Thread

Hi Guys,
Currently we use Topstyle in our office for all CSS/XHTML coding (and pretty much everything else!) but are seriously considering switching to using Macs. I was wondering if anyone has made the switch and would be willing to share their views on Mac Web Dev tools (CSS/XHTML editors in particular) in comparison to PC ones like TopStyle.

I really like the look of Panic’s Coda and also CSSEdit. Would really like to hear all opinions as to whether these tools (and just generally working on a Mac) has sped up (or improved in other ways) people’s web development work..  :roll:

Mac is a great platform for web development. If you are designer your gonna like shareware apps and the community. If you are developer you’ll love UNIX foundation and development tools.

Coda is so good that I am actually sad that I don’t do as much client side work as I used to 😉

I used to use Topstyle Pro and sometimes DW for my development when I worked on Windows. I made the switch and have never looked back. I find both design and development much more pleasurable on a Mac. Here are some of the tools I love to use:

- MacBook Pro + 24” Dell display + Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse
- CS3 Design Premium (Every thing design)
- Transmit (FTP)
- CSSEdit 2
- Textmate (Best Editor I’ve come across for Mac or PC.)
- OmniOutliner (Notes and Outlines)
- OmniGraffle (Diagrams + Wire framing)
- Mamp Pro (Awesome for local development)
- Parallels or Fusion (Windows XP Virtualization - I test both IE6 and IE7 on this - Don’t need both but Fusion seems to take less resources)
- Firefox (Web Developer Toolbar and Firebug)
- Safari (Saft plugin is a must)
- Flip4Mac (to play those sometimes necessary windows media files)
- xScope (some very helpful tools)
- MySQL Tools (DB work)
- CocoaMySQL (DB work)

Take a look at some of the tools I’ve listed above. TextMate gets top honors from me for all types of coding needs.It’s very flexible and lets you define a lot of stuff to suit your needs. I hope that helps. 😊

- Firefox with Firebug and WebDevToolbar and some other Extensions
- DreamWeaver (actually but i am tending to use “Aptana” more and more)
- Adobe Creative Suite CS2 (Photoshop and Ilustrator)
- “the shell”
- vi
- putty
- UltraEdit
- phpMyAdmin

(
- MS Office 2003 (Outlook, Excel, Word, Project…)
- MS Office Visio 2003
- Mindjet MindManager Pro 6
- ...
)

Completely Windows on a Notebook, a normal Client and a very actual and powerful CAD/CAM-Workstation (all DELL)
but it is conceivable that i buy a Mac for personal use very soon.

This thread will help me to figure out wich Tools i need to check when iam on a mac… 😉

Development:
1. TextMate
2. CSSEdit
3. Transmit
4. NaviKat
(close eye on Panic’s Coda)

Invoicing:
iRachet

Money Management:
Cha Ching

Still waiting on a Photoshop killer!

I think my Mac is a perfect web development tool, especially with the addition of Parallels.  I do all of my development in Photoshop (design) and BBEdit (programming), throw it up on the server with Transmit (FTP).  And with Parallels, I can do testing in all of the major browsers: IE7, IE6, Firefox, Safari, etc.

Just got my 17” mac so I guess I drank the kool-aid. First impressions from a usability standpoint it is outstanding. Installing items has been so easy it is scary. But the one thing that has bitten me is getting all of my data off of the HP laptop I have been using to the mac. Especially the outlook information (I never delete an email 😉. I had to use O2M to get it there. It is only 10$ but these things add up. And when you spent 3500$ for software and laptop already… well… it adds up…

First impressions from a usability standpoint it is outstanding. Installing items has been so easy it is scary.

I remember having to “un-learn” things when I made the switch.  I would get frustrated looking around for some complex pattern of doing something and it was one click, return or key-press away.

This was 8 years ago, so I really don’t know if it still applies with the newer Window’s Vista, etc…

For those looking for a Phtoshop killer - try Pixelmator. It is actually in closed beta, but you can check out the site and watch the video. I am in the beta, and I can say that the product is amazing, and only costs $59.

Yeah, I’ve been keeping my eye on it…  Please share your dislikes and likes when you have formed an opinion.

We could really hijack this thread if we started a dialog regarding a Photoshop killer… so, I’ll make my opinion (used PS since 2.0) short and brief and if you start a new thread, we can continue there…

#1.  Adobe needs competition in this arena.  Their innovation has slowed to a craw.
#2.  Due to #1, Photoshop has become a bloated application… too much crap
#3.  Due to #1, their interface is so outdated and clunky
#4.  Due to their success on Windows, the Mac PS is nothing more than a port making #3 unacceptable for OS X users
#5.  Due to #4, they don’t take advantage of amazing technologies available to them in OS X like Core Image
#6.  Price

This list could go on and on.  I’ll finish by saying Photoshop is an amazing application. NO doubt about it, but it could be even more on the Mac and Adobe has refused to put the development into it.  It’s nice to see something like Pixelmator come along and attempt to innovate with OS X’s offerings.  Pixelmator, unfortunately won’t be a PS killer because they only have one developer… but just look at the interface and compare it to Photoshop and you’ll get the idea 😊 .

For those looking for a Phtoshop killer - try Pixelmator. It is actually in closed beta, but you can check out the site and watch the video. I am in the beta, and I can say that the product is amazing, and only costs $59.

Pixelmator was released today. Looks pretty cool.

I just started using Coda for Mac, and so far it’s the perfect alternative to Dreamweaver - integrated FTP, site management (something I’ve always liked in DW), but the big thing for me is the remote editing - you can be on your site via FTP and edit files directly (think in EE terms, using this to edit templates just by pointing to the directory where you store them - save, and viola - instant changes without the whole download/edit/save/upload routine (actually, this still occurs, but by opening the files remotely in the first place, you’re one step less to go, and no other programs/interfaces to use - save and it’s uploaded. It also has a robust CSS editor built in (haven’t tried yet to edit EE’s PHP CSS files, but I wouldn’t doubt it could do it), and for 70USD, it’s a steal, especially compared to Dreamweaver.

Can anyone provide a comparison of how Topstyle Pro (on the PC) and Coda/CSS Edit measure up against each other?

For those looking for a Phtoshop killer - try Pixelmator. It is actually in closed beta, but you can check out the site and watch the video. I am in the beta, and I can say that the product is amazing, and only costs $59.

Have you used Acorn?  If so, can you compare the two?