mac vs win support

[protooleriate]

I may be being a tad cynical but has anyone else noticed how digi seem to be putting windows before mac now. At times it is subtle such as listing of things, where once it would be ordered mac then windows, now it seems to be windows then mac. The New AV option is PC supported before it is mac supported, and the manuals are now using more images of pc windows than of mac windows....
just a thought

[roberts]

Can't do XP,
Logic Pro, Soundtrack.
Autotune TDM
McDSP - Anything
Altiverb
Spectrasonics, Trilogy, Stylus, Atmosphere
Eventide-everything
GRM
Plus a few more (but I don't use them) This list is getting shorter.

[Mark Reis]

Once upon a time there was a company called Avid that made one of the premiere video editing applications available. It did all sorts of nifty things and cost a bundle. Then along came this Cupertino upstart company and they made Final Cut Pro for video editing. It did all sorts of nifty things at a fraction of the price. Avid was none too happy. A few years later, the Cupertino company decided to buy Emagic, makers of a particularly powerful midi and audio editing application....

to be continued.

[Drew Mazurek]

except that Apple is about 10x the size of Avid.

[fourthtunz]

except that Apple is about 10x the size of Avid.

And Microsloth is 100x the size of Apple

daniel

[Drew Mazurek]

what's that got to do with it? Does MS make pro video or audio software/hardware?

[Chief Technician]

Microsoft has a really popular codec called Windows Media 9. It is going to be a part of the HD-DVD spec, which will eventually get them into hardware (since their code has to be in your home HD-DVD player somehow).

[froyo]

Hello. Just to expand on what the Chief says here, Windows Media 9 is a 'consumer' type of codec along the lines of QuickTime and such. It's actually fairly good. They however also have a Professional codec or Windows Media Pro which is what the Chief is referring to. WMV HD is part of that video specification. The WMA or Audio part can do 24/96 in up to 7.1 channels. It has been submitted for and probably will be accepted as part of the HD DVD spec. For those who haven't seen it or heard it, I recommend checking it out. It looks and sounds pretty damn good for a codec.

Microsoft's hope is that this codec will become the defacto standard of digital cinema delivery and/or HD DVD discs and beyond. Digital cinema is something that no one really knows if it will ever happen or if it will replace the way movies are distributed nowadays. Microsoft is hoping and betting that it will and they want to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. They are making a big push on this and I suppose in some ways that means that they want to be associated with professional products, like Avid and Digidesign.

You can check the codec out in a DVD called Standing in the Shadows of Motown and I believe the Terminator 3 DVD also has it.

As for the initial topic brought up here, this has been discussed quite a bit in the last year or two. Digidesign has made a big to do about platform equality. This has also meant that they are very visible at trade shows and such making this claim. The reality is that both versions are not equal.

Digidesign was, is and always will be Mac first probably. If you want an example of this go back to when the G5 was announced. Digidesign gave press releases, interviews and posted a lot of information about compatibility, how much they would work to make sure they would be compatible, etc. A few months later, AMD released its version of a 64 bit chip. I defy anyone to find any official comment by Digidesign about it. I dare anyone. The fact is that there is none. Digidesign's priorities are always Mac first. They probably always will be.

I think what this refers to is the fact that in year's past, the PC version was hidden away in a drawer so to speak. Nothing was ever said about it in the press, trade shows etc. As an analogy, let's just say that before, for every 100 hours Digidesign would spend promoting the Mac version there would be 10 hours for the PC. In the last few years maybe that number has changed to a 100 Mac 30 or 35 PC. It's a big jump, but still nowhere near the Mac.

I think Mac devotees resent any attention that is given to the PC version of PT. They feel maybe the company should just focus all its energies on the Mac, like it did in the past. The idea of both versions being equal makes them a little nervous. To anyone who feels this way I say, a.) don't worry, Digidesign will always be Mac first and b.) PC's are cool too, give them a shot.

[Chief Technician]

Thanks for elaborating on the WM9 Froyo.

In the past, development was done on the Mac, and then ported to Windows. I believe this is still the case (the only possible exception would be AVOption|V10, and I say that only because its available for Windows first).

[Kim G. Rasmussen]

AFAIK, from the DigiPeople I've discussed it with, Pro Tools' cross-platform core is now developed exclusively on Windows XP.
The reason for AVoption|V10 being out on Windows first is properly that it's an Avid DNA box, and Avid is all Windows these days. Digi has to port the Media Station software and drivers to OS-X first...