Laser Sharks

A History of Bias
Let’s start with a brief biography. I am an electrical engineer, and I hate Macs. Part of my angst stems from the Apple’s history of focusing on form over function. Part of it is the result of sitting in my dorm room watch all of the Mac-loving, graphic design types playing Frisbee on the quad while I was perched in front of my PC trying to draw something in AutoCAD or use MATLAB to design a power system.

I have hated Macs for as long as I can remember. They may do graphics and videos well but good luck trying to do anything useful (read: engineering related, such as AutoCAD, RSLogix, MATLAB, etc.) with it. At least I would have told you that a year or so ago. Then I received an iPod for Christmas. I was so anti-Apple that all I even considered exchanging it for a Zune. After that temporary lapse of insanity, I opened the iPod and became as infatuated with my little personal media center as the rest of the iArmy. The sleek look and near-perfect design were irrefutable.

Soon my anti-Apple statements changed to general remarks about how Macs may have a neat design but they still don’t have all of the useful (once again, read: engineering related) software. Of course by this time Mac had started moving it’s computer lineup to Intel hardware. I knew that this would provide some additional compatibility, but I was not sure as to the extents.

Eventually I changed my tune from hating Macs at all to just hating Mac people in general … stupid iLife. For some reason however, my feelings towards Macs began to soften. Actually, I think it is because my of my growing love affair with my iPod. Its design and function softened my attitude about all things Apple to the point where I began longing for a MacBook. I had several friends who had purchased MacBooks, which only served to make me want one even more. However, I resigned myself to accepting that I would get a MacBook sometime in the future, but not anytime in the near future.

In an unexpected series of events, I was given a MacBook in exchange for some work I performed on the side. I was thrilled, but I still expected to mostly just make DVDs and play that puzzle game with the apple logo. However, as I soon discovered, Macs could actually be useful. Sure I had to install some additional software to get it all to work, but after I did I was able to run any software that I could run on a Windows XP machine.

Getting It All to Work
The main piece of software I had to install was Parallels. Parallels is a virtualization software similar to VMware Fusion or Virtual PC. All of these virtualization softwares will allow you to run Windows from inside of Mac’s OSX operating system (well, except for Virtual PC). In fact, you can run Windows on the new Intel hardware based MacBooks without additional virtualization software - OSX comes with BootCamp, a dual boot option that lets you boot to either Windows or OSX. However, using the BootCamp option will require rebooting the computer any time you want to switch between OSX software and Windows software.

I chose Parallels over VMware Fusion for two reasons. The first reason is that Parallels typically handles Windows XP better than VMware Fusion while VMware Fusion is more adept at running Windows Vista. Since I needed something that is compatible with most of my software and the devices to which I typically need to connect, I obviously had to choose Windows XP. The second reason that I decided to go with parallels is a cool option called Coherence Mode. Running Parallels in Coherence Mode enables you to run your Windows apps on the same screen as your Mac apps. Normally, all programs running on a virtual machine are accessed through a separate window. This window has the virtual machine’s desktop through which you access all of the programs running on that virtual machine. With Parallels’ Coherence Mode, the Windows XP start button opens in the Dock at the bottom of your Mac. Open Windows apps also are shown in the Dock so that you do not have to use the Windows taskbar for anything. You can copy and paste data freely between OSX and Windows apps. You would think that your windows app was a regular Mac app except for the Windows XP style window headers (menu commands, maximize and minimize buttons, etc.). Other than this it is completely seemless.

The other thing that I would highly recommend is additional RAM. My MacBook (not MacBook Pro) is a 2.2 GHZ Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo running OSX Leopard that came with 1 GB of RAM installed. I did have some performance issues with Parallels with just 1 GB of RAM. However, after I upgraded to 4GB of RAM (thankfully the newer Santa Rosa Macs can see all 4 gig) I haven’t had any issues with performance.

Putting It to the Test
I mentioned earlier that I use a lot engineering software. Truthfully, I expected mixed results at best with the software and very little luck getting the Mac to connect to any hardware. I decided to put things to the test and start with the most difficult thing I could dream up. I installed RSLinx through parallels and tried to communicate with a SLC 500 through RS-232. If you have ever had the good fortune to use any software from Rockwell Automation, you will know that this would be no easy feat. Sometimes I think that Rockwell has programmers hired just to add bugs into their software. Maybe that is a little unfair, but at the very least they have people to ensure that users of there products won’t even consider dropping their tech support contract.

The other issue with this, albeit a minor one, is that MacBooks, like nearly every other laptop these days, have to serial (RS-232) port. This was less of an issue because there are a steady supply of USB-to-Serial cables. This was more of an issue because the USB-to-Serial cable that I had required a driver to work in Windows (I didn’t have the disk) and the manufacturer did not see fit to make drivers for Mac. Despite the issues with the adapter cable, I decided to try my luck anyhow.

To my surprise, I had absolutely no issues connecting to to the SLC 500 PLC on my Mac, through Parallels, though a USB-to-Serial cable, using a Rockwell Automation product. OSX already had the driver for my USB-to-Serial cable preinstalled and patched it through to Windows running in Parallels. I have since confirmed on a couple of Windows machines that drivers are required to use the USB-to-Serial cable in windows. I was able to go online with the SLC and had not errors in communication. Wow, I was impressed.

I have also had no problems running MATLAB, AutoCAD, DASYlab, Keil, MPLAB, and a host of other programs. I have also had no issues flashing microcontrollers. In addition to this I have access to a slew of software that is designed to run only on Macs( I have finally gotten to play Marathon as Bungie intended). I get the ease of use features that are inherent to Macs without feeling locked down. I have had very few crashes, and the only ones I can remember where cause by something on the Windows side. I have great built in tools for doing some of the right-brain activities such making DVDs by editing home video footage and composing music in Garage Band.

The only real problem that I have had running Parallels is with Visual Studio. Due to setting up a shared desktop between OSX and Windows XP (Files are the same on both desktops), any file stored on the desktop that is accessed by Windows does not have a path of C:\… but rather \\.PSF\… . For some reason Visual Studio have problems accessing files stored with this path. However, I have not had any other program that had a problem with this.

From iHate to iArmy?
I would definitely say that the Mac is definitely worth it. Of course, I realize that the cost of entry was much better for me than the average person. The biggest downside is that not only does the Mac cost more initially, but you have to buy a Parallels and Windows license. I can honestly say that my next laptop will probably be a Mac, while I will build a PC and run Windows on any desktop in my near future. I have had virtually no loss of capability to do work while gaining a tremendous amount of content that falls on the side of creativity. I have never had a computer that has worked so flawlessly. Also, this is the first computer I have ever had that came loaded with a ton of software that I actually like and that I don’t feel like is just there to make me angry. Believe it or not, you can buy a computer at Best Buy that doesn’t require a reformat as soon as you get home just to get all of the crapware off of it.

I have had a long journey from iHater to iLifer. I still prefer PC to that snide Mac guy in those “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials. I don’t like Macs just because Steve Jobs somehow does everything for me from Cupertino and I don’t have to worry about driver issues or because it enables me to not have to understand the computer to be able to use it (I do, but this was once their big selling point in the Mac commercials). I like my Mac because it somehow manages to walk that fine line of being user-friendly without being restrictive.

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