[fpc-pascal] OT: Buy a Mac to develop for MacOS? Which one?

[John Stoneham]

On Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 10:09 AM, Lukas Gradl <fpc at ssn.at> wrote:

> Hi!
>
> 1.) Do I really need to buy a Mac? Or is there a good solution to emulate
> one on an x86 Linux box? Just crosscompiling without the possibility to do
> serious tests in house is not an option, as my app has to integrate in some
> hardware-subsystems (printing, networking).
>

No, you don't need to buy a Mac to run Mac OS X natively on an intel-based
machine. It's tricky to get installed and running properly, but I absolutely
LOVE my Dell Inpsiron 9300 with it's 17" widescreen monitor at 1920x1200
resolution -- the perfect latpop for development IMHO, with that huge screen
area. Until Apple makes a 17" MacBook Pro, or this one breaks, I'm sticking
with this one. Don't get me wrong, there is a learning curve, but no harder
than getting linux running on a laptop used to be. Head over to
http://insanelymac.com for some interesting reading, and if it doesn't scare
you off, try one of the modified installer DVDs available via torrent, like
JaS 10.4.8, or Leo4All if you want leopard (my laptop dual-boots into
Leoaprd and Tiger). As with installing linux, you need to check hardware
compatibility first (mainly video and audio). Lots of fun, even if you don't
intend to use it as your primary machine.


>
> 2.) If 1=yes, which one would you recommend? Which hardware platform?
> Intel? PowerPC? It has to be OSX, do I have to care which version I get or
> is just any OSX ok for testing?


I don't think you can get a PPC Mac anymore, other than used. I beileve
Apple went Intel-only with the release of Leopard, and most Tiger machines
were intel as well (they began phasing out PPC with the into of Tiger). You
might want to plan on dual-booting Leopard and Tiger, since Lazarus
currently has some issues when compiled under Leopard (ie. TButtons appear
square and flat, not round and 3D as they do on Tiger, plus some other minor
glitches here and there). Plus, if you compile your app on Tiger, it will
run on Leopard, but not the other way around.

Just my $0.02

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