Mac and PC comptability

Well, I'm seriously considering getting a powerbook for graphic work when I go out and about and I'm really going to treat it as a companion to my desktop pc rather than a replacement. Anyhow, I'm a PC user and I'm most comfortable with it. I've used macs on a occasion and can't figure out why most graphic designers choose mac over pc. I guess reliability, but I've rarely ever seen my Windows XP based system crash nor do I notice any speed improvements. What I do like about mac notebooks are the weight, screen, and battery life. Also, price is a factor since I can get a comparably equipped powerbook for hundreds less then a sony vaio. My concern is with the compatibility of the powerbook to my pc based equipment. For example, most of my devices are usb 2.0 based. Do macs support USB 2.0? Also, how would I go about transferring files to and from mac and pc? Can a mac be recognized by a windows based network?

 

Well, I'm in a similar situation as you, I have PC at home and Mac at school.

The USB devices should not be a problem, especially because your new laptop will be USB 2.0 endowed. Macs are nice because you often don't even need the corresponding software for the device, they are much more plug and play friendly.

You will have to get the mac version of most of your programs (which you probably already know), which could get expensive. The way I transfer from PC to Mac (we have a unix based server, so the opposite of what you would be doing), and I have to ftp my files to the server from my PC and can simply upload from the Mac to the server.

I have no experience with using a windows based network, and connecting to a mac, but I have had a lot of problems (and no solution yet) with connecting a PC to a unix based server.

The only problems I have had was the encryption of my Mac files to .bin files, such that my PC would no longer recognize them once I ftped them. (pdfs seem immune to this although not my jpeg and other graphic files-this may be due to how you set up your mac, but it is something to be aware of).

I've had other issues with length of file names (PC supports longer names than Mac does) and some compatibility issues with animations in Powerpoint and formatting issue when converting word documents. Another little thing to keep in mind, Mac's don't always add the file extension, which is easy to fix but a pain in the butt if you forget to!

i hope this helps, anyone else, correct me if I'm wrong!

Marianne

 

I'm a long-time user of Macs and PCs, and I've never had compatibility problems between the two, although my experience is limited to moving MS Office, Adobe and jpg files back and force. Nowadays, MS Office for Mac gives you the option of saving files with the extension, so even that isn't a problem (as it once was--well, more an annoyance than anything)

As for networking...that's a tougher question. I have my Powerbook, a printer and two PCs at home plugged into a router. The computers share the Internet connection and the printer just fine. I've never tried to make the Mac and PCs talk over the network. I'm told it can be done, but you better investigate.

As for system stability, etc. I used to have fewer problems with my Mac than with our PCs, but it's pretty much evened up now. I would say my Dell desktop is the least stable of our systems (but it also has the most junk on it...kid's computer), while our Fujitsu laptop is the most stable. The PowerBook hangs occasionally (but it's also three years old and the HD is maxed out, so...)

One area Macs definitely have a leg up: evil people don't seem to write viruses for them. I haven't used anti-virus software on my Macs for probably six years and have never had a virus problem (that I'm aware of).




<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by harryhermit