One Less Reason To Use Microsoft Windows

I grew up on Microsoft products, but as someone who uses a laptop which will have more use than most computers, I need something that is…

One Less Reason To Use Microsoft Windows

I grew up on Microsoft products, but as someone who uses a laptop which will have more use than most, I need something that is robust and will last. So, I’m a dedicated Macbook Pro fan. It allows me to run every operating system that I require, while a Microsoft Windows computer will not be able to run Mac OSX. A security tester, I need to run code, and drop into Linux commands at the drop of a hat. I run VMware Fusion, and can quickly move between VMs for my demonstration and coding. But, I moved my software through .NET, and then ported to ASP.NET for my Web infrastructure [here]:

I’ve thus written millions of lines of code, and ASP.NET has always support me in scaling things [here]:

As it support M(odel), V(iew) and C(ontroller), I can disconnect the user interface, from the middleware, and then divorce this from my data layer. My basic benchmark for a new laptop is how well it runs Visual Studio.

And so over the years I have moved many of my applications from Windows to Mac OSX, but two core applications remained: Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visio. The Mac equivalent has always been as good, and mostly better. Along with this the Microsoft Windows interface just isn’t what I want to use, especially in the new ‘boxy’ design.

After running Visual Studio for a while, I have always avoid updating it, as it can often break. And over the years I’ve tried out Visual Studio on a Mac, and it never quite worked, as the DLLs produced where not ready for Microsoft Windows servers. But today I tried my solutions, and, after installing a few missing references, I produced my DLLs, and uploaded them to my IIS server, and it all worked. Fantastic … no Windows overheads, no battery sapping VMs, and no more five minute startups.

I thus can’t recommend Visual Studio of Mac highly enough, and I look forward to developing with Xamarin again, and create cross-platform applications:

Now, the only application left — apart from Microsoft Project — is … Microsoft Visio. There’s nothing as good as Visio for Mac, and I’ve also got a great deal of older files, so I am waiting for a Visio port. I will then be goodbye to Windows for my create base. Obviously for teaching, we need it, but for integrating my work, there’s nothing better than running it all in Mac OSX.

The genius of the Macbook … from Pen Tester to Artist

Have a look below … can you see the computers used …

I think it’s a Macbook Pro (13 inch) … and a Lenovo … and I think these are often the devices of choice for Pen Testers (and Software Developers). I appreciate if you work of HP or Dell, these are unlikely to be your machine types. If you work for IBM, well … I don’t know (perhaps Lenovo?).

I once did an article on the genesis of the Macbook Pro and I remember one comment saying “Nice post, but it is obviously a product placement by Apple” … it happened when the LinkedIn article gets to the point where they are mostly are responding to the comments and haven’t actually read the article itself … but I can’t find it now (but perhaps Eve the Magician might dig it out).

I remember I had a Dell laptop (XPS, or something like that) that had amazing reviews, and was superfast, but everytime I got to close to a heater, it would overheat and shutdown. I wasted so much time with that computer! The problem was that, I think, they put a desktop processor, which had a 2.8GHz clock speed, in a small box and forgot to put enough cooling (and didn’t put enough heat sink paste).

I’ve also had two superfast Samsung laptops that looked great. Within weeks their plastic bits all starting coming off, along with the keys, and eventually you can’t actually see the letter on the keys (as they have been rubbed off). With HPs the promise of a great environment was let down by the most terrible mouse pad I have ever come across … as a left hand person in a right-handed world … lift is bad enough without making me contort my hands. After that I vowed not to buy any laptops made from plastic, that tried to pretend they were made of metal.

So the MacBook Pro has always been seen as a machine for the more creative people … the people who wouldn’t know “ls” from “cat”, and wouldn’t know where the console terminal is on the computer. The stand back in shock as you show them a command line in Windows, and then they are amazed by the black art of “cd”. But stop … who are some of the most technical people around? Penetration Testers and Software Developers. And what tends to be their device of choice? I think … the Macbook Pro. I may be completely wrong in this, and some could do a major survey, but for the 21 people who filled in my Twitter survey … the Macbook is the one for them:

Warning … this article is a bit of fun, and no science and methodology was used in it.

So I see lots of Macbooks and Lenovos being used by Pen Testers, but why? For Lenovo’s they are often fast and robust. You can drop them and bash them, and they’ll still come out on top. But Mac? Don’t all the tools still run in Linux and Windows?

So I’m only going to give you my viewpoint here why I think a good deal of Pen Testers use the Macbook Pro:

A polish and it’s brand new. So you’re a Pen Tester, and you spill coffee, and you are forever pressing “Cntrl-C”. Your keys are all worn and the plastic on the hinge has come off, and you’ve lost it. But you’ve got to present your report to the board … get your Macbook Pro out … give it a polish … and it’s as good as new, and ready for the talk with the Board. Forget all those fancy cache/CPU tests … one test I do … if you can lift the lid of the laptop and the base doesn’t come with it … consider it … else reject.
Mouse pad. Few technical things in life are more amazing than a Macbook Pro mouse pad. I appreciate the Lenovo mouse is great … and I used to use it and struggled to go back to a trackpad … but the mouse pad on the Mac is just stunning, and it fits so well for us evil “lefties”.
Robustness. Well for me, I grind computers into a pulp, with extensive use, and where many computers, after just a few months, would struggle with the usage, but for the Macbook I can have them for 2–3 years, and they still feel fresh. For a Pen Tester, they just want to stick it in their rucksack, and off to a job, fire it up, and their way. The polish up well … so can go from server rooms to the Board Room in an instance.
Virtual Machines. The core of the greatness of the Macbook Pro is not in its core operation system, it is in VMware Fusion and Parallels. To run fast Virtual Machines (VMs) you need fast SSDs, and there’s no trade-off in the Mac … you get a fast VM. So for software developers and Pen Testers, they sit down beside you, open their Mac, and it’s a Ctrl-Left Arrow, then they show you their Nessus scan, or their Visual Studio code … or they are into Python world and running a complete code exection … and jumping in EnCase on their Windows VM. The key that I wear out first on the Mac is the arrow key, as I use it that much to flip between all the running VMs … Kali (Pen Test), Ubuntu (Python), Windows 7 (lots … but mainly Visual Studio), Windows 2008 (Splunk, RSA), pfSense, vyatta, … and of course … Mac OSX.
Safe core OS. Most Pen Testers know that Windows is a nightmare for security, mainly because it is still the target for most malware. So if you are running Windows as a core for your machine, you are already a target for most of the malware. Evidence shows that Mac OS X is one of the most secure operating systems out there, and it is the front line for the machine, so it tends to give you a good bit of protection between the bad world and your VMs.
Every browser under the sun. Here is the “killer app” … for a software developer/Pen Testers, the Macbook Pro is the only one that you can test things like you users. On my machine I run Opera, IE, Chrome and Firefox on Windows, and Chrome, Opera and Safari on Mac OS X, so that I can test code on each of these, as they can run things differently. So if someone is running a Mac, and says they can’t see a certain part of the page … if I only have Windows, I can’t test that. With a Macbook, you can test all your code in different environments, whereas in Windows, you’ll be able to run everything else, but Mac OS X (I appreciate it can be done, but it’s not easy).
It runs Visual Studio!. This is a strange one, but I pick my laptop in its ability to run Visual Studio. It’s the main thing I use Windows for, and is the “killer app” for me. So while it will always run well on a core Windows platform, it has the choice of Bootcamp or running it in a VM. I tried Bootcamp and Visual Studio, and it was great, but the Ctrl-Arrow doesn’t worry .. so I just run it in a VM, and it all works.
Spotlight. Well Spotlight is THE way to find things. In Windows I still struggle to find anything, but Mac OS X, I fire my search terms and/or kind of file into it, and it pin-points in seconds, while Windows still things it needs to search the whole disk again. Perhaps there’s something in Windows 10 that’s even better than Spotlight. As it maps my Windows VM too, Spotlight spans over the operating systems.
Just spot-on for a Pen Testers. Pen Testers often spend more of their time on other people’s machines … sssh! … so it’s Remote Desktop and … when they break a device … the console terminal … that they often end-up using. With Mac OS X, the support for Remote Desktops (and the Control-Arrow key) and for connecting to terminal services is just amazing.
Not Windows 10. I’m not the target demographic for Windows 10. I just want to start up my computer … click on Visual Studio, and I’m away. I also want to get into the guts of the environment, and avoid by told that what I’m doing isn’t sensible. So I run Windows 7 as a VM in Mac OS X, and I can do most things that I would want to do on Windows 10.
It has Keynote. I just love Keynote, and couldn’t do without it. Microsoft need to wake up to the fact that the “PowerPoint” way is not the only way. “What you have no PowerPoint?” … here.
It has Airdrop. What a way to design a transfer system … for our social media we grab on iPads … fire over on Airdrop … and that’s it. For others to share too it is a dream to use (and a smart little picture too of the other person … just in case). Forget those old fashioned USB sticks … Airdrop is the bees-knees for transferring.

So, there you go … completely unscientific …

For Pen Testers … why 13 inch Macbook Pro? … well the Macbook Book Pro 15 inch is a beast … it’ll break your back when you’re travelling (and you’ll need a bigger bag … and get spotted) … you’ll need a larger table in Starbucks as you plan your evil … and it’ll take too long for you to pull from your back when you’re giving a demo to clients.

You can see my Macbook Pro here in full flow .. with evil Joker sticker …

Conclusions

The compiling is just one aspect in the development process, so I’ll see if I can wean myself off Windows, and focus on Mac OSX. If you have not tried ASP.NET, you should, it is great.