4 Replies Latest reply: Oct 28, 2012 3:35 PM by LeBozo RSS

    Transition from PC to MAC?

    LeBozo Community Member

      I'm a longtime PC software developer who now wants to write iPad apps.

      All my development tools as well as experience is on the Windows platform.

      From the limited research I've done it seems that if you don't have a Mac you have to jump through hoops to publish. A lot of what I've read appears to be out of date and/or conflicting so I'm not sure that this is still the case. While I'm not 100% against the idea of buying a Mac, I would like to utilize my investment in my Windows environment as well as my expertise in Flash. Also, developing in c++ is not something I really want to do.

       

      Should I just forget the PC and buy a Mac and new software or is there an easy way to do this with a PC?

      Where should I begin?

      Any opinions and links are appreciated.

        • 1. Re: Transition from PC to MAC?
          Colin Holgate CommunityMVP

          Although making certificates can be trickier on Windows, it is documented (iBrent has made videos about the subject). Being on Windows you can't use the iOS Simulator for testing from Flash, but then that's anew feature anyway.

           

          The only thing you need a Mac for is for running Application Loader, the utility that you use for submitting to the App Store. If you don't know anyone with a Mac you could get one of the new Mac Minis, and then just connect it to your PC monitor and keyboard when you need to do the upload, or when doing other things that need to be on a Mac.

          • 2. Re: Transition from PC to MAC?
            Mark.fromOP Community Member

            I have been doing both Android and iOS development on a PC for a year and a half, like Colin mentioned, you really only need the Mac to upload to the app store, which happens once a month at best for most of us, and it is easy enough to guide a mac user to do it for you over the phone or IM, so if that's your concern don't worry too much, you can go PC all the way. Creating the original certificates you need to start development is a pain in the butt on PC but very easy on a mac, that you need to do once a year so again you can farm it out.

             

            I myself recently bought a mac for a feature that is hard to simulate on the PC and that is indicating the iOS SDK path, on a mac its as easy as finding a certain file on your system on a pc it requires you to do it through long confusing lines of type. I got the cheapest mac possible because I had only planned on using it for final publishing but I am having a ton of issues with it, first off I dont like the mac interface in general, but thats personal opinion I wont hold that against it, secondly it cant seem to handle my files, I have reinstalled flash a few times and I cannot publish or test my app, perhaps the mac is just to weak to publish my 90+ meg fla file, but my powerful pc has no issues. And my third concern is transferring my CS6 creative suite from PC to Mac, I thought since I am allowed to install the software on two computers it would be as simple as entering the serial number on the mac, but it appears to be a much more complex process.

             

            So in conclusion, if you don't mind Macs and you are starting fresh then you might as well go with a Mac, this will get you in good graces with Apple no matter what happens in the future they will always support Mac development even if they no longer support Air or make it more difficult for PC users to try to help them make money. Android is a very open minded platform that does not require you to use a specific operating system, maybe they should make their SDK only work with Chromebox, lolz. And it seems that Adobe favors the Mac platform at least in the demos they put out on the web they use a mac for the videos, so their software might work better with Macs.

            • 3. Re: Transition from PC to MAC?
              random(1) Community Member

              Mark, I've got an extra license for the Mac version of Flash CS6. This is for the full version, not an upgrade, and it's never been used. Price: whatever. It looks like my days as a Flash dev are winding down, so no reasonable offer refused. If you're interested, send me a private email.

               

              I also have unopened, shrinkwrapped, full Windows versions of Flash CS5 and Flash CS5.5 that are just sitting on my office shelf, so if anyone wants those as a cheap way to upgrade to Flash CS6, let me know.

              • 4. Re: Transition from PC to MAC?
                LeBozo Community Member

                Well, I took the plunge this weekend and bought a MacBook Pro and started the iTunes U course on iPad and iPhone app development. So far, so good. I got my first app working and downloaded to my iPhone. Wish me luck. :-)