Mac guy trying to go PC

[coilaman]

Hi guys,
I am exploring the possibility of switching to PC platform for graphic design work, web design and video editing. But what about the Windows 7? How does it handle heavy workloads? What about crashing and how does it handle crashing? When an application crash happens, does it freeze the whole machine or just closes that one application with no freezing?

I am trying to compare it to Mac OS X and see if Windows 7 is a comparable operating system. What about Core Image, Core Audio and similar features that Mac OS X has? Are comparable features available in Windows 7?

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[leadtrombone]

Hi guys,
I am exploring the possibility of switching to PC platform for graphic design work, web design and video editing. But what about the Windows 7? How does it handle heavy workloads? What about crashing and how does it handle crashing? When an application crash happens, does it freeze the whole machine or just closes that one application with no freezing?

I am trying to compare it to Mac OS X and see if Windows 7 is a comparable operating system. What about Core Image, Core Audio and similar features that Mac OS X has? Are comparable features available in Windows 7?

Thanks a lot for your help.

I repair both Macs and PCs everyday. Most of the mainstream software is available on both. What do you use for each task?

Windows 7 for the most part handles crashes better then others. Most of the time it will be only one application that crashes at a time and the OS is able to try to correct and restart the app. Heavy work loads normally aren't problem if you have enough of a machine to handle you work load.

The one thing you need to remember about the Mac hardware is that they use IPS panels in the monitors and the are color calibrated from the factory. So with a Windows machine you need to color calibrate you displays.

If I missed or didn't fully one of your questions let me know and I'll try to answer.

 

[coilaman]

I repair both Macs and PCs everyday. Most of the mainstream software is available on both. What do you use for each task?

Windows 7 for the most part handles crashes better then others. Most of the time it will be only one application that crashes at a time and the OS is able to try to correct and restart the app. Heavy work loads normally aren't problem if you have enough of a machine to handle you work load.

Thank you for your kind reply, Mr. Lead Trombone. I use Adobe CS Design Premium Suite, iMovie for video editing and Garage Band for correcting audio sync problems and other audio trickery I like to do when creating videos for DVD watching and Youtube streaming.

I've dealt with PCs before whenever my sister had a problem with her Dell desktop. I am always the one to get a call when something is wrong with her PC and I am not a PC expert. I am a lot better with Macs, but I always manage to troubleshoot and resolve PC problems successfully because I use forums and also my troubleshooting experience with Macs. Mac experience helps a lot with PCs because problems are always similar on PCs and Macs. Only the methods of resolving those issues are a bit different, but not by much. Mac users have all kinds of issues with the software and the hardware and you can visit the Apple support section of their website and see for yourself.

The support site is: https://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

From that standpoint, I can tell you that stability, reliability and performance on PCs have a lot to do with the hardware. A lot of times people are trying to run Windows OS, various pro-level applications and high-end games on very little RAM memory, small hard drives, very weak graphics cards, with crammed computer cases and insufficient ventilation. All those factors contribute to various stability and performance issues. I find that people have very little issues with Windows OS itself, be it XP or Windows 7. Vista is a bit worse, but Vista now matured and Microsoft resolved a lot of its issues. If you have appropriate hardware and fully compatible software with your Windows OS, you should have very little issues if any.

What are your experiences with Windows vs Mac OS X? Please elaborate a bit more so that I can get a better picture. Why is it that Windows market is losing market share? Is it because people are not happy with those low-end and very cheap Dells and HPs that are too stripped down to perform reliably or is it really that Windows OS is really just too clunky and crash prone? My opinion is that OEM manufacturers like Dell and HP are the ones to blame, but I am basing this on my very limited experience with them. You probably know a lot more because you deal with them regularly.

Also, when considering crashing, since when is it that Windows OS is able to restart the crashed application without affecting the whole machine? Is that just recent from Windows 7 or from XP?