Should I Use a Mac or PC

Should I Use a Mac or PC? Great Question. You can use either for PC or a Mac re for designing. I started out designing web site’s on a PC back in the late 90’s. When I talk about design I am talking about designing graphics using a program like Adobe Photoshop not writing content.

I was introduced to a Mac as I was studying Multimedia during my course in web site design. The difference is obvious between both. Macs are designed more for designing Multimedia and Macs as a computer that can do so many things for you. If you plugged in a Camera into your PC via a USB cable you will need to install software and drivers. With a Mac all you need to do is plug in your cable and start downloading your images. Your camera is detected automatically and no drivers are needed for a Mac.

Windows XP is more easier to use today but sometimes tinkering is still required with the requirement of drivers etc to connect your hardware with your operating system. There is 1 major difference between both.

With a Mac your screen does not need to be calibrated so what you print looks the same as your screen. Windows requires your screen to be calibrated so what you see gets printed.. The screen on a Mac tends to be a little lighter and if you are erasing areas on an image make sure you do this correctly.

Tip - If you’re using the eraser or a paint brush to make parts of your image disappear make sure you do this correctly because I have found that looking at it from a PC it looks fine (which might have to do with my monitor settings) but viewing the image on a Mac re I could see small faint areas I have missed with the eraser or paint brush.

The other advantages you have with a Mac re are:

• No hunting for Drivers. Mac is plug and play
• No Viruses. Yes download as many PC viruses as
  you like they wont harm your Mac.
• What you see on your screen is what gets printed

The good news is you don’t need to spend a fortune on a Mac. I purchased my e-Mac back in 2002 for about $3000 Aus today you can buy the same machine for around $600 Aus on ebay which includes a dvd burner and the OSX operating system.

Remember what was good for us a few years ago can still be used today at the fraction of  the price. I haven’t updated my machine and don’t intend to.