Testing on a Mac

I need to pick up a Mac for testing, and was wondering if there are
any differences with picking up a cheap used Mac with say OSX 10.4 vs
the latest version of the OS related to wxPython.

10.4 is what I use for building the binaries, so it will be fine for your needs. There are a few things in the wx code that are specific to the version of the OS that is running, some features that may behave a little differently, etc. but for the most part that should be transparent to you. There will likely come a time however when wx stops supporting 10.4 so you will need to update it eventually, so you may want to be sure you get a machine that can still handle newer versions of the OS.

BTW, I've been quite pleased with a Mac Mini that I got several years ago. It's small, unobtrusive and relatively economical but still powerful enough for occasional development or testing use like what you are looking for.

···

On 6/17/10 9:34 PM, Mark wrote:

I need to pick up a Mac for testing, and was wondering if there are
any differences with picking up a cheap used Mac with say OSX 10.4 vs
the latest version of the OS related to wxPython.

--
Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman

Out of mostly idle curiosity, I'm requesting an update to this 3.5 yr old
question:

It's early 2014--what's the minimum (bought used) Apple computer one would
need to develop/test wxPython apps decently on the OS X platform? Both in
terms of specs of the machine and, most importantly, the OS it runs. For
example, is it a bad idea to buy one that is running OS X 10.5 through
10.8? Is there some current "cut-off" below which one shouldn't bother
looking at ads for used Macs? (Assume zero Mac knowledge in answer please
:smiley: )

-Che

···

On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Robin Dunn <robin@alldunn.com> wrote:

On 6/17/10 9:34 PM, Mark wrote:

I need to pick up a Mac for testing, and was wondering if there are
any differences with picking up a cheap used Mac with say OSX 10.4 vs
the latest version of the OS related to wxPython.

10.4 is what I use for building the binaries, so it will be fine for your
needs. There are a few things in the wx code that are specific to the
version of the OS that is running, some features that may behave a little
differently, etc. but for the most part that should be transparent to you.
There will likely come a time however when wx stops supporting 10.4 so you
will need to update it eventually, so you may want to be sure you get a
machine that can still handle newer versions of the OS.

C M wrote:

        I need to pick up a Mac for testing, and was wondering if there are
        any differences with picking up a cheap used Mac with say OSX
        10.4 vs
        the latest version of the OS related to wxPython.

    10.4 is what I use for building the binaries, so it will be fine for
    your needs. There are a few things in the wx code that are specific
    to the version of the OS that is running, some features that may
    behave a little differently, etc. but for the most part that should
    be transparent to you. There will likely come a time however when
    wx stops supporting 10.4 so you will need to update it eventually,
    so you may want to be sure you get a machine that can still handle
    newer versions of the OS.

Out of mostly idle curiosity, I'm requesting an update to this 3.5 yr
old question:

It's early 2014--what's the minimum (bought used) Apple computer one
would need to develop/test wxPython apps decently on the OS X platform?
Both in terms of specs of the machine and, most importantly, the OS it
runs. For example, is it a bad idea to buy one that is running OS X
10.5 through 10.8? Is there some current "cut-off" below which one
shouldn't bother looking at ads for used Macs? (Assume zero Mac
knowledge in answer please :smiley: )

I wouldn't bother with anything older than 10.6, and would rather get a machine with 10.7 minimum if I could. Get one with a 64bit processor if you can (Core2 Duo or Core i-series) and the more RAM the better. One of my build/test machines has only 2G but it is a tight squeeze and I can't really do anything with it other than build and test wx. 4 Gig of RAM would be the minimum I would get if I were buying that machine now.

BTW, I've seen some good deals on used Mac Minis. They are nice machines for doing development and testing on if they are not going to be your primary machine. I like the small footprint and being able to put it in an out of the way location. Mine is hiding in plain sight on my desk between the cup holding my pens/pencils and a box with assorted junk in it. :slight_smile: I have it always turned on and access it with VNC when needed.

···

On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Robin Dunn <robin@alldunn.com > <mailto:robin@alldunn.com>> wrote:
    On 6/17/10 9:34 PM, Mark wrote:

--
Robin Dunn
Software Craftsman

All great to know, thanks! I may ask you (and the list) this every few
years, since such things are a moving target.

···

On Sun, Feb 9, 2014 at 3:39 PM, Robin Dunn <robin@alldunn.com> wrote:

C M wrote:

On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 12:57 PM, Robin Dunn <robin@alldunn.com >> <mailto:robin@alldunn.com>> wrote:

    On 6/17/10 9:34 PM, Mark wrote:

        I need to pick up a Mac for testing, and was wondering if there
are
        any differences with picking up a cheap used Mac with say OSX
        10.4 vs
        the latest version of the OS related to wxPython.

    10.4 is what I use for building the binaries, so it will be fine for
    your needs. There are a few things in the wx code that are specific
    to the version of the OS that is running, some features that may
    behave a little differently, etc. but for the most part that should
    be transparent to you. There will likely come a time however when
    wx stops supporting 10.4 so you will need to update it eventually,
    so you may want to be sure you get a machine that can still handle
    newer versions of the OS.

Out of mostly idle curiosity, I'm requesting an update to this 3.5 yr
old question:

It's early 2014--what's the minimum (bought used) Apple computer one
would need to develop/test wxPython apps decently on the OS X platform?
Both in terms of specs of the machine and, most importantly, the OS it
runs. For example, is it a bad idea to buy one that is running OS X
10.5 through 10.8? Is there some current "cut-off" below which one
shouldn't bother looking at ads for used Macs? (Assume zero Mac
knowledge in answer please :smiley: )

I wouldn't bother with anything older than 10.6, and would rather get a
machine with 10.7 minimum if I could. Get one with a 64bit processor if
you can (Core2 Duo or Core i-series) and the more RAM the better. One of
my build/test machines has only 2G but it is a tight squeeze and I can't
really do anything with it other than build and test wx. 4 Gig of RAM
would be the minimum I would get if I were buying that machine now.

BTW, I've seen some good deals on used Mac Minis. They are nice machines
for doing development and testing on if they are not going to be your
primary machine. I like the small footprint and being able to put it in an
out of the way location. Mine is hiding in plain sight on my desk between
the cup holding my pens/pencils and a box with assorted junk in it. :slight_smile: I
have it always turned on and access it with VNC when needed.