Mac or pc for photography work

Remember the new macs run on x86 hardware so you have another option.

If you are technically competent consider building a PC and running a patched version of OSX . As long as you pay attention to your component choice you should be ok. Loads of info here on what components to buy and what patches to download.

"I'd be curious to know what software is necessary for photography that hasnt been ported to PC..."

capture 1pro doesn't work on windows vista. phase one released it for the latest mac os because macs make up a large part of their market.
it's the most commonly used piece of software (along with cs3) amongst the photographers i know.

hassleblads Phocus software that was beta released is mac only. as this is likely to be the most used O.S. it will be available for pc's but the development isn't likely to be as rapid as for the mac.

there are some raw developers thet are pc only (breezebrowser?) but the good stuff seems to be mac ready first.

I'm not sure that Macs become obsolete as quickly. Certainly the PC owners I know seem to go through hardware more quickly.

We can afford to since we haven't just taken out a mortgage to buy a Mac :P

capture 1pro doesn't work on windows vista

I use it on XP. Any sensible PC user wouldn't look at that pustule Vista.

one thing though... IO on mac laptops (ok well any laptop really) sucks balls... I compare lightroom on similar speced desktop v. laptop (either in OSX or Windows) and the desktop blows laptop away. Sure, not the total deciding factor, however when I'm trying to work through 3000+ photo's it's amazingly annoying on the laptop. Or should I saw was... I abandoned that and only do it on the desktop.

Fact is if you wanna get anywhere in the creative industry you have to have a Mac Pc's are for accountants. Why would you buy something that looks like a piece of shit and put it on your desk? not to mention how shit they are to use. The only problem is after you spunked your money on a mac you have to drink cheap shitty wine like ive been doing all day. Buy a Pc and drink quality wine..............

or use your computer to make money to buy better wine.

90% of Mac users are lazy fucks, 91% of statistics are made up (information gain from PC user with Mac sticker on Laptop)

I bought a Dell dual core 2Ghz, 2Gb ram, 256Mb dual head DVI graphics card, 300Gb HD, for <£200. dell outlet store.

beat that apple mac users. Equivalent mac was £1150 (albeit with a monitor).

I'd be curious to know what software is necessary for photography that hasnt been ported to PC...

macs do have really good monitors, but ive been trying to get across exactly what your saying.

A pc and a mac are the same thing now. a mac just has a different operating system interface which is geared to the 'casual lifestyle' kind of user, for people who dont want to get to the nitty gritty of whats going on in their machine.

They all have the same innards, and for any student or self employed professional its PC all the fucking way. They do use macs in industry, but only because the company is footing the bill, and with companies its cheaper to buy full new suites of computers & software rather than fiddling about with small tweaks and upgrades to keep your rig up to date.

Ive already said it, but photoshop works incredibly well on any modern PC, even a cheapy. if you got 2ghz dual core, 2gb of ram. you can at times*, put a big mac pro rendering rig to shame.

• my university illustration & vis com dept got a big mac suite, best of EVERYTHING. but working with photoshop, my brothers 3 year old laptop (pc) or my dell desktop is far faster.
  
  

And I have a new mac too, but only because someone else bought it for me!

Macs don't go obsolete very quickly.

They do really, they used old (granted reliable) hardware that was in non-mac PC a couple or so years ago.

• with deadly fanny pack.
  
  
  

And I have a new mac too, but only because someone else bought it for me!

ditto, thought the government brought it for me.

They do really, they used old (granted reliable) hardware that was in non-mac PC a couple or so years ago.

• with deadly fanny pack.
  
  
  
  

ditto, thought the government brought it for me.

well, actually, that other person is the govt for me too!

I wanted to make the most of it buy choosing something I would never ever buy for myself. I have some vision/dyslexia type problems and have actually found the macs monitor (no glare) & typeface settings really help me. I have been pleasntly surprised by many things, but still for a regular person who want to work with photos, a modern but cheap PC with lots of ram is perfect. Also dont feel you need to use XP, vista has a performance mode which is similar to XP with a lot of more modern imporvements.

be careful what monitor you buy as most of the ones that come bundled with PC's will not allow you to lower the brightness down to the correct 120cd/m luminance for a proper colour managed workflow.
although if it's just for a college course it's probably not an issue.

i use mac and wouldn't change for a thing.

plug: www.benthomasimages.com

They do really, they used old (granted reliable) hardware that was in non-mac PC a couple or so years ago.

• with deadly fanny pack..
  
  

Old hardware does not equal obsolete. That's just what the marketing people want you to think so that you upgrade your machine every couple of years.

Not being able to use new software because there's a new operating system that's completely incompatible equals going obsolete.

The latter happens with PCs.

"Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when a person, object, or service is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete

macs do have really good monitors, but ive been trying to get across exactly what your saying.

A pc and a mac are the same thing now. a mac just has a different operating system interface which is geared to the 'casual lifestyle' kind of user, for people who dont want to get to the nitty gritty of whats going on in their machine.

They all have the same innards, and for any student or self employed professional its PC all the fucking way. They do use macs in industry, but only because the company is footing the bill, and with companies its cheaper to buy full new suites of computers & software rather than fiddling about with small tweaks and upgrades to keep your rig up to date.

Ive already said it, but photoshop works incredibly well on any modern PC, even a cheapy. if you got 2ghz dual core, 2gb of ram. you can at times*, put a big mac pro rendering rig to shame.

• my university illustration & vis com dept got a big mac suite, best of EVERYTHING. but working with photoshop, my brothers 3 year old laptop (pc) or my dell desktop is far faster.
  
  

And I have a new mac too, but only because someone else bought it for me!

This is a bit of a cliche. I've built PCs from scratch in the past and I've patched my Mac to fuck to run various Unix-based programmes (long story, academic statistical analysis stuff that was based on the original Unix platform and has been ported to the Mac).

I don't know where you got the idea that companies buy whole new suites of computers rather than keeping them up to date. Every company I've ever worked for has had a dedicated IT staff whose responsibilities include keeping everyone's machines up to scratch.

As for self-employed professionals - depends on the industry. Every consultant, investment banker, lawyer and accountant I've ever met has worked off a company laptop PC. A lot of self-employed IT types I've met have had a PC for work and a Mac for personal use. Most creative types I've met, employed or self-employed, have used a Mac at home and at the office.

This ultimately degenerates into the alu vs steel debate in the end - they both work, a certain amount of the decision will always be personal preference. As I said before, I hate Windows, which is why I switched. Haven't looked back.

i have to say it's very true now, a mac will last you a long time. I am still using a G5 from 2003, that's 5 years old. show me someone using a 5 year old PC for professional audio work..

that said, it is now looking a bit long in the tooth. i could carry on with it, but it's time to upgrade.
Octo-core Mac Pro on its way!

Mac, spend a grand and use your educational discount. It'll fly, never crash*, and will last until you can afford to replace it.

*may crash a few times a year when totally overloaded with Adobe CS2, iTunes, Mail, tonnes of porn.

Mac for everything. Windows is not even fit to use as a door stop

My Mac was used as a doorstop.

Mac for pretty stuff.

Linux for science and server stuff.

Windows for games and Excel.

mac users jump red lights, PC users dont wear helmets.

the industry is mac. answered.

become dyslexic and you get a computer for free as a student!

since when is that Robin, and how you can get more info about it, in my school we have plenty of dyxlexic kids

Old hardware does not equal obsolete. That's just what the marketing people want you to think so that you upgrade your machine every couple of years.

Not being able to use new software because there's a new operating system that's completely incompatible equals going obsolete.
[URL="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=X&start=1&oi=define&ei=bKezSODZJY-Q0QTmyuWBBw&sig2=LH_YVU6uyQ9SSjzQ58xeuw&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete&usg=AFQjCNG3P2arr_oLPqr1gl0lb5A2CHa94Q"][/URL]

Old hardware that cannot cope with modern software that you need to run equal obsolete.