Propeller Mac

Humanoido

I'm looking at completely ditching Microsoft Windows and going "all Mac."

What is the pro and con of doing this and continuing to write code for the Propeller and making the hardware connection?

Are tools available like PST etc.?
Thanks for your reply.

Heater.

Excellent idea. Linux would be better of course:)

Anyway as far as I know BradC's BST tool works perfectly well on a Mac and has some nice extra features over the Prop Tool as a bonus. BST has a terminal built in.
Then there is Andre Demenyev's PZST IDE that could easily be built for the mac I believe.

Mike Green

I use a Mac all the time for Propeller and Stamp programming. I do keep a copy of Windows XP Home handy (to run under Parallels Desktop) for stuff that only runs under Windows like the PropScope software and 12Blocks, but I don't use those most of the time. Works fine for me.

Ale

Humanoido that's a great idea !. I run BST on a Mac Mini (main desktop!), Eagle also runs on Macs. I also keep a copy of XP but use VirtualBox or VMWare to run it, you know for the Logic Port software and AVR Studio and a few more things...

pgbpsu

I'm also running a mostly all Mac shop. Like Mike and Ale I have a copy of XP I can run when needed, but my version of parallels takes 50% of my machine even if it's not doing anything. For Prop programming I use BST. It works great.

MacTuxLin

Well .. what can I say ... go humanoido go !

Andrey Demenev

Heater. wrote: »

Then there is Andre Demenyev's PZST IDE that could easily be built for the mac I believe.

Not now. I do not have the hardware to implement serial port communications. Everything else would work. As soon as I get my hands on a Mac (and this can be not very soon ) or someone ports the serial port class to MacOS - PZST will be working on Macs

davidsaunders

Humanoido wrote:

I'm looking at completely ditching Microsoft Windows and going "all Mac."

I wish you luck. while there are some 'OS X' development tools, you will find none if you go 'all Mac' meaning the real Mac OS (Macintosh System Software to 6.04, and Mac OS 7.0 through 8.0 [8.1 through 9.x started including PowerPC code in the OS and thus abandoning the All Mac concept]). I guess you could write your own development tools for the Mac OS.

Heater.

I presume by "all Mac" now a days one is thinking of the current day OS X which is far removed from old 68K and Power PC Mac operating systems.
Given that one can run virtual machines on OS X which can then run Windows or Linux I guess all bases are covered.
A Mac Mini seems like an excellent idea.

davidsaunders

heater wrote:

I presume by "all Mac" now a days one is thinking of the current day OS X which is far removed from old 68K and Power PC Mac operating systems.

In Macintosh preservation circles, the phrase 'all Mac' is used to indicate the true 68K based Macintosh computers with Macintosh System Software 0.9 through 6.0.4 and Mac OS 7.0 through 8.0 (for some 8.0 is to much on the PowerPC side). Most users of newer Macintosh Branded computers are aware of this, and many of them are strongly opposed to the all Mac concept. My self if it is 68k or PowerPC running any of the above (through OS 8.5) I am ok with it. Apple broke compatibility with to much when they introduced there microkernel in OS 8.6, and threw away hundreds of thousands of extremely good programs and system extensions by introducing OS X as there exclusive OS. This has frustrated many as Apple had promised that even after the user release of Rhapsody OS (OS X) they would continue to separately develop and distribute the traditional Mac OS.

Now I see a couple places in this thread that people claim to be all Mac and develop on such for the Propeller using BST. Where can I find this port of BST (I only knew of the Windows, Linux, and OS X ports).

ElectricAye

I use a Mac and BradC's BST works fine for me (Blessed be BradC). When Windows 7 was announced, I thought I might migrate everything to PCs, but after I found out Windows 7 feels about the same as all the other Microsoft stuff I've struggled with, I'm sticking with the Mac. For me, Windows 7 was proof positive that PCs will never emerge from the 1970's in terms of the way they feel. At least not in my lifetime.

Having said that, I still have a Windows XP system and a Windows 7 system so I can interface with all those people. And a box of cotton towels so I can muffle my screams.

Ale

I use a Mac and BradC's BST works fine for me (Blessed be BradC). When Windows 7 was announced, I thought I might migrate everything to PCs, but after I found out Windows 7 feels about the same as all the other Microsoft stuff I've struggled with, I'm sticking with the Mac. For me, Windows 7 was proof positive that PCs will never emerge from the 1970's in terms of the way they feel. At least not in my lifetime.

Having said that, I still have a Windows XP system and a Windows 7 system so I can interface with all those people. And a box of cotton towels so I can muffle my screams.

I was seduced by a quad-core processor and bought a i7 laptop with w7... o boy how I regret it... I should have gotten another Mac instead ! My coworkers make fun of me every time I scream "steaming pile of bleep ! how could I have bought this thing"...

That was three months before last MacBook Pro update

Mike Green

Early versions of Connectix's Virtual PC would run under Mac System 8 and later. I would run the Stamp Editor that way. You might be able to run the Windows or Linux version of BST under it if you can find a copy somewhere. Unfortunately, Microsoft bought Connectix some years ago and that was the end of that.

Ale

Is someone still using Classic MacOS ? A MacOSX-capable machine does not cost that much these days... specially those core solo/duo minis... I think that by Mac we mean MacOSX, I do at least...

Humanoido

Then there is Andre Demenyev's PZST IDE that could easily be built for the mac I believe.

Is there a link for this?

Humanoido

Mike Green wrote: »

Early versions of Connectix's Virtual PC would run under Mac System 8 and later. I would run the Stamp Editor that way. You might be able to run the Windows or Linux version of BST under it if you can find a copy somewhere. Unfortunately, Microsoft bought Connectix some years ago and that was the end of that.

I had very good success with Connectix Virtual PC. Any time it went goofy, like Windows does from time to time, I could easily wipe it and reinstall. But the install disks were on the very old floppy disks (650 or 800K?) and you'd need the old computer to go with it.

Andrey Demenev

Humanoido wrote: »

Then there is Andre Demenyev's PZST IDE that could easily be built for the mac I believe.

Is there a link for this?

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?129362-PZST-an-open-source-Propeller-IDE-in-development

As anything on this forum, it can be easily found by typing into search box located at tp right corner of each page

And as I already mentioned, PZST cannot be built for Mac OSX currently - some work is required to port one class that works with serial ports.

Humanoido

Heater. wrote: »

I presume by "all Mac" now a days one is thinking of the current day OS X which is far removed from old 68K and Power PC Mac operating systems. Given that one can run virtual machines on OS X which can then run Windows or Linux I guess all bases are covered. A Mac Mini seems like an excellent idea.

If you're doing heavy graphics, you may want to get a more powerful Mac. The cute Mac Mini still has the duo core and the vid is shared. Here's some information I put together from the Apple Store web site when reviewing the entire mac line.

Mac mini
$1,415.00 http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC270LL/A?mco=MTgxNTgzNzk
(base unit is 2.4GHz : 320GB, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo , 2GB memory , 320GB hard drive 5400 RPM , 8x double-layer SuperDrive , NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics with 256Mb shared video memory , Mac OS X Snow Leopard, gigabit ethernet, FireWire800, HDMI, 4 USB 2.0, SD Card Slot, miniDisplayPort, built in power supply – no brick) 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, with 1066MHz frontside bus and 3MB of L2 cache, 802.11n wireless technology, automatically connects to your Wi-Fi network to surfing the web, printing, and streaming your music wirelessly. Bluetooth wireless technology so you can connect a wireless keyboard and mouse.
proposed configuration:
· 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
· 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
· 500GB Serial ATA Drive (slow)
· SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
· Apple Magic Mouse
· Apple Wireless Keyboard
· iWork preinstalled
· Mac mini - AppleCare Protection Plan
Downside: no monitor, weak graphics, outdated duo core cpu, needs cable for HDTV, blurry text, no upgrade path for video card, USB 2.0 only, HD is max 500GB, only duo core available,

Forrest

davidsaunders

Re: Propeller Mac
Quote Originally Posted by Heater
I presume by "all Mac" now a days one is thinking of the current day OS X which is far removed from old 68K and Power PC Mac operating systems.
In Macintosh preservation circles, the phrase 'all Mac' is used to indicate the true 68K based Macintosh computers with Macintosh System Software 0.9 through 6.0.4 and Mac OS 7.0 through 8.0 (for some 8.0 is to much on the PowerPC side). Most users of newer Macintosh Branded computers are aware of this, and many of them are strongly opposed to the all Mac concept.

I disagree with this assessment of Mac users. Having attended many Mac user group meeting over the years, I find very few folks who want to stick with pre-OSX systems. OSX is a heck of a lot more powerful and stable than it's predecessors. Even though my G4 PowerMac has OS9.x installed, it's been a many, many months since I've run an old Mac program.

I think the Mac Mini is a good choice - I bought a new, recently discontinued 1.83 GHz Core2Duo model in 2009 for $350. Die hard Mac users know where the deals are - at the Apple store. Recently discontinued models, refurbished and floor models are available for hundreds of $ off.

davidsaunders

Forrest wrote:

I disagree with this assessment of Mac users. Having attended many Mac user group meeting over the years, I find very few folks who want to stick with pre-OSX systems. OSX is a heck of a lot more powerful and stable than it's predecessors. Even though my G4 PowerMac has OS9.x installed, it's been a many, many months since I've run an old Mac program.

That was my point. Most Macintosh branded computer users prefer OS X based systems, and thus dislike the 'all Mac' concept that has been around since Apple first introduced the PowerPC 601 based Macintosh Branded computers.