|
Forums >
Digital Art and Retouching >
The old Mac vs PC debate...
it's not the os, it's not the security of the whole system - it's the person using it. this is the single point i try to impress on clients when hardening their systems. no matter how good the system, all it takes is one user who fails to follow protocol or gets lazy. any security professional can tell you this. no system is safe. a completely secure system is one with weaknesses that have not yet been discovered. mac/linux security is not better - it's different. also a more secure system is harder to use. osx requires approval for certain actions. assigning limited rights to the user is a good way to secure any system. Mar 21 16 07:30 am Link Peter Claver wrote: Sorry, I don't have the time and desire for continuing this. Mar 21 16 07:58 am Link anchev wrote: Where did I ever say anything like this? Mar 21 16 09:09 am Link Leonard Gee Photography wrote: Don't I know it. One of the biggest avenues to security we've taken at our office is to limit what the user can do. no web browsing except for in a virtual machine with no local files in or out, no email attachments to or from outside email addresses, no USB data connections allowed, no wifi, the whole kit and kaboodle. And still we have problems and the web browsing software is a pain in the ass to use. But it's better than the alternative -- an airgap between inside and outside our network which would mean web browsing and email would be nearly impossible (both of which are needed for us to do our jobs). Mar 21 16 09:17 am Link Peter Claver wrote: Mar 21 16 03:08 pm Link The notion of brand loyalty is really inconsequential, it's about the software that you would need to use to achieve your finished goals/product. My example, when I grew up, our school district only purchased Apple II systems (yes I'm old) and then later all Macintoshes ( the beige boxy Mac with single floppy drive) to run several educational programs. There were no PC and no Math/science programs widely available on then PC 8088/X86 architecture at all in any of the schools in the county. Then when I got into college, it's all UNIX based mini computers with a few PC terminals, no Macs in sight. Later on our Math & Science department invested in 40 NeXT Unix computers (Early Steve Jobs' pet project) Everybody seems to be happy dealing with what they were given as part of campus wide networks. When I hit the job market later, just about every cool graphics editing program (Adobe, Corel Draw, QuarkExpress) came out on MAC platform first. So I would say 95% of graphic designers/editors would only stick with a MAC. While I really laugh at anything pre-Windows 7 (Hello Windows 95, 98, Windows Me and Vista are you kidding me? Constant Blue screens of death) I lately came to like the stable Windows 10 and a lot of graphics editing can be done ralatively smoothly on a tiny Windows 10 Tablet/laptops. Windows has come a loooooong way. P.S. the myth that you don't get any viruses on a MAC, means you haven't use a Mac long enough. Yes there are less Mac viruses compare to Windows platform, but they do EXIST. Mar 21 16 07:19 pm Link I work extensively with computers. My earliest experience with PCs was Windows 3.1 . I have run every Windows OS since. I began supporting MACs around 2004. About five years ago I bought a Macbook Pro to further my knowledge. I was even considering jumping ship to OS X - I still use it as my "downstairs" computer. Where do I start? Forewarned: I have my opinions. Apple hardware WAS superior in many ways to what most PC manufacturers were shipping. They used aluminum when others were using cheap plastic. I say was because Apple has hardware anorexia. Their obsession with thinness has compromised functionality. "Pro" made be part of the model name, but Apple is no longer interested in Pro users. The money is made off the masses, not a select few. In mobile devices battery life is second to size. The current Macbook AIr - the one with only one USB port, and that is for charging the device! Form over function. I have called Apple a cult (as have others). Is it a walled garden or a prison? Magic mouse? Super Drive? Geniuses? Did you know that if the optical drive in your existing Apple device fails, you cannot use an External Super Drive in its place? Apple blocks it in the firmware for the device. The Super Drive also is 2-3 times the price of an equivalent USB DVD Drive or for the same price I could purchase a USB Blu-ray burner. As a photographer I find the 25GB discs useful - I backup my Digital Negatives to them. Once burned to disc, they are immune to ransomware and viruses. They are also immune to my own fallibility - clicking "Save" in Photoshop, when I really should have clicked "Save As". BTW Blu-ray burners are supported in OS X for data. Not for playing back Hollywood movies. I recently replaced the AC adapter for my MBP - the cable was short circuiting near the MagSafe connector. The adapter was about twice what I would pay for one for a PC.The design does not adequately address strain relief. My MBP(2009) has a hard drive, easily replaceable and up-gradable. I have a friend with a more recent MBP with a Solid State Drive. He does a lot of photo and video editing. He has to store all his files on an external hard drive - the SSD is too small. The type of SSD in the current line of Macbooks can be upgraded, but it is a non-standard design and costs considerably more than comparable SSDs. The RAM on Macbooks cannot be upgraded. This I can partially accept - if making it non-replaceable improves the reliability of the product. The problem is Apple gleefully screws its customer on storage pricing. Today's iphone SE announcement nicely illustrates this. The 16GB model is $399 and the 64 GB model is $499. $100 for 46GB of storage. You can walk into any decent computer store and the same amount of storage will cost you under $30. I am also not a fan of Finder - Apple's File Manager. To transfer a file from one folder to another, you can copy and paste, but not cut and paste. Then there's the "scattered all over the window" display of files. Is it asking too much for files to be neatly sorted automatically ? I will give Apple kudos for making it easy to eject discs and external drives. Microsoft should learn this option. Unfortunately PC manufacturers focus on price when competing, not quality. That is why you can purchase a 15 inch laptop for under $300. I purchased a 15 inch Asus laptop last November. Paid $700 US before taxes for it. Love it! Full HD IPS screen. Four USB ports. Upgradeable RAM and hard drive. A numeric keypad. People talk about Windows not being as reliable as OS X. It is true. Some of it is shortcomings are in the design and programming. But many incompatibility issues are because of the vast amount of hardware and software supported by Windows. Would you expect a car to run properly with a 2004 V6 GM Engine, 2012 Honda Transmission, 2016 Audi suspension in a Ford Focus body? Windows somehow makes it work. Finally FWIW I have never had a virus infect any of my computers. If a Windows pops up that doesn't seem legit, I open Task Manager and shut down the browser from there. Mar 21 16 09:28 pm Link In the visual arts Macs rule.. Cost more? Sure, but much easier to work with day in/out. Mar 21 16 09:53 pm Link Ryan C L wrote: I think you've answered that yourself. Mar 21 16 10:40 pm Link The Next Cliche wrote: Not very well. Jack of all trades, master of none it's called. Mar 21 16 10:58 pm Link OP take a look on Ebay. You can find Macbook Pros with 8gb ram and a SSD for under $600.00. While 8gb ram isn't a lot for Photoshop and I looked at what you do but if you find a bargain try it out. OS X works in a different way then Windows. More Linux like. Better... but a different work flow. If you really like it you can add more ram. Be forewarned I suspect you will. One of the things that makes OS X better then Windows is it doesn't have to fit the hardware. There aren't driver issues. OS X is a free upgrade and if your machine supports it you're golden. None of that MSFT Windows 10 bs about its free or maybe it won't be later. Updates don't take forever and while a debate could be had over security. I've never had a virus on a Macbook. Several on Windows. However the kicker is how smooth WIndows 10 works on Macbooks. Bootcamp is built right in and you load up a Windows ISO and away you go. The iPhone and iPads work seamlessly with each other. This is of course a personal view but I suggest Macbooks for photographers and artists like yourself. So try out a Macbook Pro. 16gb ram isn't that much more and you can add it yourself. Make sure to get a SSD. Again be forewarned you are likely to love it. Mar 21 16 11:20 pm Link One of the major differences between Apple and Microsoft until recently was that Apple was a hardware and software company whereas Microsoft was a software company. This made their approach to hardware support quite different. Computers are much more reliable and easier to configure than they were even 10 years ago. For the most part we no longer have to deal with parallel ports, serial ports, IRQs, SCSI Device numbers etc, floppy drives etc. USB while not perfect has been a godsend. We forget sometimes that we have come a long way in a very short time. Mar 22 16 09:55 am Link Yes Apple is a hardware and software company, but they make mistakes too. I am a loyal Iphone user, got my Iphone 5 as my first smartphone and used it for almost 4.5 years now, dropped it several times, still working like a charm, so for Apple hardware I gave it an A. But phone software wise, I got to give 'em a B-. When my Iphone came with iOS 7, it was working like a charm. when it forced you to update to iOS 8 it made the phone crappy, couldn't receive text or sent out text sometimes, iOS 8.0.1 was pulled back by Apple because cellular service and Touch ID were disabled on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, lot's of problem and you would expect nothing less from a company like Apple. then it came to iOS 9.01 it works better, but now I am hesitating to upgrade to iOS 9.3. Last week I got myself a shiny Samsung S7 edge. I took a chance to submerge that Samsung phone in the sink for 5 minutes, and it still works!!! Korean phones has come a long way and I got to give kudos to Samsung for listening to their customers, and added back the external microSD slot and put a damn great camera (better than iphone's) on it. Mar 22 16 03:50 pm Link I like Apple because they care about their products and they are built to last. I have a Macbook Pro 2011. A few months ago my computer's graphics card broke. I took it to the Apple store and there was recall. They replaced the graphics card and the mother board for free. It was a $500 value. The computer was already 5 years old and way out of warranty. Does Microsoft do that? Mar 25 16 08:54 pm Link me voy wrote: Microsoft only recently started making hardware. Mar 25 16 09:28 pm Link The Next Cliche wrote: That is why they suck. Mar 25 16 10:16 pm Link Apple has had a class action suit filed against them for the problems with the 2011 Macbook Pro. http://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/28/mac … s-lawsuit/ Frankly they should fix problems based on their errors on pricey products. It should be noted that other makers have issues with their products and often do the same. ASUS repaired a tablet for me no charge and no warranty. Over the last several years Apple has in my view fallen off for laptops. I like the super thin Macbook but no SD slot. A 480p webcam... one port for everything and a M processor. So no new Macbook for me. Mar 25 16 10:40 pm Link |
