The real Question

[DanSOUND]

Ok, well to start off have been using digidesign stuff from dot, quite honestly I think some of the best audio software out there full stop.
However I'm sure like every dedicated Mac+protools user, who has invested thousands and thousand of dollars in your products on the previously only and still (from all accounts) best platform, are sick of hearing protools is going to go PC only.

Please reassure me and any others that you have an on going commitment to bring your state of the software to, in my opinion, the best OS out there.

Regards and congatulations on a quick update on "tiger".

[DigiTechSupt]

From this months Digizine:


One issue we hear a lot about is the choice of computer platform to run our products on. Some people have concerns about whether we plan to continue to support their platform (Mac or PC) and which computer is supposedly better to use for audio.

We have a lot of customers on both sides of the fence. At Digidesign, we consider this area to be the customer’s choice, driven by their preference. That doesn’t mean that we don’t wish it were simpler — it’s a lot of work to support different, ever-changing operating systems. Various "dot" releases and service packs require updates and increased testing all of the time. As "Moore’s Law" famously dictates, we have seen tremendous ongoing price/performance value coming out of the processor families that run modern CPUs, and all of us benefit from it. And while modern operating systems go through teething pains as they mature, the end result is a more stable and (hopefully) friendlier computing environment.

So which platform is better? There is actually no clear answer to this question. Over time, we’ve narrowed the gap on Pro Tools performance parity for both platforms and worked with third parties to ensure that their plug-ins are available for both platforms as well. It wasn’t always this way, and sometimes not every feature is available across both platforms from day one on a given release. But it’s getting better all the time — we take that commitment pretty seriously. The bottom line is you get to choose — and that should be good. Support for both platforms from Digidesign will continue to be strong.

Dave Lebolt
Digidesign General Manager

[Seeee]

kinda OT here but Moores law is officially "irrelevent" and done. just read a cnn article about it.

kinda like the US senate democrats. worthless.

comforting knowing DIGI is sticking by the Mac through these tough times. hopefully Apple gets their crap together soon.

[bizzle]

kinda OT here but Moores law is officially "irrelevent" and done. just read a cnn article about it.

kinda like the US senate democrats. worthless.

comforting knowing DIGI is sticking by the Mac through these tough times. hopefully Apple gets their crap together soon.

What exactly are you talking about?



&e

[Drew Mazurek]

yea, i'd say they've got it together.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1098

[Howardk]

Moore's Law

[ProToolsguy56]

Unfortunately look at who is putting out the article...Apple enthusiast. I'm sure there is some bias in there..to try and pat themselves on the back.

The problem with this article is, they claim PC users are switching to mac. While some users that may be true...but realistically, in todays world...What do you think the actual number of units of PC vs MAC IN SERVICE...in the world?

My guess would be:

98% PC
2% MAC.

2% if lucky..probably more like 0.3% MAC.

It only makes sense for Digi to go full throttle into the Windows world. Windows simply dominates. AVID? WINDOWS. And as far as security, I don't see how that's a problem...since why would anybody connect their DAW to the internet anyways?

My guess is, since Pro Tools was originally designed for home studio applications, and traditionally on MAC, you find the loyalists still continuing by upgrading to the platform they are most comfortable with. To abandon their very customer base would be a foolish move and it would never happen.

I do hope Digi spends more and more energy on the PC versions. The cost/performance ratio of WINTEL systems is simply un-beatable...with any G5...and it will always be this way.

WHY ON EARTH though are the TDM systems not compatible with AMD Opteron? This seriously has to be looked into.

[Howardk]

since why would anybody connect their DAW to the internet anyways?

You'e kidding right (It is so hard to tell with the written word)? I don't know how to keep a system working without being connected to the internet. iLok & other authorizations, OS PT and PI updates, FTP downloads/uploads of audio. . .

Yes, it is a shame AMD is out of this loop.

I have more PCs than Macs. . . but I really hate the amount of work it takes to keep Windows running. Hey, I know it will never happen but I'll say it. . ProTools for Linux please!

[Drew Mazurek]

the info came from Piper Jaffray, not Apple Insider if you actually read the article. and yea, i couldn't stand to not have my PT rig connected to the net. i put mixes on my iDisk, i surf the net while dong SRC or exporting, and of course all the iLok crap.

sure it's still 98/2 windows and you know what, i actually prefer it to stay that way.

[filmixer]

>What do you think the actual number of units of PC vs MAC IN SERVICE...in the world? My guess would be: 98% PC, 2% MAC.<

So what do you think the ratio of Mercedes Benz or BMW is to Toyota? Just because one thing is more popular than another doesn't make it better or even any good. Digi's philosophy on this is correct, let the end user decide which platform suits their needs best. In this case, Pro Tools TDM users that run on Macs are about 80% of the market. There are many other professions where Macs also dominate. Being smaller gives Apple a huge advantage over Microsoft. For one, they were able to totally change their operating system from the core up without pissing too many people off (OSX). Microsoft will be stuck with a static, security hole filled system for the foreseeable future because their huge corporate installed base can't be messed with. The Titanic ran into the iceberg because it was so big, couldn't turn fast enough to avoid the disaster. Not only that, but Apple is focused on our industry. Steve Jobs owns one of the most succesful film companies in the world. The iTunes music store has given record companies hope that they can make money for them and their artists with the internet instead of just getting ripped off. They care about the music and post production business. These markets are just a flea on Mircosoft's' back compared to the big corporate database and server markets. I think this is a big reasons Mac users are so loyal to Apple. Apple's loyal to them and makes products focused on creative endevors. Products that artists can use and stay focused on their art and not on computers.