AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

Hi All,

I've been a voyeur of this forum for years (so thanks to all for that!), but finally I need to pose a question - hopefully this is in the correct category.

I've been mixing with pro tools for 17 years and have been on MACs for most of that time; they just worked well.
Under new employment, I had a new suite built, but I was forced into the PC route. The biggest argument that was given was that AVID are moving over to PC as their primary format for PT. Apparently this comes from quite high up...whatever that means.
I've trawled the forum and wider internet and I can't find anything supporting this directly.

Six months in and I dislike the machine more than the first day. There are far too many pages of reasons for that, but they break down into two categories:

1. The general PC interface, from file management and folders to how windows presents itself.
2. It's performance for PT and presentation.

It's a well loaded machine, and we have two of these suites which are identical in their behaviour so I don't think it's faulty. So why is it slower than my previous Mac with significantly less processing, and why can't it multitask? I know people have their preferences like myself, so if you're please with your PC performance I'm pleased for you.

But, the long and short of it comes down to:

Are AVID going to go this route permanently?

They have a heritage of this after all, with Media Composer.

Many thanks in advance and sorry if it's a long post, I just want to be as clear as possible.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

I wouldn't pay too much attention to that. Avid is going to go where the money us and right now, more of the money is with MacOS. Besides that, a 'transition' would mean de-supporting the majority of their users. Can't see that as being good for the bottom line.

I think a lot of this comes from the misfire of Apple with the trashcan Mac and the long wait for its replacement. Apple's legendary secrecy has allowed this space to be filled with rumors of all sorts. I like mine (trashcan), but am still frustrated that late-life upgrades are expensive--if even possible. An iMac is not for me, but the iMac Pro looks like it's going to be quite powerful. If this points toward what next year's Mac Pro might be, then I think all of the Windows talk will die back.

I certainly prefer the Mac experience, but there are a lot of people who prefer Windows. I think Avid's stuck with both of us.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

Apparently, whenever someone starts a sentence with the word "apparently" it means that their following "facts" are complete and utter bull%$#t.

;-)

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

Now this is the sort of feedback I want to see more of! I would agree with both of you folks - but I needed to get more info from other users.

I would totally agree that they would be shooting themselves in both feet if they tried to move away from MAC. Thanks folks.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

If Apple didn't have a modular Mac Pro in the works then I could see more people jumping ship to PC.
I certainly considered it.

It remains to be seen if Apple are really invested in the pro user- we won't know for a couple of years at least.

One thing is certain though- Avid aren't driving Mac people moving to PC.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

That was always my understanding as well, I'm trying to figure out where the truth sits and give myself a fighting chance of changing out these machines.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

Hi, welcome to the community.

As of now, Avid is cross-platform and I can't see it changing until they release an embedded "Pro Tools Computer" like the S3L "engine" rack, and stop supporting both Mac and Win altogether; so that the only way to buy PT would be buying the Avid Computer. And that (going back to tying PT software and Avid hardware) is even more unlikely than dropping support for either platform.

IMO supporting Win to begin with was a bad idea, but they did it and we have to live with it.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

What version of windows do you have? You also may be dealing with one of those IT control-freak creeps who set everything up to look like Windows NT to discourage users from making changes.

As for numbers, my understanding is the majority of vanilla users run windows while the majority of HD users still run macs.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

It's 8.1. I know very little about windows so I'm not sure about the intricacies of setup, but you're right, I have no autonomy, so I have to rely on others to fix things, do updates, etc.etc...:(

Jfreak - thanks for the welcome and input. I understand what you mean about the cross platform bit, but now that I've had experience on a PC, it's more than evident that Avid develop for Mac and then port it across for PC. It just isn't as slick. eg. conflicts with the ALT key with Tabbing. This is just one of many grubby things about the PC interface.
What I suppose my initial question is more about, is that if they'll develop for PC and then port across to Mac. Obviously the S6 M40 has a PC inside, so they're developing more in that area now anyway.

That said, the more people that are responding here is giving me ammunition in the good fight! ;)

Cheers.

Re: AVID swinging from MAC to PC??
 

Get it updated to Windows 10. It'll save you a lot of time and your employer a lot of money.