Intention to buy a MacBook Air 13 - 2015

[motrek]

Yes, but top Lenovos and Dells cost as much as a retina Macbook. Lenovo W-Series has some advantages which can be interesting for scientists, like GPUs with ECC RAM (can run long CUDA tasks) or 32GB RAM support (can handle a larger amount of data without swapping). They are cumbersome laptops, though.
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And only relevant if you're relatively small-time.

If you're doing any sort of big-time computation then you will have access to some kind of supercomputer or cloud or cluster, and you can easily upload your job to the big system and get it done hundreds or thousands of times faster than you could on a fancy $4000 laptop.

 

[brdeveloper]

And only relevant if you're relatively small-time.

If you're doing any sort of big-time computation then you will have access to some kind of supercomputer or cloud or cluster, and you can easily upload your job to the big system and get it done hundreds or thousands of times faster than you could on a fancy $4000 laptop.

It's theoretically true, but sometimes you just want running some heavy task in your own, mobile environment. Supercomputers doesn't always have some academic "alpha" Python tool which needs a lot of configuration to make it work, and you don't have root access or even would be wise compromise the entire system for the sake of running your prototype. I can see use cases for a mobile workstation in the academic environment.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I am not afraid of the learning curve, but the overall experience I'll be getting seems to be great, right?

Which according to all of you, should be nothing less than better when compared to Windows.

Thank you all for the great input, guys!

No way I could 100% do without Windows so my loaded Air has WIndows 7 Pro via boot-camp. 90% of use is under Win 7 as Auto-cad, Quickbooks and other software do not run on Apple OS.

 

[Trhodezy]

Without going into a page long Windows vs Mac debate:

I moved to Mac a few years ago, I've not regret it since. I value productivity, intuitive UI's and low-maintenance devices.

The MBA offers that, and a whole heap more. The learning curve isn't too complex and it's easy to get the hold of. (read guides online if you're that bewildered).

Go for it.

 

[sracer]

For those who are a bit tech-savvy and need to run one or two Windows applications, I suggest considering Wineskin Winery. I have one "must-have" Windows app (eSword) and a few "really nice to have" Windows apps that I have wrapped in Wineskin.

It doesn't require a Windows virtual machine, Bootcamp, or an installation of Windows period. Apps that have been wrapped in Wineskin run on the desktop just like native OSX apps.

These apps run great on my 2014 4GB/128GB 11" MBA.

 

[mortenandersen]

What about Cross Over?

For those who are a bit tech-savvy and need to run one or two Windows applications, I suggest considering Wineskin Winery. I have one "must-have" Windows app (eSword) and a few "really nice to have" Windows apps that I have wrapped in Wineskin.

It doesn't require a Windows virtual machine, Bootcamp, or an installation of Windows period. Apps that have been wrapped in Wineskin run on the desktop just like native OSX apps.

These apps run great on my 2014 4GB/128GB 11" MBA.

I will be in the same situation in a week's time, getting a MBA 11 with the need to run some Windows programs, also in fact trying to run Word 2003 (for Windows) on the Mac. I have read some recommondations of using Cross Over for this. You don't mention this option. Do you have some experience with it? And, about Wineskin: Is this easy to use and to install? Are there differences (pro and con) between these different ways of running Windows?

 

[sracer]

I will be in the same situation in a week's time, getting a MBA 11 with the need to run some Windows programs, also in fact trying to run Word 2003 (for Windows) on the Mac. I have read some recommondations of using Cross Over for this. You don't mention this option. Do you have some experience with it? And, about Wineskin: Is this easy to use and to install? Are there differences (pro and con) between these different ways of running Windows?

Crossover uses the technology of Wineskin but is a commercial software offering. (Wineskin is open source and free)

I didn't mention Crossover because I have limited experience using it. It is geared toward those who aren't technical and so I was stumbling and fumbling over trying to figure out what they expected of their target audience so that I could "go with the flow". They do seem to have an active forum where issues are discussed.

Office 2003 has a "silver" rating for running in Crossover. As to what specifically isn't functioning properly wasn't clear but it does seem to work.

There is a trial version of Crossover so I recommend installing it and then installing the software you intend to use with it... kick the tires and see if it will work for you. If it does, then buy the license.

IMO, if a Windows application can run under Crossover or Wineskin then that is the preferred way to go.

With that approach, you don't need a Windows license. The storage footprint is much lower than having Windows installed (even a minimally functional install). Crossover/Wineskin will use less RAM than running Windows in a virtual machine.

One does need to be a bit technical to configure Wineskin. The very nice thing about it is that it creates a standalone executable that can simply be copied to another Mac and run without any fuss... just double-click the icon.

Of course it is highly dependent upon one's needs and the apps in question, so don't be surprised to see recommendations that go counter what I just wrote.

 

[brdeveloper]

I had Crossover since Snow Leopard. The annoying thing is that you have to purchase another license (or an upgrade fee) every time you upgrade OSX.

I stopped using it and moved to a VirtualBox virtual machine, since in Crossover I could only run a couple of corporate apps which weren't even essential. More complex apps usually crash at the installation process, unless they're listed as "supported apps" (which is a pretty small list).