Why choose a Mac?

[MajorFubar]

I went down the Mac route 11 years ago because I was drawn to use Logic Pro in my home studio, above all other options.
I also know of videographers who swear by Final Cut, so they obviously also have Macs.
I'm very happy with my choice.

But I also know of musicians who use ProTools or Ableton, and videographers who use Adobe Premiere, and some of them still use Macs.
Confession time I'm not really tied to an OS, but I am tied to certain apps I gel with and get on with, and it's a whole lot cheaper if you can buy a Windows based system to access them.

So I was wondering if you use apps that are available on both MacOS and Windows platforms, what were your reasons for choosing Mac?

 

[barbu]

Might be better to ask in a forum about pro apps rather than here most people here prefer Macs, there are many reasons. Some people like me appreciate the UNIX underpinnings and more tasteful design choices. Some people care that windows is ugly and inconsistent, but you may not. Others prefer the security and familiarity. I myself hate windows menu bars and infinitely prefer the Mac way of having it up top where it belongs. Some also prefer the ergonomics of using Cmd rather than ctrl for keyboard shortcuts. Macs have way better Accessibility and language features. And so on.
It’s up to you and your preference.

 

[MarkC426]

About 18 years ago I got disheartened using windows, and my 3D software worked/works on both mac/pc.
So made the switch and have never looked back.

With Apple making the hardware and OS, there is a much more seamless integration with the system, whereas in my old windows days, constant device/software conflicts/incompatiblities etc.

Working on a Mac (to me) is a joy, rather than a chore in Windows........
Windows just feels too boring, like everything you do is word/excel........snooorrr..😩😩😩

 

[MajorFubar]

Working on a Mac (to me) is a joy, rather than a chore in Windows........
Windows just feels too boring, like everything you do is word/excel........snooorrr..???

I can associate with that. Definitely true that one reason I like using my Mac is it doesn't feel like I'm still using my work PC, where I'm constantly in Word/Excel.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm sort of like @MarkC426. Around 2003 I was still PC (first PC was 1990). But I'm in the graphic design industry and Mac has pretty much been a large part of that industry. So work computers were Macs.

On my home PC I started having issues, one being that the drive used a drive overlay to recognize the larger size of the HD. With stuff failing, I lost all my data and everything stopped working. Prior to Windows 7/10 when Windows stops working you pretty much can't get the computer to boot until you fix the problem. That can sometimes take a while unless you know what you're doing. I knew enough, but not enough to fix my problems.

At work I had used Macs with problems at some points. Despite that, these Macs continued to boot and function even at a reduced capability. The work got out - on deadline. So, ultimately, when my PC failed I decided to move to Mac. And I have stayed there. Problems on a Mac, seem to me, to be more easily solved. That may or may not be true - it just seems like it to me.

I had a Titanium PowerBook G4 at that time that was given to me. Hadn't been used much. But it then became my primary Mac. Things really took off in late 2009 when that Mac died though as replacements and additional Macs started entering the house.

 

[TechRunner]

In 2006 I was trying to get into the Windows computer lab at grad school, and all the systems were taken. Across the hall, over half of the cheese grater MacPros were sitting unused. I asked a Mac-savvy classmate to give me the basics on MacOS, and I went for it. I found the system much more intuitive, so I bought my first Mac a few months later and have been a primary Mac user ever since (I still have to use Windows, as my wife doesn't appreciate anything Apple so I have to maintain/support her Lenovo X1 Carbon haha). I chose Mac because, back then at least, it seemed to "just work" without the battles like those I had with Windows on occasion, and I could get the few software programs I used for MacOS.

 

[Amethyst1]

I switched to Mac full-time in late February 2005 because I wanted to run Mac OS X natively as primary OS. Back then, getting a Mac was the only way to do that. Ironically, this was less than four months before the Intel switch was announced, which would give rise to Hackintoshes.

 

[MBAir2010]

I switched to Windows 10 in 2019 when  failures with their laptops were blatant careless.

what i am doing now is using both.
which have advantages and some disadvantages.
but I'm content.

 

[theluggage]

So I was wondering if you use apps that are available on both MacOS and Windows platforms, what were your reasons for choosing Mac?

A lot of it simply comes down to whether you prefer MacOS or Windows - I think MacOS is still slicker, more consistent and more responsive than Windows - but maybe not so much as back in the Good Old Bad Old Days. Neither Apple or Windows are immune to the modern problem with dumbed-down software design and form-over-function "user experiences". Reality is that 90% of the computing world manages to get their work done on Windows and, as you say, a lot of the time you end up running the same applications.

Personally, I also like the Unix underpinnings - but that's not going to be an issue for people who never open Terminal or write a shell script. In the past, the combination of Unix + all the usual open source server tools, a far nicer GUI than Linux plus the ability to run "industry standard" software like MS Office and Adobe CS (if only to handle material that you are sent) made Mac a winner for Web development, esp. if you were targeting Linux/Unix servers, - but, increasingly. modern practice is to use VMs and containers.

Hardware wise - if you want small, thin, quiet, light laptops with decent battery life (or small-form-factor/all-in-one desktops) but enough performance for "pro" applications, Apple Silicon is going to be kicking sand in Intel/AMD's faces for a while. If you don't mind having a hefty, mains-tethered laptop that doubles as a room heater - maybe you only ever carry it to and from the car and always use it on a desk - then that advantage fades, and if you want a good old fangled desktop mini-tower with PCIe slots, Apple's range currently sucks. (I'm waiting to be swayed by the Apple Silicon 5k iMac replacement/Mac Mini Pro/Mini Mac Pro/whatever - but once you go to a larger desktop where power/heat isn't such an issue, Apple Silicon is going to have a harder time proving itself).

With audio production, I think Apple has a reputation for doing better with audio and MIDI, with less driver hassle, better latency etc. (& with things like creating composite interfaces and virtual MIDI busses baked in to the OS) but I don't really have the evidence to defend that. Logic Pro is a well-respected, widely supported app (...and also relatively cheap c.f. the fully-featured versions of Ableton, Bitwig etc. with GarageBand as the free tier vs. the various cut-down versions of Ableton - something to offset against the extra cost of a Mac). All DAWs are pretty complex programs with a massive learning curve, so if you're up to speed on Logic you have to consider the human cost of switching to something else.

Then, of course, if you're bought into the iPhone/iPad/Watch/Music ecosystem, the Mac is better integrated.

However the #1 rule is buy the hardware that runs the software you want to use - and in this case that probably means doing the research to see which OS has the best implementation for you. E.g. MS Office on Mac is significantly cut-down from Office for Windows (Access, Project, Publisher completely missing & some Excel features missing last time I looked...) although many people simply don't need/use those features. Other pro apps may be better implemented on Mac (you'd need to ask the specific forums...)

 

[calliex]

I have been a Mac guy since 1986 and the MacPlus. I have owned a number Macs since then and they always very durable. I have never had one repaired or needed Apple Care. My current machine 2012 rMBP 15 will be 10 years old next year and still going strong. I think at least up to 2015 they made excellent hardware. I think when a computer company makes both the software and hardware it just makes sense that it will work better. PCs are cheaper up front Macs last longer.
It does not mean the Apple is perfect in anyway. I waited 10 years because of all the problems they have had with keyboards, overheating, etc. The new MBP look like a winner and I am planning on pulling the trigger on one in January.

 

[JahBoolean]

My workflow forbids me from being a mac "purist".

But I will attest that I find myself enjoying the time "out of the tool" much more on my mac than my windows machine.

The multi-touch and gesture have seeped so deep into the way I interact with my machine that using windows/linux viscerally feels like a downgrade (think blackberry vs iphone in the early days).

For the time being, life is good in the garden.

 

[sgtaylor5]

This isn't exactly videographer-related, but I like to use a Mac over a Windows PC because macOS has more applications that work at a system-level so that information can be shared easily. I deal with a lot of customers in any given week. My address book is probably one of my most important databases I have for my mobile computer repair business. Past customers are quite amazed that I answer with their first names when they call me years later, and that they don't have to tell me where they live again. When I type an address on my iPhone, I don't have to touch it again, and all of that information is accessible to any other app that can tap into Contacts. Apple's APIs are used by programmers when they write their apps; I never saw any third-party adoption with Windows Vista's Contacts and Calendar apps.

 

[aevan]

I prefer the hardware design, and I prefer how macOS works. I dislike a lot of inconsistencies in Windows, I really love some things in macOS (a lot of little things, from spacebar previews, to how screenshot utility works, there's too much to mention). Also, macOS looks much nicer to me visually. Finally - and this is a big one - the integration with other Apple devices is great, and since I prefer iPhone to any other phone, iPad to any other tablet and AirPods to any othey headphones - it's a natural fit.

But honestly, I just love how Macs "feel", and that's hard to quantify.

Also, these days - M1 ? But even before that I vastly prefered Macs.

 

[Bluetoot-]

Because it's cool.

Mac OS still "just works" in comparison to Windows. Windows always seems to have some issue. Criticize the hardware all you like, but it works with the software like it should.

 

[NoBoMac]

Personally, I also like the Unix underpinnings - but that's not going to be an issue for people who never open Terminal or write a shell script. In the past, the combination of Unix + all the usual open source server tools, a far nicer GUI than Linux plus the ability to run "industry standard" software like MS Office and Adobe CS (if only to handle material that you are sent) made Mac a winner for Web development, esp. if you were targeting Linux/Unix servers

This, but substitute "web development" with "software development".

Back in 2008, was going to replace my Palm Pilot and Samsung flip phone with an iPhone 3G, and seemed like a good time to replace my Dell laptop (heavy, cheap-ish construction [plastic was cracking in several places]) with a Mac, as it has Unix under the covers (very familiar with that, no more registries to deal with, more secure re: virii at the time) that would provide a more unified environment re: calendars/reminders, contacts, etc.

Windows has improved over the years. Apple software, at best, treading water, but nothing currently in Windows or Android that is making me ponder moving away from MacOS/iOS.

 

[MajorFubar]

Thanks for the replies

 

[MBAir2010]

windows fixes apple things apple can't or simply wont anymore!
if i need a hard drive that Catalina locked or who knows what,
i can plug that into a windows laptop and see if the drive is functional, and repair that
something mountain lion used to do.
my iPod was saved several times when high sierra screwed that up and windows fixed.
Windows is like a functional doctor while apple is a careless kid walking down a railroad track.
apple is getting closed and suffocating and cement-like were windows still has no parameters.
windows also runs on macs while Mojave wont run fully on a dell xps

personally i am now typing these vulgar words on a MacBook air Mojave OSX
shopping for a 2015is MacBook pro for better graphic design purposes.
while the Dell ops is streaming a HBO movie flawlessly on the TV.
which the tv had problems doing.

 

[pmiles]

The Windows OS went to crap after NT.... I switched to OSX. Haven't been back since....

However... the latest OSes from Apple are more like the ones I left Windows to OSX for. Meaning, the scales are very much tipping in the other direction. You can't really customize a Mac anymore... used to be able to with the old towers. Reality is, I don't like being forced into Apple's idea of what a computer should be. They are throw away devices these days in that you are expected to replace them yearly if you want any semblance of performance from them (because they are un-upgradeable). Gone are the days of the old tower Macs running for a decade and being on par with just about everything else Apple had to offer non-tower, merely by swapping out a component.

Windows isn't as bad as they used to be.... Apple on the other hand is becoming less consumer friendly with each passing day.

 

[dandeco]

Nearly six months ago, I made this forum thread comparing Apple's 2006 "Get a Mac" campaign website with the status of Macs today. Turns out, not much has changed...

"Get a Mac" 2006 vs. Now...

Well, it's been 15 years since Apple's transition from PowerPC to Intel went into full swing, very similar to today's Apple transition from Intel to their own ARM-based silicon chips. So I thought I'd go into archive.org's Wayback Machine (eat your heart out, Mr. Peabody!) and look at Apple's...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[960design]

So I was wondering if you use apps that are available on both MacOS and Windows platforms, what were your reasons for choosing Mac?

Stays out of my way when writing software. Plays music while writing software.
Fantastic resale at 3 year refresh cycle. Get a new, maxed ( well almost - 8T HD is crazy ) out MBP for half price every three years.

More:
I have Asus ROG G14 for XR development.
I have Asus Zenbook Duo for multiplatform ( windows11 ) testing.

 

[radow]

Unpopular thing, but macOS handles font rendering much, much better than Windows, especially when you are into CJK characters. Japanese text and UI elements on Windows is horrible to say at best.

 

[vir]

CJK is fine now.

 

[radow]

CJK on Windows is fine now at 200% rendering (heck, even 100% is vasy improved these days, provided your OS is properly localized).

Yeah agree on this one, been using Windows 10 in Japanese locale, definitely improved. Maybe DirectWrite is applied across the board? Still prefer macOS though.

But I have to say that Microsoft’s choice of UI font (Yu Gothic UI in Japanese language) is just disgusting, even improved rendering cannot save this. I tried using some tools to change font, but only works on traditional Win32 apps, bringing even more inconsistencies.

 

[alien3dx]

work purpose - mobile development.

 

[danskoya]

Windows and Unix/Linux distros does not have this core feature I need:

macOS Locations (not Location Services)

Other features I like:

ssh, rsync, vim, pico are all built-in macOS.

I'm neither a developer or programmer.