Paul Stamatiou, long, long-time online friend, designer at Twitter, and a hobbyist photographer:
I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more powerful. This time I decided to build a PC and switch to Windows 10 for my heavy computing tasks. Yes, I switched to Windows.
The shift of professionals needing to switch to Windows started 20 months ago or so. It is slow, gradual. And even with the iMac Pro shipping, I think Apple’s eye (perhaps purposefully) is off of the professional market and focused mainly on the consumer market. There are far more consumers to sell to than professionals to sell to. I think now this shift has extended beyond just the full-time professional to the hobbyist.
Here are his thoughts on Windows + Linux with WSL:
It is now possible to run a full Linux environment right inside Windows. This means you can install Ubuntu or another distro and get access to the same bash prompt you’d expect inside Ubuntu. It was this new Linux functionality (that I read about on Owen’s blog several times) that was partially responsible for my initial curiosity in Windows 10 and building a new PC. It meant I could also easily carry out my basic web developement tasks to maintain and publish to this site. For me that means a simple Ruby and Node development environment.
Most blog posts, other than those by MSFT, gloss over how WSL works. WSL isn’t a virtual machine or some odd clunky way of running Linux on a PC that also has Windows installed. WSL is Linux running with Windows. I think WSL alone will pull a huge portion of the web development industry towards Windows 10 over the next 3 to 5 years. PC design has also caught up to Apple in many price points and that alone may turn a developer in need of an upgrade to at least try a Windows PC at their local store. Especially if Apple keeps stumbling on OS upgrades or the PR surrounding their bugs.
Stammy adds:
I really can’t understate the magnitude of this.
If you’ve read my blog for a little while you know I’ve been beating this drum for a while. Just over a year, in fact. Apple is less focused on the professional market than they have been in over a decade, Microsoft is more focused on it than ever, and because of that it is picking up tons of programmers and designers. I don’t think Apple is blind to this, they may not even care at the moment, but I think they should. Because where the nerds go the masses follow.
What will your next development computer be? Will you even entertain the idea of moving to Windows 10? Why not?