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Rocket Jump switching from Macs to PCs
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A stable OS with as less maintenance as possible is just as much ‘key’ if you ask me.
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[Paul Jay] “A stable OS with as less maintenance as possible is just as much ‘key’ if you ask me.”
I agree wholeheartedly.
Fortunately, Windows is very stable and maintenance-free on good hardware, so this particular point in the platform wars is a wash.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Walter Soyka] “Fortunately, Windows is very stable and maintenance-free on good hardware, so this particular point in the platform wars is a wash.”
I couldn’t agree more.
I have not always owned and used Macs for video work. I actually started out on SGI systems, so I was used to a bullet-proof 64-bit OS (IRIX) long before OS X matured to the point where it was even usable.
In my experience, many Mac users have little experience using other operating systems, or at least little recent experience. I’m sick of hearing the same old tired arguments against Windows that I heard back in 1995. As much as I dislike Microsoft as a company and its earlier versions of Windows, and despite the fact that I currently use Macs, I must admit that Windows has matured to a point where it’s just not a factor anymore in terms of its reliability or performance. Indeed, it has some advantages over OS X, especially its support for a wide variety of graphics hardware and better OpenGL performance.
Probably the smartest thing Apple ever did was to develop ProRes. If Windows had fully integrated native ProRes read/encode support, that would go a long way toward encouraging many video pros (non-FCP users, that is) to abandon the Mac platform completely.
The only things keeping me on a Mac at this point are A) FCP 7, B) ProRes and C) Autodesk Smoke. (A) will become increasingly irrelevant. Not sure about (B), and I’m curious to see if Autodesk eventually decides to port Smoke to Windows. I don’t own or use laptops, and Apple’s Mac Pro is downright abysmal at this point from a price/performance perspective when compared against Windows PCs. I don’t see Apple releasing a new Mac Pro that does anything but further restrict expandability by removing so-called “legacy” ports, PCIe slots and internal drive bays.
Having said that, I am in no way an Apple hater. I adore my iPhone and iPad, and I still love my 2006 Mac Pro. Unfortunately, as far as desktop computing goes, Apple has moved away from me, not the opposite.
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Spot on Alan & Walter. Creative software is much more important than OS. FCP is why I bought a Mac. Now with my switch to CS6, I see no compelling reason to buy a MacPro or to use my 2009 MacPro. Expensive restrictive hardware and poor graphics card support is what I see.
The OS argument is not on my radar. Optimising hardware to software is and WIN is a clear winner here for da Vinci and CS6. I will keep my 2009 MacPro with FCP7 and if there is demand for it, FCPX.
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[Alan Okey] “I’m sick of hearing the same old tired arguments against Windows that I heard back in 1995. As much as I dislike Microsoft as a company and its earlier versions of Windows, and despite the fact that I currently use Macs, I must admit that Windows has matured to a point where it’s just not a factor anymore in terms of its reliability or performance. Indeed, it has some advantages over OS X, especially its support for a wide variety of graphics hardware and better OpenGL performance.”
Indeed. I’ve been using Macs and PCs every day, side by side, for almost a year now. Windows is a viable choice for professional creative work today.
In a way, I think Windows suffers here from the same perception problems that FCPX does.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
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