fellows, also having to notice this in several other threads it seems this meaningless discussions about PC vs. MAC are rather emotional than helpful. many comments remind me on discussions about cars. beforehand a few considerations ...
- macs are built from one maufacturer who can secure all components work together flawlessly
- err, not a single mac is produced by apple, everything is done by third parties who increasingly are using crap parts to meet the monetary pressure
- PCs are built by dozens of manufacturers who are competing to build the best and most performant machines
- err, most of them use the same third parties to assemble their stuff who increasingly use crap parts to meet the monetary pressure.
- OSX and its applications are maintained by a managable number of developers and so make sure all works together without problems
- XP and its applications are maintained by a huge number of developers and so make sure all works together without problems
- obviously both statements are not true
- sometimes or in some cases this platform is one step ahead, next time the other
- for us the question is just to choose the lesser of two evils (IMO)

in both worlds we had and will have to see major changes going on and no matter which machine we decide to pick up today, we will look at it as a bad choice in three months.

regarding the initial post i could only say: cross out plan B. the new laptops are great but still limited to 2 GB RAM, so you are restricted to a certain (lesser) number of loaded instruments.
the G5s seem to have less problems currently to get at least 3,5 GB loaded and a slighly better polyphony in well configured systems.
you have to pay a high price for this though - you can get 2 PCs for the money and so exceed, but you double the trouble and the number of devices to handle.

i'd say get the one you feel more familiar with and does better fit into your existing setup - or you think its more tasty ... you will encounter limits and headache with both.
christian

Christian is right.
Both mac and pc platorms can be great..and can be pain in the ass.
From what i've seen, the weakest link is usually the user.
I personally prefer PCs, mainly because they are cheaper, and I am more experienced with them.
I have seen great top notch PCs crash insanely and mess up just because the user did not know what he was doing.
With PCs you can build one from scratch and have the absolute best parts and have a perfect computer, under a managable price.
I can't really speak about macs as I haven't used one in 3 years. But what seems to be one of their advantages is their design, which i love. But when working on one, I find myself to hate it, mostly because I am so used to Windows. So choosing which one works best for you, like Christian said, is the way to go.
Mac is regarded as the audio industry standard, just like Protools. However, for me protools has been one of the most pain in the ass programs and I hate it. Instead Nuendo has been my ultimate favorite program. I think it's the same between Macs and PCs.
One is regarded as the standard so most people will go toward it, yet the other platform could be just as good, or even better.

But both are good platforms and they appeal to the different ways people think, again, whichever works better for you is the way to go.

I also think the idea of the intel powermacs making windows platforms useless is nonsense. Windows platforms are the leading platforms in gaming and the general consumer market. Since it's the leader in gaming, it will have to have the best graphics, best processors, etc etc, always getting better and faster.

Hi guys!

I don't want to enter the Pc/mac debate.

I was about to buy somekind of a monster :

Asus K8N-DL
ATX - Opteron - Dual Socket 940 - Chipset NVIDIA nForce4 Pro

2 AMD Opteron 265

6 gigs of ram

4 SATA 10000rpm HD

But I failed!
I don't know what you think but I've figured out that Windows XP limitations would not allow me to use this configuration at its best. I was said that SP is still in 32 bits and makes a 2 gigs limitation by app.
Also, I was planning to get a dual proc with a "simple core" thread. Is it better to take a single proc with a dual core thread?
Of course I guess it's best to get 2 dual cores but I feel it might be useless. What do you think?

@Ramu said:

What do you think?

Maybe I'm not seeing the obvious, but what is the "SP" you refer to?

/Mattias

@Mattias Henningson said:

Paul...are you really serious in your answers??? When you posted your first post I was absolutely certain you were joking, but I'm not so sure anymore.
/Mattias

Partly Mattias, yes. [[;)]]

But I stick to what I said to Tanuj - get on the Mac platform and use Logic with all the extras that go with it.

@Ramu said:

What do you think?

Maybe I'm not seeing the obvious, but what is the "SP" you refer to?

/Mattias

Sorry I meant windows Xp

Ah. There are two different versions of XP, one 32-bit and one 64-bit. The problem with the 64-bit version is that you have to have driver and software support to really gain anything. Currently the only sequencer with a released x64 version is Sonar AFAIK. 32-bit apps works fine in Win64 too, but you still have to make sure 64-bit drivers are there.

The process limitation of 2GB for 32-bit apps can be lifted to 3GB using a configuration change on your system if needed. You can even lift it to 4GB if you run your 32-bit apps on Win64. With your 6GB machine this would definitely be the case and you still have 2GB free for operating system needs. Check the sticky "Memory configuration and VI..." in the Vienna Instruments forum for more information regarding this type of configuration.

If you decide to do the Win64 thing, be aware that you're in the frontline of the development and that you're wearing the guinea-pig dress...

/Mattias

@PaulR said:

Partly Mattias, yes. [[;)]]

Thank you. [:)]

/Mattias

@Mattias Henningson said:

If you decide to do the Win64 thing, be aware that you're in the frontline of the development and that you're wearing the guinea-pig dress...

/Mattias

Ok! I might wait then [;)]

thx for your answer Mattias

@vibrato said:

...However, ultimately I am more comfortable with Windows...

Well that's as good a reason as any... All the best for your music projects. I just wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the Vista announcement, though. You could be waiting quite a long time... [*-)]

@PaulR said:

As to what Daryl says about Macs - try putting the Mac OS on a PC and see what happens.

Not to ignite the flame once more, but NEXT............! [:D]

DG

@Another User said:

I would also advise that if you get a Mac - use and learn Logic. You get a mass of things with Logic like Space Designer, Sculptor, loads of instruments that are very good and used all the time in soundtracks, loads of effects and mastering tools like Multicompressor, great channel EQ and so on. And you can load up 16 gigs of ram if you want to.

The only thing worth keeping on my crappo PC is probably the ram. You can wear the rest of it as a hat AFAIC. It's shite.

Aren't Macs supposed to be more stable and reliable than Windows?
I have used Windows 98, NT, 2000 and now XP, and all it does is crash for the silliest of reasons. I mean: video-editing isn't as hard on the PC anymore as it was during the days of 98 and NT, but it hardly runs any better.
(The downside on Mac is the unfamiliarity and the lack of software. Altough keeping a PC aside might be an idea)

[*-)]:
Paul, could you direct me to the logic site, please? I thought it was www.logic.com but obvisously not as I got a site about vacations or something.
Thanks!

@weslldeckers said:

Aren't Macs supposed to be more stable and reliable than Windows?

Welcome to the world of urban legends... [6]

/Mattias

@weslldeckers said:

Aren't Macs supposed to be more stable and reliable than Windows?
I have used Windows 98, NT, 2000 and now XP, and all it does is crash for the silliest of reasons. I mean: video-editing isn't as hard on the PC anymore as it was during the days of 98 and NT, but it hardly runs any better.
(The downside on Mac is the unfamiliarity and the lack of software. Altough keeping a PC aside might be an idea)

[*-)]:
Paul, could you direct me to the logic site, please? I thought it was www.logic.com but obvisously not as I got a site about vacations or something.
Thanks!

http://www.apple.com/logicpro/

You may wish to change it to the country of your choice

Jamriding, thanks!

I got a musical supply catalog the other day, sent in the mail and for the first time I noticed that nuendo's cost is 2000 dollars, thats twice the cost of logic. This is new.
I would suggest to contact beat kaufman and get his view, if you're used to PC. Beat used to use logic in the pc platform, but switched to nuendo on pc ,I think !!
He's producing excelent music. But one has to mention that when you arrive in hollywood and investigate what everyone's using , or the majority , its always suggests MAC & logic, or DP. Thats what works for the movie industry. Thats not to say that in hollywood no one is using PC, But to be curious I wounder how many are using pc's and in the movie industry ? thats the question ? Producing VSL music with a pc is very capable, Herb uses it I think ? I could be wrong. But its what you are aimed towards. You mentioned in your university mac's are being used, there is a reason Mac's are being used for scoring. Its because the motion picture industry are using it. They work hand in hand with cilicon valley to produce trouble free software, if it wasn't for the movie industry we would be cursing at all the music software and hardware. On the other side of the coin, there are exceptions,
I could be wrong here, because you do see nuendo with multiple pro tools studio's are being used to score with , how many in that venue, I couldn't say, But the bill to set up those type of studios is undoubtedly in the corporation range. I'm using a mac becuase its the cheapest i found to producing an all around musical product. In the east coast of the U.S., the pc is marketed from texas to east coast, years back no one heard of mac systems for music in the east coast, out west years back it was the opposit, you got laughed at if you used a pc.

Also the mac OS is virus free, Thats stability, Headache free. my nephew sells PC's and his office model keeps a virus in it which he cannot remove, but he is capable of building an enormous towers for video purposes. His market is mostly churches driven for video.

I think i would check with beat kaufman as to how he is aimed towards.

The age factor in switching from platform to platform is an issue here also.
I could not switch programs or platform at my age today. So if you are young and full of energy to spend, now is the time to decide exactly what you want to use for your later years ! And if you are in one platform and one program then music flows out of you. As apposed to having to hagle with differen programs and different key commands, different software approaches, a bit awkward for creating music. but not awkward for scoring in cymetry. If you want to be john williams , he is focused towards scoring by hand and orchestral conducting. Notation driven. If you score low budget films then its hardware / software. And or. ...........

Thats my experience with both platforms. But its not to say I'm right either.

Hope that helps. Good luck !!

[6] to hell with PC and macs!! they both suck. my linux box has crashed a total of zero times in the last nine months since i had it.