Rightfully so, I think. I’m on a mixed team - Mac, Windows, Linux targeting web; the issues the Windows users have just getting the computer to work are astonishing. I don’t think it is the corporate spyware because my Mac also has corporate spyware.
Windows is just a profoundly awful development environment. So bad they think “run everything in a Linux VM” is a good answer, despite all the performance footguns and complexities it raises.
If you choose to run windows for development, it’s either because you were forced to (e.g. building WPF full time) or you are deliberately choosing a painful rake-filled path.
Not to mention for ~5 of the past 6 years it has simply been impossible to get a good Windows laptop given where Mac set the bar for good.
they are not thinking running linux in a VM is a good answer, but that it is the only option they have to keep windows relevant for developers, short of porting windows itself to run on top of linux. i am confident that day will come.
Fair enough, although I think they _could_ focus on fundamentals and try to be better than Linux on the merits, which could pair well with a thoughtful desktop environment and strong software ecosystem. They of course won’t do this.
The previous approach I thought was more technically interesting - take advantage of Windows NT’s design to support multiple “personalities” - providing Linux compatibility without an extra kernel.
macOS proves it is possible to have a decent developer experience without literally being Linux.
Comments
A big shift I've noticed in the past few years is how much Windows is increasingly a second-class citizen for developer focused things.
Increasingly you'll see a new tool or library or language, and there'll be installation instructions for everything except windows.
Or Windows will be "supported" but when you go to run the tests they just don't work.
Development has often been more Linux friendly, but it was rarely the case that Windows got completely ignored.
Rightfully so, I think. I’m on a mixed team - Mac, Windows, Linux targeting web; the issues the Windows users have just getting the computer to work are astonishing. I don’t think it is the corporate spyware because my Mac also has corporate spyware.
Windows is just a profoundly awful development environment. So bad they think “run everything in a Linux VM” is a good answer, despite all the performance footguns and complexities it raises.
If you choose to run windows for development, it’s either because you were forced to (e.g. building WPF full time) or you are deliberately choosing a painful rake-filled path.
Not to mention for ~5 of the past 6 years it has simply been impossible to get a good Windows laptop given where Mac set the bar for good.
they are not thinking running linux in a VM is a good answer, but that it is the only option they have to keep windows relevant for developers, short of porting windows itself to run on top of linux. i am confident that day will come.
Fair enough, although I think they _could_ focus on fundamentals and try to be better than Linux on the merits, which could pair well with a thoughtful desktop environment and strong software ecosystem. They of course won’t do this.
The previous approach I thought was more technically interesting - take advantage of Windows NT’s design to support multiple “personalities” - providing Linux compatibility without an extra kernel.
macOS proves it is possible to have a decent developer experience without literally being Linux.