Switched to Mac

[Ditchmiester]

I just bought a brand new iMac 5K Retina Display. Went with i7 4.0GHZ, 1 TB Fusion Drive, AMD R9 295X 4GB DDR5 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. We are switching our graphics department from PC based to Mac based slowly and this was the first purchase (besides our Mac Mini that runs Caldera). We are also going to switch for the most part from using CorelDraw to Illustrator. This new iMac has such a gorgeous display and it is so freaking fast I can't believe it. I'm coming from about a 6 year old PC that had pretty good specks when I built it and had upgraded to an SSD about a year ago but it needed some new parts and the boss said go ahead and make the switch now if I want. I couldn't be happier with my decision.

 

[GAC05]

Good on you,
I just switched to decaf but I'm not liking it one bit.

Any particular reason for the change or just trying something new to see how the other half lives?

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Bill Modzel]

I've been an all Mac shop since 1988 and never regretted the decision. I have a brief windows on Parallels detour before getting Caldera rip on my Mac Mini also. I do allot of sub work from all PC shops and being Mac has never been an issue at all. Have fun in your new sandbox!

 

[Ditchmiester]

Good on you,
I just switched to decaf but I'm not liking it one bit.

Any particular reason for the change or just trying something new to see how the other half lives?

wayne k
guam usa

Personally i've always enjoyed the Mac OS more and thought it was a better and easier choice when it came to using it for Design/Layout work. When I started here 6 years ago they had Corel and I knew I could learn it but as i've been here longer I've always wished we used Macs. Then about 6 months ago my boss decided to switch his work computer to a Mac Mini and once he realized how easy it was to be a mixed solution shop he bought into me switching. I never thought he would spring for the the 5K iMac but man i'm glad he did. Now when my other two graphics guys need new computers we will be switching them to Macs as well. Can also offer it as an option to anyone else in the business I know a couple of them have Macs at home and are more comfortable on a Mac.

 

[rjssigns]

My 2008 24" iMac still knocks out the work. I'll upgrade to a 27" at some point.

 

[Ditchmiester]

My 2008 24" iMac still knocks out the work. I'll upgrade to a 27" at some point.

Another reason I wanted to switch to a Mac they just seem to last longer and perform better than their PC counter points.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Didn't have the same experience when we tried to go with Macs for a brief time. Still had to run Windows in a virtual environment due to one program (which is a mainstay at my shop).

However, to be fair it could have been resources was more then likely the issue and no matter what rig you have, if you don't have enough resources it won't do you a lick of good.

It really does boil down to what your used to and efficient in.

Another reason I wanted to switch to a Mac they just seem to last longer and perform better than their PC counter points.

I think Alicia would big to differ on that. I have had the same laptop (which I use far more then she ever did with hers) since 2009 and she has been through 2 of them. She still loves them, although it's harder and harder to justify it. Now on the other hand, mom had a macbook laptop for 9 yrs without any issue, but she still went back to PC.

 

[clarkhus]

Switched to Mac 18 months ago. Have never looked back.

 

[Rick]

We are a Mac shop. I dig the 5K iMac, I just can't stand
the shiny screen. Broke my heart that they got rid of
matte screens. A few months ago Gigi's 30" Cinema Display went
out and after some back and forth with Apple, they sent her
a brand spanking new 27" Thunderbolt Display. I plugged it in
and as rich as the colors were, I found the glare and me staring
back way too distracting. Saving up for a Mac Pro, a newer Mac Book Pro
and probably hunt down another 30" Cinema Display.

 

[rjssigns]

Another reason I wanted to switch to a Mac they just seem to last longer and perform better than their PC counter points.

Local tech college has PC's on a 3 year replacement cycle with many not making the 2 year mark. Mac's are on a 5 year cycle with most exceeding that.

That says a lot when you consider the amount of hours those run in a day.
Since semesters are now 15 weeks a design/graphics/production class is now 5 hours and those happen twice a day, 5 days a week. There are summer and J-term courses so there is little downtime.
Also, some students come in on the weekend to work.

Pretty solid record in a public environment.

 

[synergy_jim]

I just bought a brand new iMac 5K Retina Display. Went with i7 4.0GHZ, 1 TB Fusion Drive, AMD R9 295X 4GB DDR5 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. We are switching our graphics department from PC based to Mac based slowly and this was the first purchase (besides our Mac Mini that runs Caldera). We are also going to switch for the most part from using CorelDraw to Illustrator. This new iMac has such a gorgeous display and it is so freaking fast I can't believe it. I'm coming from about a 6 year old PC that had pretty good specks when I built it and had upgraded to an SSD about a year ago but it needed some new parts and the boss said go ahead and make the switch now if I want. I couldn't be happier with my decision.

Our shop is 90% mac with a few PC's to run machines that refuse to offer mac drivers and software.


I have the exact same config Retina iMac except I went SSD hard drive only because its a little quicker and we work on a network anyways. I love mine. Welcome to the family!

 

[Ditchmiester]

Our shop is 90% mac with a few PC's to run machines that refuse to offer mac drivers and software.


I have the exact same config Retina iMac except I went SSD hard drive only because its a little quicker and we work on a network anyways. I love mine. Welcome to the family!

The only reason I didn't go with the SSD is because unfortunately Apple doesn't use a standard SSD it is soldered to the motherboard rendering it non user replaceable. I've had to replace the Hard Drive in iMacs before and its not to hard the 5K is a little harder because they switched to adhesive instead of magnets to hold the screen on. If for some reason the hard drive failed I could replace it my self with an SSD.

 

[Behrmon]

Our shop is 95% Macs, outside of the RIP (Versworks) the embroidery and shipping dpts not a PC to be found. Lived in the PC/Corel world for a long time many moons ago and while they have their place for some they don't for us. Our Macs easily outlive the PCs as a norm but you can get a Lemon anything. Once Roland releases a Mac version of their Rip there will be one less PC in the shop. I personally "grew up" in a Corel/PC environment but every time (far and few between) that I have to go back there I personally find it very cumbersome and less intuitive to a design environment.

Enjoy your Mac.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Our shop is 95% Macs, outside of the RIP (Versworks) the embroidery and shipping dpts not a PC to be found.

I find it ironic that home digitizers have programs for macs, but not in the commercial digitizing world.

Although Pulse does make a plugin for Ai on a Mac I do believe (up to CS5 if I recall correctly). There are pros and cons for working almost exclusively in a plugin versus a stand along program, but that might be something worth looking into. Pulse and Wilcom (I use their full version) both make very good programs, so I would imagine the plugin for Ai would be good as well. You just have to be careful with converting vector shapes, but otherwise might be worth a look see if y'all are trying to go down the amount of PCs.

 

[player]

Mac's and PC's are using the same processors, ram etc. Are they really lasting longer than PC's? I have PC's that I never turn off running for over 10 years. Some things like fans and replacing hard drives by cloning (so no reloading required) but they work perfectly. I know you can buy dirt cheap crap PC's, but a good PC with quality components and an adequate power supply seems to work for a very long time. Macs have hardware failures as well...

Is a new Mac vs a new PC with similar hardware specs really that much faster running Photoshop or Illustrator?

http://robertoblake.com/blog/2014/02/mac-vs-pc-argument-stupid/

 

[Ditchmiester]

Mac's and PC's are using the same processors, ram etc. Are they really lasting longer than PC's? I have PC's that I never turn off running for over 10 years. Some things like fans and replacing hard drives by cloning (so no reloading required) but they work perfectly. I know you can buy dirt cheap crap PC's, but a good PC with quality components and an adequate power supply seems to work for a very long time. Macs have hardware failures as well...

Is a new Mac vs a new PC with similar hardware specs really that much faster running Photoshop or Illustrator?

http://robertoblake.com/blog/2014/02/mac-vs-pc-argument-stupid/

I completely 100% agree with you that there are far fewer difference now than a decade ago from a components factor. Trust me I have built dozens of computers in my lifetime and repaired far more than that with new components. However I have also repaired a few Macs. Replaced hard drives upgraded ram but that is about all it is limited to.

Where the major difference is in the OS. I've used every iteration of Windows from 98-10 Technical preview. I don't like where they are going with it. I find that OSX is more suitable for me than the newer versions of windows. I hate to have the Mac vs. PC argument. I find it like the Android vs. iOS debates. Pointless to me. Each has their own strong points and down falls. Hell I have an iPad and a Samsung 10.1 Note tablet. They both do great things and they both kind of suck in certain areas.

Sorry to ramble on.... Time for more coffee.

 

[player]

I have not worked on a Mac for a very long time.

That article seems to suggest Adobe is equally fast on either if the hardware is the same.

I really dislike the whole app store/8.1 desktop direction everything is taking. Win7 will do me 'til 2022 when they stop supporting it. Is the new Mac operating system going in the app direction as well?

 

[chafro]

I still can't find a reason to move to MAC since computers cost 2-3 times more than a PC that has the same capacity and very or even the same components. Doesn't seems like the best business desition. I might get one for the front desk, they do are better looking.

 

[Ditchmiester]

I have not worked on a Mac for a very long time.

That article seems to suggest Adobe is equally fast on either if the hardware is the same.

I really dislike the whole app store/8.1 desktop direction everything is taking. Win7 will do me 'til 2022 when they stop supporting it. Is the new Mac operating system going in the app direction as well?

They do have a Mac app store but I haven't used it yet other than to download a twitter client for my desktop. Other than that i've just been installing the regular programs. from either websites or discs. I so far like it a lot more than I ever did when I first started using Windows 8/8.1. The whole operating system seems smoother and more refined.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

You don't have to use the app store within Windows either. I don't. Just install programs as normal.