Treehouse biased towards MAC users?

This is the best answer so far. Basically, if you're hell bent on learning RoR you need to either buy a Mac if you can afford one or take the time to setup an Unbuntu partition on your current computer. Unbuntu is incredibly easy to learn and it shouldn't take but maybe a few hours to get a dev environment setup. As a fellow Windows user, I threw up my hands a long time ago and went the Ubuntu route for learning RoR.

+1 to Steven. I use a mac laptop for most of my work but I also have a windows desktop I use from time to time. I decided to set up Ubuntu. There is no need to partition even. I use VMWare Player to run my copy. Throw it into full screen mode and you'd hardly know you were on a windows machine most of the time.

I haven't found the figure's for more recent years but in 2009 and 2010 if you added just the sales of MAC's and PC's, Windows had about 95% of the market. (2009 figured roughly Macs units sold at 11.1 million to PC's sold at 300 million). So if that is the case then why wouldn't you provide a windows options for tutorials? I understand how powerful a MAC can be, if you are doing any kind of digital media work professionally it's the obvious choice. Windows .net falls just out of the Unix circle of languages as well. I can see plenty of advantages of using a MAC its just a fact that Windows controls the majority of the market and Treehouse should recognize the need to make tutorials for Windows based on that fact.

I Agree

lol, sir I know how to use my command prompt. Just some logic if I have to find all the answers on google why am I paying for treehouse in the first place? This is their BUSINESS to have readily available information for all OS's. The least they could do is give a disclosure, instead of me wasting my time with this. Maybe I should cancel and just learn this off youtube videos? lol

My point was you don't know how to use the command prompt. It was an example because you didn't really give much idea as to what you're having an issue with.

I can't relate to your issue. At work I develop on a PC with Windows 7. At home I'm on a MacBook Pro with OSX 10.7.5. I've never had an issue, or even noticed the difference in their OS and mine on my computer.

If you simply can't possible see how the content on treehouse is worth $25 a month to you, this may be the site for you.

It's also their BUSINESS to have information on as many different topics as possible. So how do they find a balance.

If you really think a 30 second google answer is "wasting your time" over a 3 minute video explaining the differences , than we have a difference there.

If you really think treehouse should be a one stop shop for everything web and replace or cause sites like stackoverflow, codeacadamy, codeschool, learnstreet, and lynda to be obsolete, than I also think we have a difference there.

Again, I'm not sure what kind of issues you are having. But I figured this thread was going to go this way just based off of your fairly negative and passive aggressive title you used.

lol, I don't even pay 25. trying to argue on the discussion I started. your sad. :) have a great day sir.

No John, I'm not the sad one. I'm not trying to argue. I did create some conflict, because I had an opinion that differed from you. You had a valid point for this thread, I can agree with that. However, I disagreed with your proposed solution, I stated why, and I proposed a solution myself. You disagreed with that, which is great, actually.

That's kinda how the design process works. Failed proposed solution after failed proposed solution, until finally a great solution that neither of us initially though of is found.

I think that's great that you do not even pay $25 a month here. Good job, seriously. But doesn't that discredit your idea of canceling treehouse and just watching youtube videos argument even more? ;)

Just keep in mind a difference in opinion is not an argument. An argument is because I don't like you, which is not the case, I don't even know you. An argument is rarely constructive since feelings and emotions get into the mix, again, because the two people usually know each other.

I've tried to stay as linear, and emotionless, and respectful as I can expressing myself. I hope you can see that.

Anyway, no hard feelings on my end. I hope that's the same for you. Shall be interesting to see how the staff does or does not handle this request in the future. Have a great day and happy coding!

Thank you for clearing that up. I appreciate your feedback, good luck in your pursuits as well sir.

Emotions are not conveyed well through a forum. I can see how my post may have easily been misinterpreted. Good luck, at the end of the day we're here for the same reasons.

"whining" you sir are pathetic. lol. It's an OPINION get over yourself. btw I already have downloaded Ubuntu and am coding at the moment sir. You are a fool if you don't think that these options should be explained on a website that you are PAYING for the education. I can and did use google to find my answer. Like stated before if I could find every bit of information for free then why not do it, or is that not your argument? idiot. lol.

You definitely can find everything that is presented at Treehouse somewhere on the Internet for free. The same way you can find most, if not all the information you learn at college for free on the Internet. Treehouse, just like other educational sites and schools only present information, they do not create it (the presented info is not proprietary).

The question is what it is you are actually paying for. Basically, how detailed of the information you should be able to receive for your money? How deep should you be able to go into any subject for your money? How much attention should instructors paid to their paying students? How accessible the instructors should be? How accommodating should the material be to the student's specific situation (which I think is at the heart of this discussion). ...I'm sure there are plenty of other questions.

I guess the answer is subjective and will differ from student to student.

But all these questions could be also asked from the opposite view - and in your case - how adaptable should a student be to material that does not exactly meet his specific situation?

Because although you have a valid argument that Win is the dominant OS, it can also be said, that in the case of specific industries - in this case the web development industry - Win is not the dominant OS. And as such, it is fair from the instructors to expect the student to have the necessary equipment used within the industry, and in Ruby on Rails it is definitely Mac or Linux based computers.

Thank you for the valid point sir. I do know Mac is a much better OS for development and was just trying to make a point about the market being so Windows heavy that most Treehouse user's based simply on that fact would be using Windows. It was not meant to criticize the staff in any way. They do a fantastic job explaining process in the video's and cover the subjects in great detail. Just more of a suggestion then anything.

I wasn't trying to "ruffle any feathers" but I seemed to have done just that haha. It's nice to see the community responding though!

FYI John, in case you didn't check that "anonymous" email for a reply, please know you have been reported for violation of Treehouse's terms of service.

Dude go take that back to facebook....

Hi Luqman Shah & Patrick Cooney ,

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. :) Remember, we're all on the same team. Going forward let's redirect our efforts and contribute to a helpful and productive forum. Don't hesitate to shoot me an email if you have any questions or if there is anything that you need -- like tips on how to learn with Treehouse while using a Mac or PC for example. Thanks! Happy learning. :D

Best,

Elizabeth Treehouse Support help@teamtreehouse.com

Hey Elizabeth, I don't want to go into too much detail publicly, but I posted this out of anger after the email I received yet prior to the report I made. I realize it wasn't a very good way to handle it. My apologies to the community.

Hi Patrick Cooney

Thanks for getting back to me. We totally understand. No need to apologize, though we sincerely appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend and have fun learning! :D

Cheers,

Elizabeth Treehouse Support