Who has considered switching to windows?

viizi said:

sad thing is, most teens think a computer is and can only ever be a gaming machine. Their brain capacity cannot think past that to realise that their precious FPS lord of the battlefield games are made by people who work on computers.

----------



what software is involved in your workflow?

Pretty much 90% of the art software is covered across every platform. Even linux is getting love from The Foundry. 3Ds max is becoming more bloated each release while other 3d packages are growing stronger in popularity. I'd say it won't be long until 3ds max is out of its throne.

Click to expand...

Hexagon for modeling, Photoshop Elements for texturing, Poser 2014 for figures - Z-Brush for making morphs, Vue for making landscapes, Luxrender for unbiased renders.

The issue isn't cross-platform now - that was a problem 2 to 4 years ago, it is that all of my software is CPU based, not GPU based - and that isn't changing anytime soon.

For less than the price of a 12 core nMP, I can get a 16 core HP or Dell. Or I could add 6 dual quad core dells to my renderfarm for the price of a base 4 core nMP.

For me, it isn't about having a cool piece of industrial design sitting on my desk (with a rat's nest of wires connecting everything to it), it is about getting my workflow as fast as possible.

No.

I use Kali Linux, Ubuntu, Ubuntu Touch, Solaris, iOS and MacOS X everyday.

I only touch windows when my job requires me to retrieve information from a computer/device.

PS I use Blender for modeling ( learned/trained on Maya but not currently using it ), but I'm an amateur.

There seems to be a rich vein of 3D designers and CADer's in this thread so I'm gonna stick a toe in.

In the next couple of months I'll be building a Win7 based workstation. Ideally, I'd love to stick with OS X and my old iMac will still be around but I simply cannot come close to affording a Mac capable of doing what I want.
In an ideal world I'd have a hefty Mac Pro or somesuch and Windows go hang.

Leaving price out of the equation for a moment, what's the 3D modelling situation on Mac at the moment? I've tried Vue and the OS X version paled greatly to that of it's Windows equivalent?

Could I really make a Hackintosh- my own, homebrew Mac Pro and not be limited by software availability on OS X or do I have to bite the bullet and go Win7?

I don't really have a full list of apps I wish to use, as yet. I used to do 3D/CGI stuff about 7 or 8 years ago but fell out of the habit. Frankly, I hate my current job and yearn for something more creative and it was something I was always good at. My budget is approximately £600 (has to include a monitor) and I was looking at an i5 based setup, 8GB RAM, SSD to get started (Graphics and other upgrades to be added later).

Any constructive advice more than welcome

Switching back from mac to pc would be like switching from an ipod to a cassette walkman.

bearwrestler said:

Switching back from mac to pc would be like switching from an ipod to a cassette walkman.

Click to expand...

Bit of a fanboyish comment TBH. I use both as many do. Toyota to Honda. Does all the same things, but the dash is different

tdale said:

Bit of a fanboyish comment TBH. I use both as many do. Toyota to Honda. Does all the same things, but the dash is different

Click to expand...

I use both too. But when I use my pc it is like operating on a complete dinosaur

mac boredom

For me there is a certain mac boredom. I used to enjoy fixing and tinkering with my windows and then linux computer. I was on linux for about 10 years but then I was given a mac. Now I would say my computer is no longer a hobby but a tool I use for work.

Don't get me wrong it is the perfect tool and I delight in how handy it is but... there is a nostalgia for those old days... but I've been enjoying a raspberry pi instead

John

Maybe. What's the safety word?

aaronvan said:

Maybe. What's the safety word?

Click to expand...

Cacao.

I use Windows enough at work to get my fix. Never again. Or at least for a while. If I see something good at work, I'll eventually consider it for a computer when I need it.

Honestly, I've seen Windows Server 2012 and 8.1.

No thanks.

bearwrestler said:

I use both too. But when I use my pc it is like operating on a complete dinosaur

Click to expand...

Maybe you should upgrade

thejadedmonkey said:

Maybe you should upgrade

Click to expand...

I dislike W8.1.

thejadedmonkey said:

Maybe you should upgrade

Click to expand...

Yeah, perhaps. But I only use it every once in a blue moon, and I would rather spend the money on other fun stuff. It's not really anything important.

Someone hit the nail on the head. Nostalgia. Man back in the days I was a hardcore technical guy, I still am if it is required of me but honestly, I'd rather have something built solid to work and use it as a tool instead of a hobby.

Most people go on about how expensive macs are. Man spend a week off the coffee and you will have the difference in cash. It is not like it is gonna eat out your pension. Extremely small price to pay for a machine you don't have to care about while you work on it. Every mac I have owned has paid for itself probably 100 fold anyway. Not to mention you get the OS for free and free upgrades for about 5-6 years of the hardware support.

bearwrestler said:

I use both too. But when I use my pc it is like operating on a complete dinosaur

Click to expand...

Mine's the other way around. The latest gen rMBP is like going from a new VW GTI to a built Toyota Supra. Sure the rMBP has a lot of nice features, is decently equipped, and is pretty compact, but even though that Supra is a bit older, it's a speed demon that really outclasses the MBP when it comes to doing anything that requires brute force power.

Windows? No way.

I have to use one windows program at work. It is always a struggle. As quickly as I can I copy the data onto my rMBP so I can get some work done.

I use a windows at work too, and it's honestly not bad. It's just a different system, and it takes about 20 seconds to get into the grove with it.

Well.

I was using Windows from 1999 on to 2013. It started with a fat W95SE Laptop. The next step was a superstylish VAIO PCG-N505SN running Windows 98SE. Next step was a Toshiba Laptop running XP, continued by several Clevo High-End Notebooks. In the end I built my fat Desktops running Quad-Core, SLI Graphics and Windows 7.

Then in December 2012 I ordered my Mac Mini. It was meant to be some kind of experiment. What would it be to use MacOS ?

In fact it needed me about a year being able to make MacOS usable as my main system. When that point was reached, I changed. Why ? Because MacOS was better for me ? No ! I did it just for fun. To do something new. To have new experiences. To learn.

Back to Windows ? Maybe yes. Maybe not. I´m open. It depends on many things. Let me say a few words as a man who really knows what it means to be a Windows user.

Windows is a wonderful operating system. It has many advantages compared to MacOS. But it is also true that MacOS has improved a lot, especially with the last three versions, while Windows got worse since V8.

- If you want a perfect software choice for little money, Windows is still the winner. Though there is a ton of great tools for the Macintosh out there. But in average you get more stuff for your money on Windows.

- If you are a serious gamer, you need to use Windows. At least for gaming. Period.

- If you want more peace and spend less time configuring your PC, take a Mac. It is true, the Macintosh works better. There are significantly less problems on Mavericks than on Windows 7. Though you might get crashes on Mavericks, too. And Windows 7 is a really good, safe and comfortable system. It always depends on what you do with your PC. I got at least 10-15 hard, full crashes on MacOS in a year. With a grey screen, though. Most people might very rarely see such a GSOD while most Windows users know the BSOD very well. But things really have changed with Windows 7. The BSOD is more familiar to XP users.

- Another big big advantage of MacOS is the installation procedure and the "Time Machine". (Re-)Installing MacOS and migrating from one Macintosh PC to another one is the easiest process imaginable. You don´t even need any CD / DVD or whatsoever... I can´t count how often I installed Windows and how much time I spent in doing that. Just three days ago I installed W7 on my father´s old Laptop. It needed 2-3 days to get it work and make a backup. Since 1,5 years using the Mac Mini I installed MacOS exactly two times: After building in SSDs, to solve up the RAID. I migrated to an iMac once. And all of it was so easy, so relaxed. No re-installation of anything. Wow !!!

- And: MacOS is safer. Windows is very safe today. But MacOS is even safer. The chances to get a virus / trojan problem are significantly lower. And even if it happens, the damage seems to be much less. In fact I never had any (obvious) problems in that direction on MacOS.

Then there are details. So many details. And they are important. But even more important is, you can get used to most of them, probably. The last and final question that makes the decision is: Can you get all the tools and hardware you need for your system to do what you do ? If the answer is yes, you can use it. If not, search another one, where the answer is yes.

For me personally the answer is yes on both operating systems. I can do what I want on both of them. But things change.

In light of the lack of love for Macs in general over the last few years, the lacklustre hardware innards of the new MacBook Pro and the ridiculous price hikes of the new laptops announced, has anyone seriously considered switching to windows recently?

I've been a diehard Apple fan for 15 years but I am seriously tempted by some of the new PC hardware out there (Dell XPS and surface book to name a couple).

Just curious if anyone else has thought the same? Also, as a hobbyist mac developer, maybe windows would offer me a good platform to develop on. After all, someone needs to develop pretty apps for windows users!

I switched from Windows to OSX years ago, and switched back about two years ago when I decided it was time to get a proper gaming PC. It's not the big jarring change everyone here seems to freak out about.

I did! 22 years ago...

Pakaku said:

I switched from Windows to OSX years ago, and switched back about two years ago when I decided it was time to get a proper gaming PC. It's not the big jarring change everyone here seems to freak out about.

Click to expand...

What's been the biggest PITA?

I mainly remain with Apple for OS X. Windows is horrible, when you go to "Windows Update" it will tell you its downloading but nothing happens for 40-50min. If you get it to work, then it keeps restarting and once you log back in it says there are new updates, and this can take a good 4-5 hours depending when was your last update.

I would abandon Apple's over-priced outdated hardware a long time ago if it wasn't for OS X.

I'm sliding towards that reality right now.

I'm rocking on a Surface Book (something that only cost me around 1200, not 2k), and I use windows on my iMac. I'm a big believer in getting value for your purchase and I'm having a hard time seeing valuein Apple's latest laptop update - at least at the price point they're selling them for.

Then there's Windows vs. macOS. I do think we're seeing newer better features being implemented in Windows. For OS X we see more merging of iOS and OS X. I don't need shared clipboards between my iPhone and Mac.

I use Windows enough at work to remind me about what I left behind. Surface hardware hasn't been around long enough to know how well it fares over time. My late 2010 MBA has lasted over 5 years without trouble & runs Sierra without a problem.

My experience with Sony laptops and my work machines put me off Windows for life. Build quality on Apple still far exceeds anything I've used on the Windows side for the past 5 years.

Maybe I've been unlucky, but colleagues and I have nothing but trouble with our Lenovo & HP hardware. My HP transformer weighs almost as much as the 15" laptop itself and the function keys were faulty on a brand new machine. Trackpad is nowhere near as responsive as on my MBA. Maybe my view of Windows will change when we finally move to Windows 10, but that seems a while away due to problems with key software packages that are still incompatible.