brconflict.  You are right about that.  They claim to be helpful, but you get a lot of snobbery in the forums..just like most forums.  I have found distributions that are on par with Mac Os and windows as far as ease of use out the box.  The problem usually occurs when something goes wrong.  I installed Linuxmint on a neighbor's computer because I got sick of removing viruses (you can take a wild guess as to how he kept getting them).  Once I showed him how to use linux equivalents of everything he actually prefered it.  Of course his primary computer uses were listening top music, facebook, instant messaging and surfing the web in general (euphamism for what got him the viruses).  His computer ran much faster.  Then he got cute and started trying to run windows programs and all hell broke loose.
 
On the flipside, there are already many powerful professional programs running on linux for those willing to test the waters.  Ardour and Harrison mixbus are powerful programs.  Many of the high end video programs do run on linux already like Da Viunci Resolve, Nuke and Lightworks

+1 acronis

ampfixer
There's a way to avoid all these arguments. DAW developers should include DAW-OS with their product. A configurable, dedicated host that boots your computer for audio work. They wouldn't have to write different programs for different platforms and they could really optimize your system for their DAW. As J.R. pointed out, Mac and PC boxes are very similar in modern times.

That would be cool. There is pretty much this already though like tascam X48.

Jim Roseberry

bladetragic
With the release of Logic Pro X, Cakewalk better get on top of things b/c the competition has just gotten that much stiffer.

Logic Pro X really didn't add that much new/revolutionary to the table...
IMO, Cubase 7.05, ProTools 11 (once 64Bit AAX support shakes out), and DP8 are a lot more "stiff" competition for Sonar.
And these don't require switching platform...

For me, it's which app doesn't get in the way, and makes creating music fun.
 
We'll have to see what X3 brings.
 
Cubase 7 added some nice musical enhancements.  Their window handling stinks.
 
Logic Pro 9 was already pretty tempting, Pro X just made it more tempting.
 
It may not be a platform switch, but rather a dedicated DAW platform aquisition.

dubdisciple
btw, i think windows kind of sucks but is the lesser of two evils for me at the moment.  I'm partial to Linux but it's just not practical to run linux all the time

 
I'm with you, there. All three have idiosyncrasies.
 

SuperG

dubdisciple
I recall when Final Cut users would swear how great Final Cut was to Premiere Pro...until Final Cut X sucked

 
Heh, and forgetting that Final Cut and Premier come from the same Macromedia code base...
 

 
Premiere 1 was being sold by Adobe a year prior to the existence of a company known as Macromedia.
 
They both use the Quicktime Framework.
 

A good old friend told me once: who's going to talk about this in 50 years?
Use x if you like it and/or use y if you like it or use both.
 
 
And have fun using whatever : )

AndyDavis
I can understand why a musician would want to just plop down some money and be up and running immediately without worrying about the details.  What I can't understand is folks that treat the computer buying experience as a choice  between lovingly crafted macs and whatever fell off the shipping dock at Dell or having to learn all the arcane details of every hardware piece around. You can have a worry free, just pick your model and go, experience with a PC:  Go to Studio Cat, pick your model, and check out.  The plus side is that you will get a lot more PC for your money and you will actually know the name of the guy that sold it to you.

But it's still not like the company writing software providing the hardware and support.

dubdisciple
Final Cut was actually developed by a team that created premiere pro.  That team ended up with Macromedia and aqcuired by Apple, so everybody is kinds right.

And besides, it doesn't really matter where the software started. What matters is its now run by the same company providing the OS and hardware.

backwoods
Me and my professional entourage/retinue appeared in concert with Neil Young and the Horse this year. We were photographed in the audience with the band in the same shot.
 
What superg is correct- there is an idiot tax levied on each MAC purchase. 

I'm guessing that this may very well be a shot at me because of the reference to the "professional entourage"... Coming from a guy who was arguing that Logic X would probably never see the light of day a few weeks ago and that none of the clues hinting that X was on its way was worth a penny, I'm not sure it's even worth addressing...
 
So please feel free if you're going to try and ridicule me for having the opportunity to visit those cool places and talk w/ the people who own them as well as pro musicians and all. They are pretty much the only people I know in real life nowadays as fate would have it. Obviously this doesn't give me one ounce of credibility as a musician or a mix engineer or as anything. I was dragged into it. I'm the first to admit that and trust me, I'm far from having such high esteem for myself, all the opposite.
 
But I'm referring to stuff I've actually seen first hand. And for those people, I have the utmost respect. Strangely enough, most of those folks respect me too. 
 
Anyway, you can consider them and myself idiots for buying Apple as much as you wish. And when you take a break from being so clever, feel free to list your accomplishments in the recording industry so that I can see why I should be taking what you say seriously more than what those people tell me and what I experience myself. Until then, if there is an idiot tax...
 
Why do those debates go wrong again? Ah, yeah - because some people can't help calling other names and mocking them and insulting them.

Jim Roseberry

Rain
 
Whatever any one claims on the internet, the proof is in the pudding - the vast majority of the professional recording industry use Mac. One would have to be pretty stubborn to insist that none of those guys know anything about computers and that they just use what they've been told to use. Anyway, having met and talked w/ quite a few of them, I know that's b.s. 
 

I'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before... but here goes  
 
The strength of a PC is that you *can* choose exactly what goes in it.
Mac and PC both use the same fundamental hardware (Intel CPUs paired with Intel chipset motherboards).
With a Mac, you get what Apple's board of directors deems best.
With a PC, if you know what you're doing, you can spec a machine that's superior to a Mac (component for component) for less money.
A PC can be upgraded anytime (typically a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM)... and you have essentially a new machine.
With a Mac, you wait for the new Mac Pro release.  This release lags behind the fastest available hardware.
If you compare a Mac Pro to a pre-configured Dell/HP, obviously the Mac Pro is a better machine.  Based on cost, it certainly should be.
 
[Tong-in-cheek style]
So... I'm to understand that nobody of significance in the "music industry" uses anything but Mac?
Rolling Stones record label big enough?
How about an engineer/A&R guy from Koch Entertainment in NY?
How about the most well respected mastering engineer in Nashville?
How about an engineer at the Recording Workshop here in OH (similar to Full Sail)?
 
You know... I often bump into younger folks who are into recording.
Usually happens at a computer store... or the local Guitar Center or Sam Ash
Almost without fail, they mention ProTools... trying to impress
Guess that means they're all professionals.   
 
Just this past weekend...
We take my Girlfriend's daughter to StarBucks at the local upscale mall.
The place is like a college library.  You could hear a pin drop.
All the hipsters had their MacBook Pros out... surfing the Internet... trying to look important.
Pretentious doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere.
No different than when I was a kid in school... and you had to wear the "right" cloths.
OK, I'll say it... Mac is the iZod of computers.
It's the machine the "cool" people tell you to use.
 
When you get down to raw performance, Mac has nothing on a top-tier PC.
Logic Pro is the only major DAW app that doesn't run on a PC.
Apple is genius at two things:
-Packaging
-Marketing
 
All that said, there's nothing wrong with a Mac.
It's neither more/less prone to stability than a quality PC.
 
Something I personally can't stand:
Apple's totalitarian control over everything you do with your iPhone... via iTunes.
With my Galaxy S4 (replaced iPhone 4), I simply drag/drop the tunes I want via Windows Explorer.  So simple... and elegant.
No need for iTunes... and being constrained.  I'm in control...
 
So there you have it:

• Macs are for the cool kids
• PCs are for control freaks

Name calling and sarcasm. I honestly thought you were above this, Jim.
 
You guys really assume that any one who uses Apple is so disconnected from reality and dumb as crap to make such a statement that PC cannot be used? Or maybe I'm missing something - what in the name of Buddha would cause someone to try and insult people and exaggerate what they've said and turn it against them? 
 
I've never said no one of importance ran PC or that Mac was the only valid option. That's putting words in my mouth to make your point. And then going on to insult Mac users, for fun.
 
The people you meet at Guitar Center are probably the same as I do meet. Incidentally, I also meet an awful bunch of DJ/Producers using cracked copies of Fruity Loops on their PC. That doesn't say a thing against PC or against you and anyone who decides to use a PC. 
 
Just for a second, I want you to imagine the most stereotypical PC gamer you can - that fat guy in the Helloween t-shirt w/ acne problems who never talked to a girl in real life and has a poster of Xena the Warrior Princess on his wall...
 
Are YOU that guy because you use a PC and like to hot rod it? Didn't think so... 
 
Traveling w/ Cirque because of my wife and having spent the best of the last two years and a half w/ the guys, visiting studios and hanging around many of the productions, one thing I can tell you is that, as much as you and some guys like to insist that PC are so much more powerful and better, in all fairness, I see Mac's everywhere, all the time, running w/o a hitch. Listening to you guys, it's statistically impossible to achieve anything w/ such underpowered computers and Mac had nothing on top-tier PCs as you say.
 
And yet, there they are, running in mission critical mode night after night after night and day after day. I guess those people aren't addicted to upgrades and comparing performances. If it works, it works.
 
 

I think a lot of the "Windows is difficult" goes back to XP and earlier systems. They needed a lot of maintenance. A modern OS, not so much.
 
I bought my system from reputable DAW specialist. Its delivered, I switch it on, install DAW and plug ins , connect my Quadcapture and Midi Keyboards and it works. It has 12 months on site warranty and cost much less than a lower spec Mac.
 
So far I have had only one crash with X2, and I am pretty sure that was due to a plug in.

rain, anecdotal stories have the fatal flaw of being unique to the person telling it.  I run across plenty of Mac snobs still.  One of my closest friends is that way even though she cannot for the life of her explain why "Mac is better".