windows or Mac

lwland

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what would you recommend a windows or a mac for photo editing ect
 
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Either, nowadays the programs are the same so it doesn't matter. A good screen is more important.
 
Either will do :D
What are you used to?
 
As above, doesn't make much difference really. There are a few plug-ins to Photoshop/Lightroom etc that are Mac or PC specific but if you can live without those particular ones then it is just "6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other."

I personally prefer the Mac but that is just my choice.
 
If you decide to go Mac, then check in Apple's Refurb store on their site.

All the machines are sold with a full warranty etc and they have some great deals at times.
 
I won't say macs are perfect, however having run both windows and mac for some time, mac is generally more reliable and does recover from problems better. Windows 10 by comparison is b****y awful - went into spasm after a few weeks and required a complete re install. Windows 7 was little better - constant problems with usb - mouse uninstalling for no reason.
 
it makes no difference for editing. But there is a big difference in every day usability and reliability. Macs all the way, however once linux catches up I will never look back to either proprietary tech.
 
I've just switched back to PC purely on the money to processing power ratio.
 
Either, nowadays the programs are the same so it doesn't matter. A good screen is more important.
What! Mac vs PC debate summed up reply #1? What is this place coming to!

But yeah what he said. Unless you have platform specific apps its more of a personal preference. Both platforms have day to day pros and cons but £ for £ performance ans reliability is on a par. Personally I'd avoid mac screens and favour dell IPS whichever route you go.

And watch legacy apps on newer osx, can be a nightmare (cs4 on yos/el cap is a headache).
 
Computers are just like cameras: they all do much the same thing but the little differences mean that some suit some people and others suit other people.
 
Essentially "Windows or Mac" is asking for comparisons between an OS and a platform.

My recommendations for power users:
- General use: Linux onna PC.
- Picture editing: Windows on a PC - although I processed my first RAWs under linux the other day and I was pleasantly surprised

I have custody of a circa 2010 Macbook - I've replaced the broken hard disk and I'm currently getting around to installing OS X, which is complicated by the fact I can't find the original installation media that shipped with the wee beasty.
 
Yep either. Some people prefer one OS, some another.

I hate all-in-ones like the iMac and PCs of that style though, all the disadvantages of a laptop combined with all of the disadvantages of a desktop.
 
If you only need a browser, get a chrome book. Otherwise a PC running Windows. Unless you understand the limitations of Linux and what you are getting into, avoid.
 
The PC Mac debate misses the point as the hardware is far more important than the software as there is no bad Operating System these days.

Personally whatever the OS is it has to be installed to a full fat desktop all day long.
All in one computers and laptops (no matter who makes 'em) with their throttled CPU's just don't cut it.
 
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The PC Mac debate misses the point as the hardware is far more important than the software as there is no bad Operating System these days.

Having used both, trust me, that statement is not correct.
 
It's a curious question.

To begin with, the hardware in terms of actual processing power is the same - there's no speed advantage in buying your Intel processor on a Foxconn motherboard from the apple store over any other vendor. Worth bearing in mind however is that all Apple kit except the power Mac is based on laptop kit, meaning potentially reduced performance against desktop hardware. Also consider that for most new stuff from Apple there is little or no upgrade path available, so you will have to consider whether you should buy a higher spec now so that it will still be good in a few years time.

Finally the OS:
If you like the idea of an OS that makes decisions for you, has a good set of defaults and will generally look after you then Apple is probably the way to go.
If you like to manage the OS yourself, prefer to set things up to suit your way of working and want to know a lot more about what is going on then windows is for you.

I use windows, OSX and Linux. Each has its strengths and each its weaknesses. For image processing I prefer the hardware and software on my windows computer, while for just faffing about on forums like this I prefer Linux. My Macbook is my expendable computer that I take when travelling, because it's small enough to fit in my camera bag and if it gets lost or broken it's the one I'll miss least. It's also the only computer that I ever really wanted to throw through a window because of poor OS design (OSX 10.5 really sucked at workflow management, later versions are possibly better but the dock implementation is inferior to Windows Taskbar).
 
Agree apple's software is going downhill.

They are trying to create an IOS style OS on the desktop, it will be the downfall for Mac computers.
 
Have you ever tried Windows 10? Tried it on my old computer, just out of interest to see how it worked. Bricked the system completely after a few weeks. Couldn't even boot in safe mode. Had to do a complete run back to Windows 7. Complete re install as well. Fortunately there was nothing of any importance there now, but illustrates the need for constant back ups.
 
W10 has worked mostly OK for me. I have my testing system with the development version installed and it's been completely trouble-free However Dell's drivers did not work well with W10 on my XPS, so I reverted to W8.1 (better than W7).
 
W10 has been faultless on every machine I've deployed which must be heading toward 100.

Its all in the prep, making sure you have compatible hardware abs the correct drivers. Then you're laughing.
 
Sometime quite soon I'll try 10 again on the Dell, in the hope they've fixed driver issues now.
 
Which is the vital point however. Had Windows 10 been adequately designed, there should have been no problems with it at all, which, a spade is a spade, is far from the case. It has been a poorly designed tool for many years. Each successive version of the software solves one set of problems, only to present new and usually worse ones. At the end of the day, the OS is there to do a job. It should not require constant tinkering, it should just do it. Frankly, there are better things to do with the time.
 
Which is the vital point however. Had Windows 10 been adequately designed, there should have been no problems with it at all, which, a spade is a spade, is far from the case. It has been a poorly designed tool for many years. Each successive version of the software solves one set of problems, only to present new and usually worse ones. At the end of the day, the OS is there to do a job. It should not require constant tinkering, it should just do it. Frankly, there are better things to do with the time.

Huh? Even osx has driver issues throughout its life. We've spent ages getting print/fiery drivers that work for example. They're still not 100%.

Ignoring the obvious cosmetic changes you're ignoring the performance and security improvements. Its certainly not change for change sake.
 
Huh? Even osx has driver issues throughout its life. We've spent ages getting print/fiery drivers that work for example. They're still not 100%.

Ignoring the obvious cosmetic changes you're ignoring the performance and security improvements. Its certainly not change for change sake.

Having used both, I'm afraid I just don't see any of that.
 
Which is the vital point however. Had Windows 10 been adequately designed, there should have been no problems with it at all, which, a spade is a spade, is far from the case. It has been a poorly designed tool for many years. Each successive version of the software solves one set of problems, only to present new and usually worse ones. At the end of the day, the OS is there to do a job. It should not require constant tinkering, it should just do it. Frankly, there are better things to do with the time.

There's several things in your comment that don't sit well for me. My point was that Dell - rather than Microsoft - were lacking, and it was their failure that caused problems. The evaluation version I have on non-proprietary hardware works fine on standard windows drivers.

Operating systems require continuous redesigning in order to cope with changes in hardware, user expectation and security requirements. No commercial public OS can ever remain static except when used in deliberate isolation with defined and restricted hardware - even Apple, with their closed hardware system demonstrate that, and they have no reasonable excuse when OS updates break functionality (as it sometimes does) since the hardware used is completely under their control.
 
Operating systems require continuous redesigning in order to cope with changes in hardware, user expectation and security requirements. No commercial public OS can ever remain static except when used in deliberate isolation with defined and restricted hardware



+1
 
Which is the vital point however. Had Windows 10 been adequately designed, there should have been no problems with it at all, which, a spade is a spade, is far from the case. It has been a poorly designed tool for many years. Each successive version of the software solves one set of problems, only to present new and usually worse ones. At the end of the day, the OS is there to do a job. It should not require constant tinkering, it should just do it. Frankly, there are better things to do with the time.
Frankly tosh.
You had an issue because you didn't do the job properly - didn't follow MS' guidance but blame them. Someone else says they've done over 100 with no problems and you dismiss that as 'not my experience'. :thinking:

There's no way that anyone could design an OS that would work with every historical permutation of hardware produced historically - if they tried to they'd still be developing Win 2k. So they send out code to manufacturers and ask them to ensure their drivers for old kit are updated, it's not their fault if some people choose to ignore that. And it's definitely not their fault if a user tries to upgrade a machine that isn't suitable, when they give you a handy tool to check.
 
Frankly tosh.
You had an issue because you didn't do the job properly - didn't follow MS' guidance but blame them. Someone else says they've done over 100 with no problems and you dismiss that as 'not my experience'. :thinking:

There's no way that anyone could design an OS that would work with every historical permutation of hardware produced historically - if they tried to they'd still be developing Win 2k. So they send out code to manufacturers and ask them to ensure their drivers for old kit are updated, it's not their fault if some people choose to ignore that. And it's definitely not their fault if a user tries to upgrade a machine that isn't suitable, when they give you a handy tool to check.


Whilst in principal I do agree, there are some Windows patches knocking around that will totally hose systems from certain popular vendors and when you look into it, you can hardly blame the vendor for it. For example:
https://www.asus.com/nz/support/FAQ/1016356/ - Why are Microsoft publishing a patch that introduces signature checks on OS loading firmware on an OS that does not support secure boot in the first place?

It's on a par with Apple releasing OS X updates that hose Adobe Creative Cloud - it's one of the most widely used pieces of software and any issues should have been identified and addressed pre-release.
 
Yes. Which is all that a lot of people need.

Although many of those do that on Android now too.
 
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I love my Mac, and I find all of apples products intuitive.

However a custom built Windows pc can give the same performance for less money.
 
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