Microcontrolling with a Mac

Until recently I used Windows 7 exclusively for everything... Everything except microcontroller fiddlery which I delegated to a Linux box running Ubuntu (This setup was preferable because Linux is awesome and Windows is a necessary evil, nuff said).

That is until I bought a lovely 27-inch iMac on a whim and moved completely to the platform, including my µC IDE's. I wasn't entirely sure if there were IDE's for the controllers I wanted to use made for the Mac and OSX, but found that the list of compatibility included the Arduino, PICAXE, and Parallax Propeller which all have either official Mac ports or officially recognised suits (in the case of the Propeller). 

• Arduino - http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/software & http://wiring.org.co/download
• PICAXE - http://www.picaxe.com/Software/PICAXE/AXEpad
• Propeller - http://www.parallax.com/tabid/828/Default.aspx

I thought I would have to keep switching back to my Windows box to use the PIC line of controllers, but with the release of MPLAB X I can now relegate my Windows box for games only:

MPLAB X v1.0 released goo.gl/YHpMn

— Dangerous Prototypes (@dangerousproto) December 20, 2011

Now it's as easy as firing up the suit I want, plugging the board in and starting to mess around with my favourite microcontrollers (That is of course not including the MSP430 line, unfortunately) on my favourite commercial computer! I've got an RFID car security immobiliser based on a PIC in the pipeline, and am wanting to learn more about the Propeller so expect to see them here in the new year!