Yet another thread about Windows VS Mac

C

c0rpse

Member
Hi everybody! Just hoping to gain a little insight here. I'm due for a new editing computer and i'm trying to decide between Windows or Mac.

But there's the thing. I'm not asking which is better for editing. I use Adobe Premiere, like the mac aesthetic but am also fed up with their weird business/updating practices and hardware limitations vs cost. So, I thought about getting a PC.

I used to work with PCs for a living and Windows was the bain (bane?) of my existence and around 2004 I made the full switch over to Apple and when I started my film career I was editing in FCP7 then Premiere.

My questions ultimately is... Is windows still a big piece of ****? Will I be trading in better hardware for infinite headaches? I really have had zero Windows experience since XP and have no idea if it's changed into a more stable OS and platform. I guess I just don't want to waste money if it's going to be a headache. I am very interested in headache free editing.

So, anything thoughts? I'm currently using an iMac and Macbook Pro but am very interested in the hardware boost and savings I can get out of a PC. I don't forsee myself needing FCPX anytime soon and if I did for some reason I have my laptop.
 
After 10 years with Macs, last December I decided to buy a Surface Pro 4 i5 with 8GB Ram and Windows 10.
I just wanted a small and light machine to carry when I travel, just to select footages and photos on the field.

I always thought that Macs worked fine because Apple makes both the hardware and the OS.
I was wrong. Windows is not capable to make a reliable OS even for their own machines.
My experience so far has been terrible. The Surface is a tech gem but it is a collection of glitches, restarts, blue screens, and so on.
I can't count how many times the surface didn't wake up from sleep and had to shut it down and start it again.

My purpose was to test Windows ten 10 years after, with the intention to eventually buy a desktop for editing if this thing worked fine.
No way I'm going to do it.

As I said, this is just my own experience. I know many people are happy working with Windows and like it a lot.
I'm just not one of them.
 
First, what's your budget. You might find that the budget will define certain choices for you.

Also, what type of storage, monitoring, IO are you looking at? Are you looking to specialize in graphics, color, sound? That might also push you towards certain choices.
 
As a counter example, I have never used Macs and always built my own PCs over the last 15 years. I mainly use Edius, Photoshop, Lightroom and After Effects without issue. Windows 7 was very stable for me and Windows 10 is just as stable. The Mac vs PC threads of yesteryear always made me laugh. Windows is very stable. PCs are lower cost but they do involve a bit more knowledge about what goes on under the hood. Although if you had an integrator build a machine it would be quite plug and play at a higher cost.

Tough to say though as so many have different experiences.
 
c0rpse said:
Hi everybody! Just hoping to gain a little insight here. I'm due for a new editing computer and i'm trying to decide between Windows or Mac.

I used to work with PCs for a living and Windows was the bain (bane?) of my existence and around 2004 I made the full switch over to Apple and when I started my film career I was editing in FCP7 then Premiere.

So, anything thoughts? I'm currently using an iMac and Macbook Pro but am very interested in the hardware boost and savings I can get out of a PC. I don't forsee myself needing FCPX anytime soon and if I did for some reason I have my laptop.
Click to expand...


Regards moving to FCP X:
If you try to make FCP X work like FCPro you will hit road blocks.
Most of FCP X is NEW and old ways do not apply.

As far as PC is concerned Windows 10 is my favourite OS thus far.

Whether it is a better platform than Mac is subjective to personal use.
I use Mac and FCP X and cannot complain.

Al
 
Its an endless debate. Like you, I have switched from building my own PC's to Macs in exactly the same year (2004). I was coming from the 90ies era with the Pinnacle DV500 and similar capture cards, Premiere before "Pro" times, early FCP's, etc.

Building my own PC's always presented the problem of driver incompatibilities. Price/performance on paper was much better on PC's. But the time I spent troubleshooting PC driver problems or hardware incompatibilities made me lose focus on where it really mattered: the creative part, the editing, the sound composing, the graphics and effects making. Every time a crash happened, a render corrupted, a complex multi layered timeline had corrupted frames, I would not only lose time, but motivation to do it all over again. I only noticed this the moment I went mac. I puchased back then a Powerbook G4 which was underpowered compared to my PC Workstation. While things took more time to do, it was like a tank and reliable, so I knew what to expect, to trust the machine, and concentrate on my work. I forked out the big bucks then for a G5, which was after a few years upgraded to a Mac Pro , Macbook Pro 17" and currently I am on a Retina Macbook Pro and a late 2015 Imac maxed out.

Yes, the system definitely is not as fast as a PC Workstation with the latest and greatest processors and graphics cards. But reliability, robust OS, great intuitive design and tools still keep me on the Mac Camp.

I use Resolve, Have Adobe Creative Suite CS6 and FCPX with Compressor and Motion and Logic. I end up using FCPX the most with Resolve for finishing, and the Occasional After Effects CS6 which does what I need. Hardly use Premiere because I just don't like their business model with the subscription plan.

On my higher end work I simply export either an XML from FCPX or resolve and send it to a post house with Scratch/smoke and whatever color grading software they use. For the sound, I export from Logic or use a 3rd party plugin to convert to a Protools readable project.

This obviously is my workflow and it works for me.

Bottom line is this is a very subjective decision that also implies you having luck or someone truly knowledgeable in PC building to make your machine work.

You pay more for Macs, true, and they are on paper slower than the higher end PC Builds- but all software and hardware, in the majority of cases, don't have compatibility issues, are very stable- specially for their own software, which I particularly like- and the machines are well built, specially the laptops ( had a problem with my G5 with a liquid leak that was replaced after warranty- lemons do happen).

Its a personal choice and there really is no "best choice"here, I think. Macs work for me, but I can understand people going PC and having great experiences for a fraction of the price!
 
Thank you for your insightful experiences, everybody!

I'm still not sure what I'll do. I'm leaning towards the PC as I know I'll always have a mac laptop.
 
One thing to consider if you need a computer right now: Most of the Mac line hasn't been updated in a while (and the one that has been updated recently, the 12-inch MacBook, isn't optimal for the kind of work we do). If you just want to work with HD, the current 27-inch iMac with the optional 4GB GPU is a pretty good choice. But it doesn't provide a consistently smooth experience with 4K material. That's both anecdotal based on my experience and that of editors around me, and on comments from an NAB (ie- April 2016) chat I had with the Adobe engineer in charge of GPU optimizations for Premiere. And the Mac Pro hasn't been updated for 2.75 or so years.

When will new Macs come out? I've found the MacRumors Buyer's Guide to be pretty helpful. They look at historical data (how long Apple traditionally goes between releases), CPU/GPU/etc tech announcements, etc to deliver a bit more than idle gossip. And its easy to read:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac

Windows is fine (I work on Windows, Mac, and Linux...love/hate them all), but I'd say with Windows you have to either have someone who can provide hands-on support or be ready to tinker with your machine a bit more. If tinkering/troubleshooting sounds like fun (and it can be), then Windows is fine, too.

So if I wanted to buy a computer this month that I'd be able to work hard for a couple of years, I'd go Windows. If you can wait a couple of months...then it depends; on which platform do you have the most experience and can you mostly easily fix whatever the heck goes wrong. Because something will always go wrong.

Two cents from me...and worth every penny. :)
 
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Before my last staff job at a major PC manufacturer, I supported Windows PC's, and after I retired, I took on a few consulting gigs with Windows server and 7. For my personal use, I only use Mac's. I'm just not up to the hassle of maintaining Windows any more. There are a few thing that are easier with Windows, such as determining how much disk space the computer actually has available, but overall, Apple's quality and integration is just better. I also started in filmmaking a month before FCPX came out, and, for someone starting out, it is so more intuitive than any of the other NLE's that I simply can't conceive of using anything else, which means I can't use Windows, anyway. As others have pointed out, this is a very subjective decision.
 
I guess the biggest thing that's lead to my new found consideration of adopting Windows is just access to hardware that I think will make my editing experience more enjoyable.

With a iMac i'm bound to a MAX or 4ghz and 4 cores. God damn AMD video cards and an absolutely no upgradability.

Unfortunately my budget is between 2500-3000 CAD, so I guess about 2500usd MAX. I'm nowhere in the ballpark for a Mac Pro and just the option for using a GTX 1080 video card with a 6 core i7 just makes me think it's worth the hassle.

While I haven't had a Windows machine in over 10 years when I did (and I worked in IT) I was VERY familiar with building and maintaing a custom build PCs. From the research i've been doing on the subject it's clear things have definitely changed. But I think I might just have enough experience to deal with it. Also, Windows 10 seems pretty darn stable and user friendly.

I hope to God I dont come back to this post in 6 months with tears of regret. :D
 
Curtis Mack said:
There are a few thing that are easier with Windows, such as determining how much disk space the computer actually has available
Click to expand...
Hmm, it's at the bottom of every finder window. Not sure if it can get easier than that?
(think they changed it to an option you need to activate a couple of versions back though, but check a box in the preferences and you see available space in every window in the finder)
 
I think if you stay with major brands of hardware, the driver issues from the Windows of yesteryear are gone. Intel, Asus or Gigabyte & solid RAM and you are in business if you are building yourself.
 
I've had no problems with Windows 10. I love building my own machines and personally do not have issues with it. I don't use MAC because the software support is lacking in comparison.

The best advice I can give is:
- Buy the best reviewed/performing motherboard you can buy. So many issues I've seen people suffer because they bought a cheap motherboard and stacked amazing GPU/CPU's on it. Half the reason apple computers are so stable are their fantastic motherboard designs. Do not buy a bare bones board.
- Don't overclock (Sacrifices stability for a little more power, never worth it on GPU or CPU)
- Use the latest drivers
 
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