PC or Macintosh

[KingsOwn]

Does anyone have an opinion about pros and cons between Mac and PC as platforms for Chief Architect?

[Electromen]

I switched to Mac about 12 years ago.  The reason was, the Apple OS was not vulnerable to viruses and malware.

As far as CA goes, it's stable on both platforms and the files are interchangeable.  I other words, you can start a project on one and open it on the other OS.

If this is more of a decision of Windows vs Mac, that discussion can go gone forever.  Obviously, Mac is more expensive, but in the past, it's my experience that they lasted much longer.

I like Macs backup system.  Time Machine is automatic and can go back, hours, days, and months to restore files.

[SNestor]

After 20 years using a PC I switched to an iMac...I will never go back to a PC/Windows. 

 

You can can build a faster PC...but I’m no computer wiz and I just want the thing to work when I need it.  Have to say that Apple just builds stuff that works.  If you switch you may find there is a short learning curve...and there are some things you can do in a PC that you might wish you could with your Mac.  

 

 

[KingsOwn]

Thanks for your replies.  One of the common things that happens with a new computer, and my only experience is with PC, is that they're nice and fast when new and gradually slow down over a year or so.  I wonder if Mac is also prone to this?

[Michael_Gia]

This is the exact reason I switched to a MacBook. It’s the same speed today as it was on day one. 

I also never experience the video card compatibility issues I used to have with my previous pc’s. 

It’s also true as others have mentioned you will pay less for an equally or even superior spec’d pc and you can’t really build that lightening fast monster machine like you can with a pc, (if money is no object, that is). 

It really, just works. 

[cv2702]

I run on Intel, there, I said it

 

I can appreciate the "it just works" thing with Apple, which is not always true by the way, but most of the time it is if you keep things simple.

 

I'm a tinkerer, so a PC is a great lab.  But to me, the real advantage is the ability to replace only one component when required.  Case in point: I recently changed my video card which was not behaving well with CA.  Sure, as years go by, I find myself replacing the CPU, upgrading the power supply, adding memory, etc.  Flexibility, low and gradual upgrade cost versus complete flip.

 

@KingsOwn - You say "my only experience is with PC, is that they're nice and fast when new and gradually slow down over a year or so.  I wonder if Mac is also prone to this?".  I assume you mean your PC appears to slow down because new versions of software are more demanding on resources.  Obviously, that will also be true with a Mac.

[KingsOwn]

Thanks for those responses.  cv2702: My understanding was that the slowing down was something to do with the build up of file storage being scattered over the hard drive meaning that a program has to spend more time finding and piecing together all the fragmented bits.  I haven't done it very often but defrag doesn't seem to make a big difference.

[jbaehmer]

On 4/12/2018 at 4:05 AM, Electromen said:

I switched to Mac about 12 years ago.  The reason was, the Apple OS was not vulnerable to viruses and malware.

As far as CA goes, it's stable on both platforms and the files are interchangeable.  I other words, you can start a project on one and open it on the other OS.

If this is more of a decision of Windows vs Mac, that discussion can go gone forever.  Obviously, Mac is more expensive, but in the past, it's my experience that they lasted much longer.

I like Macs backup system.  Time Machine is automatic and can go back, hours, days, and months to restore files.

actually, Mac OS is vulnerable to virus and malware.  It is just with a majority of computer users using windows, more are created for windows and no Mac OS.  Just google "can mac os get viruses?" and you will see a list of them.

 

And for the OP, I run on both PC and Mac.  It was interesting at first with the Mac OS version, but they have stabilized it.  As Electroman said, I agree the PC vs Mac conversation will continue into eternity (or one of the companies closing).  I mainly use the PC version, but that was purely due to cost since Apple has a higher price tag.  There are some good options for backups with PC, but Time Machine is also nice.  If I had to give an answer now, I would say go PC as that platform has been tested much more than the Mac version.

[cv2702]

20 minutes ago, KingsOwn said:

Thanks for those responses.  cv2702: My understanding was that the slowing down was something to do with the build up of file storage being scattered over the hard drive meaning that a program has to spend more time finding and piecing together all the fragmented bits.  I haven't done it very often but defrag doesn't seem to make a big difference.

I've been relying exclusively on SSD drives for storage since 2012.  But prior to that, I went through various schemes to speed up those mechanical devices (RAID 0, 1, 5). In my experience, periodic defrags (I had them scheduled over night) consistently improved access times, although sometimes by a low increment.  That being said, defrags are mostly beneficial for sequential accesses to a good size chunk of data.  Even that depends on the sector size chosen to format the drive versus your average file/record size.  Small sequential accesses are almost as costly as a random access.

 

In real life situations today, there is a multitude of disk retrievals, usually of small sizes.  Some will say "what about loading CA, which is about 100MB".  That operation also triggers an impressive amount of other accesses, most often system related, but also application related; just run something like SysInternals' Diskmon utility while invoking CA.

 

Bottom line #1: the sluggishness you sense is definitely due to disk seeks to reposition the heads: those are the most costly operations on a hard drive.

 

That's why you will find several posts here and in general about converting to SSD drives.

 

Bottom line #2: first step in minimizing disk access is to have enough memory, thus avoiding swapping to disk.

 

Bottom line #3: (sarcasm): compare pricing of memory or SSD upgrade on Mac versus PC.

[KingsOwn]

Thanks again  - good things to think about.

[para-CAD]

I use both.  

I love how Chief lets me use my lone license on one machine at a time.  PC or mac.

 

X8 had issues for me back in 2015. I was collaborating with someone on a PC while I was on a mac. As we would send plan files back and forth they would often have the text files miss-located all over the plan.

 

That didn't last too long. Fast forward to today, and I'm on X10. I can start something on a mac and then go upstairs to my son's gaming room and open it on his very expensive windows machine and everything works smoothly between both mac and Windows.

 

For the first eight years of my computer life I was all Windows. Then in 2005 I made the switch. I like to use a computer to create content more than I want to have to learn how the internal systems of the computer work. That used to be fun. Now I just want to produce content, get paid, and be done.

 

mac4life

Edited April 19, 2018 by para-CAD
Dragon didn't understand my accent

[KingsOwn]

Interesting comment - thanks!  So I assume you have no regrets about switching?

[para-CAD]

No regrets.  

All computers are similar.  

 

Since there are many more Windows-based machines there are also many more Windows-based applications, so sometimes there is an app that I can't run on my Mac (WIN only). This is typically a rare occurrence, and if / when that happens I have Parallels and VMware to emulate any operating system.  

 

Fact.  A Windows-based machine will provide more hardware performance for the same amount of money that you would spend on a comparable Apple system.

Fact.  Anything an Apple system can do, a Windows-based system can also do.

 

There are several things that the Apple ecosystem provides that become conveniences that I don't even notice until they're missing.   Also, Apple has  focused on user experience in a way that Microsoft or any other Windows-based software can't really do.   I've recently collaborated on an e-book that works perfectly in iBooks, however it works terribly in all 10 of the top 10 Windows-based e-book readers. Apple has spent the time and resources to refine the products that they provide in order to make the user experience appreciably rewarding.

 

When I was a Windows user I often had to create PowerPoint slides (because the Army can't do anything without PowerPoint) and whatever other tasks I was assigned. I found that whenever I would install software or change hardware it required me to also understand the systemwide effects that I was introducing when doing so. After many blue screens and other system catastrophes I started to look into the Apple ecosystem. I'm not so hung up anymore on having to tweak my computer to some nth degree to squeeze out every ounce of performance like I'm building a quarter-mile race car. All I want to do now is create content to the standard I set in the most efficient manner and then turn the computer off. I like how Apple manages the ecosystem so that, for me, "it just works."

 

(I just used Dragon dictation software to speak everything here. This reminds me when I was a kid watching Battlestar Galactica and Cmdr. Adama would speak to the computer and it would type what he said. For me, this changes everything.)