Macs Better for Creative Work: A Myth?

[AC773]

The idea that Macs (by which we mean OS X, really) are better for creative work is quite a common one, but I never really gave it much thought until I met someone who worked for a local Sysco plant as an IT guy specializing in Macs. He was hired to maintain and troubleshoot the 6 or so Macs used by the graphic designers they keep on staff. The rest of the office uses Windows machines, and there's obviously the regular IT department dedicated to them.

I thought to myself, "Gee, isn't that a little excessive?" I mean, all of the Adobe apps have had Windows versions for ages, and it seems like a waste to spend all that extra money on buying Macs and hiring a special IT guy. Furthermore, Logic Pro is such a joke that most audio guys use Pro Tools (yep, there's a Windows version). Same story with Dreamweaver for web design.

The only exception I can think of is pro video, where Final Cut takes a big chunk of the market (even though there a lot of people using Premiere Pro too, which again comes in a Windows version).

So I ask, what big advantage for creative types am I missing? Is there anything to this claim or is it just a myth?

Looking forward to your comments.

 

[notjustjay]

I think "Macs are better for creative work" the same way that "Microsoft Office is better for business work". It's all about the software you want to use. And there are two reasons to use particular software on a particular platform: compatibility, and quality.

Compatibility is more important and that sets the de factor standard. You wouldn't send a business proposal to someone in StarOffice Write format if you expect to be taken seriously. But the word processor you choose to use doesn't actually affect your skill at writing proposals, and in fact if you were forced to use an obscure writing tool, you'd surely manage just fine.

Ultimately it is the bad carpenter that blames his tools, but nice tools sure do help you get work done better and faster. Apple just happens to make a lot of nice tools.

 

[chaosbunny]

Personally, I can't be creative when I have to look at windows fisher price style ui.

But more generally, I think nowadays its more a "history" thing. Macs where the first computers were proper color management was possible as far as I know, and a graphical user interface when DOS was common.

Today its more or less the little things, like expose, which is extremely useful when you are having 20+ images opened in Photoshop for example, better font management (with 3rd party apps), the general more clean & reduced look of the ui, better performance when multitasking (I often have Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Cinema 4D + the regular mail, browser, itunes, etc. opened with zero slowdown, even on my 1,67 ghz pb G4), etc...

 

[stainlessliquid]

Many years ago when color management and font handling was virtually non-existent on Windows, Mac was the best platform. That doesnt apply today, PC's have just as good color and font management now thanks to third party apps. Photoshop and all those programs are exactly the same on PC's now and perform just as well.

Its kind of the same deal with 3D now. Years ago 3D was much better on Windows, but now that many pro applications have gone multiplatform its not such an issue anymore but people still hold onto the myth that Macs suck for professional 3d work. (I dont know anything about 3d rendering cards though, PC's might have faster solutions than what you are forced to get on the Mac Pro)

Generally the people who spread the myths are the ones who worked back when each platform had major problems with their field of work.

The only issue remaining today is Final Cut Pro, but I know professionals who are fine with just using Premiere and After Effects on a PC.

 

[Stampyhead]

Furthermore, Logic Pro is such a joke that most audio guys use Pro Tools...

First off this is entirely untrue. It may be the opinion of a few people that you know, but certainly doesn't hold true for an entire industry. Both applications have their strong and weak points.
Anyway, back on topic. I would guess these days Windows machines and Macs are generally equally up to the task of creative work, but in my current situation I would say that is not the case. The web development project I am currently working on requires me to work in the client's office on their machines, which are all Dell PCs. The one I am stuck using is a 3Ghz Pentium 4 with 1Gig of RAM running XP and I find the thing to be very slow and unresponsive, even compared to my G4 Powerbook. Now granted, a Pentium 4 is an older machine, but then again so is my Powerbook. So it's definitely possible to do creative work on a PC, but it's certainly preferable to do it on a Mac. Especially when that's what you're used to.