Posted on 07/16/2010 5:18:32 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Mac OS X is Unix. You get all the power, stability, and programmability of a Unix system. That isn't simple. It's complex. Of course most people don't have the education to use that power and complexity. But it's there under the hood for the power user. As for 3rd party software, Unix is the richest environment I know of.
With UNIX you have to compile the apps to work on your system and that’s what keeps me from jumping on Linux. It’s just too much a PITA. Windows is just too dominate to give up.
It used to be Macs had a niche market with video and photos but now windows even does it at worst on par and at best better than Mac software.
That is not true with the Mac. Everything you install on a Mac these days is a binary. You just download the file, the download mounts as a disk image, drag the program into your Application folder or any other folder that you choose, and that's it. It's installed. It couldn't be simpler.
As a programmer, the Mac comes with every major scripting language a programmer could want already installed: Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP. Also comes with Java. I also needed a C compiler for writing C, C++ and Objective C programs. All it took was one free download from Apple's website of Xcode. It installed and that was it. Xcode is a great IDE.
With UNIX you have to compile the apps to work on your system and that’s what keeps me from jumping on Linux. It’s just too much a PITA.
Widows has nothing to compare with iPhoto or Aperture. All of the professional photographers are on Macs. That's also true of the graphics artists I know. And most of the competent programmers and Web developers I know have all moved to the Mac.
To be clear the only programs that just install on OS X are programs already compiled for the Max, right?
And that right there limits you. But it is getting better..they even have some steam games on it.
There limits on a Windows machine too. Does Windows have iPhoto or Aperture? No. As an amateur photographer, iPhoto is the best application I have used.
There are thousands of applications for the Mac. If you would like to see several hundred of them, go to www.apple.com/downloads/macosx and click on some of the categories listed on the left side of the page. Each category has many pages of applications.
i prefer adobe but really dont know iphoto
I assume you are referring to Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop was developed and first released on the Mac back in the early 1990s. It was later ported to Windows. It's an excellent program. It's really a program for professional photographers and graphic designers.
The reason you don't know iPhoto is because it is only available on the Mac. (It comes free with the Mac.) I am really enjoying the program. It's designed for the everyday photographer like myself. It lets me import my pictures into the iPhoto library. From the library you can organize the photos into various categories or albums. It is also possible to edit the photos in a few ways, for example by brightness or color saturation. You can then share the pictures in various ways, like creating slide shows and emailing them to friends, publishing them to the web, or getting a bound book printed with the photos as a keepsake. A book make a great present, like for a birthday or anniversary. You can also create a custom calendar with your photos on it, and then print it out yourself, or have it printed and sent to you. iPhoto is a lot of fun to use.
Try Windows Live Photo Gallery; does everything that iPhoto does.
iPhoto sounds really limited like PSS said...it sounds like windows live gallery which is free.
Personally I like Adobe Elements for photo and video as it allows me to tag them and filter in better ways. But now I’ve been using adobe bridge to organize/retrieve my media and it is fantastic. Adobe was first on Mac and that’s why a lot of photo editing was done on Macs but since that time they have moved to windows with Windows often getting the better version. I *think* right now they are on parity though.
Based on your description iPhoto sounds like a step back to me.
I am having much too much fun at the moment with iPhoto to try a different program. But thanks anyway.
For the serious amateur or professional photographer and videographer, it's one of the best programs available.
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