Mac or PC, does it really matter?

Posted by Antonea Nabors on January 4, 2010

This past week I have made the switch from PC to Mac. It was only a matter of time before it happened. I already have an iPhone and an iPod, so 17-inch Macbook Pro was next on the list, right? Right! My decision to switch from PC to Mac was purely based on simplifying my life. One piece of technology that is capable of fitting and organizing my career and my personal life on the go.

I was very excited to get my new notebook, so I tweeted about. After sending out the tweet I was asked if I preferred Mac over PC, especially for web design by @loveforweb. My answer in less than 140 characters was:

“When it comes to design it is purely preference and comfort. Macs don’t make you a better designer. Skill does!”

I would now like to elaborate on that statement in more than just 140 characters. Being a designer is not about what you use to create your work, it is about how you create your work. It is about the knowledge and meaning behind your projects, and the steps you’ve taken to get there. If you are a great designer you can design equally beautiful art on a PC or on a Mac.

So, does it really matter if you are designing on a Mac or a PC? I would say it matters to a certain extent. It matters when it comes to your comfort and what you are familiar with. It matters personally, but it does not matter when it comes to your work. Designing on a Mac does not make your work better. The only thing that can make your designs better is years of experience, knowledge, and a love and passion for what you do.

I think it is important for designers who are just starting off to know that you do not need to purchase expensive accessories in hopes that they will make you a better designer. Simplify your life by only keeping necessities in it.

Here is the temporary setup. I say temporary because as many of you may know, I am currently overseas. So, this is what I will be working with for the next 6 months. A very large setup for such a tiny desk I bought and built from Ikea.

9 Comments

On January 4, 2010 at 6:18 pm Ryan wrote:

For me OS X is a much more enjoyable, smooth running environment to work with so from that point of view it helps improve my ability to work and the work I produce.

People say a computer is just a tool so it doesn’t matter, but I say it matter a lot. A joiner will have a preference on his tools (such as a decent hammer) because it’s something he uses every day. Poor tools will impact on his daily work.

A computer is something we use every day, while it isn’t the answer to creating great work it’s still a huge factor.

I moved to Mac after about 15 years of using Windows and it was move well worth making.

On January 4, 2010 at 6:19 pm Ryan wrote:

Um… hello btw, found your article on Twitter

On January 4, 2010 at 9:10 pm David wrote:

I agree, I’m not much of a designer, but I’ve been trying to get into 3D art these days.
I’d love to stick with Snow Leopard, but Maya 2010 has problems and ZBrush 3.5 isn’t available for the Mac.
For the past couple days I’ve been running Windows in Boot Camp and I can’t really say I’m preferring it, but it still gets the job done. I just think the OSX operating is a much smoother experience and is easier on the eyes.

If I had a choice, it’ll be Mac, for sure.

On January 5, 2010 at 12:22 am David Airey wrote:

Got the Magic Mouse as a Christmas gift. Love it. Such an improvement on the so-called Mighty.

Happy new year, by the way!

On January 5, 2010 at 12:38 am Antonea Nabors wrote:

Ryan, I agree with you that a designer/developer needs good tools to do decent work. Regardless, you can buy a very decent PC for $800 and that will run all of your heavy programs pretty flawlessly, opposed to a Mac which will take you well over a grand. The Mac experience is definitely a smoother one. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog as well!

David, I have never used a 3D program on a Mac. I hardly dabble in 3D these days, but I was thinking about cinema 4d, and how it would run on my Mac. I don’t know much about Maya, hopefully you can work out your kinks with running it on a Mac so you don’t have to run out and purchase a PC! I also have Parallel that I use to test website in IE. It is unreal to be working on a PC inside your Mac. Haha.

David A., I am still breaking the magic mouse in. It is so sensitive, but it is slowly growing on me. Happy New Years to you as well, I hope you have a great 2010!

On February 2, 2010 at 10:01 pm bandsxbands wrote:

My friend and I were recently discussing about how involved with technology our daily lives have become. Reading this post makes me think back to that debate we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.

I don’t mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside… I just hope that as the price of memory falls, the possibility of transferring our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It’s a fantasy that I daydream about every once in a while.

(Posted on Nintendo DS running R4i DS NetSurf)

On March 4, 2010 at 6:43 pm Kiren wrote:

I can work with either or but the stability of a Mac is so much better! I agree with you on it’s what you create not what you create it with. For years, I worked on a 13.5 CRT monitor and made some cool stuff.