Should You Use Mac or Windows?

Well, it’s the Friday before a holiday weekend (here in the USA), so I think it’s time to stir up the ol’ Mac vs. Windows thing. After all, we’ve never really “had it out,” here on InDesignSecrets. Let’s rumble.

AW wrote:

Currently our magazine staff is all on Macs running CS2. 7 editors, 2 designers. Moving forward, any new hires will be given PCs. Do you foresee any problems? Font or transparency issues? I’m looking for some ammunition to keep us all Mac-based. Thanks.

Well, most of the cross-platform issues are no longer that big of a deal, as long as you’re running all OpenType fonts. If you’re still using old 20th century fonts (Type 1, TrueType, windows farshtinkener fonts [WFF], etc.) you should strongly consider upgrading the fonts. Similarly, you should avoid EPS files because while they can work cross-platform, their previews are really platform dependent in most cases. Oh, and make sure you use file name extensions (such as .indd, .tif, and so on) on all your files.

However, pretty much everything else just kind of works now. Ole Kvern and I have co-authored 4 editions of Real World InDesign (900 page book, over a thousand images, etc.) now, with him on PC and me on a Mac. No big deal. (Actually, we do still use one non-opentype font in some chapters, and that does cause minor headaches.)

That said, I have to agree with you: I prefer Macs in most instances; both the hardware and software are just better, all-around. I use both, I support both, I know my way around both, and I keep coming back to the Mac. Again, that’s “in most instances.” There will always be good reasons to use Windows, especially when there is specific software you need that is available for PC, but not Mac. But that’s getting more rare these days. And, when it does come up, I just run that Windows software on my Mac, using Parallels (though I’m about to switch to Fusion).

Another good reason to use PC is: “That’s what I have already.” It’s probably not a good idea to switch to Mac midstream, though if you were going to buy a new computer, I would recommend getting a new, fast Mac and then running both Mac and Windows on it.

However, in many cases, the arguments from the IT department for why they want to start putting PCs in companies turn out to be “I personally don’t feel like learning anything about a Mac, so even though they’re demonstrably better and safer (no viruses, etc.), I’m going to force everyone else to bend to my will.” I don’t have much patience for sloth, so that doesn’t hold a lot of water for me.

The next argument is “PCs are cheaper!” Feh. Not in the long run. Plus, in many cases, they’re less reliable (both software and hardware). And double-plus, the Mac handles networking and printing soooooo much better than Windows.
I did some work with Microsoft last year and I was amused to note that some of the people there have Apple Mac laptops. They run Windows on them, of course, but when I asked them about it, the response was, “Apple just makes the best laptops on the market so that’s what we ordered.”

Ultimately, my argument comes down to this: You can do the same layouts in InDesign or QuarkXPress/PageMaker. Which do you use? You use the more elegant solution to the problem. Similarly, Mac OS is the more elegant solution and the safer solution.

So, AW, you have a department full of Macs already; it just doesn’t make sense to start throwing in PCs. I can’t tell you how often the PCs that get brought in to a Mac department just sit there unused most of the time. It’s the rare person who enjoys being handed QuarkXPress/Windows in the middle of a room full of InDesign users. Sure, “the next version” of QuarkXPress/Windows will be better. But I want to use the elegant solution today.

I’m sure there are a lot of happy Windows users out there. That’s fine. Keep being happy. I will continue to use Windows, too, out of necessity. But if you’re asking me…

Okay, let the floodgates open. What other issues should AW be aware of in a cross-platform environment?