John O'Conner's Blog

Good riddance to the Macbook Pro

After using a Macbook Pro for almost a year, I've returned it to my employer. The FedEx package should arrive today at their doorstep. What a beautiful machine! What a crisp display! What a cool, little magnetic power supply connector that drops off without pulling my laptop to the floor! What a frustrating experience for Java developers!

Sure, I used Parallels to run Windows...to run Java SE 6...to get my everyday work done to create demos and articles about the latest features of the Java platform. I realize now that I was spending more time in Windows on my Mac than in OS X. Sigh...something was wrong. So, now that my work situation at Sun has changed and I've returned the Macbook Pro to my manager, I say "Good riddance!" Not to Sun or my previous manager ... to that Macbook.

My new laptop will run all my applications and games. And it will run Java SE 6. And it will run Windows Vista as its primary OS. Sorry Apple. I tried. Apple failed. I'm a customer that will move on to something that fits my needs better. I recognize and acknowledge that other customers will choose a Macbook Pro to meet their needs, and Apple has a fine product. It just doesn't work for me. I also think I represent a significant potential customer profile -- Java developers who really want an alternative to Windows on their laptop. But Apple doesn't serve that market well. Please don't tell me about 1.5 and the Java 6 preview, etc. I know about all that. My personal conclusion is that Apple does not serve the customer profile I've described. I don't think I'm alone.

I don't want to whine about this. I just wanted to share my recent experience in this area. And while I'm at it, I'll make a controversial statement too:

I posit that the best Java development and deployment platform is Windows, not Mac OS X or Linux or even Solaris. Which host os supports Java Web Start the best? Which host os supports all the latest deployment and desktop integration features the best? I believe Windows wins all around.

Comments

• I don't think that it is controversial at all. I've said the same thing a couple of days ago.

  Posted by: kirillcool on October 31, 2007 at 11:57 AM

• I'm curious... why didn't you just install Windows Vista on the MBP? You still have the beautiful machine, you still have the crisp display, the cool power connector but you lose the frustrating Java experience.

  I, too, believe that Windows is the primary Java platform. It's usually where new features get added that eventually trickle into the other platforms.

  Posted by: doj on October 31, 2007 at 12:40 PM

• I also came to a similar conclusion a year ago:

  http://beust.com/weblog/archives/000411.html

  I'm still using (and enjoying somewhat) a Mac Book Pro, but I probably wouldn't mind switch back to Vista if I had to.

  Posted by: cedric on October 31, 2007 at 01:41 PM

• Just for the sake of the argument (since I'm also a Windows user), which Java-oriented tools are available on Windows but not on Linux or Solaris? >99% of all java tools are written in JKava them selves and run on all these platforms, and then more. Even Eclipse-based tools, which contains some native code (like the SWT), are well supported in all these platforms and more.

  And there's at least one great tools that is exclusive to Solaris: DTrace support. BTW, Leopard now makes OSX the second major platform to support DTrace, so if and when Java6 is made available to Leopard (with the DTrace probe support - which may require additional JVM-specific OSX porting - another "if and when"), the Mac may become again a great Java platform... that is, until next year when Java7 ships and the Mac lags another full year go catch up.

  P.S.: Even though not a Mac user, I feel your pain - because most of my current projects are for corporate clients who use IBM WebSphere, which means only now I'm being allowed to move into Java5. Moving to Java6 (or JavaEE5) is still a wild, distant dream at this point. :-(

  Posted by: opinali on November 01, 2007 at 05:44 AM

• I am sorry but it does sound like you are whining. With Parallels I see no reason to give up my Mac at all. I can run and test and develop on any other OS I want. Was OSX somehow hindering your work? I don't think it was according to your post.

  Posted by: sigzero on November 01, 2007 at 06:44 AM

• Windows may win some points, but if I'm going to be using a device to work on at least 9 hours per day it'd better be good.
  Windows has consistently failed me in that regard.
  The Java 1.6 VM will show up, just wish that Apple would be a bit more open in their communication.

  If not though, why not Linux?

  Posted by: bvansomeren on November 01, 2007 at 07:03 AM

• Depends on what you are doing with your development. If you depend on a lot of open source code, using Windows (where most open source code is developed under a *nix environment) can cause significant problems - for example, the way Windows locks files that are open for read access.

  Posted by: grahamtriggs on November 01, 2007 at 07:06 AM

• I also said so a year ago :-) http://weblogs.java.net/blog/cayhorstmann/archive/2006/06/why_java_develo.html

  When you move off the Mac, I recommend that you install dual boot Vista + Ubuntu Linux. Some newcomers to Linux find the dual boot installation scary, but with a new laptop, there is no risk--you can always reinstall Vista from the backup partition. I just went through the process myself a few months ago. Ubuntu install: 1 hour. Removing the crapware from Windows: 3 hours. Then install Eclipse, Netbeans, or IntelliJ--whatever you like best--on both partitions. On my laptop, there is a huge performance difference. When running Eclipse or NetBeans, one OS crawls like a slug, the other is snappy and a joy to use.

  Posted by: cayhorstmann on November 01, 2007 at 07:38 AM

• Which puts us in the situation of: If we like Windows best, why not use Microsoft tech?

  Posted by: tompalmer on November 01, 2007 at 08:51 AM

• Swing looks best on Windows, I've tried Ubuntu and Open Solaris 10 and they all have some small problems compared to Windows. Sun knows that Windows represents the most installed user base and represents the largest customer base for Java desktop applications. Even though I may not like the Windows UI, it works well, it is robust, Windows keeps backward compatibility and that is what companies are looking for. The way Apple handles their developers doesn't help them attract more developers.

  Posted by: carcour on November 01, 2007 at 09:33 AM

• Rabble Rabble Rabble let's blame Apple... Rabble Rabble Rabble. Because Apple's core competency is obviously creating VM for someone else's platform. Not putting together awesome hardware. If you want to blame anyone I choose to blame Sun, even after Apple told them they wanted to add extra enhancements to the VM to enhance swing for their platform. There's a lot of people creating VM's for their platform of choice. IBM, Blackdown Linux port (Don't know if they're still around), BEA, however SUN kept making VM's for Linux and Windows.

  Anyway I believe the real reason Apple originally supported Java was to get applications for their OS, you didn't need to learn Cocoa / Objective-C, but now that their platform is maturing and their developer base is increasing, it seems Java is going to be treated like the red head step child, ignored and occasionally beaten. We should have seen this coming when the Cocoa - Java Bridge was deprecated.

  So if Sun doesn't want to step up to the plate I say that they should amend the tagline "Write once, run anywhere" with "except on OS X". Or we can just wait for the release when Apple gets to it. Until then get them to work faster by not purchasing quicktime pro and use https://amateur.dev.java.net/

  Posted by: bainfu on November 01, 2007 at 10:27 AM

• Normally, I try to be pretty composed when I reply to blogs, but this whole Java on Mac OS X broohaha forces me to make an exception. "Waa, I'm gonna give back my Mac, sell my Apple stock, and cover my Apple tattoo with the Windows logo!" What an incredible amount of whining! Once canceled your Steve Jobs fan club membership and sworn fealty to Lord Ballmer, aren't you going to feel embarrassed when, a couple days, weeks, or even months later, your colleagues are downloading Java 6 from connect.apple.com?

  Leopard didn't ship with Java 6. Yes, it's true. Tragic, but true. This does not mean Apple's abandoned Java. On the contrary, they've made significant under the hood improvements to Java 5. It doesn't take a genius (which is good, considering the lack of genius in these recent, sensationalist blogs) to figure that these improvements will likely also be in Java 6.

  So, before you break out the razor blade to remove that Apple sticker from your rear window, take a deep breath, count to ten, and realize that Java 6 salvation is coming. Or heck, I don't care, use Windows. Just please, do so quietly.

  Posted by: jimothy on November 01, 2007 at 10:47 AM

• Tom wrote: "Which puts us in the situation of: If we like Windows best, why not use Microsoft tech?"

  ..because we are more productive with Java.

  The lag on the Mac platform is irritating for those that are developing Java 6 apps. But it isn't the end of the world. The funny thing is that Java 6 is already late on the Mac platform... why all the sudden whining because it wasn't included on the Leopard disc? If it is available a month later in relative terms it isn't that much worse than it was a few days ago.

  Posted by: swpalmer on November 01, 2007 at 10:50 AM

• I am puzzled about

  desktop integration features

  What should that be? The limited systray access java developers had to beg for more than ten years? Oh sure. Java has lost the desktop. It doesn't matter which OS we are talking about.

  Posted by: ewin on November 01, 2007 at 11:06 AM

• Jimothy is right on. Dude, get over it.

  As for who supports developer deployment best, OS X Leopard ships with mvn, svn, ant, and junit pre-installed. For everyone, not just developers. It has a robust JDK 5, pre-installed. For those who want some more dynamic languages, Python and Ruby ship current versions.

  Does Microsoft ship any of those tools with Vista? Does Microsoft even ship *any* development tools with Vista? A free IDE? Even a decent editor like Vim? No, not a bit of it.

  Not to mention that you can happily run Windows either in Parallels or under Boot Camp, on what PC Magazine called the best "Vista" laptop in the industry: the MacBook Pro.

  All you've done here is convince a lot of people that you're a clueless whiner.

  unsubscribe();
  

  Posted by: mark_hughes on November 01, 2007 at 01:22 PM

• @mark. Wow. Harsh criticism for someone sharing an experience -- returning a laptop to an employer because of a job change and realizing I won't be missing much. Considering my professional relationship with Sun and my hands-on work on the JDK, I don't think I'm really clueless...you may simply be unaware of my contributions to the JDK and have been a bit hasty in your own comments. As a long time Java promoter, I'm not usually accused of whining -- although I have been vocal about this particular issue.

  Posted by: joconner on November 01, 2007 at 02:27 PM

• John, I sympathize. The easiest thing Apple could do is simply communicate. It's the silent treatment that has many including me up in arms.

  In other places, polls were taken about who should do the JDK for Apple. I voted to turn it over to open source. I realize that to many, including the folks at Apple, look and feel is extremely important, but in my experience creating business apps, if the app looks good, it can diverge from the standard look and feel. And what is standard on either Vista or Apple anymore anyway?

  With that said, could one not port the Linux JDK over without too much trouble, even if it ran under X11 and accept that look and feel, at least to get a port done?

  (Not that porting a JDK is not a lot of work.)

  Posted by: pupmonster on November 01, 2007 at 03:06 PM

• There is no need in throwing your MBP away. A light on the horizon for Java coders on OSX: Landon Fuller did successfully port the FreeBSD Java 6 to OSX.
  see: http://landonf.bikemonkey.org/code/macosx/

  He writes, nearly everything up to and including Swing (X11) is functional. OK X11 is a pain in OSX, but for me it would be ok to run my preferred IDE in Java 5 with Cocoa and my preferred development application server in Java 6 (without desktop gui).

  Posted by: shaack on November 21, 2007 at 02:37 PM

• From the side line it's rather entertaining, all those who escaped from Microsoft and were "saved" by Apple now can't do their work and is forced to be either extremely patient and faithfull or throw the towel in the ring and forget about religion/idealism. Like it or not, Windows is the best platform for Java development... the ironic thing though is that Java is not really the best platform for Windows development!

  Posted by: mrmorris on November 25, 2007 at 08:45 AM

• So now, just over a month and a half later, a developer preview of Java 6 is once again available. It turns out, the sky didn't fall! Do you feel at all silly for overreacting?

  Posted by: jimothy on December 20, 2007 at 09:02 AM

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.