Is a Mac better than a PC for design work? Why?

[groovygarden]

Hiya,

I know Mac is meant to be better for design/art work than a PC, but why?! If you are using the same software on a Mac and a PC then what's the difference?

Is it essential for a developer/designer to be able to use a Mac?

[matty34]

Hi groovygarden.

Mac's are quite poor for design/art work. They crash alot... and freezes..

PC's on the other hand... don't crash alot. and have much much better grapics

[bazwillrun]

That famous Mac being better for graphics myth.
ROTFLMAO

How do you know Macs are meant to be better for graphics ?

[Fanriffic]

"Is it essential for a developer / designer to be able to use a Mac?"
Not necessarily, but it helps. Most design companies and graphic designers just prefer to use Macs because they are easy to use and acknowledge the aesthetics of the Mac design.
Students and designers are introduced to Macs at college and university, so tend to stick with them when they leave.
You normally find Macs are also preferred in the music industry and in the recording studios. Newspapers and magazine companies tend to use both. The software they use determines which hardware they use. This is also the trend with animators and games developers.
All office work is mainly PC based i.e. word processing, emails etc . . .
People who play games also buy PCs but I would rather buy a games console. That's what the PlayStation and XBox were invented for.

It's usually the budget of the company that determines whether to purchase a Mac or a PC. If money is no object, then they tend to buy Macs. With Apple switching all their Macs to Intel chips, this will eventually help bring down the prices. I hope.

My personal preference, from experience, is always buy an Apple Mac. I wouldn't give a PC the time of day or my money. I find using a PC (Windows) adds to stress levels.

The PC versus Mac debate will always be around but at the end of the day, it all depends on which you prefer to use, what you can afford and what you want to achieve and output from your computer.

[fo3nix]

BTW, if you price up an iMac and a comparative windows PC (from Dell for example, normally pretty good on their prices), you'll find the price to be very competitive.

I'd completely agree with Fanriffic on this one. Some of the main reasons why they were adopted earlier by designers is that 1) their screen resolution is higher (windows only uses 72ppi res), and 2) Adobe et al. first started making progams for the Mac, then moved the programs over to windows.

[groovygarden]

Thanks for the answers guys, made very interesting reading.