Recommended specs for Windows Development computer.

[Dar Scott Consulting]

The original question mentioned testing and debugging. 

I tend to develop on the Mac and test on Windows. At times I need to develop on Windows because there are unknowns in the environment or I'm using some Windows specific hardware. Especially internal hardware.

It is a big pain to have multiple programming stations, so I set up Windows workstations with monitors, keyboards and mice as needed. I prefer to have my big wide monitor on my Mac and then remote in. I currently use no-machine to access Windows machines.

The focus in the discussion has been on processor, RAM and disk. For me however, other hardware is important. That is, that which makes it hard to test with virtualization needs to be in the real hardware. And often one needs real hardware. Virtual Box has been good to me as far as emulating hardware, but I need to test on real stuff.

So, for me, the most important part is not so much processor-RAM-disk, but I/O. I want lots of USB and a variety of such, front and back. I want board slots. I want multiple NICs. RS-232 is a big plus. A powerful GPU is a plus, but I hope to build a computation server someday. Multiple kinds of video is good as well as handling multiple monitors. I want Bluetooth and Wifi. I want WoL. Though I use no-machine, I want to be able to remote desktop in, so W8.1 needs to be Pro. As soon as I get a computer, a customer will come up with something I neglected, so those slots are important. I get Pro for everything if I can.) For a different machine, I might want something with a touch screen that I can carry around.

In my last buy, I compromised. I did not get high performance or slots.

And speaking of Pro, Windows 10 Pro is, out of the box, friendly to us old guys.

As far as development on the Mac, Bootcamp does not work well for me, I want to see all of my screens on all of my computers. Parallels is good, but I have found that when Parallels and VMWare say no, Virtual Box says yes. What good is higher RPM when you can't get it into reverse? In general, virtualization allows me to swap out hardware or display sizes quickly, bing, bing, bing. Network configuration testing? No searching for switches, routers and cables. 

Just going by my memory (I recommend against trusting it), I do not see a big performance hit. I think LiveCode on Windows 10 Pro on Virtual Box 6 on Mac Mini runs slightly faster than LiveCode on macOS on MacMini. That could be my imagination. Disk I/O might be a lot slower, but it did not affect me. I typically use a LAN drive for such testing, anyway, unless the tests directly involve a local drive.

I have used MSDN Operating Systems to build a variety of virtual machines and to load on real machines. However, things seem to be different. Now the best way seems to be Visual Studio Pro, $1200 for the first year, $800 for subsequent. 

Dar
Mad Scientist


> On Oct 4, 2019, at 2:34 AM, Curry Kenworthy via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> For anyone truly interested in the original question of "Recommended specs for Windows Development computer"
> 
> (... as opposed to any OS-partisan virtue signaling, or avoiding Windows hardware, or maintaining a single computer as the rule, etc ...)
> 
> here's my take, from many years of often "Windows first, but not Windows only" experience:
> 
> - Biggest OS difference/biggest factor: anti-virus. I've literally seen a Mac running with software techniques similar to today's PC antivirus, and similar results.
> 
> - I don't trust my PC to run Mac, nor my Mac to run PC. I get my hands dirty on both, with dedicated hardware for each. You notice more....
> 
> - PC doesn't require a huge investment. I use a budget (but not bottom) laptop with as much hard disk and RAM as possible. Currently an i5 chip and 8 GB memory, 1 TB RAM.
> 
> - The specs I listed are quite adequate for professional LC dev. Any extra power feels great, but remember that it also could cause you to overlook issues affecting some of your end users. I intentionally use budget hardware to make sure software is snappy for everyone.
> 
> - Again, with Windows 10 it's all about managing antivirus and various other software/settings to be allowed to use the inherent performance of your machine. The power is in there, but you have to remove the ball and chains.
> 
> - Any OS-partisan biases (in other words reliving the 80s and 90s, which felt so good) will tend to be confirmed by their own cognitive influence on your perception of your limited experiences on another OS. Using a system efficiently takes experience and learning, built into habits. (There once was a system called MacOS that for a number of years pretty much broke that rule. And during those bygone years, I was proudly "Mac-first, but not Mac only.") Whatever OS you use, just realize that many everyday users are equally efficient on the other operating systems.
> 
> I like having and using both almost daily, as long as I'm developing for both. And developing for both is specifically how I ended up right here! :)
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Curry Kenworthy
> 
> Custom Software Development
> "Better Methods, Better Results"
> LiveCode Training and Consulting
> http://livecodeconsulting.com/
> 
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