Mac or PC?

Apr 18, 2011

I'm not very knowledgeable on Mac, since I've never owned one. But I always hear people say Mac is much better than PC. And it is not only their voice


I know
that you can put Windows (or as the Apple fanboy says, "Winzoz") on an Apple machine.

I also know that the Apple purists takes this as an abomination.

I also believe that the Articulate products are not compatible with Apple (at least for the moment).

So, having to
create
courses with Powerpoint, Articulate, Captivate (until Storyline's launch) etc, but having to change computer, what is the best solution?
Stay on a PC or switch to Apple (maybe with Windows)?

46 Replies
Steve Flowers

That's the exact setup I'd go with if I could turn back the clock a year or so 

I use VM Ware but I've read really great things about Parallels. I wish I had a comparison of them. I know that when my VM is running I don't dare attempt to do any heavy lifting outside of the VM. It's a performance hog. I imagine Parallels is similar, but don't have experience to confirm.

Vasily Ingogly

Steve Flowers said:

I use VM Ware but I've read really great things about Parallels. I wish I had a comparison of them. I know that when my VM is running I don't dare attempt to do any heavy lifting outside of the VM. It's a performance hog. I imagine Parallels is similar, but don't have experience to confirm.

Well, I certainly wouldn't do video editing in OS X while running Articulate in Parallels ... if someone wants to multitask at that level, there are inexpensive PCs and Windows laptops available.
Robert Kennedy

I have used both and I prefer Parallels.  I have 16GB of RAM on my iMac and so it runs pretty smoothly.  I have had music programs and even a couple of video programs open while running it and it has not been an issue.  That said, I DID find that my performance dipped a bit once I upgraded to Lion.  So, FWIW, if you are on Snow Leopard, I might stay there for another few months until Lion is really solid.

Doug Mattson

I watched this thread very closely over the last couple of months because I was in a similar situation.  

So, thanks to everyone.  The information was incredibly helpful!!

Here is what I chose and I am very happy so far.  I bought a MacBook Pro (quad i7) with 8gb of RAM.  I chose Windows Parallels.  You can choose how much RAM you have dedicated to each OS.   For starters I setup Windows to run on 3gb of RAM and Mac the remaining 5gb.  So far it runs flawlessly.  Everything is fast and smooth.  Publishing in Articulate is fast too...there were times on my old PC that I could go get a cup of coffee and visit with co-workers while it published.  Now, I barely have time to pour the cup.

I am only about a month into having the Mac and I have no regrets.

Thanks again everyone!

Doug

Sean Speake

One warning... don't install the anti-virus that comes bundled with Parallels (starts with a K). It'll cause you all sorts of issues.

I run a late 2009 Macbook Pro with both Bootcamp and Parallels and Windows 7.

70% of the time, for connectivity I run in Bootcamp but run my Adobe suite out of the Mac side. There's a couple of elearning tools I use that won't run in a virtual machine, so I absolutely need Bootcamp for those. (PM me if you'd like to know which ones).

That being said, Windows 7 does a terrible job of managing cooling for my Macbook Pro. And because I'm running a single version of Windows 7 and Office 2010 in both Parallels and Bootcamp, the MS products frequently get confused and think that I'm using licensed products, particularly when I'm switch back and forth.

But I agree with Vasily... there are certain things you don't want to be doing in a Virtual Machine... I'm looking to upgrade to 8 GB of RAM in the new year, which should smooth things along. And I'm hoping to get a monitor to hook up to the laptop so I have more space to work in... in a past life I was an assistant editor in a video production house... we were regularly using dual 30" monitors, so this 15" laptop screen seems positively tiny.

Vasily Ingogly

mbok darmi said:

Hmmm... me too, I am not knowledgeable on Mac,, but around my life people like mac then pc,, i don't know what is the mac special,,

___________________________________________

My name is Ahmed Noer


1. Mac OS X doesn't have a registry to become corrupted.

2. You can still install the latest OS on most five year old Macs and it just works.

3. Total cost of ownership has been shown in many analyses to be lower than a PC.

4. You don't have the OS installing crap without you knowing about it (the real reason for little Mac malware out there).

5. Mac doesn't support ActiveX controls in browsers (another real reason for little Mac malware out there).

5. PDF creation and editing built into the OS ... so has been zipping/unzipping files since way before MS caught on.

6. The user interface is simple, elegant, ergonomic, and consistent across virtually all applications.

A friend who's an IT director used to mock me for being a long-time Mac user ... then he bought a MacBook for his son and he and a coworker threw every device and file type they could at it. It just worked. He's now a complete Mac fanatic and supporter. Windows 7 is a great improvement in many ways over its predecessors, but Mac has its technical and design committed user base for a reason.

""Bill likes to portray himself as a man of the product, but he’s really not. He’s a businessperson. Winning business was more important than making great products." -- Steve Jobs, writing about long-time friend and rival Bill Gates

Steve Flowers

A lot of things about the Mac you don't notice until you try to switch back to a PC. I use both. Each offers advantages. But the Mac seems to me to offer superior build quality and more consistently delightful experience when compared to most of the the PC's I've used. From the feel of the keys, to the quality of the display - it just feels like a quality machine.

It's more money -- a lot more. After I bought my first one, I promised myself I would never spend that kind of money on laptop. Until work bought me a new PC and I couldn't stand working with it. Freezes, crashes, and just a feel to it. 

To each his own. There are times I can't live without a PC. For the rest, I like to have the option to use a machine as nice and reliable as the Mac. My wife recently picked up a Macbook air. I love that little machine. It feels nearly as powerful as my Macbook Pro and it's so light and nimble.

Mike Enders

Will,

Welcome to to forums.

Just a gentle introduction that while we appreciate your thoughts, we also pride ourselves on civil discourse here in the community. Thus, there's no need to toss aspersions ("Sorry mac people but if you really think Macs are better then you are an idiot.") out there towards folks who may view things differently.  

Thanks!

Mike

Steve Flowers

I run Storyline on my Mac daily, actually. As mentioned above, each has advantages and disadvantages. Storyline runs faster on my Mac than on the Dell work bought for me and far faster than the 2 year old Dell workstation on my desktop. I enjoy the experience on the laptop more than the PC laptop. The build quality (keyboard and touchpad feel), display quality, and responsiveness are more in-tune with my expectations of what a machine should do *for me*.

I also have access to some software titles that aren't available on PC's that is far cheaper  (and, in my opinion, superior)  than the alternative on the PC. For example, Screenflow (Camtasia - to me, it's better for most things even if Camtasia is awesome) and Motion (AfterEffects but less than $100 - close enough for me and I've used both). I use both Mac and PC plenty. Pound for pound, in most cases, the Mac is a better value for *me*. Cases where I would choose a PC include high CPU native applications that aren't available on the Mac such as 3D Studio Max, some modeling programs, and some real-time renderers.

I mention these for the sake of argument surrounding why *I* choose to use a Mac. My opinions about what others choose... would be irrelevant, if I had them. My machine is my choice.


Here's a protip: Calling folks "idiots" on a forum for a hardware choice using an anonymous login is bad form and reduces your credibility score to zero - at best.

Machine selection is subjective. Use what works for you. I use a Mac more than half of the time because it works for me. If you prefer one over the other and have experience enough with each to compare / champion one, awesome. Most people that argue one over the other have little or no experience with the platform they're arguing against.

Technology is sweet. Choice is a good thing to have.

Sean Speake

First off Will, welcome to the forums.

Secondly, this discussion has been going on for the better part of a year with no name-calling until today. We're a pretty well-mannered bunch here, and if you expect folks to help you out, it's better to take the most cordial approach you can manage.

Plus, it's a small industry. You never know who may be sitting across from you in a meeting some day, not to mention who you may be sitting across from in a job interview.

Technology is a tool. Use what works best for you. Accept that others will use what works best for them.

Gabriele Dovis (italgo)

Steve Flowers said:

The build quality (keyboard and touchpad feel), display quality, and responsiveness are more in-tune with my expectations of what a machine should do *for me*.


No problems using Articulate SW's running on a Mac, and I agree with Steve about materials/quality.

I'm having great satisfaction using VirtualBox as the virtual machine to run Windows (7). The unique trouble is that you can't drag and drop files from one system to another (I use a shared folder).

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