Which has more quality?

[Gamer5567]

I am a multimedia major at school and im about one semester away from actully transfering and starting my media classes. Now I can not decide which is better and my comunity college doesnt have the computer classes so no answers there.

Im trying to figure out what is better for the industry for video/audio/picture editing or making and web design. A mac laptop or windows laptop. I know of the adobe line for windows but i do not know anything about mac. I know about final cut but what other software do they have? Is the software better and used by the pros? I can not seem to find any web editor or deisgn for mac, is there any? Is the software cheaper? Is it better then adobe primeir? Can I get all the software or mac's website?

As you can tell a bunch of question and i probably have a bunch more. I just really need to get a handle on which i should buy so i can take to school or anywhere I go to work on my projects. If you guys/gals can help that would be great

EDIT

If you can give me some good links to that would be great. Like this is done on mac and this is done on pc kinda thing or anything else that would help me.

[shadowpr]

You could always get the mac, and then do a dual boot and put windows on it.

That would in theory give you the best of both worlds.

[Gamer5567]

Yea i thought abut doing it but i never did two OS systems before. Can i transfer designs for one OS to another? Like if i did a logo in photshop and i wanted to bring it over to mac in order to edit it more. Would mac accept the file type? WOuld the program even accept it. As i said i never did dual OS systems before or tried any of that stuff so i dont how it works.

Besides i cant afford both. Even if i did your idea and went with the mac, i dont how long it would be before i can even afford windows or the programs. I dont even know if i could afford em both while im in school which leads me back to the orignal question. Which is better to go with mac or windows so i can finish school lol.

[Force Flow]

I worked with both platforms for about two years. Each have their pros and cons, but in the end, I'd say I much prefer the windows platform over the mac platform. Why? Well, the availability of good tools outside of the giant titles (such as the adobe CS packages or apple's final cut).

Note that adobe CS4 is available for both windows and mac platforms, though the availability of certain tools has varied slightly throughout each major release on the mac platform

Many of the useful tools I utilize on a regular basis have no available direct port or a different software package with similar features in the mac world. In the rare instances that there is a roughly similar package, it usually costs a few bucks, while on the windows platform, it's usually free. Note that this tools are not the industry heavy hitters. Mainly smaller tools for specific tasks, such as gspot.exe, winFF, DVDflick, and several others.

If you have a choice, I'd recommend the windows platform.

But, if your classes dictate that you will be using mac-only software, you'll have to go with the mac platform (and if you still want to use the windows platform, you can dual boot if necessary if you get a separate windows license...check to see if your school has an MSDN program; you may be able to get it for free)

Typically, I've found the cost of software on the mac platform to be a little higher than its equivalent on the windows platform.


As for what the pros use, I've heard that most surprisingly use final cut (mac only), though there are also a large number of adobe premiere (windows/mac) and avid (windows/mac) users.

For web design, you'll find people using adobe photoshop, dreamweaver, and sometimes flash studio (if they're working with flash), which are available for both platforms.


Anyway, bottom line is find out what the school uses, and try to make a decisions based off of that. Also, don't buy the software at retail prices...you can usually get a student discount either through the school, or through various stores.

[Gamer5567]

Well if the school uses mac or windows based sytems Id imagine they would have their own computer labs so I can on my school projects there. Problem is I havnt really picked a college yet. But either way I want to try and build a portfolio in my spare time, and get as much expierence as I can. I know schools have certain rules, like if you make something for classes or on their labs computers it may be consider schools property etc. Which is why I kinda want to seperate myself from all of that. And mainly, work and expierence done on my spare time I wish to do with the right tools. Which is the main reason i am asking.

I like your input tho and how PC tools can cost less/free and it seems to have more range then mac. Thanks.

[Force Flow]

If you're planning on a year's break before starting school...not a great idea. It's better to get in right after graduating from high school than to delay to "build a portfolio". Heck, if the school even requires a portfolio, you could technically go in as undeclared, take a semester of gen ed classes, then declare your major.

The point of school is to learn stuff, then once you learn the basics, get some experience...not the other way around.

I don't think classwork/homework counts as being owned by the school. I think it might be only if you're employed by the school.

The "right" tools vary with what you're trying to accomplish, what you prefer to work with, what you can afford, and year by year (depending on what's been released).

[Gamer5567]

Ok maybe i came out wrong, I havnt delcared a transfer college to go to yet. I got one semester left of gen ed courses and I go right into it. And i would be working on my portfolio the same time i go to school. I saw some people's portfolios already and i want to be able to put more content in on my own time so it has mroe of a range of what I can do and not what i did do.