Whos made the switch from PC to Mac?

Fundamentally different? But what does that mean in terms of day to day usage? And is it really more tweakable than Windows?

 

I've used Linux almost every day for the last 5 years or so, but regularly use both Macs and Windows machines. Linux is truly tweakable because it's an open source OS unlike OSX and Windows; I don't see much difference between those two in terms of tweakability. The Unix side of things should make very little difference to the user other than the filesystem layout; these days I believe Windows etc asks for the admin password when you're altering the system, much the same as Unix systems.

I used to have a few linux machines at home, but now there is none (well, unless you count my NAS boxes which run some kind of linux). OSX is nearly as tweakable as Linux, for most of us mortals. In Linux you can go a little further and change the kernel and device drivers more easily, but very very few people ever do any of that. I can compile basically anything I can on Linux on my Mac as well. So much so, that i could get rid of my linux machines. (and im really a unix person).

Note btw that I never say that someone should be running mac. It's totally a personal choice. If you like Windows, by all means ignore all the ranting mac people and stick with what you know. Windows machines are cheaper, are probably faster, have better graphical support, and you'll rarely find software that wont work on windows.

But im with Eric in that working day to day on a mac has helped my sanity a lot. I now spend at least 50% less time yelling at my computer for acting stupid

Cor

ps: on my Windows Dell XPS now because Macs totally fail at gaming, and im playing Call Of Duty MW2

You admit, even when the Apple designers need a computer to do real work, they use a PC.

That is because the apps have not been written for Mac and some emulators do not work as well. Probably easier just to use a PC than deal with Bootcamp and the rest. And as to "real work" there are certain applications that are just PC so there is no choice, but many people use Macs to do alot of "real work" and earn livings with them....

Hi John,

 

I'm on Snow Leopard version 10.6.2 and I can confirm Photoshop CS4, Aperture, Lightroom and Photomatix Pro all work perfectly fine. I think CS4 was identifed as an application which was not currently *certified* to run on Snow Leopard; in other words, they just haven't tested all the features yet and verified compliance.

 

Cheers

JohnP

Thank for the info. This Mac is still using Tiger 10.4.11 because I never got round to loading Leopard, never mind Snow Leopard. They'll probably be into Giraffe before I get round to it!

Note btw that I never say that someone should be running mac. It's totally a personal choice. If you like Windows, by all means ignore all the ranting mac people and stick with what you know. Windows machines are cheaper, are probably faster, have better graphical support, and you'll rarely find software that wont work on windows.

- Windows machines are cheaper -- True, but the "Mac tax" is quite a bit lower than it used to be

- Probably faster -- I don't believe that's the case anymore, the last time Windows bested Mac was way back when XP was released. OS X is a better performer than Windows 7. I have both and OSX is definitely snappier. In fact, that's my major annoyance with Windows 7; it's prettier than Windows XP and friggin sloooooow by comparison.

- Better graphical support -- at the very high end, that's true. But I'm sitting here typing on my Mac Pro at 1080p on my Samsung 24" monitor and it looks pretty darn sweet. Works great with Blu-Ray movies too. If you are a CAD/CAM guy, get a super high end PC. If you are a photographer, you'll like Mac better.

- You'll rarely find software that wont work on windows. "Work" is a tortured definition. There are too many really buggy, crummy programs written for Windows. But yeah, there's more of it.

My "do it all" solution is to run Snow Leopard 10.6.2 on a Mac Pro with 8Gb of Ram, 3TB of disk and two big monitors. If I need to use Windows, I have WinXP loaded in Parallels and it runs like a rocket there. I really only have two programs I use in it though -- every thing else I use has an OS X equivalent and runs better.

AND!!! I don't have to have that HUGE performance penalty of running a real-time virus checker! That's because nobody focuses on writing viruses for OSX since it's only about 10% of the total market. That's B.S. that Macs are more "virus resistant" BTW, any OS can be brought down by a well-written exploit.

Hmmm. ON second thought, I encourage all of you NOT to upgrade to a Mac. Go away. Shoo Fly!

JohnP

Ain't no charade my friend, the hardware is just not the issue anymore. I'm a huge fan of the Hackintosh movement because it really shows how superior OS X is... I wish Apple would openly support using it's OS on other platforms. I'd love to see a new Dell Adamo with OS X on it. Of course, if you want to continue to endorse Microsoft's 2nd tier OS, feel free. You seem to think it's Macs vs. PC's and you are missing the point. They are BOTH Personal Computers, one with a significantly better OS.

 

I have always argued that PC's had superior hardware all way up until Mac made the switch to Intel. The OS however, is absolutely superior. I understand your issue with CAD programs, that's a niche PC Software has "owned" for quite some time. PC's still own the gaming arena too, but in terms of photo, video, sound software and useability, OS X is clearly superior in my opinion.

 

And after all, this IS a photography forum, no?

 

If Microsoft will release an OS that A) is not a worse performer than the previous release and B) has at least SOME advantage for upgrading, I'm totally willing to try it. Why do you think so many people still want to buy new PC's with Windows XP on it?

 

JohnP

No, I think you misunderstand that I have already left the MAC vs PC cage that you live in behind, I am not PC vs MAC, I run Linux with Windows in Parallels. The hardware is the same, I don't see the point in paying twice as much for hardware just because it has an Apple on it, it will be just as obsolete in two years as any other.

Yes, this is a photo forum and to take pictures underwater you need a camera and a housing and those are designed in CAD which was probably run on a PC that then provided the code to a CNC mill with a PC running it to cut that camera housing.

You make some good points, I agree with you on most, thanks for your thoughts.

My Downloads directory was somehow set to being a Pictures folder. So instead of the normal folder options like sort by date and stuff, it had 'sort by date taken' and fun stuff like that. Somewhere in time I had probably put a jpg in my Downloads directory and Vista decided i must want it to be a special Pictures type folder.

 

You would think it was easy to fix. Some menu option right? Just right there, somewhere easily reachable. But there is a reason I hadnt fixed it for months. Every time I wanted to change it, I couldnt easily find a way to change it and gave up after a few minutes, convinced I must just be blind.

Go to “Start” > All Programs > Accessories* > File Manager> Switch directory to “Documents” > Main Menu (File Edit View Tools Help menu) click “View” > “Customize this folder” > click on drop down menu under “Customize” tab “ > Click on “Documents” > click “Apply” > click “OK”

and that should do it.

* I moved my File Manager so that it is stuck to the start menu, and am not sure whether File Manager resides in the Accessories directory or in the lower level “System Tools” folder.

Also, if you click, File Manager > View > Choose Details... Windows will display a list of about a hundred different details you can make visible for the folder just by placing a check mark against the details you want to make visible then click OK for your changes to take effect.

One more thing, make sure you have the “Views” drop down list (as opposed to “View” menu) set to “Details” on the secondary dark blue menu where it says “Organize Views Burn”

I am assuming you are running Windows Vista. The process should be fairly similar if you are running Windows XP.

Hope that helps.

You admit, even when the Apple designers need a computer to do real work, they use a PC.

I said nothing of the sort. I said that when they do CAD work, they work in Windows on a Mac hardware.

ps: on my Windows Dell XPS now because Macs totally fail at gaming, and im playing Call Of Duty MW2

You are a gamer? Now how could I guess that?

- Probably faster -- I don't believe that's the case anymore, the last time Windows bested Mac was way back when XP was released. OS X is a better performer than Windows 7. I have both and OSX is definitely snappier. In fact, that's my major annoyance with Windows 7; it's prettier than Windows XP and friggin sloooooow by comparison.

Well that's the issue. Most of the 3rd party apps are not 64bit yet. And it's annoyingly slow when comparing equivalents in Windoze. Quite a few people run back to Windoze 7/Vista 64bit (on a Mac Pro usually) to do real crunching work of the bigger projects, especially production houses and other creative types. Many have dual systems because of the strengths of each OS. OS, machines are all tools. I can give you quotes for and against each side from real people using it for work. As Cor says, it's an individual thing based on what it's used for. For someone to tell me any system is better for my uses had better prove it. I'm open to new ideas. My experiences with Vista left me with more wrinkles and less hair from the frustration of setup, so much so I almost look as old as Mike V!

you certainly have more girly hair than me.. that much is true

This thread reminds me of another post made about a year ago when John Bantin asked what he thought was a simple question 'why don't we over here in the US run a statesperson such as Nancy Pelosi for president'. Lots of mud slinging!!!!!! Gotta love politics!

Mike

I switched from PC to Mac for my traveling laptop last month. To be honest, I was already familiar with Mac and both of my kids use Macs, so I had some built in expert help. It is a little bit different, but nothing major, at least not for me. I've picked up a 13 inch Macbook Pro just before leaving for a shooting trip to the Florida keys. I've been gone more than three weeks now and I've used the Mac exclusively. I've used it work on photos, write and update websites. The most important thing is to really make sure you have programs loaded that will do everything you need because it is more difficult to find those quirky little programs or apps that we all use for very specific tasks.

The major difference is, when I am traveling, I can usually download a program for some specific task for a PC, but that program may not exist for a Mac and you will need to be prepared for that with a work around.

As I said, I had used Macs before and so many of the programs I use were actually originally designed for Macs and then adapted to PCs that the transition for me was pretty simple. I still have a Dell at home for a desktop but it will be phased out over the next year for a Mac Pro.

Jeff

I would be interested to know from PC guys what important apps I have been missing all these years for everyday computer use, that are simply not available in any form - either a cross platform version of the software or an alternative similar product made for MAC. Stuff that most of us on this forum use on a daily basis - not some task specific software like CAD that most of us would not use. Games aside - that's why we have Playstation. Interestingly my architect buddy recently gave up his PC based CAD software for MAC versions.

In other words what important apps for imaging, music / video, internet / email , word processing, spreadsheet, database etc are simply not available for MAC in any form?

I have found equivalents of everything I use regularly. This has gotten a lot better in recent years. Unfortunately you do have to open your wallet a lot more for mac apps. The other way around, im absolutely addicted to Quicksilver on the mac, and anything on the PC cant even stand in its shadow. I feel helpless on my PCs without Quicksilver.

Does Quicksilver have a X.6 release? I thought it didn't work?

I had to buy CS2 and activate it on-line when all around me PC users were loading free knock-offs! So PCs are obviously a lot more cost effective - if you know what you are doing. (I don't!)

Does Quicksilver have a X.6 release? I thought it didn't work?

Works fine for me. 10.6.2, quicksilver B54

I would be interested to know from PC guys what important apps I have been missing all these years for everyday computer use, that are simply not available in any form - either a cross platform version of the software or an alternative similar product made for MAC. Stuff that most of us on this forum use on a daily basis - not some task specific software like CAD that most of us would not use. Games aside - that's why we have Playstation. Interestingly my architect buddy recently gave up his PC based CAD software for MAC versions.

In other words what important apps for imaging, music / video, internet / email , word processing, spreadsheet, database etc are simply not available for MAC in any form?

Outlook has no full Mac equivalent, if you need to connect to an Exchange server. Even Microsoft's offering, Entourage, pales by comparison. (There are rumors this will change with some upcoming versions, but that's the case as of today)

MS Access has no Mac equivalent, either. There are other good database programs out there, like FileMaker Pro, but if you need to work with existing Access databases, you'll need the Windows version.

There is no feature parity when it comes to QuickBooks and Quicken on the Mac version, compared to the PC version. The Mac version is pathetic. Intuit is far more evil than Microsoft could ever be, however.

Games goes without saying.

Those are the biggest ones, IMO, in terms of mass market software. Other than certain high end CAD-type programs (AutoCAD, Revit, etc.... ArchiCAD really doesn't cut it when the rest of the world is using AutoCAD) and 3D graphics (like 3D Studio Max), there's little software that the majority of users will likely need that doesn't have a Mac version or analog.

After hearing all the praises of Mac's I looked into one:

I configured a MacBook Pro (~15") online and it came to +/- $2,500. I configured a Dell (15.4" with more RAM, faster processor, larger HD and bigger graphic card) for ~ $1,000 less. I can afford it....just can't justify it. It boils down to $$$ for me.

Then buy a new iMac, very inexpensive and will certainly do the job. I've always been a Mac person and from a G3 to G4 to G5 to Mac Pro and Mac Book Pro, I've never had a crash, or a virus.

Steve

Dave, I was configuring a Dell for my gf (who wants Windoze), thinking it was much cheaper. The equivalent Inspiron 15 wasn't $1k less. More like $5-600 and you get less resolution on the monitor(1440x960 vs 1368x768) and less RAM expansion (8 vs 4GB). I could list the equivalents but I don't think the difference is as big as you say. Now add the sleek alu body (I dislike the plastic stuff) and OS X, I think it's worthwhile but that's very subjective. I ended up giving her my MacBook Pro to run Windoze 7 64bit in Bootcamp and bought another one (not the unibody with mini-DVI, fixed battery and NO express new ones which feel like a retrograde!).

As for the new iMacs, DO NOT BUY THE Quad Core iMac 27" just yet.... issues with the LCD abound:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1...graphics-broken

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/compute...tml?autostart=1