AVID swinging from MAC to PC??

[anonymoose]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

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

Thanks Bob. May I ask why you think this makes a big difference? My PC ignorance is showing now!

[albee1952]

In recent years, there has been a swing towards PC for a lot of people, but I don't see that having anything to do with Avid. Its more(just my opinion here) a fact of Apple ignoring "pro" needs.(look at the current "iTrashcan" as compared to the last tower 12 core machines) Then you also have Apple's "don't care" attitude when it comes to backwards compatibility. Its quite uncommon for a Windows update to break something completely, but OSX updates are rather notorious(again, just my opinion). When I started my journey 14 years ago with LE, the consensus at the time was, HD/TDM is better on a Mac and LE is better on a PC, so I went the PC route(first with 002, then with 003) and have had as much success as any Mac user, and also as much misery as any Mac user

I do believe that whatever platform you learn on(Mac or PC), once you get comfy on one, the other is going to seem a lot worse than it is(I feel the same way about DAW software).

[JoelG]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

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 an IT control freak, I think I'm insulted But I'd definitely look at going to Windows 10, especially if you're on 8.x.

Just an observation, but aside from some flaky ASIO issues, there seem to be a lot more incompatibilities and issues with Mac's here. I'm on Windows 10, still running an old interface (Project Mix IO) that hasn't had driver updates since Windows 7, on server hardware from 2007 - try that with a Mac. No GUI lag, not stuck at an old OS version because the vendor decided not to support it.

Also, not trying to start a Mac/Win debate, they are both good and bad. Just some perspective from a Windows IT guy. :)

Joel

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by anonymoose

Thanks Bob. May I ask why you think this makes a big difference? My PC ignorance is showing now!

The windows 10 interface is night and day better. It's more logical and mac-like.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

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

+1 This will make more sense to a OSX user than Windows 8 will. I personally liked Windows 8, and I like Windows 10, but I understand why some people never liked Win 8 since it was a HUGE departure from WinXP, Vista, and 7.

Get Window 10. It more secure, it's faster, and it's a modern OS. The PC you have should smoke, even with the 2.4Ghz, considering you have 2 cpus (although I don't know what version you have) that system should have no issue with Pro Tools. Heck, that system should have no issue (assuming you have a good video card) editing 4K video at HQ in Media Composer. And video is waaaay more demanding than audio. Although, with video, latency isn't really an issue, whereas with audio it's pretty important when tracking.

Upgrade to Windows 10.

Make sure your IT guys isn't loading your system with multiple anti-virus software.

Check the HP site for any updates to the Z840.

The system you have should blow any current Mac out of the water. The Z840 is pretty new... I'm wondering how your company bought a new one with Windows 8.1 on it? The ones I see all have Windows 10 64 bit.

[The Weed]

Plus, make sure your IT guy has done ALL the Avid optimizations, no matter how frivolous they may seem. And have him look at this thread.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

The windows 10 interface is night and day better. It's more logical and mac-like.

Why not get a 100% Mac to begin with? Don't settle for copies...

[Bob Olhsson]

His job requires a PC.

That said, Apple's new OS of the month might not be such a great idea until after Apple settles down again.

[reichman]

Every couple of years, I seriously consider switching platforms, but just this year Dolby and Avid got together on a major collaboration with Atmos. Did y'all notice the fine print? Mac only.

I like my trashcan. Silent, small and zippy.

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by anonymoose

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.

1. Thats your preference. Close to 20 years on OSX, of course anything else is going to look and feel weird to navigate. Its why many of us stick with Pro Tools in general. Learning another daw inside and out takes a tremendous amount of time.

2. Cant really comment about PT performance in comparison of 2 systems if we don't even know the systems you are comparing. You could have 2 lower or mid end PC's and wondering why they are not comparing to high end Mac Pro's.
Pc's multitask fine. Your statements are quite vague, but I still think much of it comes back to #1 and being uncomfortable in the change and learning process. You also state you are on Windows 8, which nobody really cared for.