Any Mac users here?

[Redguard]

Red,

I've used both Macs and decent Windows computers in my photography business. Right now, I have two fairly fast and well equipped PCs on my desk at the office. The faster of the two has a decent dual core processor, 4 Gigs of RAM, and a decent video card matched to a top end Samsung widescreen monitor. The slower PC is mainly for admin work instead of image processing, so it's not set up to work as quickly.

A PC can be used for about 95% of the work that a Mac is capable of when it comes to design work. So if you already have a decent PC, that should get you started.

BUT - you have the issue of cross platform (MAC OSX and Windows) software purchases. Many software packages will still run on only Mac or Windows, and are not set up to work with Mac's Intel Processors. Take Adobe Photoshop for instance. They're not going to produce a cross platform version of Photoshop until the next major version upgrade hits the market (every 3 years or so). A lot of software manufacturers will allow you to change current versions of software to a new platform for a minimal fee, so be sure to check before you buy. Design software can easily exceed the cost of a computer several times over.

My iMac G5 iView was a GREAT machine (I bought it just before the Intel chips hit the market). The screen resolution and display quality is probably the best I've used in 20" screens. But frankly, I just could not get used to the Mac way of doing things quickly enough, and I sold the machine after only 3-4 months of light use. HOWEVER, my next system will be a Mac set up to run Windows. The G5 is portable enough to bring onsite for client work or run on rolling carts in my studio shooting area, and I can run my cameras right from the computer using pecific software on commercial shoots. So I'll probably be buying a G5 with a 17" screen, or POSSIBLY a Mac Laptop.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Mac either way. But please do yourself a favor and buy one with a Core Duo processor and max out the RAM. It's a minor and affordable upgrade that even a technodolt like myself can do and the ability to run two memory hogging applications at the same time is a huge timesaver when you get into the design profession. And DON'T buy your RAM from Apple - it's WAAAAY overpriced. Buy matching RAM from Newegg (Samsung is the OEM manufacturer for Mac), so for under $200, you can do a major RAM uprade.

I would also suggest NOT upgrading the hard drive through Mac. Again, you are better off purchasing a stand alone hard drive for extra storage.

Mac's Apple Care is a great deal as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, if you get into the design world, any competent professional really needs to know how to speak Mac inside and out. I interact with everything from magazine design pros and art diretors to ad agancy execs and they're all using Macs for their art and design work. I cannot remember the last major client that was using PCs unless it was just for office admin tasks (secretaries, accountants etc.).

Chris

That was an awesome review. Thanks! Good information to have.

 

[sjdennis]

I have a Mac but I'm still pretty new to it so I probably can't help you much lol.

Anyway how do you get Windows on a Mac? I've heard it can be done, but I'd like to know what it involves before I go out and buy a $200 XP disc.

With a G3 / G4 / G5 mac, you buy a Microsoft programme called "Virtual PC". You can get it through Apple, but it's cheaper direct from Microsoft. This is a Windows emulator, allowing you to run windows as a seperate programme on your mac. The main problem is that it isn't that powerful, and for the price of the software you can buy a cheap Windows desktop computer anyway, which will be much gruntier than the virtual PC emulator.

With the new Intel based macs, you have to buy another piece of software from Apple, then you can install windows on the computer and actually run windows on the computer, rather than just as an emulation. This is much gruntier than the previous option. Because of this it is more likely to be worth buying, although again for the cost of the software you can buy a cheap desktop PC.

 

[sjdennis]

I know... not a marriage topic, but I'm just curious.

Does anyone here use a Mac computer?

I've always shunned them in the past because I found them to have too many incompatibilities.

But they seem to be a lot better now. They can even run Windows! And you just can't beat the esthetics of a Mac.

I have a keen interest in graphic design and video editing, so I'm thinking that now may be the time to make a switch.

Can anyone here offer their experiences?

I've used Macs all my life. We had them at primary school, then at high school we had PCs (DOS, then Windows). Downgrading from Mac OS to DOS when I started high school was like going into the stone age. My parents bought an iMac as I got near the end of school, and this was so much better than any of the windows computers I was used to using at school. From this day on I have been hooked on Macs!

I have obtained many second-hand Macs. The great thing about them is that so many people have a PERCEPTION that they are no good, or they don't know how to use them. So you get given them for free. I did all my university assignments up till half-way through third year on Macs around 10 years old (an LCII, Powerbook 150, and a Powermac 7200/120). Macs last for years with minimal problems. Then I bought myself the iBook G4 which I am typing this on.

I have had this computer for over 2 years now. In this time I have had a sum total of two problems with Mac software. I have had innumerable issues with Microsoft software (MS Word, Excel etc), and also HP printer software. The support offered by Microsoft and HP is despicable. But any Mac software issue, I can just ring the Applecare helpline (toll free international call, even from my cellphone) and sort it out very quickly.

My mother also likes Macs, but is given a Windows laptop by work. In the last six months she has had innumerable issues with her BRAND-NEW work laptop. The cd writer wouldn't work, the battery wouldn't work - heaps of very basic stuff. In the meantime I start my 2-year-old Mac every day with no problems. Each day I plug into the PC network at my university with my Mac and access the internet just the same as any Windows university computer, through the same network. I just don't have to worry about viruses at all!

Macs are annoying when you can't find the appropriate software for your job. But the majority of the time they are by far superior to Windows. Windows is offering a new, advanced operating system which has been under development for a number of years now and keeps getting delayed. But almost all the promised features of this new operating system are already offered in Mac OSX, which is well-proven to be a stable operating system.

 

[Devchenka]

We have 2 in the house in one room lol, so my husband and me can be online at the same time. He is pro at this stuff so yeah he does run window on MAC with games and stuff.
I love MAC so much i use photoshop a lot and it's the best. I can't imagine going back to PS anymore.

 

[gracefaith]

Red, you're right - you really can't beat the aesthetics of a Mac. They just look better and you feel cooler using them. Being an artist, like Heather Jay, I spent a lot of time using Macs in school and the first computer I ever bought for myself was a Powerbook (wow - that was a long time ago.) We have two PCs right now and I still feel a longing pull toward Macs whenever I see one. In the years where I was cursing Windows for crashing on me, eating documents, etc., my Mac chugged along loyally without serious incompatibility problems or crashing incidents. They will forever have my respect for that.

Extra plus bonus - being a Mac user is like being part of a secret club. When you meet other Mac users there's an immediate kinship. They relate to you, think you are smarter than the average person and assign you special coolness points. You also get invited to trendy parties where everyone wears shiny shirts, sip mixed drinks with flashing ice cubes and collectively mock all the PC users of the world. (Okay, I'm exaggerating - but only slightly.)

Seriously, there is 100x more love in a room full of Mac users than you will ever have in a room full of PC users. No one has ever impressed strangers by saying, 'I use a PC!'

 

[AceHero]

With the new Intel based macs, you have to buy another piece of software from Apple, then you can install windows on the computer and actually run windows on the computer, rather than just as an emulation.

Bootcamp is actually free.