Using IMac for Computer Lab of Computer Engineering

A viewpoint from the father of a computer engineering graduate:

Our experiences tell me that you can never know for sure, even if you ask the school. When our son started university Comp Eng studies, he was told by department councilors that he could could use Terminal on his MacBook Pro to do programming assignments. Then the deal changed.

His senior year, a new professor arrived and his curriculum required software that ran only on Windows. Our son's entry-level Macbook Pro had neither the storage nor RAM resources needed to install Windows via Boot Camp or use an emulator. The university advisors four years earlier had no idea that would happen. We bought Dear Son a Windows computer to allow him to graduate.

He now programs QA test equipment routines for new products for one of the largest component suppliers in the world. It is a 100% Windows environment.

Were our son on his own without the "1st Bank of Mom & Dad" backing him, he would have struggled to afford the change of computer platforms his senior year.

I love our Macs but, based on our experiences, I would be hard-pressed to recommend one to a computer engineering major today.

If this is for a community college or university course, check with the college or university.

It is certainly possible to write a curriculum in a way that includes Macs, but that doesn't mean that every college or university has done so. Your college or university will be best equipped to tell you what type(s) of computers they support for their course of study.

PLEASE re-write your question after reading Writing an effective Apple Support Communities Question.

The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory was all Macs except for LSI 11s, other large systems and their super computers. At one time it was the largest Mac installations in the country along with one of the universities in Texas. That was over 25 years ago when I was there. Don't know what they are into now (personal computers wise that is).

One of the enduring memories I have of the LLNL cafeteria is their home made croutons. They would take the left over bread, cut it into chunks and (I guess) deep fried them. They used all kinds of bread and were to die for.

Strange what you remember after 29 years.

Yeah, it is often hard to kick against the goads.

The only real mac-friendly business environment I was in was Sandia National Labs.

Like Sandia, you can choose your own computer. I was just there about a year or so ago.

Keith Barkley wrote:

I was just there about a year or so ago.

At LLNL or Sandia? It's been 29 years since I retired from the lab. I probably would even recognize it today.

Both. I went to both LLNL and Sandia Livermore.

It does still have the same cafeteria. 8^)