To Mac or not to Mac?

[eeoo]

Yeah Marc, I think you'll be stoked. I have an imac and it's been great, super stable, no crashes, just works out of the box. I have a macbook pro on the way that I'll be setting up as more of a mobile rig. have fun!

eo

[ochaim]

I built an i5 windows 7 just over a year ago.

Haven't had any problems. It works for me running cubase for the most part, but recently reaper.

It is connected to the internet with a free anti virus program as well as a freeware firewall program. Haven't had any issues with viruses. I use it online, researching a la's etc. No issues whatsoever.

On my previous xp, I used to run into virii even running norton and mcafee. But since I switched to avira, I haven't had any issues.

So really, to say otherwise about windows, isn't necessarily true. I had speak up for the windows users.

I've never had the inclination to try mac. Having used windows since its inception, and dos before that, mac feels very awkward for me.

About SSD's, you only plan to run your OS off that I hope. They're fast, but their life expectancy isn't very long.

It's true, building a pc isn't as difficult as it sounds.

Owen

[mojobone]

So really, to say otherwise about windows, isn't necessarily true. I had speak up for the windows users.

Speak for thine OS, and I shall speak for mine own. (I use both Mac and Windows) I have no experience of Avira, but Norton was a nightmare on my XP machine and didn't play well with Gigastudio, to boot. So far Microsoft's free Security Essentials is holding the fort, but I fear that no antivirus software can trump user error, when it comes to security. (props to you, Owen, for knowing the plural of "virus"; are you a doctor, or just a Latin scholar?)

[Len911]

For my ten pence worth. Go Mac. They just work !!!!

Any experience ive ever had of PC (over the last 15 years of music making) makes me wonder how any PC developer ever survives. Driver conflicts...virus... a million third party hardware manufactures that all seem incompatible with each other.
Theres a reason pro audio and video has always been Mac, and again,,,they just work. Yes you can get a PC cheaper.But how much is your time worth? You'll spend a hundred times more hours sorting out problems on a PC than you will a Mac.

By the way you can always run any PC programs you cant live without on a Mac these days with bootcamp etc (Macs are now intel chip based and have been for a while)

Until now?? I know it isn't funny, but I couldn't resist, I'm evil,lol, seriously though, I really could care less about either mac or pc, and I hope no one has any problems.

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ts/ ... ndex=33622

Mac OS X Lion Compatibility Information

Answer:
Apple has released Lion — OS X10.7 — and if you're a Mac-head like us, then you can't wait to get it onto your computer and to start using all the cool new features in this ground-breaking operating system!

But a word of caution. Lion is a major update to OS X, and from past experience, we know that there can sometimes be compatibility issues with software and with hardware drivers when an update of this magnitude is released.

We're hard at work sorting out any compatibility issues, and we're collecting all of the information we learn here, on our Lion Compatibility Info page.

We recommend holding off on your Lion upgrade until you are certain that the software and hardware you rely on is 100% compatible. Believe us, we know how hard it is to be patient when there's something this cool waiting for you! But a little patience now will save you headaches in the future.

Since things will change rapidly, check back often for the latest information.

[ochaim]

So really, to say otherwise about windows, isn't necessarily true. I had speak up for the windows users.

Speak for thine OS, and I shall speak for mine own. (I use both Mac and Windows) I have no experience of Avira, but Norton was a nightmare on my XP machine and didn't play well with Gigastudio, to boot. So far Microsoft's free Security Essentials is holding the fort, but I fear that no antivirus software can trump user error, when it comes to security. (props to you, Owen, for knowing the plural of "virus"; are you a doctor, or just a Latin scholar?)

Pcmag.com usually has a roundup of the best antivirus progs every year or so. Security essentials does rank pretty well on their tests. But avira is very close to the top along with a couple of others. Funny thing is, if I remember correctly, the paid ones didn't do very well, including mcafee and norton. They tend to be huge ram annd cpu hogs as they're scanning in the background.

Sorta close, not a doctor, a pharmacist by day. Such is the compartmentalized life.

Owen

[billg1]

I was grumbling about how hard it was to edit native DSLR files on my PCs, my wife and in-laws saw it as an opportunity to rescue me from the "dark side" and surprised me with a new iMac! Pretty cool to say the least, I was totally caught off guard, actually speechless! I downloaded the new version of FCP (X) right away & loaded up some 1080p video taken with a Canon T3i. I ignored the bad reviews because I assumed that they were probably just the rants from previous FCP users who wouldn't have liked any changes at all . . . wrong! So far I have to say that it's probably the worst "pro" video editing program that I've ever used. I'm going to give it a chance (trying to edit a project on it now) & it handles the native 1080p DSLR footage easily and is VERY fast, but it certainly seems to be a strange (consumer-like) program. Just performing regular L or J split edits is confusing and counter-intuitive. I would advise any pro video editors who are thinking of purchasing this new version of Final Cut Pro to read all of the reviews. Apple seems to have a serious problem with this. If I wasn't still so completely blown away by receiving such a cool gift I'd be pissed about buying Final Cut Pro X.

Haven't had a chance to even think about audio on it yet, or even which DAW I'll use . . . but I'm sure that whatever I choose . . . it's gonna be much better than my video experience with Final Cut.

Gotta love that 27" monitor!

[eeoo]

Bill I've been hearing rumors about how Apple is turning much of the previously pro software, that is now under their umbrella,
into "pro-sumer" software. Don't know if there's any truth to it but your experience sounds ominous, hopefully doesn't happen to Logic...

eo

[billg1]

Bill I've been hearing rumors about how Apple is turning much of the previously pro software, that is now under their umbrella,
into "pro-sumer" software. Don't know if there's any truth to it but your experience sounds ominous, hopefully doesn't happen to Logic...

eo

Ethan, I hope that won't be the case. Since this is my first Apple experience (aside from a FCP project I assisted with a fer yrs.ago) I just don't know what to think. I've been struggling with a project this morning for several hours that should have been completed in less that 30 min. I'm extremely bummed out. Might have to see if I can use bootcamp & windows 7 for my other editing software . . . or maybe switch to Avid. At this point the only positive thing I can say is that it handles a lot of various (difficult) files with ease and speed, but that doesn't help much when there are so many other problems.

All of the other reviews seem to be inline with my experience. Maybe they will come through with a quick update, but right now many pros are either bailing on Apple or threatening to because of this. I think it "might" be ok for amateur video work, but there are even much better PC consumer programs . . . Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11 ($99) comes to mind. What a bummer, I hope Logic is safe for you guys.

http://magazine.creativecow.net/article ... -some-pros

[davewalton]

Generally speaking, I think that "find the software you like and then buy the computer the software runs best on" is a good way to go. Obviously if you fall in love with Logic then your choice is already made. I use a PC because almost all of my software is "native" PC software, either exclusively or developed first for PC and then for the Mac. I'd love to have a Mac truthfully. I'm too far into the software purchases to turn back now.

[mazz]

For my ten pence worth. Go Mac. They just work !!!!

Any experience ive ever had of PC (over the last 15 years of music making) makes me wonder how any PC developer ever survives. Driver conflicts...virus... a million third party hardware manufactures that all seem incompatible with each other.
Theres a reason pro audio and video has always been Mac, and again,,,they just work. Yes you can get a PC cheaper.But how much is your time worth? You'll spend a hundred times more hours sorting out problems on a PC than you will a Mac.

By the way you can always run any PC programs you cant live without on a Mac these days with bootcamp etc (Macs are now intel chip based and have been for a while)

Until now?? I know it isn't funny, but I couldn't resist, I'm evil,lol, seriously though, I really could care less about either mac or pc, and I hope no one has any problems.

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ts/ ... ndex=33622

Mac OS X Lion Compatibility Information

Answer:
Apple has released Lion — OS X10.7 — and if you're a Mac-head like us, then you can't wait to get it onto your computer and to start using all the cool new features in this ground-breaking operating system!

But a word of caution. Lion is a major update to OS X, and from past experience, we know that there can sometimes be compatibility issues with software and with hardware drivers when an update of this magnitude is released.

We're hard at work sorting out any compatibility issues, and we're collecting all of the information we learn here, on our Lion Compatibility Info page.

We recommend holding off on your Lion upgrade until you are certain that the software and hardware you rely on is 100% compatible. Believe us, we know how hard it is to be patient when there's something this cool waiting for you! But a little patience now will save you headaches in the future.

Since things will change rapidly, check back often for the latest information.

But of course, these kinds of incompatibilities never happened when MS went from Windows 3 to Windows 95, or 95 to 2000 or XP to Vista or Vista to Windows 7. It was always smooth sailing, right? No one ever yelled at their computer or had to go out and buy whole new sound cards, or wait until drivers were available, or had unexpected .dll conflicts, etc. Microsoft is always very smooth in their upgrade process, right?