I am a LAMP developer/website developer and have been using a PC for programming purposes for over ten years. After having one too many spyware/virus issues recently i decided to take the plunge and buy a mac. Since i have been using a mac exclusively my productivity has risen and i have faced zero issues so far.
i replaced my entire PC software stack i used without spending a cent doing so. Here’s the software i am using and i will list what it replaced:
My only beef with having switched to mac is that working with MS office formats is not seamless. I may have to plunk down for a copy of office for mac - but i would still definitely recommend the switch. Financially compared to the several thousands of dollars i have spent on PC software - i am still way under cost even with the premium cost of a top of the line mac. Most importantly my life during the computer day is much, much less frustrating.

1. Eclipse IDE for mac software development replaces eclipse for PC - no problems there. I can’t tell the difference between the interfaces for j2se or PHP.
2. Mac “terminal” replaces putty - all the same features that i use - terminal is bundled with the mac os.
3. Skype for Mac replaces Skype for PC - the mac interface is not as nice but it works well enough.
4. x windows client - mac x11 replaces cygwin. This is a freebie from apple. Always hated cygwin - a beast to properly configure IMHO. X11 has been fantastic - fire and forget
5. Gimp for mac runs on X11 - essentially the same app as the PC
6. Safari replaces firefox for general browsing - but i also installed firefox for mac for testing purposes
7. Thunderbird mail client for mac replaces notes (notes as a mail client - truly old school)
8. RSSOwl replaces RSSReader
9. Appleworks replaces excell (i am not sure if this is still bundled with os x later versions - im running 10.3 osx). I use this to read and export excell spreadsheets.
10. abiword replaces Word ; (NOTE: the jury for me is still out on this - it seems i have to import .doc into .rtf - then export .rtf back into .doc)
11. fugu replaces coreftp for ftp/s+ client
12. clamxav great antivirus no frills - replaces a multitude of cumbersome windows AV

    And that’s it. Everything else i use is built into mac OS X.

    tags: LAMP, mac os x, pc product recommendations, switch to mac.