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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
mac /PC Windows compatibility and questions
Jim Owens, Photographer
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Cincinnati | OH | usa | Posted: 11:11 PM on 12.21.03 |
->> Hi all, First I need to give some background info.
I'm converting to digital next year and I currently have Windows XP with my home computer but no laptop..
I not only work for the local weekly weakly but I have landed an assistant photogs posistion at a local studio. [wedddings, portraits, advertising, etc.]
The studio is all Mac for our digital images and I will have access to some of the software and equipment. [perk] Most of the shooters I associate with have Mac and they recommend the system over PC by a majority.
My problem ? My wife wants to stay with Windows because a lot of her important work is on our home computer.
If I went Mac with the laptop, software, etc how difficult would it be to have the two systems talk to each other ? Capacity wise, a good laptop would handle all of my work for now and the future so separate systems are a possibility. It seems that would be wasting capital on building up computers and all the associated digital camera support necessities for two systems.
I did a search earlier and found that the two systems can talk to each other but what are the pitfalls ? |
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Thad Parsons, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 12:38 AM on 12.22.03 |
->> Ok, well, I currently have an iBook as my main computer and an old PC desktop that is waiting to have a new purpose. So, I am gaining daily experience in getting the two to talk ... but I have been working between the two systems for years (Having graduated from a school last year that has both Macs and PCs in equal amounts on campus in labs, I have worked between the two a lot over the last four years).
The biggest pitfall that I have found is software. You either have to buy two copies of all software or not have it on one computer (aka Photoshop, PhotoMechanic, archiving software). On the other hand, not all software is available on both platforms - this goes both ways and can cause some real problems. I am currently looking at trying to move several proprietary catalogs of items from PC to my Mac and am having some trouble.
Having just recently gone Mac ... and I did it for other reasons than OS ... I can say that you can stay on the PC side of the world and do photography. I know of a couple of newspapers that use PCs instead of Macs and I know of at least one AP photog that uses a PC.
The software is there for a PC and with Win XP or 2000, I have found that Windows does not lock up as much as it did in Win98. I use Windows 2000 with PS 7 at my other job with great success to edit photos for an online store plus the same computers are also used for newsletter layout work - and they work well.
I went through months of research and decided to get a Mac laptop because of several reasons - that would take a long time to talk about - but it is not a real problem to have the two systems co-exist. |
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Justin Kase Conder, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Fresno | CA | USA | Posted: 3:13 AM on 12.22.03 |
->> Hey Jim, I work off a Mac iBook as my assignment computer and have a PC at home. I purchased the iBook a few years back at a price I couldn’t resist and had the same concerns as you. Before Mac introduced OS X – Jaguar networking the two computers was somewhat costly and cumbersome. On the PC I was running Window’s Millennium and on the Mac I was running OS 9.2.2. In order to network the two together via an Ethernet cable I had to use a very expensive program called PC Maclan. It worked quasi-well and allowed me to meet the needs I had.
Today things are very different, I am now running Windows XP Pro on the PC and OS X’s Jaguar (which is a Linux based OS) on my Mac. Networking the two now is much simpler then it was in the past. Depending on how much information I have to transfer I will either connect them wirelessly through a wireless router or I’ll connect them individually via an Ethernet cable. Sometimes the Mac is a little finicky recognizing the PC and I have to restart it but it usually works with any problems, and just a few mouse clicks. The ability to do this through Mac’s OS is new and was only introduced when Mac came out with OS X – Jaguar. There are several tutorials on the net on the steps taken to allow the computers to share information.
As far as software is concerned, this may present a problem. I got a hold of a Mac Photoshop CD and used the serial number from my PC Photoshop CD and it was able to load the software on my Mac. The other two programs I use on the Mac, Fotostaton and Photo Mechanic, I had to buy specifically for the Mac.
I really like my Mac and having one while working in an industry where it is the standard doesn’t make an enormous difference but there have been situations where it’s been helpful. As time goes on and the integration of the two platforms increase sharing information between the two OS’s will become even simpler then it is now.
Justin Kase Conder |
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Zack Uribe, Photographer
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Santa Clara | CA | USA | Posted: 3:30 AM on 12.22.03 |
->> Just a follow up to Thad's post about having to buy 2 pieces of software if you were to have a Mac and PC in the same house..
For MOST software vendors, you would need to buy 2 pieces of software, even if they were both Windows Machines. I know that a lot of people have convinced themselves that since both pieces of software might not be used at the same time, they only need one, but in MOST cases nowadays that is not correct.
Also most software has a similar User Interface between Mac and Windows, so that I don't think you would be slowed down if you were to use Photoshop on the Mac at work and then Photoshop on Windows at home. |
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Chris Jennings, Photographer
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Sherman | TX | USA | Posted: 9:01 AM on 12.22.03 |
| ->> I use a PC laptop running Windows XP on a mac network at work. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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Amherst | MA | USA | Posted: 9:21 AM on 12.22.03 |
->> While my house is primarily Mac, desktop and laptops, I still often travel with a Windows 2000 laptop as my back up. I also keep the Win2K machine for my invoicing and tracking, as the programs were easier to use on Windows at the time I got the computer.
I have no problem working between the operating systems. I can access Win2K from OS X (Jaguar at the moment) , without any problems.
The downside is I own two versions of Photoshop, two versions of Office, two versions of PhotoMechanic, etc etc etc. You can't buy a multi-license, you buy a different program, because they are two different operating systems.
Each O/S has it's ups and downs, and I like what each one does....but if you had to chose one O/S get a Mac! |
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Tony Donaldson, Photographer
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Sherman Oaks | CA | USA | Posted: 9:23 AM on 12.22.03 |
| ->> You can also see how easy it is to convert to Mac from PC and keep all your old files at http://www.apple.com/switch . Tons of stories from people and apple about the advantages and ease of use, and how easy it is to switch. |
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Jim Owens, Photographer
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Cincinnati | OH | usa | Posted: 9:47 AM on 12.22.03 |
->> Thanks everyone for all the great replies.
All my wife really wants is to keep her system for her work/personal stuff and to keep our family photos from our Coolpix 3500 in Photoshop 7 in Windows. Thats' not too much to ask.
I'm leaning towards Mac to make myself compatible with the studios software. That's admittedly a huge factor.
When one's instructor utilizes Mac, it's best to learn his way first one would think.
Jim |
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