# Old Question; MAC OS or Windows



## Captain K (Aug 20, 2016)

I need a new Laptop. I started my computer journey in 1981 with an Apple II plus but switched to an IBM compatible in a few years. Now, my primary computer use is Photography and I'm not a computer geek. Does LR & PS function better, easier, faster or more reliably on MAC OS as compared to Windows?


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## davidedric (Aug 20, 2016)

Lightroom itself runs fine on either - just take your pick.  It's performance is far more dependant on the specification of the machine than whether it is Windows or Mac.

Dave


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## clee01l (Aug 20, 2016)

This is not to be a decision based upon LR.  Dave is correct about performance.


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## tspear (Aug 20, 2016)

Go with what you know, or what your local friends and family can support. 

Tim


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## Ian.B (Aug 26, 2016)

the way I understand it is mac is better but more expensive while there is not a lot wrong for windows 
Just buy the best you can afford and an external monitor is a must IMO for serious editing . If have a windows lappy plus external screen, mouse and key board.


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## tspear (Aug 26, 2016)

Ian.B said:


> the way I understand it is mac is better but more expensive while there is not a lot wrong for windows
> Just buy the best you can afford and an external monitor is a must IMO for serious editing . If have a windows lappy plus external screen, mouse and key board.



If you spec out a Windows machine and Mac machine with the same effective HW, the price is usually very close. Having done this multiple times, the largest variation I have gotten is about 200 bucks on a high end machine. Often using Dell or Byte I am within 100 bucks of Apple list.

With that stated, there are many options for Windows machines on the low end which are just not available from Apple. That is why Windows has the reputation; Apple does not give you a choice. The days of Apple charging a premium on HW are mostly behind it (unless you start talking monitors)


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## clee01l (Aug 26, 2016)

tspear said:


> I
> Apple does not give you a choice. The days of Apple charging a premium on HW are mostly behind it (unless you start talking monitors)


My Monitor has a computer built in (iMac)  Its price is comparable to any Windows alternative


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## tspear (Aug 26, 2016)

clee01l said:


> My Monitor has a computer built in (iMac)  Its price is comparable to any Windows alternative



Cletus,

Having compared a few iMac's recently with HP All-in-one with others at an Microsoft store, Apple was slightly more expensive when you matched CPU, graphics, memory and disk (daughter needed new computer for school). Now there was not too much of a difference, but I noticed it (It was 200 bucks) 

Where Apple really charges the premium is for the dedicated monitors (and this is what I was thinking of, I was looking at getting a new 30in); I should have been more specific above.


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## bob chadwick (Aug 26, 2016)

At one point in time the Mac OS was more stable than Windows, primarily due to the hardware choices you had with a Windows machine and the associated drives.  Those days are gone.  Most people are finding the stability of both systems to be similar.  The questions is which OS are you familiar with, are you interested in taking the time to learn a different OS and price.


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## clee01l (Aug 26, 2016)

bob chadwick said:


> At one point in time the Mac OS was more stable than Windows, primarily due to the hardware choices you had with a Windows machine and the associated drives.  Those days are gone.  Most people are finding the stability of both systems to be similar.  The questions is which OS are you familiar with, are you interested in taking the time to learn a different OS and price.


I think the stability issue still holds true.  There are too many permutations and combinations of hardware in the Windows world for everything to be stable at the same level that Apple has with a controlled environment.  Component manufacturers are responsible for Windows drivers and often these are horribly written   OTOH Apple controls the drivers AND the hardware that goes into the Apple user experience. 

About 4 years ago I made the switch to Apple when I no longer needed a temperamental Windows machine for software development. With Windows, I found the required knowledge to tune and keep Windows running smoothly was/is beyond the computer literacy of the typical Windows user.  It was certainly something that I spent considerable time keeping my knowledge set up to date.

Since moving to Apple, I can count on one hand the number of times the Computer was hung and I needed to reboot.  My Mac can go for weeks with out needing to be rebooted.  Rebooting daily or at the least weekly was necessary to keep my windows machines from bogging down.

When Adobe released LR6/LRCC2015 with GPU acceleration, there was a frantic few weeks here on this forum trying to help people solve their new LR issues.   Overwhelmingly, it was Windows OS with sub par GPU and crappy Video drivers that created most of the issues. While there were some LR6 issues with OS X, these were relatively minor in comparison.


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## bob chadwick (Aug 26, 2016)

My experience is the exact opposite.  I had a Windows machine that I had for 4 years.  I was not changing any hardware in it, which is probably part of the issue that people have, and it was very stable.  It got old and I replaced it with a Mac that was upgraded to the most powerful processor and the most memory.  I have problems with the spinning CD a couple times a week when I try to open files (mostly lightroom) and have gotten a couple viruses on it.


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## Johan Elzenga (Aug 26, 2016)

bob chadwick said:


> My experience is the exact opposite.  I had a Windows machine that I had for 4 years.  I was not changing any hardware in it, which is probably part of the issue that people have, and it was very stable.  It got old and I replaced it with a Mac that was upgraded to the most powerful processor and the most memory.  I have problems with the spinning CD a couple times a week when I try to open files (mostly lightroom) and have gotten a couple viruses on it.



A couple of viruses on a Mac? That is quite an achievement...


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## davidedric (Aug 26, 2016)

I think the situation has improved over the past four years.

I honestly can't remember the last crash using Win 7 and Win 10.  In fact, since I got my current computer three years ago I don't think I have had one.  Nor do I do any tuning , and Lightroom runs very well.

As has been already said, though, there is a huge range of suppliers using a huge range of components.  I suspect the challenge is picking you supplier, which is difficult, so lots opt for the safe Dell option.

For what it's worth,the supplier I used in the UK is Chillblast.  Not the cheapest, but I would certainly use them again.

Dave


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## bob chadwick (Aug 26, 2016)

JohanElzenga said:


> A couple of viruses on a Mac? That is quite an achievement...



I worked very hard at it .


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## Rex176 (Aug 26, 2016)

I'm a lifelong Windows user and have Windows 10 on a minitower at home. I needed a new notebook computer, so to see what all the fuss was about, I bought a MacBook Pro. I have Lightroom on both. Here's my perspective:
- Neither system crashes more than the other.
- Lightroom performance depends totally on the hardware not the OS.
- If you're an experienced Windows user and have no compelling reason to move to Apple, stay on Windows. I have wasted a fair bit of time figuring out how to do things in the Apple OS that I do by reflex in Windows.
- Finally, a totally subjective comment: I've been using the MacBook regularly for over two years and I am still frustrated by the Finder. Maybe this old dog can't learn new tricks but I seem to take way more time to find a file in FInder than Explorer.


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## Gnits (Aug 26, 2016)

I agree with Rex176  @ 110%.

I have a Windows tower for my office workstation use and a MacBook Air for travel.
At the time, the MacAir was the most suitable device available for a project involving extensive travel. The MacAir was perfect for the job.

But  ....I had to learn Mac and Windows  environments and also hate Finder. 

Windows explorer is not perfect, but Finder was painful for me moving from Windows.

Also, Microsoft Office apps on Mac are usually a generation or 2 behind Windows and some apps do not exist (eg Ms Access). Macros I wrote for Office apps on Windows often failed on Mac.

Moving Powerpoints files from Windows to Mac and Vica Versa is painful, as both environments do not take kindly to the respective font sets, often resulting in nightmares before important presentations.

Stay with the environment you are familiar with unless you have compelling reasons to change.


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## davidedric (Aug 26, 2016)

Explorer is poor, in my opinion.

I think I've said this before, but for around $50 Directory Opus is excellent, and just about the first software I would install on a new computer.

Dave


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## Gnits (Aug 26, 2016)

davidedric said:


> but for around $50 Directory Opus is excellent,



Difficulty finding appropriate site.  Found Directory Opus 12 Site .... No info as to whether a Mac or Win App.  No pricing info. No obvious way to buy.

Also found Directory Opus 11 Site which I can deduct is a windows app and has a way to find prices and purchase.

My favourite utilities for windows are.

Ultrasearch Fastest File Search: UltraSearch Beats the pants of any windows / explorer search and totally free.

Treesize.   Disk Space Manager software at its best: TreeSize Professional Best way to find out what is taking up space on my drives.

Beyond Compare.  Scooter Software: Home of Beyond Compare Compare and Sync Folders 

I am currently thinking of VisaVersa ( to synch folders, better scheduler than Beyond Compare).


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## PhilBurton (Aug 27, 2016)

Gnits said:


> I agree with Rex176  @ 110%.
> 
> I have a Windows tower for my office workstation use and a MacBook Air for travel.
> At the time, the MacAir was the most suitable device available for a project involving extensive travel. The MacAir was perfect for the job.
> ...


Gnits,

I also have had grief when moving Windows PPT file to a MacOS environment and v.v.  Cross-platform compatibility is an aspiration, not a reality.

Although the grass on the other side may look greener, it is not.  If you know and like MacOS, stay with it. Same for Windows.

Phil


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## Gnits (Aug 27, 2016)

I have seen people cry when they discover their Powerpoints do not work just before they are due to give a presentation, because of MS Office cross compatibility issues.  [Mostly due to incompatible fonts in apps which are heavily dependent on fonts].  You will not be able to save a Powerpoint (usually with those final tweaks) if the embedded fonts are not compatible with the o/s.


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## clee01l (Aug 27, 2016)

Gnits said:


> I have seen people cry when they discover their Powerpoints do not work just before they are due to give a presentation, because of MS Office cross compatibility issues.  [Mostly due to incompatible fonts in apps which are heavily dependent on fonts].  You will not be able to save a Powerpoint (usually with those final tweaks) if the embedded fonts are not compatible with the o/s.


FWIW, I've given lectures using Powerpoint created files running in Apple's Keynote app on an iPad.  Embedded fonts can be an issue but they don't have to be a problem. Keynote will substitute fonts if the font needed is not available.

Microsoft works very hard to make it difficult to work outside of the MSOffice environment. OTOH Apple and OpenOffice work just as diligently to make sure that your Office documents can be used AND created using their alternative products.


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## Gnits (Aug 27, 2016)

I keep Powerpoint and Keynote on my MacAir to minimise issues arising.


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## PhilBurton (Aug 28, 2016)

Gnits said:


> I have seen people cry when they discover their Powerpoints do not work just before they are due to give a presentation, because of MS Office cross compatibility issues.  [Mostly due to incompatible fonts in apps which are heavily dependent on fonts].  You will not be able to save a Powerpoint (usually with those final tweaks) if the embedded fonts are not compatible with the o/s.


Gnits,

There are many other sources of incompatibility, which you will discover when you exchange PPTs with a colleague running the "other" version.

Whatever else we might say to criticize Adobe, they seem do a good job of making the same version of Lightroom run the same on both platforms.

Phil


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## PhilBurton (Aug 28, 2016)

Gnits said:


> I keep Powerpoint and Keynote on my MacAir to minimise issues arising.


In a business environment, MS Office is _the _standard.

Phil


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## Gnits (Aug 28, 2016)

PhilBurton said:


> In a business environment, MS Office is _the _standard.



Agreed..... and that is my background...
.... but a heck of a lot of photographers use Mac and do not have MS Office installed.

Also ... I am gobsmacked by the number of professional photographers who really do not know how to present their images (using any presentation tool Powerpoint, Keynote or anything else), usually just running a generic photo slide show based on a set of images in a folder.

Finally, I (or you)  may not have control of the presentation environment and may be asked to supply a presentation on a usb key. [Fallback is always to have presentation saved as pdf....so at least it is possible to present page by page via Acrobat].


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## clee01l (Aug 28, 2016)

Gnits said:


> Also ... I am gobsmacked by the number of professional photographers who really do not know how to present their images (using any presentation tool Powerpoint, Keynote or anything else), usually just running a generic photo slide show based on a set of images in a folder...


Photography can be a craft, art and a business.  Some people learn the craft but not the art.  As a result their work is mediocre.  Others that turn professional need the marketing skills to sell their "art".   I think it is rare that you can find a professional that natively holds all three skills without training in two of the three.  Marketing is all about presentation.  If you want others to appreciate your work, you need the presentation skills to get your message out there. Simple Powerpoint skills are required for this.  "Powerpoint" has become the generic adjective to describe the presentation process.  In addition to the expensive powerpoint, there are other alternatives. "Press" is a web based solution and Keynote is an Apple solution for iOS, OS X & MacOS. 

I give lectures on Nature and Nature photography.  You can only be successful  if you control the environment.  I would never make a presentation without a dry run using the actual equipment involved.  Because of DLP hardware variety, your either need to prepare for the "dumbest" situation (which would limit you to a 800X600 platform) or make sure that the DLP will work with your hardware and presentation app.  As a result, I eventually purchased my own DLP.  With it, I can present using Keynote and my iPhone or iPad but my preference is to bring my own laptop.


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## PhilBurton (Aug 29, 2016)

Gnits said:


> Finally, I (or you)  may not have control of the presentation environment and may be asked to supply a presentation on a usb key. [Fallback is always to have presentation saved as pdf....so at least it is possible to present page by page via Acrobat].



Ain't that the truth.  I always arrive a half hour early just to deal with these issues.  Mac vs. Windows is hardly the only issue.


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