mardi 19 juillet 2016

Mac as Windows machine: some questions

I have always used Windows, but I am having tremendous difficulty finding a modern Windows laptop that can run all my software and hardware well, as well as be ergonomically comfortable. Modern Windows laptops have new kinds of touchpads and keyboards, usually, and I'm not comfortable with the ones I've tried. Or I AM comfortable, but then I have hardware trouble with my external audiophile DAC.

So, switch to a MacBook Pro? I know that I like the ergonomics, and I am told that it has the best audio hardware performance of anything out there.

Two options: (1) Use OSX. (2) Use Windows 10

(1) My issue here is whether I can get all my software for Mac. Some of it is expensive audio or music-related software and I don't want to have to repurchase it. I do think I'll be fine, but there is one major, major issue. Right now I use a programmable Windows key macro utility for just about everything. I am a programmer and I can get it to do sophisticated things. It's a huge productivity enhancer. It also is the only thing preventing me from developing repetitive strain injury. It's called "Autohotkey." So I wonder if there is anything like this for Mac. I need the ability to bring windows to the foreground based on their title names, for instance, using programmable keystrokes. I would also like some mouse control through the keyboard, and this needs to be pretty sophisticated and programmable.

(2) If I use Windows 10 then at least I'll know all my software including the key macros will work. So how realistic is it, in practice to do everything in Windows 10 on a MBP? This involves a few sub-questions:

(2A) Does virtualization offer decent hardware performance? For instance, with my audio hardware I need to stream data at near the maximum of USB 2.0 speeds (that TWO.ZERO, so at least not as demanding as 3.0) with an audio latency of maybe 50 ms.

(2B) Does virtualization offer good hardware compatibility with USB drives, USB keyboards, USB mice, USB hubs, Thunderbolt hubs, etc.? And my audio stuff? I don't have any exotic hardware besides the audio stuff.

(2C) If I use bootcamp and primarily use it as a Windows machine, then I don't want OSX to take up a lot of the hard drive. What is the smallest partition that can contain OSX, in a practical sense?

Thanks.

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Mac as Windows machine: some questions

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