considering ditching windows... some basic questions

[vini-vidi-vici]

After getting slammed with my 2nd virus attack in 2 months and staying up till the wee hours with no solution, I'm at my breaking point with Windows.

I'm a photographer, and would want to move to a Mac-Pro to handle the huge image files I deal with. But at $2499, plus some extra memory, plus some software re-purchases, that's quite an investment. I could get about an equivalent amount of PC computing power for half that price. So, I have a few basic questions:

- How "old" is the current line-up of Mac Pro's? Am I likely to buy one today, only to see a major technology upgrade in just a few months for the same price?

- how well might I be able to run some smaller utility programs that have no Mac version or counterpart in an emulator? How smoothly does this operate (i.e. do you have to re-boot in some kind of windows mode? or is there some emulator software you can get?), and what's the performance penalty? (will things be dog-slow, or will I not notice much). Also, how does activation/licensing of various windows-based software work in an emulation situation? What kinds of limitations am I likely to deal with?

- Any general words of wisdom from people who've "been there, done that"?

Edit: Another option for me might be the top-end iMac. Is it possible to set up an internal 2-drive RAID 1 setup for instant backup with this? any photographers out there have opinions about the iMac's screen for color reproduction? (of course, I can profile it...). Is it possible to add a secondary display?

 

[GGJstudios]

How "old" is the current line-up of Mac Pro's? Am I likely to buy one today, only to see a major technology upgrade in just a few months for the same price?

Which size MacBook Pro should I buy
Which Apple notebook should I buy?
MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide

how well might I be able to run some smaller utility programs that have no Mac version or counterpart in an emulator? How smoothly does this operate (i.e. do you have to re-boot in some kind of windows mode? or is there some emulator software you can get?), and what's the performance penalty? (will things be dog-slow, or will I not notice much). Also, how does activation/licensing of various windows-based software work in an emulation situation? What kinds of limitations am I likely to deal with?

It's rare to find an app that doesn't have some kind of Mac equivalent, even if it's not an exact duplicate. For more on Windows on the Mac, check this forum:
Windows on the Mac

 

[Tomorrow]

- How "old" is the current line-up of Mac Pro's? Am I likely to buy one today, only to see a major technology upgrade in just a few months for the same price?

Check the Buyer's Guide. The guess (and it's only a guess) is that the Mac Pros will be updated soon. I would wait unless you absolutely need it now.

- how well might I be able to run some smaller utility programs that have no Mac version or counterpart in an emulator? How smoothly does this operate (i.e. do you have to re-boot in some kind of windows mode? or is there some emulator software you can get?), and what's the performance penalty? (will things be dog-slow, or will I not notice much). Also, how does activation/licensing of various windows-based software work in an emulation situation? What kinds of limitations am I likely to deal with?

If you really have to use Windows software, and that software is very hardware-intensive (games come to mind as well), it's probably best to use Boot Camp rather than virtualization. The software you need (minus the Windows OS) comes with the Mac.

Once you install on your Boot Camp partition, you can then virtualize using either Parallels or Fusion, either of which will simply boot the Windows installation on your Boot Camp partition, carrying over all of your licensing information since you're running only a single Windows installation.

Edit: Another option for me might be the top-end iMac. Is it possible to set up an internal 2-drive RAID 1 setup for instant backup with this? any photographers out there have opinions about the iMac's screen for color reproduction? (of course, I can profile it...). Is it possible to add a secondary display?

I completely agree about the iMac - it's a real workhorse of a computer, capable of nearly any task you throw at it (including photography and graphics). Unfortunately, an internal RAID isn't possible because it only holds one disk. If you really need RAID with an iMac you'll need to explore an external option, which works just fine (I'm using one with mine).

You'll get a lot of different opinions on the iMac's color reproduction. I've never noticed a problem with mine, but then I'm not a photographer. And yes, you can add a second display.

 

[Corrosive vinyl]

+1 for the imac, it is an all-in-one. No need to get a new monitor, etc. start with the basic and customize to whatever you feel you might require. It most definitely will be less expensive then buying a mac pro plus the peripherals.