Mac programs vs. Windows programs

[GrannySmith_G5]

I have a question for all of you with far more knowledge than myself. I have heard many say that Photoshop/Illustrator etc. are superior on the mac. I only have experience using these programs on the mac, but am pretty sure they are identical on windows. What makes the mac versions better? Is it something with the operating systems themselves? don't they have the same features? I ask because a PC friend asked me, and I want a good answer to give him. thanks in advance.

[Schiffi]

Well, I've never had Photoshop or Illustrator crash on me under OSX.

[Chealion]

Many of such programs just look better and feel much easier to work with on the Mac. A big example is Office X. The OS X version is way nicer to look at then the XP version, and also much nicer to use. I've found the same with Photoshop.

[F/reW/re]

None of the Adobe software I use crashes on my PC, but they have all crashed on my Mac exept ImageReady and Streamline. Illustrator runs smoother on Mac, but the rest runs better on my PC. On the PC everything is more snappy because there's no stupid animations and shadows covering other winodows.

I guess the Mac versions will catch up when they go cocoa.

[groovebuster]

The main diffrerence for me is, that on Windows programs run in a dedicated program window. So e.g. you have 10 files open in Photoshop, they have to be displayed in the program window. For me that is pretty annoying! Forget about Drag&Drop, the program window is always in the way, covering the rest of the desktop.

Besides that the major applications function pretty much identical on Windows and Mac. But it's the little things that make life easier... that's why I mostly work on Macs.

groovebuster

[whawho]

Originally posted by groovebuster
The main diffrerence for me is, that on Windows programs run in a dedicated program window. So e.g. you have 10 files open in Photoshop, they have to be displayed in the program window. For me that is pretty annoying! Forget about Drag&Drop, the program window is always in the way, covering the rest of the desktop.

Besides that the major applications function pretty much identical on Windows and Mac. But it's the little things that make life easier... that's why I mostly work on Macs.

groovebuster

I agree completely with this... If you do desktop publishing drag and drop graphics from Photoshop to your inDesign document is so nice. It's definitely the little things like not having the application window...

[GrannySmith_G5]

Oh you mean on windows Photoshop, when you open it, it gives you a backgound window that it opens in. That would suck. I always drag from files on my desktop right in to Photoshop, or from Photoshop into illustrator etc. That would be annoying if I had to minimize or re-size the window to quickly access stuff. thanks for the replies everyone.

[TEG]

Personally, I feel that more thought was put into the design of Mac Apps by Adobe than their PC counterparts. Having used Photoshop and PageMaker under both systems, I'd have to say that the Mac Version is easier to understand (Especially for a newbie, which I was when I started) :), is much more intutive, and overall better programs. I've even got several people to switch just from letting them use Photoshop or PageMaker on my PowerBook, they found it much faster to find the same tasks, and easier to do/found more shortcuts.

[patrick0brien]

-GrannySmith_G5

Another reason: Color matching.

OS X and Apples in general have subsystems dedicated to accurate colors.

[Lanbrown]

The best answer to a question that you don't know is, "I don’t know."

Both versions are going to be very similar in what they can do. The Apple versions can be a little more optimized for the hardware as well as the OS. In windows land, you have multiple processor manufacturers, operating systems, etc.

[GrannySmith_G5]

Thanks Lanbrow. That helped. Next time I'm comfronted with a question I do not know I will simply say "I don't know", instead of trying to find a reasonably answer for said question. This will be great the next time my boss asks me something I'm not sure of. Thanks again.