**Anyone swithing to MAC OSX soon, future, etc?***

[OSX86]

I know there are a lot of pirate software for the PC, but I have been using a mac for a few months and to tell you the truth even though I have a decent PC and hardware which I can also use for MAC.

I just like the OS so much better and its sort of like I dread going to the PC sometimes and with Giga releasing the gigastudio as a plugin I wonder if it will ever go to MAC since GIGA is what is still used by a lot of big time composer although the N.I. are making some headway.

I have Logic express and use Nuendo/SX on the PC. I've read that Cubase 4 has a lot of issues right now and of course I would have to buy all my plugins again for the mac as I only have a few.

Then of course there is the argument of if LOGIC pro is enough (the guitar sim is not to bad, although I do have UB Amplitude 2) but may miss some of my waves plugins.

Then of course there is the issue of Pro Tools LE and whether it will ever come up to par with other sequencers and not be so limited.

So anyone here thinking about making the switch? Not making it but at least thinking about it and what is holding you back?!

I ask that as I am using a Macbook and while it in theory is as good as a dual g5 strength wise except GPU, I was thinking about a iMAC 24 or Mac Pro.

Just waiting for the software to catch up.

So far for mac, I have Amplitude 2, Abysynth4 and Reason, DP5 which I never should have got, very confusing, drum module is not that good and logic express as well as the FCP Suite!

[Ernest Buckley]

I made the switch in 2000 and loved every minute of it. I used a PC for 10 years but once I moved over, I realized what I was missing.

My G5 and G4 give me everything I have wanted from a computer.

I still work with PCs at my office and I feel like I`m working on a dinosaur. Macs are so intuitive. They feel like an extension of myself.

I stop drooling now.

[UnDeFiNeD]

I use G5's at school, but I prefer PC over mac in most cases.
I think it really depends wheiter your daw is build for mac or for win. I use Cubase most of the time, wich is windows (and has a mac port), but if I was to use PT more often, I probably would tend more to osx, cause its a mac program with a win port.

Hardware and performance wise, both platforms are identical (depends on wich s/w of course, allthough mac is more expensive in most cases)

[Tibbon]

Originally Posted by OSX86

Then of course there is the argument of if LOGIC pro is enough (the guitar sim is not to bad, although I do have UB Amplitude 2) but may miss some of my waves plugins.

Then of course there is the issue of Pro Tools LE and whether it will ever come up to par with other sequencers and not be so limited.

Protools LE will always be limited. It's part of Digidesign/AVID's marketing placement of their products. Unless they decide that it's no longer profitable to make higher end rigs (like their ICONs, Venues, and HD systems), then the LE versions must remain limited. Yes, they may slowly raise track count, and introduce a few new features, but they will not do so without making the HD systems even more powerful. There will always be a gap.

Protools LE is damn good. If you can't sucessfully record music on Protools LE, then you really need to rethink your career. No, it doesn't have the bells and whistles of HD, but it doesn't have the cost either. If you can't afford the cost you probably don't NEED those features, but rather want those features. If your job demands surround, then you are probably charging for surround accordingly. If your job demands recording at 192kHz, then you are probably able to charge for it accordingly.

Logic is pretty good, but a very different beast. If you're tracking real bands, I'd go with protools any day. If you are working with film-post, i'd go with protools with the DV toolkit. If you are working on self-composed electronic music, scoring, or any MIDI heavy function (and I mean really intensive midi stuff, Trent Reznor was able to use Protools totally for his last album, and that's pretty MIDI intensive) then go with Logic.

You can run Waves plugins in Logic last I checked. I don't do it, but I think it's more than possible with a VST wrapper (if they don't offer an AU version by now?). I would by NO means base the quality of the sequencer/editor by what plugins come stock, let alone a guitar amp simulator. I see that as my 3rd/4th backup for guitar sounds at best. YMMV. If anything, it's something good to trash vocals/drums with.

Macs are great. PC's aren't bad these days either. I do see Macs are being the standard still in professional studios, as well as in most artistic based fields. For a business enterprise, i'd go with Dell PCs likely, but in a studio I wouldn't even question the Mac vs PC thing.

I switched in 2002 (I wanted to switch as soon as OS X came out, but just didn't have the need to at the time), and haven't looked back since. I've had over 80 "PC's" over the years, two commodore 64's, and now two Macs. My macs keep kicking ass, and my PC's keep collecting dust and breaking. I have 3 PC laptops sitting around here my family has gone through in the time that i've had my iBook G4, which is still kicking ass (typing on it right now). Same can be said for about 6 desktops in the time that I've had my G4 MDD. Those 3 PC laptops are all dead now (albiet for reasons that any laptop can die for), and the PCs are all unusably slow. I'll never go back.

[composer]

Originally Posted by UnDeFiNeD

I use G5's at school, but I prefer PC over mac in most cases.
I think it really depends wheiter your daw is build for mac or for win. I use Cubase most of the time, wich is windows (and has a mac port), but if I was to use PT more often, I probably would tend more to osx, cause its a mac program with a win port.

Hardware and performance wise, both platforms are identical (depends on wich s/w of course, allthough mac is more expensive in most cases)

Macs are expensive in some cases but in reality they offer quite some bang for the buck.

Take for example the Macbook, while stinking at games (GPU), it is just as powerful as a dual G5 that cost $2000 a year ago and is also portable as well as can drive a 30" display. Now the newer duo core 2 (same price) is even faster as the older macbooks where just as fast as the dual G5.

In addition, the newest iMACs or Mac Pro's are very VERY fast, the argument used to be (former tense as in past) not as fast. That has changed.

Sure for $279 (Dou Core 2 E660), $179 1 GB high end DDR2, case ($149, rack mount), Windows XP $149, Motherboard, $149, HD $149, keyboard/mouse $~$60,
you are looking at $1200 and I've used both OS's and MAC for sure has the so called "experience" now.

I messed around with Vista, glad to see the search finally addressed, but I miss the simple things that mac does when you move the mouse via dashboard. In addition it does seem to crash much less often, I would say 1 to every 20 times on the PC.

But the funny, yet cool thing, is iLIFE, it can make websites easy as well as videos....the only problem is I like that not as many have it, as I remember being wowed with a Video/Authoring program that someone did on a mac, then I saw the templates, (Final Cut is for sure going to be the future, especially with HIGHER SPEEDS and indi producers), but anyway, it is so much easier to create video, audio, even in Final Cut and they have also streamlined LOGIC to a more friendly user face then the older 5 versions.

That being said, I don't know about the Mac Pro just yet, sure they removed the fans and there is more room, but the ECC memory has these HUGE heat sinks on them, which translates, I wonder, to how fast the fastest laptop will ever be.

I think Macs will really jump ahead if they or rather 3rd party can implement the .exe being able to run without windows, which I have read they are working on, plus you can install windows and the genious that figures out how to talk to both OS's at the same time (example Logic via REWIRE to ACID running on XP Vista/XP) will really be the "God Send."

Just my opinion.

On the other hand, what happened to AMD? They apparently have a duo core 2 killer in the works KL9 but that is specualtion. Intel is on top either PC or MAC.

And Native is becoming stronger.

[UnDeFiNeD]

In addition it does seem to crash much less often, I would say 1 to every 20 times on the PC.

while I agree with some of your other arguments, I just cannot agree with that. Its purely a maintenance issue. Mac is build in a way so an inexperienced person can't f*kc it up, while Xp doesn't have those restrictions (wich is why I like it )
I have had contstant crashes in logic xpress and PT on our school workstations, while my 2 pc rigs haven't failed on me in years. I guess the macs in my case crash because of abuse of other students, and my inexperience with it, while I know Xp inside out, and therefor it cannot behave badly on me.
In 99% of all cases, win & osx are the same in performance, stability and hardware, it just depends on what u like to work with.

PS: osx still looks A LOT sleeker than XP, even sleeker than vista.