Mac or PC for school?

[KG29]

Hi Folks,

 

I'm very lost on this topic, I know most Design schools teach on Mac's. Would I be lost using Windows with the hot keys using Photoshop or the Coding program? I don't want the teaching explaining something using a Mac but I'm lost using windows.

 

I have access to Mac's but have been a Windows user since 95 but feel I'm limited with design programs as I'm looking to build some cool features & most design company's only use Mac's too.

 

It's so Confusing :wacko:

 

My second Career plan.

 

-two years learning Photoshop with a Degree

-two years learning Web development with a Degree

 

My theory is having something to offer, I want to start and finish that eCommerce site...knowing my code is clean and the images are perfect. I was shocked only folks "learn one or the other".

 

I also have many design features I want to build that haven't happened yet in the boring plain eCommerce landscape

 

Everything is clean and "Crisp" where's the WOW factor now to remember that site.

 

I'm just really looking for help

 

thank you

[rtpb5642]

PC laptop with IPS display

[Kyuubixchidori]

Hi Folks,

 

I'm very lost on this topic, I know most Design schools teach on Mac's. Would I be lost using Windows with the hot keys using Photoshop or the Coding program? I don't want the teaching explaining something using a Mac but I'm lost using windows.

 

I have access to Mac's but have been a Windows user since 95 but feel I'm limited with design programs as I'm looking to build some cool features & most design company's only use Mac's too.

 

It's so Confusing :wacko:

 

My second Career plan.

 

-two years learning Photoshop with a Degree

-two years learning Web development with a Degree

 

My theory is having something to offer, I want to start and finish that eCommerce site...knowing my code is clean and the images are perfect. I was shocked only folks "learn one or the other".

 

I also have many design features I want to build that haven't happened yet in the boring plain eCommerce landscape

 

Everything is clean and "Crisp" where's the WOW factor now to remember that site.

 

I'm just really looking for help

 

thank you

if you can afford it go mac. better battery life, build quality, and the software. can always dualboot. a small spec bump by going PC will mean nothing if its harder to learn from the software differences. 

[minibois]

- Photoshop is on PC too

- Everything you need for web dev is on PC too

- Mac commands are pretty much the same commands as for Windows, except Ctrl = Command key

 

Not sure why people always say Mac = best for designing..

[KemoKa]

PC. Many more design programs available to you, not to mention loads more computational power at your disposal with which to use said programs. Macs are fine for the average joe coffee-shop internet surfer, but if you have that amount of money at your disposal and you want to get some work done, they make no sense, as you can get a faster, more powerful, more stable PC for far far less. The highest GPU you can get on a Macbook currently is a measly 750M. surely you weren't thinking of that if you were thinking of using hardware acceleration? You'd be better off getting an MSI WS60 in my opinion, because it has a quadro instead of a Geforce card. If you're not going down the hardware acceleration road, then a PC is still a much better way to go.

 

Not to mention you can do many more things with the PC than you can with the Mac.

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

Mac all the way no viruses. HA! JUST KIDDING.

PC obviously.

[LNW]

I recommend a mac..but just for your case. Personally I would spend it on a PC, but if you're being taught on a Mac, go for it.

[Raffy98]

- Photoshop is on PC too

- Everything you need for web dev is on PC too

- Mac commands are pretty much the same commands as for Windows, except Ctrl = Command key

 

Not sure why people always say Mac = best for designing...

True story bro.

Go with a PC, performance/cost will be way higher than a Macbook, also all things Mac OS does can be done anyway even on Windows: don't worry!

[Mug]

Mac 100 percent

 

If your education establishment uses Mac, you should use Mac too

[BrandonTheCat]

Please get a Mac for Designing. 

But I see that you are MUCH used to PC's. That makes sense, as so is 99% of the forums here. 

 

Umm, In my honest opinion macs are usually better so much so as they use images like .Png's and jpeg's to run a lot smoother and faster for some reason. I have a RAID set up PC with 6 cores, and yet my macbook air that has 2 cores and is WAY underpowered, It would still load everything faster on my mac. I guess you could say photoshop is much more optimized for macs, no matter how powerful the other PC is. Take this info with the smallest grain of salt though, as if I was ever on photoshop, the first thing I would grab is my mac, rather than my PC because of just how smoothly it runs photoshop and illustrator. The only thing I would use my PC for (In terms of production) is video editing, as you actually need power for that. 

 

Keep in mind, photoshop almost requires no compute power at all. It runs flawlessly editing a 28MP image on my dual core macbook air with 4GB of ram. 

[comicsansms]

I would get a PC.

It would be a pain in the ass to learn a new OS during school.

 

Also I find that mac's are overpriced, but they also tend to have a better battery life too.

(Also you are also AUTO cool if you have a mac, I don't know why, but that's the way it works)

[samcool55]

I would go for web design, but practise your photo work.

The reason is, well convincing someone that you can code is a lot harder than to proof you can edit photo's.

So for the web development you have your grade at the end, and for the photo work you have just some examples of what you did.

It's a lot easier for someone to judge a picture than a bunch of code

[KG29]

WOW thanks for all the replies.

 

I will be honest for about 6 months I've been looking at pawn shops for Macbook pro's, I just didn't want to be the odd person out even interning at design firms that only uses certain coding programs for Mac's.

 

I like double booting Windows 7/Mac

 

Yes,I've been a Windows user since 95 and stooped at Windows 7 and remember Pentium I, II computers & 56k modems making sure you didn't have messages or the phone off the hook,just wish I jumped into everything then

 

Your guy's/Girls that replied have any completed the courses I want, if those answers are real life results I will just stick with windows and buy a newer one. I Wasn't sure if the teacher shows one thing, and then says everyone using windows it's this method.

 

thanks for help everyone.

 

 

[Method]

Not sure why people always say Mac = best for designing..

 

Have you ever used a mac? My work provided me one (my first mac ever), and for productivity I'll never go back to windows. 

 

To OP: If you're serious about web design, get a mac. Any internship you get, that's what all shops will be using, and you'll be better off for it.

[Rekcut722]

Hi Folks,

 

I'm very lost on this topic, I know most Design schools teach on Mac's. Would I be lost using Windows with the hot keys using Photoshop or the Coding program? I don't want the teaching explaining something using a Mac but I'm lost using windows.

 

I have access to Mac's but have been a Windows user since 95 but feel I'm limited with design programs as I'm looking to build some cool features & most design company's only use Mac's too.

 

It's so Confusing :wacko:

 

My second Career plan.

 

-two years learning Photoshop with a Degree

-two years learning Web development with a Degree

 

My theory is having something to offer, I want to start and finish that eCommerce site...knowing my code is clean and the images are perfect. I was shocked only folks "learn one or the other".

 

I also have many design features I want to build that haven't happened yet in the boring plain eCommerce landscape

 

Everything is clean and "Crisp" where's the WOW factor now to remember that site.

 

I'm just really looking for help

 

thank you

if u can get a 13 or 15 inch retina macbook pro and dual boot with windows if u have to that would be perfect as the keyboards on macbooks are amazing and the trackpads are the best on laptops hands down

[Blake]

Not sure why people always say Mac = best for designing..

because they don't know what they are talking about. sure back in the day there where many professional design applications that where mac only. that day has long since past.

[Opeth747]

if you can afford it go mac. better battery life, build quality, and the software. can always dualboot. a small spec bump by going PC will mean nothing if its harder to learn from the software differences. 

Better battery life? Build quality? Compared to what? All Windows laptops? Someone is an ignorant fanboy. 

[Opeth747]

if u can get a 13 or 15 inch retina macbook pro and dual boot with windows if u have to that would be perfect as the keyboards on macbooks are amazing and the trackpads are the best on laptops hands down

That's your opinion. 

[Windows2000]

If your education establishment uses Mac, you should use Mac too

^This is pretty much the answer. Macs have great apps for production and house great build quality. But there are many issues with Macs big and little.

I would personally go with PC.

 

This forum also tends to be biased (no offence, it's the truth. Half of you guys are enthusiasts myself included) so you'll also get "PC" as many answers.

You should pick whatever is best for YOU, not us.

This is like asking if you would want us to decide whether you should wear shorts or jeans. 

[Raffy98]

^This is pretty much the answer. Macs have great apps for production and house great build quality. But there are many issues with Macs big and little.

I would personally go with PC.

 

This forum also tends to be biased (no offence, it's the truth. Half of you guys are enthusiasts myself included) so you'll also get "PC" as many answers.

You should pick whatever is best for YOU, not us.

This is like asking if you would want us to decide whether you should wear shorts or jeans. 

I suggested PC because it's cheaper and it does pretty much the same stuff, but at the end it's always up to him!

I only made a suggestion, that's what you do on forums!

[minibois]

WOW thanks for all the replies.

 

I will be honest for about 6 months I've been looking at pawn shops for Macbook pro's, I just didn't want to be the odd person out even interning at design firms that only uses certain coding programs for Mac's.

 

I like double booting Windows 7/Mac

 

Yes,I've been a Windows user since 95 and stooped at Windows 7 and remember Pentium I, II computers & 56k modems making sure you didn't have messages or the phone off the hook,just wish I jumped into everything then

 

Your guy's/Girls that replied have any completed the courses I want, if those answers are real life results I will just stick with windows and buy a newer one. I Wasn't sure if the teacher shows one thing, and then says everyone using windows it's this method.

 

thanks for help everyone.

You're welcome

For designing you will probably use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe photoshop, both are on PC too.

For web dev.. On Mac you would probably use Sublime Text 2, which is on PC too but you also have NotePad++ on PC. (or maybe you will use Adobe Dreamweaver, which is on PC too)

 

If a teacher shows how to do something on his Mac in any of these programs, you can do exactly the same on a PC.

 

And 2nd hand MacBooks hold their value pretty good.. Which is a shame for buyers.. But if you find a good cheap one, you could pick it up.

 

Source:

I am currently doing a game dev study, but the first year featured web dev and the basics of designing so that's why I know this stuff.

We mostly used Windows (8) PC's. I saw the designing studies at my school use more Macs, but also some PC's. 

 

because they don't know what they are talking about. sure back in the day there where many professional design applications that where mac only. that day has long since past.

True.

[minibois]

Have you ever used a mac? My work provided me one (my first mac ever), and for productivity I'll never go back to windows. 

I have to say, only at school. That is not a whole lot and not for personal use, but nothing compelled me to use OSX more.

If you like OSX more than Windows for whatever, that's fine with me. I just provided my opinion on Windows vs. OSX which is: you can do the same stuff on both, but I prefer Windows way over OSX in pretty much all stuff.

[othertomperson]

- Photoshop is on PC too

- Everything you need for web dev is on PC too

- Mac commands are pretty much the same commands as for Windows, except Ctrl = Command key

 

Not sure why people always say Mac = best for designing..

 

Probably because it comes with a bunch of designing and productivity software that, while not Adobe quality, would still set you back hundreds of pounds to acquire equivalents of on Windows.

[minibois]

Probably because it comes with a bunch of designing and productivity software that, while not Adobe quality, would still set you back hundreds of pounds to acquire equivalents of on Windows.

well 99% o the people who say that Mac = best for designing use Adobe software anyways.

and can you give some examples of what kind of free software is included on Macs that doesn't have free equivalents on Windows? (the only one I can think of is that via editing program, which name I can't remember)

[Kyuubixchidori]

Better battery life? Build quality? Compared to what? All Windows laptops? Someone is an ignorant fanboy. 

LOL. no. I use a dell venue for school. I have ALWAYS used PCs. show me a laptop that is equal to a mac in specs, size, battery life, and price, and youll be damn lucky if it comes anywhere near a mac in build quality. show me one. go for it mate.

 

late 2012 macbooks had a overheating problem and the mobo was getting damaged. 300$ to get it fixed. apple just recently issued a recall, and refunded people who paid to get it fixed. what other company would do that for a 3 year old tech product? hell. with android if your phone is 3 years old, there's no hope in hell you will get security updates.

 

prove me wrong. give him a good alternative. until then keep the name calling and insults to yourself mate. but no, instead of giving any examples you will probably state that im just to ignorant to consider others choices. GG with that argument.