A question for engineering students at Uni (1 Viewer)

[SB257426]

Hey there, I am planning on doing engineering at UNSW starting in 2024 and my question is:

Should I go for MacOS or Windows operating system in UNI?

I am just a bit unsure which will be more suitable for engineering as I am aware engineering does require programming knowledge and there will be a fair bit of CAD work if im right?

 

[SB257426]

I would appreciate if someone could give me maybe a little bit of detail which is better

 

[brent012]

Stuff like SolidWorks for mechanical engineering I think you would need a Windows machine for running natively. For Software Engineering/Comp Sci, running Linux would be preferable (but may not suffice as your only operating system) but you could probably make a case for either MacOS being closer as a Unix-based OS or a PC being easier to get actual Linux running on (WSL2, dual booting etc.).

Probably some current UNSW students can elaborate, but knowing what major would help.

 

[SB257426]

Stuff like SolidWorks for mechanical engineering I think you would need a Windows machine for running natively. For Software Engineering/Comp Sci, running Linux would be preferable (but may not suffice as your only operating system) but you could probably make a case for either MacOS being closer as a Unix-based OS or a PC being easier to get actual Linux running on (WSL2, dual booting etc.).

Probably some current UNSW students can elaborate, but knowing what major would help.

im doing aerospace engineering so I am not entirely sure how much programming will be involved

 

[brent012]

im doing aerospace engineering so I am not entirely sure how much programming will be involved

I had a look at the Handbook for first year, and it seems the main programming will be an introductory CS course in first year and any programming that comes up during other courses e.g. Maple for maths, most likely some coding with some of the other courses given the CS pre-req.

As it's a CS subject and using C, almost certainly Linux is best for that. But given it's a first year subject, I assume the tutors will have good setup guides for all operating systems (even if that involves installing Ubuntu in WSL2 or VirtualBox in Windows).

For the more major specific courses: MMAN1130 seems to use SolidWorks (no native Mac support) and Fusion 360 (does seem to support Mac and Apple silicon). ENGG1300 uses SPACE GASS which is Windows only and the site says it runs slow in Parallels on Mac.

For industry, I found this mention of software on the UNSW site:

Much of the design work done by aerospace engineers uses drawing software like CAD/CAM (eg. CATIA). They also use analysis software, like NASTRAND for finite element or ANSYS or FLUENT for computational fluid dynamics.

From what I can tell from some cursory research:

• CATIA only works on Windows.
• ANSYS does not support MacOS.
• NASTRAND is probably NASTRAN, which is a family of software. MSC NASTRAN seems to run on either Linux or Windows, Autodesk NASTRAN requires Windows. But it's big FORTRAN software designed for running on either workstations or supercomputers, so it seems unlikely that it would ever run well or get much support on Apple silicon.
• ANSYS FLUENT seems to not support MacOS either.

So I think it's fair to say that you will almost certainly be using Windows throughout your course and in industry, and a Mac with a Apple silicon (M-series processor) may have trouble running the software above even in Parallels as they are likely designed and optimized for x86_64 specifically.

I think you wouldn't regret going with a Windows machine as a result, but there may be some extra challenges if you get a Mac (especially with all Macs now using Apple silicon).

 

[bigman948]

windows has more capabilities

 

[SB257426]

I had a look at the Handbook for first year, and it seems the main programming will be an introductory CS course in first year and any programming that comes up during other courses e.g. Maple for maths, most likely some coding with some of the other courses given the CS pre-req.

As it's a CS subject and using C, almost certainly Linux is best for that. But given it's a first year subject, I assume the tutors will have good setup guides for all operating systems (even if that involves installing Ubuntu in WSL2 or VirtualBox in Windows).

For the more major specific courses: MMAN1130 seems to use SolidWorks (no native Mac support) and Fusion 360 (does seem to support Mac and Apple silicon). ENGG1300 uses SPACE GASS which is Windows only and the site says it runs slow in Parallels on Mac.

For industry, I found this mention of software on the UNSW site:


From what I can tell from some cursory research:

• CATIA only works on Windows.
• ANSYS does not support MacOS.
• NASTRAND is probably NASTRAN, which is a family of software. MSC NASTRAN seems to run on either Linux or Windows, Autodesk NASTRAN requires Windows. But it's big FORTRAN software designed for running on either workstations or supercomputers, so it seems unlikely that it would ever run well or get much support on Apple silicon.
• ANSYS FLUENT seems to not support MacOS either.

So I think it's fair to say that you will almost certainly be using Windows throughout your course and in industry, and a Mac with a Apple silicon (M-series processor) may have trouble running the software above even in Parallels as they are likely designed and optimized for x86_64 specifically.

I think you wouldn't regret going with a Windows machine as a result, but there may be some extra challenges if you get a Mac (especially with all Macs now using Apple silicon).

Thanks so much man for the in depth analysis, Ill keep ur advice in mind !

 

[Gyt123]

Have been told you can’t afford a windows laptop or a Mac that will run solidworks for Engo. Don’t know if this is true or not ? That’s why everyone uses the lab desktop computers for the grunt work with >100 gb ram. agree parallels may slow things down but you have to weigh it up with terrible battery life and thermal performance which throttles cpu and gpu on a windows PC. Dell XPS, HP and Lenovo all struggle and they are the top choices.

I would get the Mac if you want it to last 4 years but solidworks will need a bit of muckin around. The M3 max ideally 18gb minimum ram.

 

[brent012]

Have been told you can’t afford a windows laptop or a Mac that will run solidworks for Engo. Don’t know if this is true or not ? That’s why everyone uses the lab desktop computers for the grunt work with >100 gb ram. agree parallels may slow things down but you have to weigh it up with terrible battery life and thermal performance which throttles cpu and gpu on a windows PC. Dell XPS, HP and Lenovo all struggle and they are the top choices.

I would get the Mac if you want it to last 4 years but solidworks will need a bit of muckin around. The M3pro at minimum, 18gb minimum ram.

Never used SolidWorks, so not sure what the bottlenecks are tbh. But I knew mates (at UTS) studying Mechanical who were installing SolidWorks on their home PCs/laptops back in 2013, back when 8gb was quite good lol.

The specs suggest 16gb+ RAM, but i'd assume having the minimum specs would be bad if you're doing anything intensive and the uni workstations would be better. From my experience, I had to take a few subjects that required integrating with hardware at uni and even though I couldn't do that at home it was great just being able to make tweaks, get screenshots for reports etc. at home.

Definitely agree about thermal performance though, I have a near top of the line i9 laptop from one of those manufacturers for work and the throttling is awful. An M3 Max, maybe even a Pro, would run rings around it if I could use MacOS.

That's a good point though, if you have a decent PC at home (e.g. a gaming rig) it could be good to just a lower specced portable laptop for note taking etc. and rely on the uni workstation + home PC for anything heavy, and a Mac would be a solid choice for that.

 

[Gyt123]

Never used SolidWorks, so not sure what the bottlenecks are tbh. But I knew mates (at UTS) studying Mechanical who were installing SolidWorks on their home PCs/laptops in back in 2013, back when 8gb was quite good lol.

The specs suggest 16gb+ RAM, but i'd assume having the minimum specs would be bad if you're doing anything intensive and the uni workstations would be better. From my experience, I had to take a few subjects that required integrating with hardware at uni and even though I couldn't do that at home it was great just being able to make tweaks, get screenshots for reports etc. at home.

Definitely agree about thermal performance though, I have a near top of the line i9 laptop from one of those manufacturers for work and the throttling is awful. An M3 Max, maybe even a Pro, would run rings around it if I could use MacOS.

That's a good point though, if you have a decent PC at home (e.g. a gaming rig) it could be good to just a lower specced portable laptop for note taking etc. and rely on the uni workstation + home PC for anything heavy.

That’s a great idea. Gaming Desktop with a cheaper laptop probs cheaper / same price as the top of the line Mac/ windows laptop.