A stranger came up to me in a café this afternoon. She was starting a new business and wanted to know what sort of computer she should get (as she saw me bashing away on my thinkpad.)
She was quite surprised to learn that I use a Windows laptop to do design work. “Yes,” I said. “I use the same Adobe design software on my thinkpad as I used to on my Mac PowerBook. I made the switch almost ten years ago.”
It is rather interesting that myths like this continue to hang around. When I first started using PageMaker on a Mac SE/30 back in the early nineties, designers did not have any platform choice – it’s a Mac or nothing. This has not been the case, however, since Windows 98.
So much of the Mac vs Windows debate is over which one is “better”. I reckon in most cases, for most users (in this case designers), choosing between a Mac or a PC is not a rational one.
Consider how we would compare these two design tools:
- What are the essential features of each tool?
Both Macs and PCs use the same hardware (Intel), hook up to the same peripherals (USB graphics tablets, PostScript printers), run the same software (Adobe), use the same fonts (TrueType, OpenType, PostScript), and share the same file formats. - What are the outcomes from using each tools?
Both platforms enable a designer to generate the same outcomes – artwork files that get turned into printed material, signage and websites. - How is the experience of using each tool?
Both MacOS and Windows use mature point-and-click, graphical interfaces. Both are built on proven, workable and dependable technologies. Both have sufficient user bases so as to enable mutual support and communities, as well as support from manufacturers and retailers.
So it comes down once again to an emotive choice. Which platform do you “like” better, even “love”? Do you “trust” one more than the other? In whose advertising do you see yourself? The fact that any discussion about which is “better” is likely to quickly degenerate into a “my church is holier than yours” mud-slinging event is testament to this.
