why do people think macs do graphics well?

[jotto84]

i understand that macs maybe had one of the first pleasent GUIs, but is that the sole reason people claim they were good for graphics, and stupid people have just held on to that idea for the past 10 years? i dont see how macs do graphics any better than PCs, is there some other reason why people used to think this about macs... err still do?

[DragonNOA1]

Well from my experience producing and directing a live daily tv show, I know that the only way we could edit videos was with an Apple, using Avid. So from that standpoint Apples were all we had. But I'm sure you could do the same with a PC.

[Force Flow]

*sigh*

I had a big battle about this a work today. I was working on webpages, and being that the place that I work has a good number of macs, I had to make the webpage compatable in both PC and mac browsers. I spend over 6 hrs adjusting it. It would look fine on the PC, but not on the mac. Then it would look fine on the mac, but not on the PC. It's enough to drive out out of your mind. I finally was able to get it right, but it sure was a hasstle.

Video confrencing is another project I've been working with on both mac and PC platforms. Everything works fine going mac to mac or PC to PC, but there have been a ton of probs trying to go from PC to mac or mac to PC. video but no audio, audio on one end and not on the other, mic working on one end but not the other...etc...

Anyway, the short of it, years ago macs handled graphics better than PCs. Now? About the same. IMO, macs are just expensive, fancy machines with lots of eye candy and not much else. I mean, how much software is there actually for macs? I have a few friends who are mac users and the one thing they really complain about is the lack of software.

[edit] just about anything that can be done on a mac can be done on a PC. I've even seen windows skins that make the O/S even look like a mac. So if you want the eye candy, you can have the operablility of a PC and the eye cand of a mac.

[SonicVanguard]

The only reason Macs handled graphics better than PCs (not to mention audio and video) is because software developers decided it was easier to develop on the Mac. And then they would just port the program over to Windows. One problem with that - that makes the program slow (on the PC), so no one uses the Windows based version.

Now alot of that is changing. Adobe has all but dropped the Mac like a bad habit (other than Photoshop). Highend rendering programs like Maya, LightWave 3D, Form-Z and Strata Studio Pro have either moved exclusively to Windows or are planning on making that more. I think a lot of it stems from companies that are tired of constant Operating System changes that never kept up with thier software requirements.

Just my $.02.

Dave.

[jotto84]

force flow-

i disagree a bit about macs... first of all your web design problem..... if you follow standards then your website will work perfectly on mac web browsers.. and probably on internet explorer too. IE bends the HTML rules so people can have sloppy code, the browsers for macs (mozilla mostly) do not.

there is no reason to complain for mac os x not having enough software, nearly everything is covered, albeit some not by the big software companies, but my experience with os x and a powerbook after being on windows for 7 years was awesome, i was more produtive and the computing experience was more enjoyable. i didnt lose my work, and everything just "worked" no pop ups, no junk mail, everything works fast. i dont need to mess around with anything or install anything, because nearly everything you need to setup or download on a windows machine is already setup on mac os x.


read this website for an expert's opinion:

http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/osx/conclusion.html

[GaryRouth]

I know designers who use both platforms, and they seem to be fairly well served in both cases.

I think historically the Mac's advantage stemmed from its closed, tightly controlled architecture. For graphics designers working with Quark and PhotoShop, for recording engineers working with ProTools, things didn't have to jump as many hardware hurdles that can cause software catastrophes. And the Mac came out with color controls a bit earlier, so the sendout work had a consistency from the print shops.

The integrated tools on the recent Macs have come a long way since some of their early efforts, but most designers or sound engineers have a few pennies to spend on installing their specialized tools. Things still tend to cost slightly more on the Mac side, too.

I like OS X myself - it's a slick little engine. The interface doesn't actually seem much different, though, than what I've enjoyed on my forays into the Linux world (mostly with Caldera and RedHat).

One area that Apple has always stood out from the pack on has to be their end-product design. I'm referring simply to the style and ergonomics of their computers. Seems like they always have an eye for the elegant. Nice boxes.

Mac vs PC is now a bit like Intel vs Amd --- not so much difference today perhaps as their once was. And truly, differences are OK and good - a customer will be happier the more variety and choices there are. [We get to find the shoe that fits!]
. . . Gary

[morriswindgate]

Barney and Big Bird look a lot sharper on the Mac and the user interface is takes less time to for the dedicated Mac users in this age group to learn (4 to 60).

[RayH]

A few years ago, the software that did the job was written for a Mac. A lot of the professionals got trained on a Mac.

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by jotto84 force flow- i disagree a bit about macs... first of all your web design problem..... if you follow standards then your website will work perfectly on mac web browsers.. and probably on internet explorer too. IE bends the HTML rules so people can have sloppy code, the browsers for macs (mozilla mostly) do not. there is no reason to complain for mac os x not having enough software, nearly everything is covered, albeit some not by the big software companies, but my experience with os x and a powerbook after being on windows for 7 years was awesome, i was more produtive and the computing experience was more enjoyable. i didnt lose my work, and everything just "worked" no pop ups, no junk mail, everything works fast. i dont need to mess around with anything or install anything, because nearly everything you need to setup or download on a windows machine is already setup on mac os x.

Don't get me wrong OS X is a significant jump, but the machines I was battling with had OS 8.x and 9.x. I didn't even get to the OS X machines yet.

A lot of the software put out by big software companies is what is most useful, not some of the proprietary software that cannot be used on anything but a mac. Most of the time, people need to send files back and forth between platforms, and big name software is what is needed. Not something like iMovie, which is proprietary. Something like Adobe Premiere (Adobe dropped any future support for macs with the prog, btw) is a heck of a lot more useful when it comes to places that use both platforms, as many educational facilities and industries do.

The only good things about macs are that they keep the rest of the industry on its toes.

[Hey_Mr._Jack]

people who were fooled into buying macintrash try to regain some dignity by saying iCrap is good for something. so they go with something that youraverage joe doesn't do, yet also makes them feel superior... video editing.

Macs have "virtual PC" which is (i believe) a system to play PC programs on a mac. why do the need this? hmmmmmmm, no PC has "Virtual Mac". and the new line of desktops look like piss-poor imitations of PC's. i think Bill Gates has realized his mistake. now lets work on the hair...

any computer that smiles at you is planning your demise.

[Hi Ho]

I know someone that runs virtual PC on his Imac. It is slower than my old 233 K6 running Windows 98! Macs just can't run PC software efficiently.

[glc]

Jack, let's tone it down a bit. We are all entitled to our opinions but let's not bash Macs here, even though this is a PC-oriented forum.

[jotto84]

haha ok jack, i agree, all of the iSoftware is kind of ridiculous, but apple's business plan is awesome. for people new to the computer, they can buy something that looks fancy, and does everything a PC can do, but a mac can do it right out of a box, and most retards can figure it out.

i recently bought an apple powerbook to see what all the fuss was about. this is certainly a great computer, and maybe i could use macs for the rest of my life, but i was born and raised on PCs. I've had this computer for 6 months and still cannot be productive when trying to do web development, image editing or anything where i want to be able to manipulate the GUI real fast. Plus, the overall reaction speed of a 1GHz G4 is sluggish, on winXP wiht a amd 1GHz, or in what apple would compare, an AMD 1.6GHz is a lot more responsive.

The only thing i can successfully argue is that Apple has put all of the essential computing tasks into their own software and made it work flawlessly with OS X, and they took out all the questions of setting things up and made certain things a lot more enjoyable (reading mail, setting up fax machine, listening and organizing music, printing changing viewing and organizing photos, making a DVD, and even chatting with a webcam or microphone.

alas, i am going to go back to a PC for now to be more productive

[Fuze]

the reason Mac's are better for graphics as stated earlier due to programs being written for the Apple platform and simply ported to the PC. However, no one has mentioned colorsync either, which I think also plays a part.

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by Hi Ho I know someone that runs virtual PC on his Imac. It is slower than my old 233 K6 running Windows 98! Macs just can't run PC software efficiently.

PC emulations runs very well on G4's with OSX running on at least 512MB RAM. With 1GB, it runs like a dream.

[Mac Medic]

GLC..

Not to split hairs, but the mac is a personal computer.

[bigandy]

That's a good point oem guy. I have often wondered why it is that only machine's that run Windows are referred to as PC's. A computer with any Macintosh operating system or any Linux distro is still a PC, but for some reason they are not usually grouped together.

[mattg2k4]

The reason Windows computers are referred to as PC's is that is the current convention. Eventually, lexicographers adjust dictionaries to reflect convention, so some day PC may refer to a Windows computer by definition. Kind of like ATM machines. I know there are even more examples of conventions going against what something technically is, but at 1AM I can't think of any.

[Force Flow]

Originally posted by bigandy That's a good point oem guy. I have often wondered why it is that only machine's that run Windows are referred to as PC's. A computer with any Macintosh operating system or any Linux distro is still a PC, but for some reason they are not usually grouped together.

I usually hear machines with linux referred to as "linux boxes", rather than PCs

[bigandy]

Yeah, I've heard people say that as well. The point I, and oem guy, were trying to make is that it doesn't matter what operating system you have, it's still a peronal computer.

[mbossman2]

Originally posted by jotto84 i understand that macs maybe had one of the first pleasent GUIs, but is that the sole reason people claim they were good for graphics, and stupid people have just held on to that idea for the past 10 years? i dont see how macs do graphics any better than PCs, is there some other reason why people used to think this about macs... err still do?

the reason people feel that Mac's are great when it comes to graphics is because, at one time they were the defacto choice for graphics houses and were great and like anything, word gets around and eventually becomes gospel. Once something becomes an accepted as the "TRUTH", it is very difficult to change people's minds about the "TRUTH", even if there is compelling evidence to the contrary.

[HAL9000]

Use Quark Express on a Mac, then on a PC... tell me which is easier to use.

[Statica]

Originally posted by force_flow2002 I usually hear machines with linux referred to as "linux boxes", rather than PCs

*NIX-ers find it complimentary not to be called a PC user

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Moderator note:
But the message from GLC's post must not be forgotten, say what you want without resorting to name-calling and arbitrary bashing .. it doesnt get your point across louder, just makes the rest of us question the age and the validity of your points if you resort to childishness (which only compels a moderator to babysit a thread).
They are both platforms that have been very successful, and guess what, they are both platforms that will be replaced by something more successful. If you feel that platform X is better, state it with civillity and then get on with life.