Re: "Macs just WORK" - Indeed they don't, or not for long
I was going to stay out of this one, but I feel compelled to correct a few misconceptions about the PC vs. Mac debate (having done tech support for both Windows and Macs, these myths are like fingernails on a chalkboard for me). >Without a shadow of a doubt, when it comes to digital imaging, the Mac is >far superior to any PC. While this argument does still apply, it is becoming obsolete. The reason for this performance difference is Photoshop's (and others') use of AltiVec technology that was built into the G4 and G5 line, which significantly reduced the load on the processor while working with images. Apple's switch to Intel has essentially kicked AltiVec to the curb, and with the dual-core processor market the way it is there's no valid reason to say digital imaging on Macs is faster than PCs. More on AltiVec for those interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altivec >...because of its unix-based operating system, does not crash. Not exactly. Apple's incorporation of Unix into OS X was definitely a wise move in terms of security and performance, but I wouldn't say this is the primary reason (I've seen Unix machines crash many a time). The key factor in OS X's stability is hardware. One of the difficulties that Microsoft has is the fact that they have no idea what kind of hardware you'll be shoving in your PC, and when you do install it, you expect it to work. Windows had to be designed to work with all x86 and more recently x86-64 processors (this is no small number, by the way), any of the hundreds of motherboards out the market, sound cards, video cards, ATA, SATA, SCSI...the list goes on. That's a lot of code, and therefore becomes a lot to keep track of, and it can be difficult (if not impossible) to get it all playing nicely together. Let's look at Apple. They tell you what hardware to buy. They build the computer for you. They know exactly what's in the box (by the way, the newer Macs give you plenty of room to play with hardware). This gives them the chance to focus a lot more energy on hardware compatibility, which results in a rock-solid operating system. >Partly it's payback for keeping system 9 in a partition --what the >brainiacs at Apple call "classic," but which was I'd bet never out of >beta, just a ploy to get us to "upgrade" and take X. People say they like >X better, I won't torture you with its shortcomings.... except to say I >have $10,000 worth of peripherals that won't work on 10 & don't like the >substitute hardware or programs at any price. Apple has taken on a very aggressive "onward and upward" approach. Their strategy, as far as I can tell, is to abandon old technology in favor of new technology. By forcing their customers to upgrade periodically (when done wisely), they can control the flow of the market. For example, Apple suddenly stopped putting serial ports on the backs of their computers and made their users switch to USB keyboards (Dell and others recently followed Apple's lead and got rid of their PS/2 ports in favor of USB keyboards). Those that kept up their upgrade cycle didn't notice a thing. But the rest, like poor Judy, were told to try eBay. Kind of an "upgrade or stop whining" mentality...whether this is a good or bad thing is another discussion entirely. Windows, on the other hand, has built-in legacy support for older hardware. While it's nice to be able to pull any old device out of storage and have work right away, this also has a tremendous impact on system performance (not to mention hard drive space). >HOWEVER, because the world is full of the brain dead, Pagemaker got >swamped by Quark, & when I need to send a file to a printer or resurrect >an old file to reprint an early Post-Factory -- Pagemaker & its fonts are >declared OBSOLETE. I have to make PDFs for the printer... Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence, no matter what program(s) you use. I have a warning for those of you that use MS Word. As of MS Office 2007, Microsoft has made the switch to a new XML-based document format, which means that any document created in Office 2003 or earlier will become obsolete in the very near future. Office 2007 does support the older format, but I suspect that the next version (Office 2010?) probably won't. The trick here is to find a format that's globally compatible (all programs, all operating systems) and has been around for a while (I prefer Rich Text Format, .rtf, for my word processing). That way, you won't have to worry about converting your whole library on the whim of your chosen company. >Why don't Macs have a delete key that deletes to the right? They do, but not on laptops. :) You can plug any USB keyboard into your Mac and use the "other" delete key. >Just the idea of having to separate left click from right click when >I'm WRITING (which takes more concentration than remains to me in this >world) makes me want to throw a bomb... Any 2 (or more) button USB mouse will work with OS X. I use the Logitech MX700 on mine...it's even got a button I can assign to open the CD tray. So for those of you still reading, here are my thoughts. I've been into computers as far back as I can remember. My first computer was an Apple II. Then I had one of the first Macs (still in operation, by the way). Like others, I love to tinker (not tinkle, mind you), and so my next computer was a PC. I've gone through almost every iteration of Windows on my home PC from 3.1 to Vista. About 4 years ago, I got fed up with Windows, and installed Linux on my PC (Gentoo for those interested). I loved it. It was faster. It was more stable. I didn't have to worry about viruses. I was finally free from everything that was wrong with Windows (meanwhile, I still had to support Windows XP machines at work). But as I started getting more into digital imaging, I realized that Linux (on the desktop level) isn't for me (I do still use Linux on all of my servers). I know, Linux has the GIMP, etc...that's another story. At this point I couldn't help but wonder why Macs had become the de facto standard for photography, so I did some research and "test drove" a PowerMac G5 running OS X 10.4. My first impression was, "wow!" Apple had definitely made some improvements since OS 9, which I hated. I bought a Mac 2 years ago, and after beta testing Vista and seeing what it has to offer (nothing more than what Apple's been doing for years) I don't see any reason to buy anything else. But that's just me. :) Camden Hardy camden[at]hardyphotography[dot]net http://www.hardyphotography.net
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