[Fobulous]

i'm about to get a new comp. and i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on whether to get a PC or a mac. do the programs run better on either or? and what about user friendly? but i guess the most important question i have is reliability.
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K.eep I.t S.imple S.tupid

[balistic]

The only real reason to get a Mac is if you prefer the Mac OS operating system. Otherwise, PCs are faster and more expandable.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[B0b]

not to forget 1/2 the price of a Mac

[Gort]

Hey Fab:

You might want to try using the search function up there in the navset; many here will tell you the question involving platforms has been discussed extensively here, so have a look - it's there.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[spooge demon]

Pc issues maybe not talked about in other places-

ACDSEE- amazing image browsing program. There is nothing like it on Mac. This is reason enough for me to switch all by itself.

Maximize window function- Better organization of many open windows. The dock is the same as the taskbar. Maximize window means controls are always in the same place in relation to the edges of the screen. I always know where they are.

Much larger selection of software, hardware. Lets you think different if you want

Software will be supported into the future on windows, and there will be an upgrade path. I used quickbooks on mac. Then Intuit simply decided to stop supporting it, and did not bother with an escape route (they have reversed this now, I think). You are at the mercy of marginal profitability.

Easier finding support online. There are so many PCs out there that you can almost guarantee that someone else has the same problem/question as you.

Operating systems are similar, and play a lesser role than most people seem to want to give them.

Photoshop has not failed/crashed once since last summer. I am not kidding. I left mac at 10.2, and it was way more stable that OS9, but still crashing 2-3 times a week. I assume this is getting better.

I worked on macs from the early 90�s till switching to PC last summer. Much happier. Much more productive

Games games games.

[B0b]

[Fobulous]

well if the general consensus is for PC, then why is it that the designing market seems to favour Macs rather than PCs?
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K.eep I.t S.imple S.tupid

[balistic]

[Impaler]

[Gort]

Y'all are cracking me up!

Seriously, there was a time when Macs were a better platform for creatives, as the woof factor on PCs was the OS; Win 3.1 was a real piece of shit, and on top of the hardware was just flat out lacking.

But along came the gaming market.

The demand for faster CPUs and video cards woke the PC market up, and the market took off through the stratosphere. Since the PC market was based on clones and hybrids, the competition got fierce with the consumers coming out on top in the long run, and like Craig says there's a lot more to choose from, and if you ever do have a problem, you can Google that sucker and find solutions pretty quickly.

Are Macs everything they claim to be? I have to say yes - they're cool and well made and all that, but anyone that tells you, especially this day and age, that Macs are the best platform for doing graphics is living in pure denial. Macs were superior graphic workstations perhaps 8 years ago but no longer. You can pretty much do anything on a PC that you can do on a Mac; it's a tool and the work done is a result of the person using it (see my signature below for example)

Ah the iPod...a Militant Mac dude I knew tried to get me to buy a 20 gig iPod at $500. After careful research I bought a 20 gig Creative Zen for $300 with a $50 rebate, and you know what? The Zen player holds music and data, and it brings me great joy! This guy just couldn't understand why I didn't get an uber hip iPod. WTF? I got a family and bills, so functionality will supersede design when there's cash involved - especially $250!

It all boils down to preference; it's your money - and hairstyle.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[Fobulous]

hmmm ... i have a buzzed haircut. i guess the answer is simple then. fanks a lot.
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K.eep I.t S.imple S.tupid

[B0b]

Gort are you my long lost twin??

[Gort]

[cheney]

Speaking for platforms and such, I would completely drop all products related to Adobe if they don't clean up their act in terms of hardware expandability. Its reason enough to want to go to GIMP merely so that I may bypass the horrors of small memory limitations.
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http://prettydiff.com/

[spooge demon]

Try acdsee on a mac sometime and you will see why I say it does not exist. Believe me I tried. It is crappier than Iphoto.

Cheney, I think the limitation on PS/windows is the 32-bit OS, not Adobes fault. I hang around the adobe windows support forum and this is what the engineers say who wrote it. I don't have the slightest idea.

To me the dirty little secret of artists is that they conform to social pressure a lot more readily than a lot of people. I know so many people that just seem to be sucked in by the "sophisticated, enlightened" mac ad spin.

[henrik]

Good old ACDSEE. Am I the only one using Classic? I tried the newer versions and they run slower than California rush hour traffic.
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http://www.somniostudios.com

[jfrancis]

I'm a PC user, myself. Because of all my existing software, I'll probably get a PC again next time. But with the ability to run Linux-like commands in osX, makes me think maybe I should switch.

And how 'bout these powermac G5 specs?

http://www.apple.com/powermac/

[balistic]

[Gort]

I would also like to add that those benchmarks were on a PC using a unix kernel - not a Win2k / XP Pro kernel.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[B0b]

dual opteron is faster and cheaper with more bells and whistles too

[Lunatique]

[Gort]

Rob, ouch!! Yeah...that is a bit over generalizing. Things are geting better, I think. Just the other day I delivered a tradeshow graphic to an all Mac production house, and as the guy was popping the CD in for review he asked the dreaded "Mac or PC?"

At first I thought "why should that matter; it's in the format you requested and easily read on either machine".

Once he saw the artwork he was immediately impressed and showered me with questions on how I did this and how I did that and so on. It turned out to be a rather pleasant experience with emphasis on technique and results - not the tool.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[mannyp]

[Gort]

mannyp

"Nice things"? Let me tell you something, and it's a true story. About 5 years ago I went into the design division of a major corporation. This division was very much all Mac based. When I made it clear that I had no loyalty to Mac or a bias towards either, a fury of verbal assault was unleashed on me, and I was systematically ostracized. I was told that "you're not a designer if you're not using a Mac". NOw these were not playful jests of words; these were outright attacks on me with the intent of harm. I was excluded from lunches and after work throngs. Luckily for me I had something else lined up and was able to get the f--k out of that sh-thole of "bigotry". Furthermore I have never encountered anything good or noble from those so incredibly attached to Macs and vehemently opposed to PCs. I'm not saying that all Mac folks (or PC folks for the matter) are that way, but I've run into some pretty darn mean spirited Mac users (hence the name "Militant Mac User") For me personally it's been a constant uphill battle for recognition as a designer and creative choosing to use something other than a Mac.

So, sonny, don't you go preaching to me about bigotry and acceptance.

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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[mannyp]

In that case, be sure to flame every other group who've pissed you off in some fashion or another. Be sure to use ludicrous accusations like the ones noted above because from where I sit, the shit is slung equally from both sides.

I don't preach acceptance -- only the hypocrisy I see every day when some dumb-ass *computer* user (not all) waxes retarded about whatever flavor of computer they have no fucking clue about. This thread is painfully full of shit; it impresses the hell out of me to see certain folk in this board who willingly support each other's work, critique, and provide inspiration selflessly who in turn paint some of those same peers as "pretentious, shallow prima donnas who would probably judge you by what coffee shop you hang out at and whether or not you use a mac." The same person who also poetically spews "We are only human, imperfect and flawed, but in our moments of radiance, we are capable of such profound beauty. It is those moments of radiance that makes this life worth living."

Of course, the irony of the hair comment is not lost.
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manny.peters

[Lunatique]

Holy crap! Look what happens when you foget to put smillie icons in your post!

mannyp, relax, man. I'll put the smillies in the original post so people will stop taking it seriously. Jeez. Did you see the last sentence of the post where I said "Ok, I'm generalizing...blah blah"?

And remember, just because I aspire to be a good and positive person, does not mean I'm capable of acting like a perfect human being 100% of my waking or sleeping hours. No one is that perfect, and we are allowed to slip every now and then, provided that we have the intuition and understanding that if our actions have hurt others, we apologize and correct our ways.

[watmough]

i think i have diarrhea

[Steven Stahlberg]

[spooge demon]

In the early 90�s there was no photoshop on any platform other than mac. At the time, if you were into graphics, macs were the best and only way to go. Since then, the huge amount of resources made available by the gigantic user base of windows (I have no illusions of how this came about) has made the PC mature faster, so that now macs are not the only way to go.

I have used macs since 1984, if I remember correctly. I know something about that universe, but mostly as it relates to the work I do, and that may not tell the whole story of all the possible angles to the platform question.

But I am really disappointed with the apple ad campaigns. It seems to play to the lower aspects of personality. Don�t sway me by intellect, tell me I will be cool and hip. This is exactly how these campaigns read to me, and in my experience creative people in general respond well to this. I feel the same way about using music or art to sway people�s political or social convictions. It is underhanded and condescending. Either you are saying that your argument is not compelling, or the audiences is too stupid to understand. Bypass critical thought with emotion. Yech. Geeky engineers want a spreadsheet, and I guess I am more engineer than artist.

And I don't feel I am slandering artist "behind their back," because, well, they are everywhere here!

To be fair, most of the marketing in the PC world is just as inept and seems to be aimed at the gonads of 13 year old boys. But like a comic book, its only virtue may be that it's not pretentious.

When I decided to switch from the mac, it was a very carefully planned, researched and thought-out decision. I cannot afford to allow my feelings about the ad campaign (which were really a minor annoyance) sway a decision like this. I am very very happy I switched, but I will not go so far to say that I should have done it long ago. Now is about right.

[Gort]

mannyp:

If referring to you as "sonny" was interpreted as a flame, let me state that is what not, but regessing to name calling I will admit to, and apologize if it's something you took offense to (by the way I changed my emoticon too).

For the record, you wrote: