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Comment by rkwz | Hacker News Reader

OT - I'm seeing more OSX based screenshots of cross-platform tools. Is it just for aesthetic purposes or is there a trend where more and more devs are starting to use Macs?

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We found that screenshots on Mac _do_ look better most of the time. And yes, you can see the trend of more and more devs using Macs. Prooflink: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/228843/RailConf_Mac_vs_PC.jpg That was shot at RailsConf, where historically more Macs are used, but this is quite general nowadays.

I dug up this shot of PyCon JP 2011: http://www.ianlewis.org/media/img/662/audience.jpg

I count at least 8 Macs, two more that may or may not be Macs. I don't see any blatantly non-Mac laptops.

To be fair, I can't be sure it's not a session on, say, PyObjC, but I also found this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimizukawa/6142969129/in/set-7...

Five Macs, possibly a sixth hiding behind one guy's head. Two non-Macs (one looks like a thinkpad and I think the one in the lower right is a vaio).

The trend is undeniable, but there's some selection bias in your post: people with Macs do tend to flaunt them around, especially at geek gatherings where you find a lot of contractors/independent/superstar/fashion-victim developers who have a say in the hardware they use. You don't see the thousands of corporate developers with work-issued laptops nor the academic working on "big rigs"; they're not all uber-hackers but they're not all shit either. Apple adoption is also lower in Europe due to higher prices compared to NA and Japan.

Last few times I've been to (Euro) Python conventions, I was actually surprised to see a lot of really skilled guys doing real computation (3d, molecular modelling etc) while happily running Windows on their laptops.

This has been a trend for years now. IMO, when Macs switched to Intel that was when the trend really picked up.

I'm a .NET dev by day and use a Mac for my own stuff on evenings/weekends (mainly Python, Django and JS/Html/CSS). When I do need to do .NET I find bootcamp and Parallels are more than sufficient. I personally think Apple make the best hardware regardless what OS you're using.

When I visited the valley recently, I used to use my ugly Dell laptop. I was the only one is all of so many places I visited that didn't use a mac.

I flew back with a MBA and now ask myself, why didn't I do this much earlier.

In Silicon Valley, I'm reaching the point where I'm surprised when a developer isn't using a Mac. Frankly, most of the ones I know who don't have been working professionally since long before Apple's resurgence.

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