PC or Mac?

TigerLi · May 27, 2007

I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments, especially if you use or have used both.

1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new. Does this happen to a Mac too?

2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more expensive than PC versions?

3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

Any other comments and advices?

Thanks

ddk · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac
for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments,
especially if you use or have used both.

I was using both until a couple of years ago but now back to mac exclusively again.

TigerLi said:
1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

To a certain degree but nowhere near as bad as PC. I stopped running XP early on and went back to NT, in my experience XP was a dog.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

That was partially true in the 80's and to a certain extent in the 90's, but its less true today, besides all the best programs were always available on Mac anyway. We only stayed with PC for CAD software which was always missing for Macs, but not anymore.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

Well, its just nicer working with he Mac!

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

Can't help you here I haven't looked at high end PCs in quite a while.

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

Make the change you'll be pleasantly surprised, besides now you can now run your pc software on macs if you're so inclined.

david

TigerLi said:
Thanks

Alpha Doug · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac
for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments,
especially if you use or have used both.

1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

There is some normal periodic maintenance that is good to do to keep things running smoothly, but for the most part, you will not experience the "sludge" you do with Windows.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

Sometimes there is maybe a specific program that is only available for the PC, but as the other poster pointed out, all the major software titles are available for the Mac. I don't see any significant price differences these days for popular titles. The one area where there are significantly more titles for the PC is in Games.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

You named a major advantage. Virtually no viruses, no malware, etc. Less maintenance. But the biggest advantage is the actual experience of using a Mac. It is very hard to describe. First, the user interface is still better than even Vista. Color management has always been an integral part of OS X, where it has been an afterthought on Windows. And the interface, once you get used to it. just seems to make more "sense" and be able to deal with. The reliability is a HUGE plus. I have been running my current OS load on my G5 for over a year with absolutely no re-starts, except for automatic updates. I have a lot of memory in my machine (4 gigs), but I'm currently running a web browser, Aperture, iCal, Google Earth, Mail, and Photoshop all at once, with absolutely no problems or slowdowns. They're just open all the time.

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

Many times on this forum this question has come up. It is sort of a urban myth. The thing that is true is that Apple sells fairly full featured systems. They don't sell any "strippers" unless you count the Mac Mini. If you write down the features of an iMac or a Mac Pro and then go to something like the Dell site and configure a system to match as closely as possible, you will find that an "equivalent" Windows machine will cost as much if not more than a Mac.

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

What other box can you buy that will run both OS X and Windows simultaneously?

TigerLi said:
Thanks

--
Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}
http://www.dougwigton.com/

Duane Ellison · May 27, 2007

Hey there TigerLi -

TigerLi said:
1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

That is the same reason I punched from the windows camp a couple years ago. I was SOOOO sick of having to rebuild machines every six months to keep them running right - and I still had to run spyware removal software EVERY TIME before I ran photoshop.

This doesn't happen on my macs. The only time I have "rebuilt" a computer was when I upgraded the hard drive size in my iMac because I filled it up with pictures. Oh - and I didn't really notice any degradation until it said - you're full!

I don't know if it is because there isn't as much junk software out there for the mac so you just don't bog the system down.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

Hmmm - well here's the deal with that. When you first switch there is going to be this cache of software that you are used to on the PC. When you try to find the exact software on the mac you won't be able to find it (for the most part). But the thing to remember is the software is different. I think for the main part there is similar software on both platforms - but if you just LOVE Picasa and you want to use it on a Mac you are out of luck (well - unless you run also run windows). For me I haven't run across any software that I am missing on my mac. I use Photoshop CS2, Lightroom, Microsoft Office, Panic's Transmit FTP, Picture Sync, Skype, Silver Keeper (backups) and the iLife apps. The cost of the shareware is about the same from the PC days - otherwise software is pretty much the same on both platforms.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

Okay - for me - the MAIN advantage was the fact I could USE the computer instead of fighting with it. When I sit down to edit pictures I can just do it. I don't have to run spyware removal software or constantly try to optimize my computer to make it work. For the most part it doesn't crash and I think I have only run into the occasion that I needed to hard power off to reset a problem (I think like twice in nearly 2 1/2 years). I also like the interface of Mac OS X better than Windows XP (still use it at work).

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

I haven't looked for a while - but the last I remember is that it is a myth that a Mac is more than a PC for similar specs. The first thing to remember is that Apple doesn't really make lower end junk machines. Take for instance my Mac Book. You can buy a windows notebook for about half of what you can buy a Mac Book for but it isn't the same thing. It is like comparing a Kia to a Lexus.. I mean if you want to get from point A to point B and you want to do it for the least cost then get the lower priced item. But you don't get the same size factor, style, and I am not sure if you get dual process. Anyway - my mac book rocks and is a screamer especially comapred to my iMac G5. However, I do almost all of my Lightroom and Photoshop work on my iMac with only 1G of ram. So if you were planning on buying a higher end PC than your budget is probably good to go. If you were going to on the lower end of a PC then 20% to 30% would probably be safe. If you have to re-buy software then it might be more. I am not sure if Adobe has changed things - but they used to allow you to switch platforms for a modest cost - though that might not be an option with CS3 out because they will want you to upgrade.

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

First, I LOVE my Macs. I will NEVER go back to a PC. Since buying my iMac I have also bought a Mac Book (like I mentioned before). I have seen a handful of folks at work (IT Communications department) dump their PCs and switch to macs. Most of them end up buying a fixed station (iMac) and then a few weeks later buy a notebook (mac book or mac book pro) and every time I see them they rave about how much they love their macs.

Okay with that said here's the deal. If you are making the switch because you believe the hype (and the hype is pretty darn good) then I think you are making a mistake. If you are comfortable with Windows and you are not so feed up with it then I think the transition to Mac is going to be more difficult. For me I was SOOOOO sick of Windows that all the initial problems didn't come close to the problems I had with Windows.

I had a buddy of mine (who isn't in the same city) who just bought an iMac and is having some of those problems now. He was comfortable with Windows and his workflow just worked for him (Photoshop and Bridge). He swapped out because his PC was old and dying (failing hard drive, slow process, limited memory). Anyway - so his initial use is/was pretty frustrating because things just don't work the same. His external hard drives didn't just work (USB formatted for NTFS - he could read but not write). I walked him through reformatting the drives for Fat 32 and things seem better.

For the most part I think if you make the switch you will be happy and more than likely you will wonder why it took you so long to drink the coolaide. Like I said above I am REALLY happy that I made the switch and I wonder why it took so long for me to ultimately do it.

If you are near an Apple store you also have the added benefit that you can go into the store for training and support.

Hope I helped and didn't confuse you more! Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
--
Duane...

snickelfritz · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac
for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments,
especially if you use or have used both.

1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

No. Assuming you have enough RAM, Macs pretty much stay the same.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

No. There is a greater variety of applications that will run on a Mac. Some very high quality applications will only run on a Mac. Final Cut, Shake, Aperture etc...
The price is the same for programs available on both platforms.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

Not really, except that monitor calibration is integrated in OSX and works very well.

There is also the capability to natively read/write most image formats, and easy scripting of batch functions.

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

"Horsepower" is a synergy of software and hardware. OSX is 64bit and can address more RAM than a 32bit PC with identical hardware. (CS3 for example, can address 8GB of RAM in OSX)

You should budget for significantly more RAM than you normally would for a Windows PC; 4GB is not at all excessive for a Mac workstation. The RAM is the same type as is used in PC's, and the price is about the same. All other components, except the videocard and soundcard are the same as well.

(OSX uses EFI instead of BIOS for hardware initialization, so com[ponents such as video and sound must be designed for it)

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

If you buy a Mac, put aside expectations derived from your experience with WindowsXP.
Buy Pogue's book on OSX. There's a lot of power under the hood in OSX.

TigerLi · May 27, 2007

Thanks for all the advices.

I found an article from Guidenet.net that presents a balanced view:

http://www.guidenet.net/resources/win_vs_mac.html

This article has no dates so I am not sure how up-to-date the comparison is. I am particularly intrigued by "color-matching" ability of a Mac. Does this mean that you don't need a color calibration tool like "Spider" if you use a Mac (both OS and monitor)?

"Color Matching - Apple is the only OS and hardware which supports Colorsync™, the industry standard for "what you see is what you get" color matching. If you want your advertising copy of an egg to come out of the press with the same yellow you saw on the screen, Mac is for you."

JPSabo · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac
for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments,
especially if you use or have used both.

1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

From what I gather from reading, this shouldn't happen. Mac OS X and WinXP are entirely different OS's.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

Specifically for photography use, there is Photoshop of course, but two others that are very good and easier to use (and compliment each other) are LightZone ( http://www.lightcrafts.com ) and Adobe Lightroom. I use both. Price is the same for these packages. If you need to run Parallels (you can run Windows in a virtual machine), the Mac version is $30 more.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

The MacPro with its 4 processors gives some real power to applications like CS3, Lightroom and Lightzone as these are multithreaded applications and can take advantage of the muti-CPU's. Also RAID is very easy to setup to increase disk I/O performance.

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

From what I have read on comparisons of the price for a MacPro to a similarly configured Dell, the MacPro is considerable less expensive. The only thing you may need to do with the standard MacPro 2.66GHz is to add more memory as base memory is just 1Gb...photoprocessing applications use quite a bit of memory and this adds up if you have a number of images open and are running other applications at the same time. From what I have read and from my own experience, about 4Gb of memory may be okay for the average user.

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

Having done photoprocessing on a Dell (2.2GHz, 1 Gb memory) and a MacPro (4x2.66GHz, 5 Gb memory), the MacPro is a tremendous step up.

TigerLi said:
Thanks

--
John P. Sabo

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'

Arthur C. Clarke -

TigerLi · May 27, 2007

snickelfritz said:
"Horsepower" is a synergy of software and hardware. OSX is 64bit
and can address more RAM than a 32bit PC with identical hardware.
(CS3 for example, can address 8GB of RAM in OSX)
You should budget for significantly more RAM than you normally
would for a Windows PC; 4GB is not at all excessive for a Mac
workstation. The RAM is the same type as is used in PC's, and the
price is about the same. All other components, except the videocard
and soundcard are the same as well.
(OSX uses EFI instead of BIOS for hardware initialization, so
com[ponents such as video and sound must be designed for it)

Can you buy 3th party RAMs and add to your Mac as we do to PCs?

LouCioccio · May 27, 2007

My first computer was a CoCo2> CoCo3 with those computers and joining a user group formerly erie tandy user group now computer users of erie (cuerie.com ) I never used RSDOS but a poor mans unix OS9 (microware). I then got an Clone (8088), 286, 386, 486, 586 , 686 and so on. I used the CoCo3 up until the 286. I used Win 3.x, Win 95 and XP. I started using MacOS 7.6 in 1997 when I was helping out grade school in our parish. Before the school closed in 2004 I had over 36 macs and 3 windows machines.

In 1997 I bought a Mac Clone a Starmax 3000 and then in 2K a G4. I gave my son my PC in 2K since I was using the Mac 100%. I have a Toshiba Laptop that runs Linspire. My wife also has a G4 and we are networked and on the internet. I now swear by the Mac OS and have never regretted. No slow downs and No viruses.

I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments, especially if you use or have used both.

1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new. Does this happen to a Mac too?

Only if you are running out of drive space. I have upgraded to a SATA I 300GB boot drive that has over 190GB free space. All images are on the older IDE 120GB and external Firewire Drives.
You do need to periodically repair permissions when installing new software.

2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more expensive than PC versions?

Not for what i use it for: Photography and genealogy.

3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

I use BibblePro, RAW Developer plus Photoshop CS2, Quark, MS Office (MAC) and now NeoOffice.

4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

More. MacPro is pricey for me and I drive an Accent and Bought an Oly E1 less than a year ago (new).
Gotta save!!!

Ciao,
Lou Cioccio

JPSabo · May 27, 2007

Yup...Crucial.com is one vendor... http://www.crucial.com

TigerLi said:
snickelfritz said:

"Horsepower" is a synergy of software and hardware. OSX is 64bit
and can address more RAM than a 32bit PC with identical hardware.
(CS3 for example, can address 8GB of RAM in OSX)
You should budget for significantly more RAM than you normally
would for a Windows PC; 4GB is not at all excessive for a Mac
workstation. The RAM is the same type as is used in PC's, and the
price is about the same. All other components, except the videocard
and soundcard are the same as well.
(OSX uses EFI instead of BIOS for hardware initialization, so
com[ponents such as video and sound must be designed for it)

Click to expand...

Can you buy 3th party RAMs and add to your Mac as we do to PCs?

--
John P. Sabo

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'

Arthur C. Clarke -

nikoncanonleicapentax · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
I have always been using a PC, but am thinking about getting a Mac
for change. So I would like to hear your experience and comments,
especially if you use or have used both.

I've been using a Mac side by side with a PC for the past 4 years. A month ago I purchased a new 2.66 Mac Pro to replace my 4 year old PowerMac. Gave away my 4 year old PC so I'm only using a Mac. For now.

In my opinion, one of the best decisions Apple has made re: Macs, is switching to Intel. More power per clock cycle with less power consumption/heat vs. cost. Not to mention the ability to natively boot windows. The ability to boot Windows greatly reduces the "fear" of the initial transition to a new platform.

TigerLi said:
1. My PC (running on XP) is always getting slow after a year due to
junks accumulated in the registry, startup, etc. Even after some
tuneup to my PC, it never gets back to the speed when it was new.
Does this happen to a Mac too?

This is the most frustrating characteristic of any modern version of Windows IMO. Seems like the desktop is being taken over by every program on the hard drive wanting you to know they are doing their job. "Hello look at me!"

One of the big resource hogs resulting in slow booting on PCs is the anti-virus, anti spy ware and other security software. So mark this as one less thing slowing down Mac boot times. And one of the features I love most: You hit the power button and in 30 seconds it's just sitting there.... doing nothing... waiting on you. No pop-ups from all the software shouting "look at me!" Ahhh, how peacful.

TigerLi said:
2. As a Mac user, do you feel there are fewer choices of software
and shareware? For the same software, are Mac versions usually more
expensive than PC versions?

Not much of an issue really. Just about anything you are likely to do is covered on the Mac, frequently by the same cross platform application. Also, since you can install and boot windows natively or, via emulation with Parallels, you can have the best of both worlds on one machine.

Apple's Boot Camp software will walk you through the process of creating a partition and installing Windows as well as creating a CD with the necessary Windows drivers for the Mac hardware. It's easy for a gear head. If you are not a gear head, Boot Camp will hold your hand. But if you have never installed Windows from scratch on the PC platform it's not any easier on the Apple box; be prepared to print and follow the instructions provided with Boot Camp.

So, is it all roses? No. If you are a serious gamer and 3D simulation is your number one use then get a PC to go with your Mac. While you can boot XP & Vista natively, the video cards Apple makes available just don't cut it. The ATI 1900XT is a decent card but lacks power compared to the latest cards available for PC boxes (it's not even as powerful as the equivalent ATI 1900XT for the PC since it is detuned). And, due to different firmware architecture you can't purchase the latest PC video card and plug it in to your Mac (not easily).

Apple may make new more powerful video cards available in the coming months but, you can be sure it will cost twice or more what the comparable PC part will cost. Flight simulation is my primary gaming activity and I will probably build a separate PC just for this purpose. If 3D simulation is NOT your number 1 activity there is no risk buying a Mac anymore.

TigerLi said:
3. For photogaphers, does Mac offer any particular advantages or
disadvantage? (I know there are very few viruses for Mac.)

For me, color management is simpler on the Mac side. Otherwise all the advantages Mac's bring to the table apply here. It's just better. Now, if you want to run Aperture then you have to get a Mac.

TigerLi said:
4. For the same level of horsepower, how much more should I budget
for both hardware and software if using a Mac? Say, 20% more?

Considering all that a Mac can do out of the box (like create PDFs) this is a more difficult proposition. Prices for Apple hardware is really competitive these days considering all attributes of the Mac. When you compare the price of a MacBook Pro laptop for example, no one makes a comparably designed piece of hardware. Maybe Sony compares price wise but certainly not design wise.

The cheaper alternative will "do" everything the MacBook Pro will except run Mac OS (the real reason to buy a Mac). However, they lack the over the top industrial design of the Apple laptops. So you have to consider such factors when comparing price.

Sadly, Apple does not offer a low-cost option if you want a display separate from the CPU box. You have to get an all-in-one iMac or step up to the high-end Mac Pro. No choice in between. That's not such a bad thing as the iMacs are cleverly designed machines. With USB and Firewire external expansion is plentiful. I just hate the idea of not being able to upgrade the display or losing use of the machine if the display dies (which is why I bought a Mac Pro and 23" ACD). And you can't pop the lid and install internal storage. External firewire/usb storage is more expensive, though if you're a photographer this is the preferred solution regardless.

As far as cost you should factor in Apple Care extended warranty as well. Just go to Dell/HP and Apple web sites to compare prices.

TigerLi said:
Any other comments and advices?

I LOVE my new Mac Pro and already knew of the benefits of OS X. And it runs MS Flight Simulator X pretty well. In a couple of months I will be building a new PC for flight simulation only.

Muhaiminur H Aador · May 27, 2007

after 10 years of using PC, switched to Mac two weeks ago.

enjoying every bit of it.

goodluck

--
M. H. Aador.
http://TheLightCollector.com

ddk · May 27, 2007

TigerLi said:
Thanks for all the advices.

I found an article from Guidenet.net that presents a balanced view:

http://www.guidenet.net/resources/win_vs_mac.html

This article has no dates so I am not sure how up-to-date the
comparison is. I am particularly intrigued by "color-matching"
ability of a Mac. Does this mean that you don't need a color
calibration tool like "Spider" if you use a Mac (both OS and
monitor)?

You still do if you want total accuracy but its much simpler to get acceptable results without a calibration kit.

TigerLi said:
"Color Matching - Apple is the only OS and hardware which supports
Colorsync™, the industry standard for "what you see is what you
get" color matching. If you want your advertising copy of an egg to
come out of the press with the same yellow you saw on the screen,
Mac is for you."

Well, colorsync still needs calibration.

david

guttaperk · May 27, 2007

I'm a recent 'switcher' of sorts; though I use both Windows and MacOS, I've been using Windows less and less, and MacOS more and more.

2. There are definitely less choice with respect to software options under MacOS; however, a much higher proportion of that software is high-quality. So, one may have fifty choices under Windows, five of which are good; and five choices under MacOS, four of which are good. Frankly, given the relative lack of backward compatibility in MacOS, I have no idea how this is the case. Some may find that niche software is not available under MacOS.

That's less of a problem than it used to be, though. Modern Mac machines can run Windows programs either by booting into Windows (under a scheme called 'Boot Camp') or by running a copy of Windows in memory ('virtualisation'). These options are not free, but they work well in a pinch.

3. MacOS has one major flaw for serious hobbyist photographers; the A+ grade application, Picasa, is not available. Mind you, the Mac-specific application Picasa is at least B+ grade, so that may not be a major hardship.

4. One may hear conflicting accounts of the comparative value of PC's and Macs; both sides have valid arguments to make.

Many people can save money buying a Dell over an Apple; they do so by omitting features that cannot be omitted from an Apple purchase. With complete hardware and software feature matching, Macs are generally slightly cheaper than PC's.
Apple sometimes takes longer to refresh their hardware lines than, say, Dell; at the end of a long hardware cycle, during which component prices have fallen and Apple prices have not fallen, Apples are sometimes more expensive than PC's, when only hardware is compared.
Apple machines ship with a software bundle that is superior to that of most PC's. The only major gap is the absence of a full-featured office suite, and that can be ordered to be installed prior to shipment.
This means that only you can decide what the value proposition of an Apple is for your own purchase. Decide which Apple machine would be right for you, then spec out some PC alternatives, including the price of software for each platform. Don't be fooled by some comparisons that pit mid- and high- end Apple laptops against bulky, fragile low-end PC laptop bodies- unless you're sure that they are sufficient unto your needs.

And, of course, feel free to ask any further questions.
--

'The camera can photograph thought. It's better than a paragraph of sweet polemic.' Dirk Bogarde
-adrian charles-
barbados.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guttaperk/

guttaperk · May 27, 2007

Oops, I mean the Mac-specific program iPhoto is almost (but not quite) as good as Picasa.

I should also note that free Word-processing and Spreadsheet programs are available for both platforms that make expensive office suites less invaluable than in the past. Personally, I use Apple's iWork, which bundles a word processer and a presentation application.

The professional photography program Aperture is only available under MacOS; its rival Lightroom from Adobe is available under MacOS and Windows. So, in this arena, Mac users have more choice!

--

'The camera can photograph thought. It's better than a paragraph of sweet polemic.' Dirk Bogarde
-adrian charles-
barbados.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guttaperk/

guttaperk · May 27, 2007

I'm not sure, but that article seems as if it might be out-of-date. Apple machines now are the only ones available that can run MacOS, Windows, and Linux; far from being handicapped, it would seem that developers running MacOS have an advantage.

I'm not sure also if the comments re: video bottlenecking are applicable with Apple's new Intel machines.

I do know that one can build a powerful Windows machine much cheaper than the cost of Apple's powerful machines- but you still get what you pay for.

adrian
--

'The camera can photograph thought. It's better than a paragraph of sweet polemic.' Dirk Bogarde
-adrian charles-
barbados.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guttaperk/

JPSabo · May 27, 2007

guttaperk said:
snip >

guttaperk said:
That's less of a problem than it used to be, though. Modern Mac
machines can run Windows programs either by booting into Windows
(under a scheme called 'Boot Camp') or by running a copy of Windows
in memory ('virtualisation'). These options are not free, but they
work well in a pinch.

Parallels can be used for the virtualization, but a purchased copy of Windows is needed for the install as installing a copy that was installed to a PC does not seem to allow registration to Microsoft. I used Parallels on a Linux machine to run WinXP in a virtual machine and XP seemed to actually run a little better. Using this approach, especially on a MacPro with 4 CPU's, could work out very well for those people requiring Windows applications.

http://www.parallels.com/

guttaperk said:
snip >

And, of course, feel free to ask any further questions.
--
'The camera can photograph thought. It's better than a paragraph of
sweet polemic.' Dirk Bogarde
-adrian charles-
barbados.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guttaperk/

--
John P. Sabo

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'

Arthur C. Clarke -

rienm · May 28, 2007

I am wondering, if you've got CS2 and Lightroom for Windows can you use the key's of these programs for the Mac version, the same for Capture NX?
Or, can you use these programs via Parallels ?

hitrack · May 28, 2007

After using Vista a while now all I can say is you seem to have to "confirm" every little thing you do. 1/2 a dozen mouse clicks to delete a file and most everything else too. Sure you can turn all that off with a piece of 3rd part software but what happens to al those not smart enough to know this.

Mac has all the major programs, but drops the ball on alot of the little ones PC has, such as irfanview for instance. I don't necessarily want to fire up PS just to resize a pic.

No virus's are a god sent. How many times have you had no virus problems, but your virus software problems. Just the other month my AVG got caught in some kinda not wanting to update mode. There's a whole load of unnecessary screwing around uinstalling that and looking for new virus software to go with.

Not to mention Mac comes ready to roll right outta the box. You could literally get by for months with out installing one piece of 3rd party software for messing about with pics, or videos.

And here is the only thing you really need to know. You can run boot camp and install Vista on a Mac.

IMO one last thing I'm sad to say, compared to Windows file manager the finder blows.
--

Jeff
http://www.members.shaw.ca/onepunch/cars.htm

JPSabo · May 28, 2007

rienm said:
I am wondering, if you've got CS2 and Lightroom for Windows can you
use the key's of these programs for the Mac version, the same for
Capture NX?
Or, can you use these programs via Parallels ?

Most likely the keys would work under Parallels hosting Windows, but why not just cross-grade to the Mac version, especially with CS3 now released? Parallels would cost about $80, plus the cost of Windows if you don't already have a purchased copy. Performance should likely be better running as a native Mac program, too.

--
John P. Sabo

'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'

Arthur C. Clarke -

PC or Mac?

Well-known member

Senior Member

Veteran Member

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Well-known member

Senior Member

Well-known member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Well-known member

Forum Enthusiast

Senior Member

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Senior Member

Well-known member

Leading Member

Senior Member

Keyboard shortcuts