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For Windows-only utilities, I use the Remote Desktop Connection solution and an old Dell. The Dell is barely strong enough to run Windows XP, but it’s faster and cheaper to use than to buy an emulator. I could use VNC but I haven’t set it up to evaluate yet. If my machine were faster, then Virtual PC or GuestPC or Bosch’s Windows emulator would be workable solutions.

Final Thoughts

With such a rich set of tools, serious relational database development is not a Windows-only game any more. I continue to exchange some good natured ribbing about the various strengths and weaknesses of our respective OS’s, but for all intents, my Graphite Mac holds its own against the Windows machines.

If you are tired of the viruses, spyware, malware etc. that afflict the Windows world and would like to escape from all of that, now you can. For non-commercial uses, some of these titles, like the developer tools, are free. Most of them have generous “try before you buy” licensing. If you are just starting out, the Mac is especially appealing right now given the amount of free or low-cost software you can get started with.

Software List and Prices

What I’ve provided here is a list of the various titles I’ve commented on, how much they cost and where you can download them. A quick disclaimer, this is not a complete list of the available tools. These are just the ones I’ve tried out. While JDeveloper can do more than one thing, it is listed just once. One final note, VersionTracker.com is an invaluable resource for finding software. While I’ve used Google searches and Source Force, the place I’ve had the most success in finding software is Version Tracker.

PL/SQL Coding

JDeveloper 10g (Oracle), For non-commercial use it’s free. For commercial use, it’s $995 for a single seat license. You can find out more about it at: Oracle - JDeveloper

Aqua Data Studio 4.0 (AquaFold, Inc.), For non-commercial use, it’s free. For commercial use, it’s $149 for a single seat license. You can find out more about it at: AquaFold, Inc. - Aqua Data Studio

dbVisualiser (Minq, Inc.) There’s a limited feature free version and a “personal version” that I would recommend using for $99 per seat. You can find out more about it at: Minq, Inc. - dbVisualiser

Java

xTools 1.5 (Apple) – Free. Comes with OSX. It requires OS 10.3. You can find more about it at: Apple - Developer Tools

Eclipse (Eclipse.Org) Free. For more information go to: Eclipse.org (For the truly hard core Java guys) TextEditor in conjunction with a Terminal window and Applet Viewer, which come with OSX, works too as a Java IDE.

Office Suite of tools

MS Office (Microsoft) Regular $399, Student $149, Professional $499. For more information go to: Microsoft/Mac

Open Office (OpenOffice.org) Free. For more information go to: OpenOffice.org

NeoOffice/J (NeoOffice.org) Free. For more information, go to: NeoOffice.org

Email

Mail – comes with OSX

Entourage (Included in Microsoft Office)

Project Management

PMX (JTech Software) Shareware, $59.95. For more information go to: JTech Software

Flow charting

OmniGraffle Pro (Omni Development, Inc.) There is a limited feature “free” version. The Professional version costs, $119.90. You can learn more about it at: OmniGroup - OmniGraffle

Text Editor

TextEditor – comes with OSX

TextWrangler (Bare Bones Software) It’s free. You can learn more about it at: BareBones - TextWrangler

Source Control

StarTeam (Borland) You can download a demo of the StarTeam client at: Boreland - StarTeam

VPN

Internet Connect – comes with OSX

VPN Client (Cisco) To download you have to have purchased a Cisco router. You can learn more about it at: Cisco VPN

Outliner

Omni Outliner Pro (Omni Development, Inc.) The Professional version costs, $69.95 You can learn more about it at: OmniGroup - Outliner

Time and Billing

Clock and Track (BDNSoftware) Shareware, $29.95. Get more information about it at: BDNSoftware

About the author:
Ken Cluff is a SQL Server/Oracle Database Developer who resides in a quiet little town near Salt Lake City, Utah. When he's not sitting at his computer playing or working, he's spending time with his children.

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