Mac versus Windows

[errrrrl]

I can't imagine not knowing what to choose since both operating systems are so different.

But if it's really that hard to decide then maybe you should get a Mac and install Windows on another partition for when you feel like switching for games or other software and what not. The majority of Mac people that I know in the IT world all have Windows installed as well or have a dedicated gaming/AV tower for just that.. just a thought.

 

[JamesPeters]

I repair medical equipment for a living, at home I want things to work without having to update every other day,
so as they say...once you go Mac you never go back

Count me as an exception. I had a Mac a couple years ago and saw no advantage.

To be clear: I think both are fine. Each has some "holes" in terms of available software or hardware compared to the other. In every regard that people praise Mac though, I found it was exaggerated and sometimes just plain wrong (or, they were neglecting to mention some of the drawbacks of the things they were praising).

I also have no love for MS.

 

[errrrrl]

In every regard that people praise Mac though, I found it was exaggerated and sometimes just plain wrong (or, they were neglecting to mention some of the drawbacks of the things they were praising).

I was going to mention similar but didn't want to start a flame war

Mac's aren't magical, their hard drives fail too, sometimes there are bad designs/batches like the 2011-2013 Mac book pros with bad logic boards/Nvidia cards that Apple kept saying wasn't a thing... they did eventually acknowledge the issue but that was only after a class action lawsuit was being threatened but by that time the model was considered outdated and people upgraded and forgave Apple. Another big one that people fail to mention is that they are prone to overheat do to thin designs... not too big a deal though, just keep the air vents clean

 

[JamesPeters]

In every regard that people praise Mac though, I found it was exaggerated and sometimes just plain wrong (or, they were neglecting to mention some of the drawbacks of the things they were praising).

I was going to mention similar but didn't want to start a flame war

Mac's aren't magical, their hard drives fail too, sometimes there are bad designs/batches like the 2011-2013 Mac book pros with bad logic boards/Nvidia cards that Apple kept saying wasn't a thing... they did eventually acknowledge the issue but that was only after a class action lawsuit was being threatened but by that time the model was considered outdated and people upgraded and forgave Apple. Another big one that people fail to mention is that they are prone to overheat do to thin designs... not too big a deal though, just keep the air vents clean

Yeah I don't want to pick on a particular model for its flaws since there are lots of PC configurations with flaws too.

I get that once upon a time (20+ years ago) Macs were better for audio and video, and I get the reasons why...once they were finally explained to me, instead of people spewing "it's just better". Those days are gone. The computer's CPU and system in general is effectively the same as PC now (decent PCs with Intel CPUs). So then it's down to the OS and what a person prefers about it.

Speaking of which: I've heard people go on about how OS X is so much better because it doesn't need a registry like Windows. One day on a Mac, I dug around and found the hidden folders which contain all the "registry" data (a lot of which remains behind when things are uninstalled), and saw equally as much of a potential mess that needs periodic maintenance as Windows registry. If I'd only heard one person say how Mac is better because of this, I'd have passed it off and forgotten about it. I've heard this many times though, and within maybe 1 hour I realized it's effectively the same, "6 of one, half dozen of the other"...especially when those folders are hidden the way they are, and most people will never know where they are.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I wouldnt take a windows based computer for free..been on macs for 10 years and its the best without a doubt , you can have a 8 year old computer that still works perfect, show me a windows POS that can do that it wont happen youll be virused out by then. Theres plenty of available software out there for mac if its not then well idk...

Stop surfing porn sites.

 

[IndyWS6]

The proprietary nature and lack of app support back in the day always steered me away from Mac's. I'd like to take one for a spin, but I'm pretty well locked-in with the hardware, software and skills I've gained working with Windows over the last, well, forever. It's just too easy for me to turn-up a new Windows machine if/when I need to. Plus, I'm using this gear in Madison Spare Bedroom; I can find compatible gear that does everything I need it to do. Some of the Mac-specific gear might be higher-quality, but I'm so far away from the ability needed to realize it that it's irrelevant.

My desktop DAW:
Dell Precision T7600 workstation
Windows 10
Dual Intel 2.0GHz 6-core Xeon Processors w/15MB L3 Cache
64GB Memory
nVidia Quadro 4000
(2) 512GB SSD drives, RAID-0, for O/S & Apps
(3) 1TB SATA drives, RAID-0, Data Storage
Numerous large capacity USB3 external drives for rotating backups, snapshots, off-site storage, etc.

I've forgotten the exact count now, but the attached picture shows the system usage with 48+ tracks and 20+ plug-ins running in Pro Tools 11...

 

[JamesPeters]

Some of the Mac-specific gear might be higher-quality, but I'm so far away from the ability needed to realize it that it's irrelevant.

Not only that, you can find high quality hardware for PC (for instance, RME audio devices) just as "easily". The choice may be limited to get the "best of the best" hardware, but then again it's just as limited for Mac.

 

[IndyWS6]

Some of the Mac-specific gear might be higher-quality, but I'm so far away from the ability needed to realize it that it's irrelevant.

Not only that, you can find high quality hardware for PC (for instance, RME audio devices) just as "easily". The choice may be limited to get the "best of the best" hardware, but then again it's just as limited for Mac.

Yup... For what I do, whether or not I can run a very specific piece of gear on Windows is not something that I have to deal with...

 

[Ventura]

Stop surfing porn sites.

Why? I thought that's the whole purpose of the interwebz was to fap out a good lot o' manstarch

 

[thiswaythatway]

Stop surfing porn sites.

Why? I thought that's the whole purpose of the interwebz was to fap out a good lot o' manstarch

That's where most people screw their PC's up. I've only had to clean my KB after some keys got sticky.

 

[stephen sawall]

Can't you do most of it with your phone ?

 

[PBGas]

I use both with work and my home machines are and have always been Macs since I got rid of my first 286PC. I've been using the Mac stuff since about 1992 and it has always worked well for me. Now a days, who really worries about what software is available because it is all web-based anyways. With such a focus on IOS, you are probably playing more of your games on a tablet. If you aren't you probably will as this gen of kids is all about the tablet/phone experience.

 

[JMMP]

I currently own a Mac and have used GarageBand and iMovie a few times, can't say that they're better or worse than anything else, as I haven't played with many other programs for any length of time. I did find this article on MusicPlayer's website to be an interesting read, though, and it seems fitting for the conversation.

http://musicplayers.com/features/genera ... mputer.php

 

[maddnotez]

Tone is in the Keyboard.

 

[rokket2005]

Most Studios are on Macs because Pro Tools support and functionality for windows is a fucking joke. Most studios are on Pro Tools because it had the benefit of being one of the first in the box DAWs to break when ITB DAWs started.

 

[IndyWS6]

I've said this before on this type of thread.


Find me a professional recording studio that uses a Pc.

Then tell me how many were On Apple based computer systems.

Maybe 2% use PC.

I get your point, but it's only relevant when talking about professional studios. Pro tools runs like a champ on my Windows 10 machine and, while there might be some hardware that I can't use because it's Mac-only, it hardly matters. There is more than enough quality, Windows-compatible equipment to satisfy me and the vast majority of non-professionals. I have nothing against Mac's; they clearly work well. I just think it does a disservice to imply that you can't have a good Windows-based DAW. Just my .02...

 

[prsplayer86]

So for audio recording and making tracks I use macs. Some of the best software is strickly mac based (not as prominent as it once was, but most daw's just work better without playing the windows driver game). The majority of the professional world demands Word files or Excel... Pages on mac work, but they don't always cross platform well, so I use my windows machines for reports/professional

 

[JamesPeters]

I've said this before on this type of thread.


Find me a professional recording studio that uses a Pc.

Then tell me how many were On Apple based computer systems.

Maybe 2% use PC.

If I grant you that made-up, unrealistic statistic (not counting what you define as "professional recording studio", or the fact even if it's true you're using this statistic as an appeal to authority fallacy and/or appeal to popularity fallacy--both of which you seem to do often Do you know why that is the case?

I can think of several reasons for it which have nothing to do with a person's ability to just as effectively use a PC in a professional recording studio. I even know someone using Linux in a pro studio (which I wouldn't do, but he's braver than I am). So if you can't think of specific reasons otherwise, please don't show up just to lump on the Mac bandwagon.

As for the "driver dance": I'd presume anyone running a pro studio should realize their computer's configuration needs to be working correctly and avoid unnecessary or untested driver updates (at the very least, maintaining a backup of a known working configuration which can be restored quickly in case of problems). This is true for both PC and Mac. The latest OS X has had its share of problems. Let's call them "growing pains" that OSes go through. Even if that's better than Windows overall (spanning a couple decades), things are beginning to even out in those regards too.

Cutting to the chase:

What DAW software does BadCat (or his friend) plan to use? For that matter, what hardware (audio for instance) does he plan to use? That may dictate a direction out of specific circumstances.

 

[JamesPeters]

Don't worry so much , everything is gonna be ok.

Oh, this tactic now.

That's ok. You've been outed.

 

[brianiac5150]

Most Studios are on Macs because Pro Tools support and functionality for windows is a fucking joke. Most studios are on Pro Tools because it had the benefit of being one of the first in the box DAWs to break when ITB DAWs started.

May be the case, however, I've always had good success running PT on Windows. One contributor (I think) is that I initially always used PT hardware. That has changed in the past couple years and I've still had zero issues which I'd contribute to WinOS. OK...now that I think about it just before clicking SUBMIT: I've not gone past Win7, either. Not sure if that's a contributor or not.

I will say this, though: having learned PT on OSX, I always enjoy using it just a little more on that OS than WinOS.