What OS do you use for development?

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What OS do you use for development?

(39 posts) (29 voices)

Started 4 months ago by Stepan Generalov
Latest reply from Martin

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Stepan Generalov
Moderator
Hello, everybody!

What do you use as your main OS for development?
I'm more interested in proportions of Lion / Snow Leo & XCode 3/4 users, but probably you would like to tell more about your hardware & IDE & tools and how do you like them all.

Ok, let's start, i use:
- MacBook Pro 13" 2011 with 8Gb RAM (love it, but thinking about transition to 11" MacBook Air top-model with 4Gb RAM )
- Lion 10.7.2 (hate it, even with 8Gb it's slow - no free memory with 3 open XCode projects)
- XCode 4 (first time i hated it, but now, even with pretty frequent crashes, i love it's interface. CMD+1, CMD+2 is a cool thing)
Looking forward for your posts.
Cheers!
Posted 4 months ago #
breskit
Member

I use a Mac Mini running Lion 10.7.2 and Xcode 4.

I actually prefer the Xcode 4 interface as I like the way it incorporates everything in one package (IB used to be separate, remember).

Oh, and I use Teamviewer on it so that I can remote in from anywhere and use it. Works ace, and it's free!

Posted 4 months ago #
HannKett
Member

Currently I use my 13" mbp with 8GB of ram Lion 10.7.2 and latest xcode on it (no issues and all runs well)

But then I dropbox all my projects and use 2009 20" imac with 3GB ram and lion with latest xcode sometimes, which works surprisingly well (except to run simulator and record the screen at the same time).

My wife will get a 13 or 11" mba next month so then I will install xcode on it aswell :-) and I will get a brand new 27" imac to replace the 20" imac... I know they will release a new one in april or so, but I could not care less.

Posted 4 months ago #
Wayne
Member

I'm curious to know what HW/SW setup people are using to get decent simulator performance. For example, as a test, when I run the simulator with Xcode 4 / Leopard for an iPad app with a smoke explosion particle plist, it slows to a slow motion crawl. On the device it runs smooth.

Posted 4 months ago #
itlgames
Moderator

Mac book pro early 2008, 15" + external 19", 4gb, snow leopard, I hate upgrades and my machine is a production machine with too many things going on, so can't afford to upgrade and have issues (had lot of issues when upgraded to snow leopard!), so will wait until forced.
Xcode 3 to maintaint old projects and Xcode 4 for new ones. I don't like Xcode 4 all in one window, and they chanded too many things like building configurations, even changed the quick keys like cmd+enter to build, now cmd+r I think, so tell my brain to stop using enter after three years using it!!

Posted 4 months ago #
itlgames
Moderator

@Wayne, simulator is not good on drawing as it simulates the hardware acceleration the devices have. So even a good machine will show slow fps on iPad simulator if you have big backgrounds or lot of sprites or particles. Simulator is just not good to check performance.
But when it's down to CPU instead, like loop logics and all sort, simulator is faster than device cos it uses te computer CPU wich is way more powerful than any device probably.

Posted 4 months ago #
Wayne
Member

@Itlgames. Thanks, I've been on the fence wether to upgrade my HW or not. Thanks for the explanation, glad I didn't waste the money. BTW, nice to see I'm not alone in not wanting to update OS or anything that isn't completely necessary or has some really compelling new feature.

Posted 4 months ago #
slembcke
Administrator

Still running 10.6 as I'm not fond of 10.7. <rant>It contains no features that I want, a bunch of idiotic stuff that I don't want, and I won't be installing it until forced by some other software requirement I can't ignore.</rant>

Was not initially a fan of Xcode 4. They changed the UI (again) just for change's sake and it was horribly broken until 4.2. Been using Apple's dev tools since before Xcode existed, so it's a pretty familiar ride. Change and break everything, then slowly fix until it sort of mostly works again, repeat.

Running on a Quad core i7, 2011 27" iMac w/ 12GB of RAM. 24" and 20" external monitors (somebody gave me the 24" one for free. Wee.). Fantastic machine, absolutely love it. I bought it after working a whole bunch of overtime on a contract last spring. We did a lot of lightmapping on a Unity project about that time, so it came in real handy to have a real top of the line machine. I'd start the lightmap baking and then cmd-tab into Portal 2. The baking didn't seem to affect Portal's framerate, and Portal didn't seem to affect the bake time. Was pretty awesome to have an excuse to play games while working. Heh.

Posted 4 months ago #
Martin
Member

I work on an old MBP with 2,2ghz core2duo with 4GB ram. I still use snow leopard and like slembcke I will continue to do so until I'm forced to upgrade. I would still be on Tiger if I had the choice.
I was using xcode 3 as long as possible but upgraded to 4.2 shortly because I wanted to try Kobold2D and that only works with xcode4's workspaces. It's probably a matter of time till it get's mandatory anyway.
So far I like most of the changes to the interface but I still hate the stability. It crashes about once a day on me while the old xCode rarely ever crashed. It's a difference of day and night and I would have gladly stayed on xcode3 if I could.
I don't know any other IDEs (except a very old version of delphi) but so far I like xcode (except for stability and sometimes awfully slow text input lag).

Posted 4 months ago #
cybergreg
Member

Sold my 21" iMac several months ago and bought a used 17" MBPro (2.8GHz w/8MR RAM), since my relocation to Florida it's doing quite well. I've been using Xcode 4 since the beta days and like where they are headed.

<rant>
HOWEVER, I am very disappointed with 10.7. I really feel they (Apple) rushed this out the door and consider 10.7.2 to be an almost RC release and look forward to 10.7.3 to improve things. I really, really miss the stability and usability of 10.6 and if I didn't need/use the iOS beta "stuff" I'd still be using 10.6
</rant>

Posted 4 months ago #
Birkemose
Moderator

15" MBPro with dual 2.4G duo, 2GB ram and OSX 10.6. Main bottleneck is RAM, otherwise it works great.
Switched to Xcode 4.2 a few months back, and haven't had any major issues. Really like the new interface.

MBPro is 1. gen unibody, which had a few problems. Screen flickers when using the 2D chip, the DVD drive scratches the discs, and battery life is almost non existent ( probably due to having to enable the 3D chip to avoid the flicker ). Fortunately I have a full insurance, and I cross my fingers that repairs get so expensive that I will be offered a new one. In that case I am thinking of replacing the MBPro with an iMac + iPad.

Posted 4 months ago #
LittleBitStudio
Member

MacPro (8 core, 3.2Ghz), 16GB RAM, OS X 10.6, XCode 3.2.6
Disclosure: haven't migrated to 4 on 10.7 because of supporting a tedious legacy app and I hate dual booting, etc.

Posted 4 months ago #
riq
Key Master

A few years ago I was very happy with a MBPro 13". Then I switched to MBPro 15" and I love it. Now I find the 13" too small for development.
On the 15" I am using Snow Leopard (8 GB RAM - 2.66 Ghz) + 24" external display (only when at work). Using Xcode 4.2 and Xcode 3
On the 13" I am using Lion (4 GB RAM - 2.6 Ghz (?) ) - Using Xcode 4.3

Nowadays I am thinking of having a desktop machine too.

Posted 4 months ago #
slycrel
Member

I started iOS development on a 15" macBook pro a few months before the app store opened up. 18 months ago I purchased a 27" iMac and it's been fantastic for everything I need.

For iOS dev I've been OK with XC4, but for mac development (my day job) I'm still in 10.6 and in XCode 3. Very disappointed in XCode 4, it loses a lot of the time savings that I liked to look cool. Oh, and it's buggy. :/ Hoping that by the time I'm forced to upgrade that it will be ready for more serious use without crashing and getting in my way constantly.

Posted 4 months ago #
MisterX
Member

2006 model MacBookPro 15", 2.0Ghz Duo Core (the old 32-bit processor), 2GB RAM, OSX 10.6.8 and Xcode 4.2/SDK 5. MBP battery is only good for 10-15 minutes backup power now that it is over 5 years old. Always have to have it plugged into the AC adapter..

External 2003 model 23" Cinema Display with ADC to DVI converter box (bought for use on an XP Tower years before I ever owned a Mac). Matte finish on both screens, I do not like gloss screens on monitors.

I cannot run Lion on my machine do to its 32-bit processor. I will continue to use the old MBP until I am forced, by Apple, to obtain a 64-bit machine.. If I manage to make the next "Temple Run" App, then I could afford to get a new machine sooner, like in my remaining lifetime..

Posted 4 months ago #
Dani
Member

MacBook Pro 15", Snow Leopard, Xcode 4.

One of the best tools I have: Zwoptex.

Sometimes running Windows XP on VirtualBox for using some pixel art tools.

Posted 4 months ago #
MandarX
Member

MacMini (the white one, I think I bought it 2 or 3 years ago), Snow Leopard, XCode 3, texture packer, particle designer and garage band.
Now I bought a MBP 15'' running Lion and XCode 4 and I'm using it with Ogre3D (still learning).
I'm in the habit of using cool edit pro on win xp, I know there's audacity but...

Posted 4 months ago #
actinism
Member

i upgraded my 2008 15" MBP with 8gig of ram and a SSD, that was a decend performance boost (i hate slow hdd's)! using xcode4 on snow leopard, i thought of updating to lion, but i am using various other older tools (e.g. CS4) which wont run with lion. :-/

oh and i am using an external monitor (27") for plenty of code to display at once :-)

Posted 4 months ago #
slembcke
Administrator

Hmm. Not to many Lion users here. Can't say I'm terribly surprised.

Posted 4 months ago #
Dragyn
Member

I'm running:

2011 MacBook Pro, 13", 4 GB RAM
OSX Lion
XCode 4.2

Frankly, I haven't had any speed complaints about Lion. I also do Rails dev work, and some amount of gaming, and haven't had to swear at Lion at all.

Of course, the rig I developed on for a year and a half was an antique 1st gen MacBook Air (with the tiny SSD - my music collection is double the size of that drive!), so anything else is blazing fast and happy compared to that.

Posted 4 months ago #
finder39
Member

I used to run a 2009 MacBook Pro, 13", 8 GB Ram, Lion, XCode 4

No I use:
2011 MacBook Pro 15", 16GB Ram, 6750m, Lion, XCode 4.2, a SSD, and older apple cinema display (24 inch), and use main laptop screen as secondary display, and I replaced the disc drive with the HDD that came with the computer for storage space.

This is my everything computer though: development, work (which is also development), class, gaming, music, movies, and then some. I can keep a lot of stuff open at once. Really handy.

It's overkill, but I'm a pusher when it comes to tech. :)

Posted 4 months ago #
YannickL
Member
I work with:
- MacBook White 13" (Core 2 Duo 2,13GHz, 2Gb DDR2 and 250Go)
- Snow Leopard 10.6.8
- XCode 4.2 (I think it's better than the XCode 3.X)
Posted 4 months ago #
DifferentSparks
Member

Macbook Pro 15 2011
Xcode 4.2
Lion
LevelHelper,SpriteHelper,Zwoptex,PhysicsEditor and ParticleSystem

Posted 4 months ago #
abitofcode
Moderator

MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR with Lion Running Xcode 4.2.1

Snow leopard was great, really regret moving to this. I've spent years working with a keyboard and trying to minimise mouse/trackpad usage then Lion comes along and makes it even harder. Should've stuck with vi :(

Roll on Snow Lion?

Posted 4 months ago #
davidlxk
Member

2011 macbk pro 13 inch with snow leopard and xcode 4.2

loving my snow leopard =P

Posted 4 months ago #
Timbo
Member

13" MacBook pro (2010) with lion

The crucial m4 256gb SSD i added makes all those repeated simulator launches lightning fast

Posted 4 months ago #
HannKett
Member

Timbo, I have been thinking about adding a SSD to my mbp 2011 with lion, do you really notice a difference with small things like launching a simulator?

that just justified the investment for me :)

also I hate to wait 2 min or so for all my stuff to load when I reboot after crashing my mac with memory leaks when playing with cocos2d for mac (normally I only reboot once a month or so).

Thanks

Posted 4 months ago #
Martin
Member

You should read up on SSDs, there are some things to know. If I remember correctly you should always have a decent amount of space free on the drive so that the wear leveling can do its job.

Posted 4 months ago #
ShaneT
Member

I miss my real PC and two button mouse. Not really sure what this thing is called. How do you find out. Sure it is a MAC of some sort?

It looks really pretty, and silver, and if you walk back to it from the other direction it has this apple on the back all lit up like an xmas tree.

On a positive note though, I guess it has only crashed 3 times in 3 months. I do like that.

Cheers

Shane

Posted 4 months ago #
Tone
Member

MacBook Pro 13 2009
Lion

Got a 128 SSD and increased the ram to 4 gigs from 2. Looking to upgrade this year to 15 inch 8 gigs 256 SSD.
I use a 1 TB external storage for a lot of stuff.

I had to get a SSD because on bigger projects the indexing would kill my performance. SSD saved my sanity.

Posted 4 months ago #

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