Mac or Windows

I use a pc due to the fact that macs are out of my price range , but my buddy's got one. Macs are just faster when it comes to all factions of media production. The provide more raw power and better integration of audio/video hardware. Simply put, for production, a mac is the way to go if you've got the scratch to spend on one.

It'll do what it do till it done
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

I bought a Mac 4 years ago and I will probably buy another one soon. For whatever it's worth PCs CAN be made to work just as well as Macs. If you are up for doing the research, installing the right hardware (ie: Chips, Motherboards, etc) and doing a few tweaks and are good at troubleshooting along the way then your PC will be fine for music making. The nice thing about Macs is that they work for multimedia apps right out of the box....There is no need to do much else. I consider myself a musician, not a computer programmer: anything that detracts from the actual music making process is well....not being a musician. Also Macs seem to run pretty solid. If I am working on music, and something goes wrong, and I crash the program it's usually something I did and not the computer being squirrelly.

www.myspace.com/mortal_engines

the only thing i can say is that alot of vst's and plug-ins wont work with macs....though most of them that dont work with macs aren't worth having

WHAT?! Ok... i'm Mr. PC... not that dumpy douche bag with all the problems on TV but a PC guy since the days of the ol' IBM PC/XT 8086. It took me 5 min to figure out the OS on a mac. Everything is at the bottom. scroll the mouse over it and bam theres all your shortcuts. and comparatively, if you have a PC with the same specs as a mac, the mac will run twice as fast cuz windows SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! especially Vista. If you're a gamer then just walk on by that mac, but if you do music or film or anything along those lines. Then save up and buy one. There is a Mac counterpart to every piece of Windows software. And they usually do a better job. As for proper windows protection, NOD32 seems to do the job along with like IDK maybe 5, yes, 5 different adware/spyware removers. google adware remover for mac. yeah like nothing. everything sez that spyware on a mac is relatively harmless or not anywhere near what it is for PCs. I don't have a problem with viruses and other malware on my PCs, but that's cuz I know how to use command line removers, edit registry files and use hijackthis... 9 out of 10 PCs that come into my shop have a moderate to severe malware problem... even if that wasn't what made them bring it in. Guess how many macs have come in to my shop? (and yea i'll work on 'em) Only one and that was to replace the LCD display which he had damaged himself. Mac OS X Leopard is so very nice and I'm working on putting it on a PC... It CAN be done, but you just need the right hardware (MoBo chipset processor...)

It'll do what it do till it done
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

From a more technical OS point of view, yes..OSX is a better OS than windows, mostly due to having it's roots in a different more stable type of OS (FreeBSD) which is Unix-based and (like Linux) really is far more stable than Windows, as well as better performing and deals with upgrades far better then MS does.
Due to my work I use all three (Windows, Linux, OSX) and Windows really is the l00zer in terms of stability, resource use and performance. It CAN be made to work, but if you've got high-performance (meaning usually low-level design) software, chances are it won't survive a service pack upgrade or one of the way-too-many intermediate updates.
When Mac's where still PowerPC based, you'd have to choose beteen Mac or Windows, now Mac have moved to Intel you can install both on a Mac (and even all three if you want Linux as well) or use virtualization to run Windows from OSX natively, no emulation like it used to be and due to the horsepower in most modern computers it'll perform equally well.
So...if you want choice, can afford it (Macs ARE more expensive than normal PCs but also last longer in terms of performance before having to get a new one) and would like a stable main OS (OSX) while being able to use any other (Windows, Linux) as well, get a Mac.

"I blow minds for a living..." (Jello Biafra, 1991)
...or at least try to (me, just now)

Stable as in stability, so basically solid: no strange things happening after received updates, no full machine lock-ups, no unwanted blue-screens, stuff like that.

"I blow minds for a living..." (Jello Biafra, 1991)
...or at least try to (me, just now)

lol... For some reason all the schools I went to had macs.. So I always ended up having to use them...

Hmm, I'm thinking about investing in a Macbook pro or Mac Pro, I just don't know what to get in the Mac Pro if I ever do get around to buying one. The new 8 core is now out, but if the 2x Intel Quad Core Xeon is good enough for what I want to do, i'm more than happy. Tell me what you guys think :)

Yea, I mean, Fruity Loops is really good. and it's as good as any sequencer. Deadmua5 uses and Toby Emerson, which i have to say those guys make awesome music. I have a pc which i recently upgraded the video card to a gts8800 (i think it is) and a m-audio sound card, i have a duo core intel proc, 2.4ghz, 400 memory and 2gigs of ram, now i'd think that's enough to run fruity loops flawlessly with the buffer length low. but im experiecing problems with that, so that's why im thinking about investing in a Mac Pro plus Logic so i can get the performance I want.

You people have super computers and you keep complaining about it! You've heard my music, it's all done with FL Studio on an Acer laptop with the following specs:
-Intel pentium dual-core processor (1.6 Ghz, 533 Mhz FSB, 1 MB L2 Cache)
-Intel graphics media accelerator 950
-80 GB HDD
-512 MB of RAM
You all have 2 GB of RAM, plenty of hard disk and you all keep complaining! Come on people, FL Studio runs on a low spec computer, and it's windows also, so according to you it's rock bottom but I still use it to make my music.
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You live with a heartbeat, I live with a bass beat. The E-DJ Caesar

ME? Celeron D 3.33Ghz and 1GB ram... I can run Audition 3.0 and Reason 4.0, running multiple Combinators, simultaneously while downloading music and movies as well. Mine never bogs down at all! You need higher specs once you start integrating your studio hardware... ProTools and such. I personally just want better specs for the simple reason that I'm a naturally impatient person and I hate waiting for files to transfer, movies to finish encoding to DVD, etc... I do, however, have almost 1TB of drive space, with a little under 40GB free... I'm putting my pennies aside for an internal 1TB seagate HDD. By the time i have enough, they should be about 120 bucks.

Also, Brianmed... If you're experiencing problems with a system with those specs, it's most likely a problem with windows. As a computer tech, I see this a lot. I watch my piddly system speeding past and out maneuvering dual cores with twice the ram. (such as your system) I guarantee its windows because bill gates likes to piss in everyone's cheerios from time to time. If you have vista, by the way, that's your problem right there. Downgrade to XP. Also check out this custom version of windows xp called LastXP that's what I'm running on my home pc (The lab as i call it) my Laptop and my two systems at work, and they're all moving almost as fast as a Mac with the same specs. Windows... just.... sucks!! It always has... kinda. I have links to D/L LastXP, but probably can't post 'em here. Get at me through my profile on this site. I'll throw you the links. Also installing LastXP is a breeze! It automatically installs all your drivers for you. (Only had to manually install my wireless adapter card for my laptop and my home desktop) It also gives you a list of programs you would like to install with windows, then installs them silently in the background.

Be good... or just good at it
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

And BTW Amittai...are you as dissapointed as I am they dropped the 12" from the PowerBook line and the "smallest" Pro is now a whopping 15"...? I got the 12" to be as mobile as possible with the best battery life without any performance trade-offs and it's the best laptop I've ever owned sofar. When recording or performing live I only look at the screen to check parameter feedback and hardly need the keyboard or touchpad anyway since just about everything is externally MIDI-controlled.
When I'm in a studio working in multiple apps I hook up an external monitor anyway, so screen real-estate is never a problem. I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning heavily towards getting the MacBook Black 13" dual-core 2.6 Ghz with 4GB RAM instead of the Pro when the time comes...seems the best price/mobility/performance offer except the slightly dodgy Intel GMA graphics instead of a GeForce.

"I blow minds for a living..." (Jello Biafra, 1991)
...or at least try to (me, just now)

LOL!!!!! Yeah the only real reason I upgraded is because I got sucked into the Labor Day 24 month financing for one and the fact that I got a really good deal on the Waves Platinum Bundle and I really didn't want to mess with having to transfer it to another computer (which I understand is a real pain in the ass in the case of Waves) since I planned to upgrade to a MacBook within a year anyway. Setting aside money for dope n' whores is pretty ok in my book.