Sean's review of the Apple Mac Pro is very interesting

[andybarton]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

In that case John, you need a DTP program, definitely not Word

 

Have you had a look at "Pages", part of the iWork, package?

[DTD]

Are you sure Fetch isn't shareware, Guy? Big difference.

 

Fetch is shareware (and well worth it) they're also very nice and let charities and education users have it for free!

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Yes it is shareware forgot about that . i did send in 25 dollars awhile back but it does work very nicely. There is a new version now 5.3 that works with leopard also. Good place for Mac software both shareware, freeware and such is Version Tracker

 

Mac OS X Software Updates and Mac OS X Downloads - VersionTracker

[CameronDavidson]

Transmit is an even nicer FTP program.

 

Panic - Transmit 3 - The next-generation Mac OS X FTP client!

 

Excellent interface, inexpensive. I switched from Fetch to Transmit four years ago. It is also worth taking a look at.

[Ruhayat]

Bill,

 

I went the other way: bought a Windows workstation after having used Macs exclusively since 2001. The Mac OS X is simpler and gets out of the way more, but I haven't had much problems with the Windows workstation. I think Microsoft finally fixed XP with Service Pack 2, and on a dual core machine with 2GB of RAM and a 128MB graphics card photos scroll very fast. Neither of the platforms are perfect -- the latest OS X version, Leopard, infuriated me just as much as Vista did, which is why I've reverted to Panther on my G4 Powerbook and XP on my desktop machine.

 

The reason I went back to Windows was because Apple no longer offers a machine to suit my needs. All I want is a desktop machine with some upgradable features: at least 2 internal hard disk drives -- one for system and apps the other for scratchfiles (so the iMac and Mac Mini are out), dual monitor support (so the Mac Mini is out), and price around US$1,500 (so the Mac Pro is out).

 

But Apple is too busy being a consumer electronics company these days to bother with print graphics designers like me anymore, so I thought perhaps the company just wants me to take my business elsewhere. Fair enough. So I went out and bought a customised workstation with 3 disks (one for system, two RAID 0 for scratch, with a fourth in an external USB2.0 enclosure for files), dual-DVI graphics card and 3GB RAM. All for less than the price of an iMac, since I carried over a few components from an old machine.

[Guest stnami]

Since the ipod there is a definite shift in Apple's product line and I guess that transfers to it's R&D ...............after a few decades of mac I am considering jumping ship. Software developers no longer look at mac as "The System", applications are universal etc..........

[Guest Ridder Cornelius]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I switched to Mac because it looked good, and I only use it for "personal computing" such as phot, film, music etc.

 

After 3 years of Mac use I see absolutely no difference with a well configured XP system, the touch and feel are different, sure but thats just about it.

 

One thing I do know is that office runs better on XP than it does on Mac, I haven't tried 2008 for mac yet.

 

And put the choice down to a team of fanboys, obviously bith parties will come up with 1001 reasons why one is beter than the other. I work for an operation that relies 100% on technology used, and I mean 100% .... they still use windows and have no plans to change within the near future.

 

Mac's are fun, sleek nice looking machines, windows however are the workhorses, don't need to be beautifull but just get the work done, and this is exactly what they do. I have used 6 IBM - Lenovo laptops over the past 8 years (3 of them were stolen, hence the fast turnover) and never ever had a problem with them, as for ease of use, this is all in the mind, I know XP in and out, not becuase I studied it but because I have been using it and have gained the experience, perhaps somethings might take 2 keystrokes more ... so what.

 

Not slaying macs here, I really like them but for professional use I like my XP setup too.

[roofus]

once you go "Mac" you'll never go back!

[Guest Ridder Cornelius]

once you go "Mac" you'll never go back!

 

Howcome?

[roofus]

I will give some examples:

 

1. I live in the boondocks and there is no high-speed internet service. We bought a Hughes Direcway system. It is a two-way satellite system, quite expensive but quite good. We also bought a wireless router etc.

 

When the technician came to set it up he struggled away with my wife's Windows XP Pro system for some time, but he finally got it going after offering not a few comments about Bill Gate's ancestry etc.

 

When he was done, I asked: Will you set up my MacBook Pro for me please?" He looked at me like I had two heads and said: "it's a Mac just turn it on!'

 

2. I bought an HP OfficeJet 7780 printer, which is also wireless. My wife had two pc's (one running Vista and one running XP Pro) She is always having problems printing.

 

My MacBook Pro prints flawlessly! I just bought an new MacBook Air and when I brought it home, all I had to do was hit the add printer command and I am up and running.

 

Mac are just plain easier to use . . . more intuitive etc.

[JHAG]

Yes, but Mr. Gate$ is a great man : he give$ food to the poor.

Clinton administration went after him (antitrust, anyone ?),

Mr. Bu$h $aved hi$ a$$.

With another Clinton or Obama, Mr. Ballmer (called "The Enbalmer",

in the industry — a less than sympathetic Uncle Fester) could be in trouble (Nelly Kroes, anyone ?).

Capitali$m that disregards its own rule$ is pretty de$picable.

Reason I'm always pretty tolerant regarding Leica's (rare) shortcomings.

In that jungle, that small great company is up to its high standards.

[JHAG]

Howcome?

 

In 14 years and 5 Macs, I had two (2) glitches :

first minor one was out of warranty and Apple took it under warranty

(defective laptop keyboard).

second major one was under warranty and Apple almost gave me a

brand new machine to solve a unidentified suspect behaviour.

They won me over.

 

P.S. : I had the same with HP, but had to :eek:struggle:mad: to obtain

an acceptable service.

[jlancasterd]

In that case John, you need a DTP program, definitely not Word

 

Have you had a look at "Pages", part of the iWork, package?

 

No - I don't need to. My part of the publishing process is limited to drumming up material for the magazine and getting it into printing order. This involves editing the text, much of which comes in as Word or Rich Text, and I spend a lot of time doing precis, correcting spelling, grammar, etc. I also select photos, PhotoShop them as necessary, convert them to CMYK and prepare captions. The actual layout is done by someone else, using Quark software. I sign off on the final result after proof reading and correction (by 4 different people!) before it goes to press. Everything is MAC-based - including the print works.

[jlancasterd]

once you go "Mac" you'll never go back!

 

My view too...

[Ruhayat]

once you go "Mac" you'll never go back!

 

Used to be true for me, especially pre-XP days. I used a Mac because the colour rendition is more faithful in InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, and most colour sep houses ran Macs so if you get less hassle/errors if you also used a Mac. But these days most colour sep houses also run PCs, and so far I haven't encountered any complaints from clients (then again, I don;t do extremely high-fidelity photography/design work).

 

For mobile computers, though (not even Apple calls MacBook Pros "laptops", cos they're too hot to lap!), I'm sticking with Macs simply because their wireless networking and Bluetooth works a lot easier. That said, I am less than enthralled about Apple's recent behaviour regarding users who want to use their machines the way they want to.

 

And while I used to also prefer older Apple products for the same reason that I prefer a Leica as opposed to Canon or Nikon (they get out of the way and are superbly made), I have to say my experience with Macs ever since the Titanium Powerbooks came out has been less than stellar mostly.

[roofus]

Used to be true for me, especially pre-XP days. I used a Mac because the colour rendition is more faithful in InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, and most colour sep houses ran Macs so if you get less hassle/errors if you also used a Mac. But these days most colour sep houses also run PCs, and so far I haven't encountered any complaints from clients (then again, I don;t do extremely high-fidelity photography/design work).

 

For mobile computers, though (not even Apple calls MacBook Pros "laptops", cos they're too hot to lap!), I'm sticking with Macs simply because their wireless networking and Bluetooth works a lot easier. That said, I am less than enthralled about Apple's recent behaviour regarding users who want to use their machines the way they want to.

 

And while I used to also prefer older Apple products for the same reason that I prefer a Leica as opposed to Canon or Nikon (they get out of the way and are superbly made), I have to say my experience with Macs ever since the Titanium Powerbooks came out has been less than stellar mostly.

 

Quite true . . . Apple has really gone downhill in customer relations since "the Jobster" took over. He is pretty arrogant and regards customers as an annoyance. He's an great marketer and promoter but he doesn't mind leaving customers high and dry.

[Guest Ridder Cornelius]

I like Mac, don't get me wrong .... but try sending a iWork document with a secure mail system like Lotus Notes....

[wparsonsgisnet]

Notes is so secure that it makes your teeth hurt ... oh, sorry that's the result of dealing with the various "features" of Notes.

 

This eponymous software is someone's idea of a practical joke, sort of like the way IBM designed the original pc, with gated memory.

 

Anyway, Sean's article was extremely interesting to read...........

[d_lague]

I have used both, and collaborate with lots of people who are Mac only.

 

I personally prefer PC with Win XP. this is a very robust operating system that really gets the job done. In addition to photography, we have a video production company and use Avid exclusively on PC platforms. Some of our systems are quad processors and are very reliable. they cost a fraction of the cost of Macs, and we can fix them and build them for that matter ourselves. We know XP inside out and it is very serviceable.

 

We also have 4 IBM Thinkpads that have been very robust......even have a dual processor, 3 internal drive laptop for editing that is more powerful than any Mac to date.

 

Both systems work well. We have our reasons for using PC and XP.

 

I do get really aggravated by people who crusade to us about Apples like we are nuts for using PCs. Dig a little and they are closer to the consumer side than to computer knowledgeable people.

 

my 2 cents and not trying to start one of those battles.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[FastFashnReloaded]

I have used both, and collaborate with lots of people who are Mac only.

 

I personally prefer PC with Win XP. this is a very robust operating system that really gets the job done. In addition to photography, we have a video production company and use Avid exclusively on PC platforms. Some of our systems are quad processors and are very reliable. they cost a fraction of the cost of Macs, and we can fix them and build them for that matter ourselves. We know XP inside out and it is very serviceable.

 

We also have 4 IBM Thinkpads that have been very robust......even have a dual processor, 3 internal drive laptop for editing that is more powerful than any Mac to date.

 

Both systems work well. We have our reasons for using PC and XP.

 

I do get really aggravated by people who crusade to us about Apples like we are nuts for using PCs. Dig a little and they are closer to the consumer side than to computer knowledgeable people.

 

my 2 cents and not trying to start one of those battles.

 

"my 2 cents and not trying to start one of those battles" Hmmm... Right.

 

Well... I used to work for Truevision/Pinnacle/Avid (TARGA 2000, TARGA 3000, RTX (etc)) and we always thought that we should have a continuing hardware solution for Mac. We did something with Macs when the G4s came out (first PCs to be able to handle HD throughput natively as I recall)... Now what was that? Had to have a way to get the video into the Mac (this was still when analog was the deal and a lot of HD was component)... Meh! Don't remember what the solution was called, but it was quite kewl. Had big RAIDs as standard, and the HD Video was uncompressed HD (because you wanted to edit the stream natively, not after it had been MPegged to death).

 

If you personally prefer XP it must be because you have a dedicated and off the grid system(s) that isn't filled up with the general PC crap out there, and I'll bet the systems ARE pretty stable because of that. Most of these folks out here though will want to use their machines for something besides editing, and they won't remember to set the security and optimized setting right, and the systems won't be stable, and in fact, will suck, because that's what on the grid PCs are. Overloaded, insecure, hacked up crap.

 

Oh, that was it. Pinnacle Systems and Apple Bring Uncompressed High-Definition Video to the Macintosh TARGA Cine. We supplied the video (and audio) in and out interface hardware and used FC Pro for the editing software. Pinnacle Systems: CinWave / TARGA Cin Support

 

Also... Avid Media Composer Adrenaline and Avid Xpress Pro for Mac OS 10.4: the ultimate Tiger editing experience

 

PS - 2.8 GHz Eight core Macs start at $2799, and you can option that down to a single quad core for $2299. Quite competitive.