Interesting discussion. In my experience as a software developer for 35 years, it really doesn't matter which platform you choose, as long as the platform delivers what you expect it to. In my lab at home I have Windows 7 and 10, Redhat Linux 4.6 and 7.0, z/OS, and z/VM. I think at last count I had between 5 and 6 IBM / Lenovo Thinkpads, 2 Macbook Pros, a Macbook Air, 2 Ipads an iPhone 6+ and a Galaxy 6 Edge. Add to that too many VMWare virtual machines to count. Of all of those, I use the Macbook Air every day and one of the Thinkpads occasionally. DW uses her iPad for most everything except for one application that has to run on her Windows 7 Thinkpad. Honestly, unless you do hardcore software development as I do, an iPad probably does 95% of everything most people need.
It is much more important to consider what goes into the platform than who actually makes it. I always recommend maxing out the memory and CPU. I can't count how many times a friend will ask me why their computer/ tablet/ phone is so slow and I find out they have 1GB or less of memory. CPU also makes a big difference. Except for some very special cases, faster is always better. More cores are always better. ie. a quad core processor is always better than a core 2 duo. A solid state storage device can make a HUGE difference when compared to a spinning disk. These days most network adapters aren't an issue, however, some of the older devices that still have 10MG adapters can be a bottleneck.
Truthfully, I could probably get by with a tablet. They are light weight and the late models are strong enough to do most everything you would need. For me, I don't think I will ever get rid of my Mac just because I like the keyboard and mouse.
|