MACOS FOR FLASH/FLEX DEVELOPMENT

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 2007 @ 01:51 PM

I'm seriously considering making the switch, at least at work, in order to improve the workflow with my co-workers. I am a aware that a great number of flash developers work on Macs; however, being an all-time PC user, I am a little bit concerned about how the learning curve might affect my productivity. Any advice?

I guess the question is kind of complex, since Flash/Flex development involves many things other that the Flash IDE and Flex Builder. For example, I use Enterprise Architect on a daily basis and there's no Mac version for that; I know that I could run that particular software with Parallels, but that means that I am not actually replacing my current OS, but just adding a new one in the process. That is not a bad thing, but I want to find what advantages do you think MacOS inherently provides to Flash dev types.

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CLARK

APRIL 18 2007 @ 02:05 PM

I find most Flash developers that use macs do relatively little server side stuff (remoting/fms/xml socket servers/cms etc.) so it depends on the nature of your work. Personally I will not switch because I make it a point to develop on the platform most of my customers use. ..but then we tend to mostly develop biz applications...so it probably also depends a lot on your customer base.

Clark

JUSTIN

APRIL 18 2007 @ 02:40 PM

i may be the exception to Clark's rule, but i'm a Flash des/dev that does xml, remoting and database work on my macbook pro and it serves me great. granted, i mainly develop applications using MAMP (http://www.mamp.info/en/home.php) and with MAC OS X being 'unix-based' it works out pretty well. If you're doing .NET stuff though I'd definitely keep a windows box around :) .NET dev on the mac doesn't really exist...

As far as Flash and Flex they are pretty much the same application on either platform, maybe with a few interface inconsistancies.....and the Flash Player on mac is a wee bit slower than the PC version.

things for productivity i use: VirtueDesktops (http://virtuedesktops.info/index.php/downloads/), Path Finder (http://cocoatech.com/) (full-featured Finder replacement), Bulter (http://www.manytricks.com/butler/), Expose .. ShadowBook (http://blog.medallia.com/2006/06/shadowbook.html) if i'm feeling crazy... but that thing sucks mad CPU cycles which is not so good for mobile dev. hope this helps.. .good luck!

DAN SCHULTZ

APRIL 18 2007 @ 02:43 PM

When talking about Flash and Flex, Mac's do not provide any advantages over Windows when it comes to development. They both have Flex Builder, and they both have Flash CS3 (Flash 8 is pretty slow when it's run under Rosetta on OSX). However, there are advantages that a Mac has over a Windows PC, such as stability and security. Since OSX is built on top of UNIX, it's bullet-proof compared to Windows. My Mac has been running for weeks without a single reboot. Overall, OSX is a no "BS" operating system, and would recommend it to anybody.

Also, if you're developing a Flash/Flex application, it shouldn't matter which operating system you're developing on since Flash is cross-platform. And now with the release of Apollo, you can distribute cross-platform desktop apps built using Flash/Flex.

CLARK

APRIL 18 2007 @ 03:22 PM

Forgot to add, I couldn't live without FlashDevelop (the hands down shiznit of Flash dev tools!) which relies on the .Net framework..

ANDREW MULLER

APRIL 18 2007 @ 03:53 PM

Oscar, I switched 3 years ago and haven't looked back - best move I'm ever made - IM me and we can talk it further. Andrew

BJORN

APRIL 18 2007 @ 06:44 PM

Mac rocks... Made the switch 10 months ago.
I've got everything i need here.
I would not consider going back to pc for dev

MARK ANDERS

APRIL 18 2007 @ 06:59 PM

I don't think you'll have any problem making the switch. I was a VERY longtime Windows user. I installed and used every version of Windows since version 1.03, and in fact I was always a Beta tester so i was always an early adopter. Vista, which I still haven't tried yet, marks the end of that streak.

I got my first Mac when I started at Macromedia, and it was a PowerBook. I also got an IBM Thinkpad at the same time. Despite wanting to like the Mac, I really couldn't get used to it. I think it was maybe the performance.

Depsite my lack of use, when the Intel Macs came out I was given one of the first of those, and I simply fell in love with it! It's very easy to use, and all of the Adobe tools (Flex Builder, Flash CS3, etc) work great on it. The machines are really fast.

I still do run Windows using Parallels and this is a good thing to have. I would really recommend it. The hardest thing about switching is that there are just some apps that are hard to leave. With Parallels, you don't have to.

One thing you may find interesting is that I've run Flex Builder for Windows on the Mac in both Parallels and using Bootcamp, where Windows has complete control of the machine. Doing compiles was actually faster under Parallels than under Bootcamp! Note sure if this is still the case, but it was a while ago.

Make the switch and don't look back!

BRENT BONET

APRIL 18 2007 @ 09:48 PM

One word. Parallels. I think that Enterprise Architect is pretty indispensible and you'll be able to run it side by side with you Mac apps. In general I try to run Mac apps, but there some things that you'll need on the Windows side, for example, lets say, like me, that your serverside dev platform is .NET. You have IIS and Visual Studio avaiable to you. You should adjust fairly easily to OS X if you haven't used it. I do have trouble with unix commands in the terminal since I was a DOS guy from way back but I'm getting the hang of it.

Cheers,
Brent

ALI DANIALI

APRIL 19 2007 @ 05:26 AM

I'm currently run Flex Builder on a MBP and have run into issues with the OSX version of Flex Builder not having all of the same features as the Windows version. One big one is that the Coldfusion/Flex Application Wizard is not currently available on the OSX platform! It's included in the OSX installation, you can install it through FB, but when you actually go to use it, all that is says is "The Coldfusion/Flex Application Wizard is not currently available on this platform." No word from Adobe when it will. More info on what you and I are missing is here http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/#section-01

Also check out the comments on this blog post http://corfield.org/blog/index.cfm/do/blog.entry/entry/Flex_Builder_2_for_Mac

MOLOKO

APRIL 19 2007 @ 06:12 AM

I love my mac bigstyle but unfortunately Flash 8 absolutely stinks on OS X - through no fault of Apple, I just think it was a terrible port by Macromedia. Sincerely hoping that Flash CS3 is going to be better.
Generally the learning curve isn't that bad. Have been using a Mac at home now for two years and think there's only four things I don't like about it:
1) Dashboard - just disable it!
2) Finder doesn't let you cut-and-paste files (apple apparently believe that this is poor usability). Grab a copy of PathFinder instead which sort of lets you do this. It also has tabs which can make your workflow a lot smoother
3) you can only re-size windows from the bottom right-hand corner. daft.
4) if you minimise an app to the Dock, there appears to be no keyboard shortcut to get it back. You can only restore it by clicking on it. I have got into the habit of hiding (APPLE+H) windows/apps instead.

Other than that, it's pretty good on the whole. My g/friend got a laptop running XP at about the same time and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing her get all kinds of problems and weird bugs while my little MacMini just keeps on whirrin' away!

OSCAR TRELLES

APRIL 19 2007 @ 05:17 PM

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I am also a Linux/UNIX user, so it might represent an advantage in terms of using the command line on MacOS. There are also a couple of other tools (dont remember names) that are Mac only and I wish I had in my PC, like a certain MySQL GUI that totally outperforms any web-based tool, not to mention Adium that supports more IM networks than Trillian.

From all of your answers, it seems more likely I'd have to run Parallels if I want to be able to do everything I do now on my PC. Like Brent says, EA is critical in my day-to-day activities; that piece of software alone is reason enough to run Windows on a Apple computer (or even not to make the switch)

Thanks for the comments so far, great insight.

JENS

APRIL 22 2007 @ 07:41 PM

Hi Oscar, I've made the switch a month ago and although I've considered using my Mac and PC at the same time, I took me 2 days to completely switch to the mac. All the dev tools I use are available for mac. My productivity was lower at the beginning, but once you get used to it, osx is a great os.