for students.

If it were me I would get a surface, but I don't code as often lol.

I mean, can you even compile and run C++, C# or variants on a mac like you do on windows?

Under no circumstance should anyone even consider getting a mac, let alone a CS stud

Yes you can lol. You can even use an IDE and compile on some iPhones through a special program.

 

[Zen2613]

Lol, how terrible of an idea would it be to use those lenovo laptops we get out of highschool ? Atm it's all i have...

 

[turntaker]

Lol, how terrible of an idea would it be to use those lenovo laptops we get out of highschool ? Atm it's all i have...

It will still be good dude. The small projects that you do in uni aren't really CPU intensive or anything.

I'd recommend wiping the HDD and dual booting or just installing Linux by itself.

Try elementary os

 

[FutureIsSTEM]

I use windows and just VM into a selection of linux distros i have ready to go...