Current state of the "Apple Tax"

[Joelist]

Yes. Salesforce.com uses APEX which is a C derivative for complex configuration programming, and Eclipse also has a Salesforce native deployment engine so that when I migrate changes to Production I get detailed logging. Visual Studio and SQL Desktop are for our SQL Server integrations and our backend mainframe integrations.

 

[Overmind One]

Yes. Salesforce.com uses APEX which is a C derivative for complex configuration programming, and Eclipse also has a Salesforce native deployment engine so that when I migrate changes to Production I get detailed logging. Visual Studio and SQL Desktop are for our SQL Server integrations and our backend mainframe integrations.

I see...Eclipse is what I use for writing Android apps (Im almost finished with my first!). It is really an awesome program.

 

[Joelist]

Just a quick check back.

So far this puppy still flies! The PCIe SSD is showing no signs whatsoever of degradation and the fast CPU and high bandwidth RAM help as well. Iris Pro has handled everything I have thrown at it with no hitches as well.

I am still splitting OS time. I junked Linux after trying not only Ubuntu but also Debian, Mint, Open SUSE and freeBSD. All had performance and compatibility issues. So right now it is Windows 8.1 Update 1 and OSX 10.9.3. Win 8.1 still is faster (it LOVES this hardware) but both are very usable.

 

[Joelist]

Just another check back.

This laptop still flies like a rocket. The combination of PCIe SSD Hard Drive, quad i7 CPU and Gigabit WiFi makes for a ridiculously fast machine. I even tried some gaming (just confirmed I'm not truly a video gamer) but was impressed by the smoothness and speed of the play - Iris Pro is still a beast especially for an integrated GPU.

I still run primarily OSX 10.9.3 and am using CrossOver Mac for my Windows programs, all of which run without a hitch. It's weird that my rig is still just about the fastest laptop out there - this was a slow year for advancing hardware specs.

 

[Overmind One]

Just another check back.

This laptop still flies like a rocket. The combination of PCIe SSD Hard Drive, quad i7 CPU and Gigabit WiFi makes for a ridiculously fast machine. I even tried some gaming (just confirmed I'm not truly a video gamer) but was impressed by the smoothness and speed of the play - Iris Pro is still a beast especially for an integrated GPU.

I still run primarily OSX 10.9.3 and am using CrossOver Mac for my Windows programs, all of which run without a hitch. It's weird that my rig is still just about the fastest laptop out there - this was a slow year for advancing hardware specs.

The MSI GS70 Stealth is faster. But it is not a widely used machine. The reason for the rather sudden slowdown of hardware advancement has more to do with demand. Games do not use the top end of a quad i7 2.4ghz processor, and no programs I know of have anywhere the requirement for such power. The advent of cloud computing is making onboard computing power less important to the thickest part of the PC/computing market. Now that phones and tablets are running quad core processors, the advancements seem to be in graphics and portability (miniaturization).

What games did you try?

 

[Joelist]

True enough - but it needs 2 SSDs in RAID 0 to get somewhere near my HDD speed on PCIe - remember I have a thruput of about 1GB/sec.

I tried War of the Vikings using Boot Camp/Win 8.1.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/war-of-the-vikings

 

[Overmind One]

True enough - but it needs 2 SSDs in RAID 0 to get somewhere near my HDD speed on PCIe - remember I have a thruput of about 1GB/sec.

I tried War of the Vikings using Boot Camp/Win 8.1.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/war-of-the-vikings

Cool looking game! If you are not a gamer, then your mind is fresh. If you like chess, then you will LOVE the Strategy genre of games. In this would be Starcraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empires, older games that take the skill of a chess player to win. First person shooters are the SGU of the game world and are the majority of games available today. They have AWESOME graphics, slick music and effects, but at the root of the game is the same arcade shooting strategy. However, the immersion possible today is almost scary. How is that game? I have never heard of it before. Looks interesting!

 

[Joelist]

It's not bad. Me, I prefer Europa Universalis from their game line. Paradox Games is to me the best electronic game company out there because they are good GAME designers and not just good at creating visuals.

I am a gamer - a strategy board gamer. In fact, this is where I will be in a few weeks:

http://www.boardgamers.org

 

[Overmind One]

It's not bad. Me, I prefer Europa Universalis from their game line. Paradox Games is to me the best electronic game company out there because they are good GAME designers and not just good at creating visuals.

I am a gamer - a strategy board gamer. In fact, this is where I will be in a few weeks:

http://www.boardgamers.org

Excellent! The strategy games are going to be your ticket. They pretty much follow the Collect > Build > Expand model, with battles taking place during expansion. Limited resources force the expansion, so players who spend all their time on defense will lose unless they also aggressively seek resources and protect them. Interesting that board games are still played on that level!

 

[Joelist]

Strategy Boardgaming is my hobby. I attend the WBC every year where I run a tournament, play in several and present a seminar. I also play test new games and have contributed to game design.