TapeOp editorial re: leaving Mac for Windows

[James Steele]

This article was shared on the MOTU-MAC email list and wondered what some of your thoughts were on this? I'm still driving a MacPro4,1 upgraded to a 5,1, but before I get a trashcan Mac pro with and go Thunderbolt, since DP is also on Windows it's really making me wonder if someday I'll leave the Mac behind... especially because it seems like Apple is leaving us behind.

http://tapeop.com/columns/end-rant/115/

[Shooshie]

I think about it periodically. When my son still lived at home, he built a fantastic PC. I used to try it out now and then, and it did feel snappy. But I always felt like I was in someone else's home, not knowing whether I was sitting in the right place, not knowing my way around, not knowing how to fix things, or even where to look for the settings. It can all be learned, of course, but that's just not what I want to do. The countless hours I spent with manuals and experimenting over a period of 32 years with a Mac have left me with skills I'm hardly aware of, but when someone needs to know where to set the system font size, or sorting finder windows, or adding desktop pictures, using Spaces/Mission Control, archiving and retrieving files, backing up files, doing a hard restart/safe boot, and on and on, I realize that these things are actual places and things in my mind.

A lot of people came up with both Macs and PCs, and feel comfortable with either; my son, for instance. I envy them. But as long as I can manage to find a Mac and its OS that work for me, I'll just stay put. When I can't find that, I will quit desktop computing and just live with the entertainment of an iPad, or whatever the next big thing is. I just don't feel like learning all there is to know about a PC.

Oh, and one more thing: I still can't get over the bizarre dialog boxes in a PC. Half the time I don't know whether it's saying to push the button or not to push the button, or which button. It's like the logic in those things is backward, upside down, or something.

But one thing HAS changed: I no longer feel like the Mac is the "only" modern computer. I still believe the PC was primitive compared to the Mac until maybe the past 10 years. Powerful and fast, but primitive in concept. It has matured, mostly by copying the Mac, though in its own way. It's a mature platform, a modern OS, and obviously the choice of the majority of people in the world, and not just because of price. I stay on the Mac because I know the Mac. And also because a lot of people I know — to this day — are ALWAYS taking their PC to the "repairman." I don't know what the hell they do to those machines, but they're always talking about them not working right, as if email and web browsing are industrial applications that require constant repair. I don't get that.

Shooshie

[James Steele]

I hear you, Shoosh. I guess it just really feels like Apple could give a damn about the niche that we inhabit. They're all about their latest gadget and the perception out there is that they're forgetting the content creators. I wouldn't want to have to start learning my way around Windows either, but I worry the Mac is becoming more and more unstable for those of us running pro apps while Apple chases the consumer market.

[terrybritton]

Shooshie, there are a lot more Windows users, so the percentage per-capita of users you witness messing their machines up (usually through ignorance of really common-sense sorts of things) is a higher percentage, which makes it appear as if there are many Windows users having troubles.

I have used both platforms for many years, and have done IT work for both, and I assure you that each platform has its moments. Windows 10 is the most stable ever, and is very multimedia friendly. Apple does seem to be leaving the pro users and multimedia users behind in favor of growing their "popular" user base. That is really sad. From the looks of things, Apple is heading toward "smart appliances" and only Windows boxes will remain as true general-purpose computers.

I taught graphic arts and baby-sat 36 Macs (G4 towers and G5 iMacs). I had many days of cursing, I assure you. Every one of the iMacs had to be sent back during a recall that happened because somebody cheaped-out on the capacitors in them and they all started blowing up. Egads! I've been with Apple from Mac Plus through Quadras, Performas, and many others. All the old units were used by professionals mainly. Now something is happening that I do not like the look of.

I do not perceive the value to be worth it enough to continue with Apple's Macintosh products. The headaches I've seen people have with the last few OS versions have really been a shocker! It is "Egads" all over again!

I do get what you are saying about not wanting to re-learn all the tricks, but you really needn't bother. Windows is more Mac-like now. One can wade into that OS slowly and get used to it at their leisure. It is not at all like it used to be, where you needed technical expertise just to get your modem working!

Terry

[HCMarkus]

I'm perfectly happy with my studio Mac at this point. I even have a virtually identical backup waiting in the wings so as to avoid downtime in the event of failure of my studio machine. My current thinking is add a networked PC running VE Pro if and when projects start to tax my hex 4,1 > 5,1 cheesgraters.

Video editors are not happy with macOS and its weak GPU support relative to Windows. With the exception of those who have adopted Final Cut Pro X, it seems most pros have already moved to Windows.

For general, non-pro use, the Mac will likely continue to serve well for some time. I like the macOS/iOS ecosystem. I am familiar with macOS. These are compelling factors for me.

[Sean Kenny]

I wouldn't want to chance my arm with a PC

Including external Sonnet Chassis for my RME madi card and a lot of software updates my present trash can mac cost me about £4700, which is a lot of money but it's a monster; handles high track counts at 96k with a lot of good plugs. It gets used day in day out and considering my last Intel Mac pro cost equivalently about the same and lasted SEVEN years, it's not a bad investment. especially when you consider I don't have to waste any more money on a PT HD set up

[mikehalloran]

The article is nonsense. Had he been on Widows the whole time, the piece might have been about moving to a Mac over the frustrations of making Win10 work the way he is used to. That he started on System 6 has nothing to do with anything except that he wants everything to still work? He's talking about abandoning his cheese grater and Mini. I can't take that article seriously.

Migawd, you can't throw a dead skunk here in the Sillie Con Valley without hitting some engineer my age who can't extoll the virtues of DOS or why CP/M was superior (Windows was brand new when System 6 was out). I bet that, if I ever run into Woz again, I can get an intelligent rant on the missed opportunities regarding the Apple II platform.

So what and who cares? Some of us remember when System 5 was new. It only means that the author is of a certain age or older. I'm acquainted with someone of that name but don't know it he and the author are the same.

Both platforms are fine and stable as long as you are starting from scratch. Buy a new machine and install only the latest version of the apps you need. Migrating older apps is a problem in both cases. As far as I can tell, Windows is far worse in that regards since, before Win10, the platform has been a free for all where developers can do what they want and compatibility. Now that Microsoft is making an attempt to do what Apple has been trying to do since 10.8—and must due to security concerns, Windows is going through similar growing pains and will continue to do so for a very long time. It will get better but isn't there yet by a long shot.

If Apple abandons the Mac Pro, it will not be good for pro apps, definitely. I'm not privy to any news in that regard but there haven't been any layoffs at the plant in Texas where they are made.

[bayswater]

I used DOS/Windows from version 1.0 to XP for things other than music. There were a lot things about it that really bugged me, and I was happy to slowly move everything to OS 8, 9 and X. I took it for granted that any new computers would be Macs and so would tablets, players, phones etc. But somewhere around 10.7, I started having that "here we go again" feeling.

At the same time it became obvious that Apple is now focussed more on the mass entertainment consumption and social media markets, and at best, pays lip service to business, academic and professional segments. An Apple engineer told me that there is also a focus on "software catching up with hardware" and that I should not expect new software to work well on older hardware.

I don't know if Windows is the answer; you have to wonder why so many people are sticking with Windows 7, but when I have to go to new hardware, I'll be taking a close look.

[Phil O]

If Apple abandons the Mac Pro, it will not be good for pro apps, definitely. I'm not privy to any news in that regard but there haven't been any layoffs at the plant in Texas where they are made.

I've worried about Apple dropping the Pro line for years. So far, my worries have been unfounded. I'm an Apple guy and probably will be until the Pro line goes bye-bye. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Let's see what comes after the trash can. I think "trashy" was a better decision than the cube, but still not one of Apple's best offerings. JMHO.

Philippe

[billf]

If Apple abandons the Mac Pro, it will not be good for pro apps, definitely. I'm not privy to any news in that regard but there haven't been any layoffs at the plant in Texas where they are made.

Agreed. Also on that topic, rumors (though scant) claim that Apple is working on a redesign for the Mac Pro, hence the long delay in a new release for the Pro. We shall see.

BTW, it's not lost on HP that Apple is perceived as dropping the ball on creative pros. Check this out:

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/work ... -to-z.html

Personally I'm in a wait and see mode.

[cuttime]

I work in both platforms daily. When I find myself easing up to this dilemma, I simply ask myself: "What would you rather do to solve a problem? Trash a pref or edit the registry?" That talks me down real fast.

[bayswater]

Trash a pref or edit the registry?"

I've rarely had to do either. It more about how often I have to force quite, restart, reinstall, wait for the system to restore focus to input sources, re-establish network connections, or cancel another nagging notification. A long time ago I used to do these sorts of things a lot with Windows, and rarely with Macs. Now I'm doing them a lot with post 10.6.8 Macs too. How does Windows currently compare on these things?

[Robert Randolph]

I work in both platforms daily. When I find myself easing up to this dilemma, I simply ask myself: "What would you rather do to solve a problem? Trash a pref or edit the registry?" That talks me down real fast.

I've encountered the same thought process... and the idea of rebuilding my preferences is way more annoying than most Windows troubleshooting.

The solution to a program not working how I want should never be making the program not work how I want.

[Shooshie]

I hear you, Shoosh. I guess it just really feels like Apple could give a damn about the niche that we inhabit. They're all about their latest gadget and the perception out there is that they're forgetting the content creators. I wouldn't want to have to start learning my way around Windows either, but I worry the Mac is becoming more and more unstable for those of us running pro apps while Apple chases the consumer market.

Well, yes. But under the hood we still have UNIX. More-or-less. I suspect that there are people out there who know what Apple-additives they can remove to keep their work machine stable, long-lived and snappy. If we start looking for such people and reposting their methods, it may help us to move to new Macs while not getting too messed up with their consumer-add-ons. This is just sheer speculation, of course, but it seems logical to me.

In other words, how hard have we worked at actually keeping these machines working in the pro world? I know I've been seduced by a lot of the consumer stuff, especially iPad and iPhone. And once I get used to a Mac and my peripherals, I sure don't want to go backward. It's just a matter of finding what works. You know sometimes people publish a Terminal routine that we can run that does something like stopping the un-ending search cataloging. Maybe if we compiled a compendium of those that benefit our niche directly.

I think there are alternatives that don't involve "going Windows." Not that there's anything wrong with it, but if you're like me and just want to use your computer, not relearn it, this may be the better path.

Shoosh

[Shooshie]

I work in both platforms daily. When I find myself easing up to this dilemma, I simply ask myself: "What would you rather do to solve a problem? Trash a pref or edit the registry?" That talks me down real fast.

I've encountered the same thought process... and the idea of rebuilding my preferences is way more annoying than most Windows troubleshooting.

The solution to a program not working how I want should never be making the program not work how I want.

That makes sense, and I agree, but... the registry file? I've heard so many nightmares about that. Sounds like something I would never want to touch. Years ago, if I'd had a PC, I'm sure I'd have been reveling in its mysteries, but not now. Preferences, on the other hand, never messed up a Mac, except when they went corrupt.

I've always looked at resetting preferences as a rare chance to re-familiarize myself with what I'm preferring. Often I find myself changing something and making it a tiny bit better than it was. On the other hand, there are some pretty difficult and important preferences in DP that you just need to memorize and keep set for "best operation," though if you know how they work, a temporary change can ease your job as long as you put it back later. (to wit: the "sync external MIDI..." thing in the patch-thru prefs)

For important preferences, I take screen shots and refer to them when resetting things. I also do screenshots of all my hard drives and their names on my desktop. My cats change those almost daily, and I put them back as soon as I find them.

Shooshie