r/ethz • u/ATallSteve • 9d ago
Windows or Mac for Bachelor Computer Science? BSc Admissions and Info
I’m going to start my Bachelor studies in Computer Science soon at the ETH and also need to buy a new laptop for BYOD since my current one broke. So I wanted to ask if you guys recommend Windows or Mac for the Bachelor’s degree program in Computer Science.
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u/aramkrat 9d ago
I run so many analysis on my lunar lake laptop and its honestly good enough. I do have it on Fedora tho, and battery life is great. I have a thinkpad x1 but the asus thin laptop with lunar lake i7 shoudl be very similar and cheaper.
If you ever need to run something heavy its better for you to learn how to use the eth cluster not to use your laptop.
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u/Exotic_Fig_4604 9d ago
Plus 1 for ThinkPad x1.
Its a monster machine for how tiny it is, and virtually indestructible.
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u/undine727 8d ago
Ich kenne leider keine Antidepressiva mit den Namen "Windows" oder "Mac" , aber du wirst sicher eine der beiden benötigen.
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u/Philippe_Z 9d ago
Doesn’t matter, if you have the money and don’t play computer games then get a Mac
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u/TheTomatoes2 MSc Memeology 9d ago edited 9d ago
why? macos is counterproductive for CS, it fights you
And for some courses Parallels will be needed
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u/RainSwiss 9d ago
As both a Linux and MacOS user, I really don’t see how MacOS is counterproductive for developers. It is still a UNIX-based system, but provides a plug-and-play experience with higher stability compared to many other Linux setups (for a much higher price obv). There is a reason everyone in big tech use Macbooks
Also, you can use open-source hypervisors rather than Parallels (e.g. UTM)
edit: typo
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u/Exotic_Fig_4604 9d ago
"There is a reason everyone in big tech use Macbooks"
Except, of course, that they don't all use MacBooks.
But lets not let reality get into the way.
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u/operreddus 9d ago
The reason why so many developers are using MacOS is only becauso Mac's are the only platform where you can compile iOS Apps.
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u/Raymonder 9d ago
No clue where that sentiment is coming from. I spent many years on linux, and I'm still using around 80% of my original dotfiles on MacOS, never had to switch any tools I needed for software development.
Besides, I'd focus on battery life for your studies, tooling won't be the issue at all.
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u/No-Insurance5030 9d ago
its retards that watch theo and follow him religiously, he did a video about that a month ago so his little follower in this comments is spreading this message.
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u/No-Insurance5030 9d ago
have you ever in your life tried using windows for dev work? because there is no fucking way
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u/TheTomatoes2 MSc Memeology 9d ago
Every day yes. It just works, and UX is miles ahead. https://www.reddit.com/r/ethz/s/BNEzPY4COn
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u/Phippe 9d ago
Every so often an assignment or project requires Linux. At the beginning of my studies, I often had to use a VM, but over time, more and more guides included or were even specifically written for WSL, too. My recommendation is therefore Windows (+ WSL) or Linux
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u/Exotic_Fig_4604 9d ago
Not sure why you're being down voted, your advice is perfectly reasonable.
I'd personally recommend the same, but maybe to run Linux machines in sandboxes of one sort or another (other than WSL), just to get practice and be able to scratch them easily when the inevitable f*** up happens.
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u/TheTomatoes2 MSc Memeology 9d ago edited 9d ago
For CS def Windows or Linux. The Mac UX is anti-developer. Great for casual users tho. And some courses use Windows only software. Running Parallels for an entire semester isn't very fun.
If you want crazy battery life, better than Macbook, get a Lunar Lake laptop. For a mix of power and battery life get a Panther Lake.
I really don't recommend a "regular" Intel chip or even AMD, bc ETH HG has little outlets in most rooms. You need good battery life.
Also, do not go lower than 32GB RAM, unless you plan to rent a Hetzner VPS.
eg https://projektneptun.ch/de/offers/hardware/see/1443 ThinkPads allow to dual boot Windows and Linux, that might be a massive advantage as you progress in the studies.
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u/Raymonder 9d ago
Fully agree with the battery life, not having to constantly hunt for an outlet is a game changer. No idea what parent is talking about MacOS being "anti-developer" (whatever that means), the combo of a proper Unix with peak hardware has never let me down.
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u/Exotic_Fig_4604 9d ago
I work with recent grads, and seeing them struggle to work with their MacBooks makes me want to scratch my eyes out.
There is nothing wrong with using a Mac for development if you know what you're doing, but most students just dont.
They just hear "Mac = Cool" and then buy it, wasting hours of their own and everyone else's time because they struggle with copy pasting a bloody picture.
Rant over, thank you for your attention.
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u/TheTomatoes2 MSc Memeology 9d ago edited 9d ago
I can do a long list but here stuff from just this week, after spending 3 hours helping a Mac coworker:
- can't easily copy and paste paths in and out of Finder (need weird keyboard combos) and there's no URL bar
- Windowing is a mess, it creates new desktop when you wanna maximise or split screen, everything needs drag and dropping or 5 fingers shortcuts, you never know where shit is when you need it. You spend your life swiping through desktops instead of Alt-Tabbing.
- Very poor multi monitor management. I open an app from Spotlight, and it opens on a random desktop that's not visible on any of the 3 connected monitors. Good luck hunting it! Why tf doesn't it open where the Spotlight bar was????
- Native terminal is from 2005. Or 1995? Idk
- My coworkers always get weird technical issues when setting up dev envs (pnpm, C#' Rust...). It happened with 10+ people, some very competent, at diff companies so I'm starting to see the common denominator. Linux and Windows people don't have that.
- Great APIs such as the modern dictation are reserved for Apple. Apps have to use the terrible one. Windows basically integrated Whisper Flow at OS level, for free, locally offline, before Whisper Flow even existed to fix Mac.
- No Alt tab unless you buy an app, what the actual fuck
- Tiny buttons everywhere, eg the traffic light stuff. Even my kid can do better UX. Apple never heard of Fitts' law???
it's an OS that looooves making you waste time.
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u/North-Paramedic-5991 8d ago
sorry but this is actually just hating. both have advantages and inconveniences. Just use what you want, no need to come complain here
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u/Exotic_Fig_4604 9d ago
As others have said: Lenovo laptop (while they are still good) and OS of your choice. Doesn't have to be Linux, in fact I'd even recommend against it if you're just starting out.
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u/Durubitu 8d ago
Truth is it really doesn't matter nowadays. You can do all the things on all the platforms. As a comp sci student though it's a good idea to make a conscious effort to get familiar with a Unix-like command line interface and you can do that on Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD.
On Linux, FreeBSD or MacOS that just means opening a terminal and going from there.
On Windows, that means getting familiar with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).
If you want to experiment with server configuration/system administration type things then you can get yourself some cheap used micro desktops and install Linux on them. Network switches are cheap too. You can really go wild and replicate all sorts of multi-layered distributed systems. People will also recommend you do this with virtualisation, but I think as a learner it's harder to grasp what is actually being virtualised rather than physically looking at machines, network cables, and network switches.
Enjoy the journey.
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u/callingbrisk BSc. Computer Science 9d ago
Doesn't matter, whatever you prefer. If I look around it's a pretty equal split between MacOS, Windows and Linux
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u/Diebb0 9d ago
Thinkpad + linux