I’ve been trading emails with Nick from Pipeline Deals today, when I mentioned that I work on a PC platform he said:
“WHAT!! Are you a designer?”
He did add a smilie to those words I have since removed…for effect. Anyway, this was my response:
“Yes, I’m one of those rare designers that are loyal to PC’s. So far, I haven’t had a reason to jump ship yet.”
It seems like nowadays every designer is opting for the Mac route - they don’t even consider the PC platform. Could it be because:
- ease of use
- stability
- performance
- appearance
- that Macs are just the norm for people in the design field.
Everyone has their own reasons I guess. Macs are easy to use but not any more easier than Windows XP :). Are Macs really more stable? I’ve heard horror stories from both sides. Are Macs that much faster? There is the RISC vs. CISC comparison. (Why are the new Macs sporting the new Intel Core Duo chipset?). I think that with a little knowledge on the tasks you perform and some TLC every now and then (something every computer user should show) you’ll be fine. No clear cut winner in performance or stability. As for appearance, those Macs do look damn sexy. But hey, nothing white spray paint and some “Powered by Intel” stickers can’t fix ;). One thing Mac definately excels in is in movie editing capability. Mac and Final Cut is the way to go for sure.
Anyways that’s my post. I’ve been a PC user all my life and I don’t seem myself switching over anytime soon. Let me know what you all are running on and why… I’m curious.
P.S. I’m probably going to take a lot of heat for this post, so please try to be nice.
Copyright © 2000-2007
8:53 am
Well … I am a developer, but am writing this on my brand new Macbook Pro laptop. I decided to get a mac due to it’s ability to dual boot in both XP and OSX.
And I just love my new Mac. It’s cool and works so very, very well. Had no trouble installing XP with both Bootcamp and Paralells. And now I can test everything I do on the OSX too … which is very good.
9:20 am
One reason to use Macs - Mac OS X
The operating system is Unix based and just blows away Windows. I have only rebooted my Macbook Pro a few times since the day I received it! I hope you like your Virus Software, Spam Detection Suite, Hard drive Optimizer, etc… None of that junk is needed on the mac.
1:10 pm
I hopped on the bandwagon and switched a few weeks ago. As a developer & designer, I find that there is power knowing that OSX sits on top of Unix. Just for all the little command-line utilities. And on the design side, its nice to be able to check designs in PC/Mac (Using Parallels) which is something I never was good at doing. And the other main thing is that after a decade or two of using windows, I thought that learning a new skill set would be a refreshing experience. I’m still in the phase where I look at OSX and go “Uh, how do I do that….” - for the most simple tasks that I am used to doing in Windows. But I hear yah, for the most part it is just ‘pick something and go with it’. Whatever works for you. I must say that in switching, i much prefer the Mac for productivity reasons.
3:23 pm
Yep Im on a Mac also. Although Im still with the PPC Mac, not the Intel Mac. I’ve been using them for a good 10 years and used PC’s alongside since the Mac couldn’t do everything that I needed to do. Once OS X 10.2 came out I was able to go totally to the Mac since it could now do everything I wanted and more. I havent looked bac since. Im a moderator of a Mac forum and we have massive amounts of people switching to the Mac platform. Most of them were PC users who hated the Mac, until they actually tried it for a short period of time.. then fell in love with it and they haven’t looked back since. Im still trying to get my Pops to move over to the Mac.. he’s scared of getting online, he has all the virus software loaded, but he spends all of his time fighting viruses that he’s just scared to use the computer. Eventually he’ll get tired of the battle
4:02 pm
I just bought my first Mac Book Pro approximately 3 months ago. It was the best thing I’ve done! I don’t think the Mac is that much faster hardware wise, however I find that OSX is MUCH faster than Windows.
There’s nothing wrong with the PC is you’re running Linux.
When I have to go to my PC for some reason, I feel dirty and wrong! I feel like I’m working on a virus.
To give the best analogy, it was the same thing when I went from IE to Firefox. Whenever I had to test on IE, it just felt awful.
5:03 pm
Oh and btw this article was just released and I thought it was a good read and might as well pass it on
InfoWorld
12:41 pm
I’m a PC designer. I’m not so much ashamed of it or anything but there is a palpable pressure to use a Mac.
I have friends who are still in school for design, and it is required for them to have a Mac Book. So the standard of using Macsbegins in the classroom, then translated to the real working world. At work we deal with clients and third party vendors who work in a Mac environment.
I’m a PC user. Yes, I’ve thought about getting a Mac. Maybe soon. Maybe not. But it’s not like I’m missing out on something earth shattering, just something sleek and sexy. Otherwise I’d just mod my box with some awesome neon lights.
10:48 am
[...] If you are like me, you probably do not want to take the risk either way. Even if they are only partially true, I think it is always worthwhile to take reasonable steps to protect your PC and your information. For me that means investing and updating my virus software and treading carefully on the web, for others it may mean buying a Mac [...]
8:26 pm
Well with the New Vista RC1 and even the most recent version yet to come. I dont think buying a Mac matter’s as much. What do you think that Bill Gates retired with out something up his sleeve? No! No!
Even the Beta2 version was superb in function beside’s the little driver problem’s. They seemed to have acted on in the new version making this a sit back
and relax machine. Sit back it’s not a Mac
7:28 am
I am a Designer (web&print) and web developer - I mad the switch to the midrange new Macbook (which cost more than $2000 in SA!). I admit it - I bought it for the looks! However I also felt I needed a challenge - I’ve never worked on mac, and would rate myself as a super-expert PC user, so it was something that I really wanted to do - learn all the intricasies of MAC’s. Also works wonders for easilly testing our sites on another platform, as well as giving assistance to my outsourced designers who have been working on macs all their life. I stil have my PC desktop which actually runs faster than my new mackbook, with a slower processor, however I am a completely converted fan.
My car has an apple sticker on the rear windscreen and I’m proud!
7:53 pm
I think that, aside from the peer pressure I’m seeing, Mac users love Macs. I think of it as being like a designer computer - things are designed to look and feel understated and smooth and perfect.
So you meet designers and you find that they use Macs, because of course they are more comfortable with something that was designed to look and feel great, as opposed to the Windows PC, which feels much cruder and slapped together out of the cheapest parts the manufacturer can find.
Of course since you’re oriented towards the gritty world of publishing invoices, it’s quite possible that you’re not as drawn to the aesthetic world as designers are.
Personally, I’m a programmer and love the fact that I can both edit my video and run my open source programs on the same computer. Since I came from a Unix background but didn’t really like the ugly look Linux had back in the day, my decision to switch from a combination of Windows and Linux to a Mac was pretty easy.
D
3:32 am
“Macs are easy to use but not any more easier than …” Life’s too short. I don’t want to get in an argument with you. But I would urge you to improve your grammar!
5:05 pm
And one more thing. (No, I’m not Steve
You should “definately” (sic) spell-check your entries before posting them.
6:41 pm
Joel…get a life.
6:44 pm
Joel - not even a Mac could have helped me with my grammer and spelling mistakes.
3:38 pm
Many devlopers I know love Macs, because they can drop into Unix shell which is more powerful than Dos.
2:33 pm
[...] 5th Place: “Mac = Designer?” with 16 comments. “Everyone has their own reasons I guess. Macs are easy to use but not any more easier than Windows XP . Are Macs really more stable? I’ve heard horror stories from both sides. Are Macs that much faster?” [...]
3:55 pm
LOL… Jeff, I just found this post in the blog archives here. Where’s the post about “why I switched to Mac?”
11:10 pm
Wow Aaron, nice find. Jeff is, without hyperbole, the biggest hypocrite ever.
10:14 am
Aaron: That post is coming. If (or should I say once) I get a Mac for home, and I’m totally switched over, then I’ll officially announce my defection.
4:54 pm
Wait… didn’t you just get one?
6:35 pm
Someone owes Jeff an apology.
10:23 pm
I’m a book designer. I work on a PC at home, and until last year, worked full-time, and used a Mac at my workplace.
I like Macs for design. I like PCs for everyday use AND design. I don’t depend on purely the screen values to tell me what results I’m going to get - I use a colour book, and my knowledge of printing.
In my book, that makes me a PC user. Besides, I get better tech help for PC anywhere in India, but Mac only in the 4 Metros. It’s easier to upgrade too.
Additionally, when a PC crashes, you have a 90 percent chance of recovering all your data. And you can do it yourself or take it to any workshop.
When a Mac crashes, as I learned to my detriment at work, twice, you can retrieve less than half of your stuff. So even if it crashes less, it crashes your life worse than a PC.
Oh, and it took 3 weeks for them to tell me my data couldn’t be retrieved, because I couldn’t call in any old engineer - it had to be a Mac authorised one. (Before anyone asks, yes, we did back up weekly)
Mac is more expensive to upgrade (software and hardware), service and maintain. Think about it.