Switched to a mac eh..... so..... tell me what it's like living in total isolation :)

I have minimal macknowledge, but I think there's Windows emulation software - Bootcamp(?) which let's you run Windows, and therefore Vegas on a Mac.

Is it really better? Honestly? Have you run the same software on the Mac side by side with a new Windows PC? When i look around in the store i can find screaming new PCs much cheaper than the older Mac models.

Install Bootcamp and Windows on your Mac and you can run any Windows-based software you want.

But then, what was the point of getting the Mac?

I'm guessing if you bought a computer figuring it couldn't run your favorite windows based video editing software I am guessing you are also oblivious about the fact that your mac can run windows. Install windows on your mac, install vegas on your mac, then the world will be whole again. Good grief.

It's not half as bad as you'd think.
I run Macdisk and there's a similar untility for OSX. I can format HFS disks and move files between them and NTFS disks without any problems. I've done a few jobs for Apple users and apart from one big stuff up with Quicktime out of Vegas a few years ago it's all gone very smoothly.
Vegas can render enough codecs that are cross platform to make it an almost invisible dividing line although I find PPro and AE are a tad better at this than Vegas.

As for living in "isolation", sadly us Vegas users are the ones doing that and that holds back a lot of people from using Vegas.

Bob.

I use Vegas and Final Cut on my iMac. But make no mistake about it... I only like girls. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." Jerry Seinfeld.

No one goes to Mac for better performance - they go there to spend more money so they can impress their friends wth how much money they have, after which they beg same friends to get a Mac because they are so lonely over there. Meanwhile, us PC guys buy two machines for the price of a Mac and take the afternoon off.

Seeing as Apple saw the light and sells what amounts to a PC, all you're really buying with Apple is the OS, and there's nothing exciting there.

I ran Windows PC's for years with Vegas, but changed to a Mac around a year ago. I will never ever go back to a Windows machine.

However I didn't want to give up Vegas, so I have Windows installed with Bootcamp. Bootcamp is NOT an emulator. It enables Windows to run natively on the Mac, and in many cases actually runs faster than a standard PC when doing so!

I also run Windows via Parallels Desktop. I can run FCP and Vegas at the same time and port files between them.

I am not sure why people here are talking about Mac owners being on their own. When it comes to AV software that is a stupid thing to say given the number of TV shows and even films that are edited with FCP!

Yeah, once Macs moved to Intel chips, they gained the ability to run Windows without needing an emulator.

>>>and in many cases actually runs faster than a standard PC when doing so!<<<

Why do people keep repeating apple's marketing crap.

Since a mac is just a pc with a half eaten apple logo, it is against all laws of physics to even consider that it would somehow magically run windows faster than an equivalently equipped PC.

If you are comparing a $3000 mac to a barbie pc full of adware and such crap, maybe, but let's be real. a Mac will always run windows either slower or if you are lucky ( since bootcamp is not exactly perfect ) at the same speed as any non-crap PC.

Mac running windows faster than an equivalently equipped PC is impossible and would require super natural forces to be in play.

Deusx has got it right - you're not going to beat a similarly equipped PC running Windows.

People buy an apple because they want to run an apple-specific app. What is grating is listening to self-justifications on why. The best approach if you want to live in two worlds is to have both a Mac and a PC. But if you can afford only one - it's hard to argue against a PC bith for cost and breadth of applications.

Funny - there seem to be just two kinds of computer users in the world: Those who have never used a Mac and those who love it ;-)
I have switched more than a year ago and couldn't be happier. Today we have four Macs in my household and a fifth one (a MacBook) is just on its way.

In fact, Vegas Video is about the only reason why I boot into Windows Vista from time to time. Everything else is now purely OS X for me.

And yes: En emulated Windows runs much faster under OS X in many aspects than a genuine copy on the same machine. This is not against the laws of physics but simply due to the fact that all file IO is handled by the much, much faster OS X instead of Windows. I have experienced this many times myself (using Windows XP and not the even slower Vista...). You wouldn't believe how fast Word, Excel or Powerpoint start up in Windows XP inside a virtual machine unless you have seen this for yourself. Even setting up the Virtual PC took less than half the time than installing the same OS on a genuine PC (OS X cached the whole installation CD - all by itself).

Martin

"Funny - there seem to be just two kinds of computer users in the world: Those who have never used a Mac and those who love it ;-)"

Yes... and then there are the intelligent ones who refuse to buy into the utter crap you and others post about these useless boat anchors you like to call macs.

Yep. I've shown my little sub-$600 laptop to dozens of die-hard Mac users. The reaction is always the same: jaw-drop. Then almost inevitably the next question is, "you can do that in Windows?"

The vast majority of Mac users use the Mac because they've lied to that Windows can't handle anything related to music, video, art, printing, layout, graphics, ... whatever. They've been told that Windows can only do word processing and spreadsheets.

I had one musician friend give up his Mac and Pro-tools on the spot when he saw how much faster and easier i could edit, mix, and lay out a CD in Vegas (a few minutes compared to the hours he spent). I thought his eyes were going to pop when he saw me do a crossfade simply by dragging one clip over the other. His question was, "how come i can't do that on my Mac?" Well, now i suppose he could do it on a new Mac ... with Bootcamp, Windows, and Vegas installed. But why pay the extra money?

"The vast majority of Mac users use the Mac because they've lied to that Windows can't handle anything related to music, video, art, printing, layout, graphics, ... whatever. They've been told that Windows can only do word processing and spreadsheets."

It'a always been that way - Mac users are cultish and Apple likes it that way. Better they stay there too.

Well, not in the beginning.

Back when Windows 2 was busily trying to figure out what pixels were i was a very strong Mac advocate. I probably put several hundred people on the Mac bandwagon back in those days.

But, Windows 3.11 came out and there was parity. Then Windows 95 came out and ever since then Windows has been the clear leader in capability, ease of use, and just plain making sense to the user. From what i've seen in the Mac world, there may be lots of new glitz, but the actual use of the machine just hasn't improved to speak of.

Sadly, Microsoft now seems to have bought into the glitz factor. Vista and now Windows 7 are adding glitz at the expense of simplicity. Don't get me wrong; i don't have anything against spiffy for it's own sake, but when it interferes with how simple it used to be to get the job done then it's just wrong and backwards. It's a very sad and scary thing to see.

I've upgraded 3 PCs for less than what a Mac costs.
I don't get viruses,systems are stable and it's not hard to decipher the BS in Mac commercials.

No need for me to go to Mac.

I don't own a Mac or use them for work, but those new aluminum chassis MacBook Pros look pretty nice. A decent bit depth screen, a supposed 7 hours of battery life, the magnetic power connector, option for 500GB 7200rpm drive, 8GB ram. Very light weight.

It's hard to find all of that on the PC side of things and if they didn't cost so much would probably make one of the best Windows Laptop out there using Bootcamp.

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Disclaimer: Although I don't currently have or use a MacBook, I'm required to use one for an Online Degree at Full Sail University which I am registered to start soon. So I will eventually end up with one and you can bet I'll be testing the performance of Vegas on Windows on the MacBook Pro.

What possible justification could they be faking to require the use of a particular platform? Unless you're taking a programming course for a language indigenous to one particular OS, that sort of requirement is absolutely unnecessary.

There are plenty of good reasons an organization like a college would require a consistent platform for its users.

They may have software that students and faculty must use as part of their business at the university. They may have customized tools for various classes, eg development tools, econ tools etc.

If classwork is completed and submitted electronically, they all should be using the same applications and file formats. Though there are converters and plugins for different formats, its a nightmare to manage.

The university might require you to have certain management and security software on your machine in order to access the school network.

The university likely provides IT support for students. If they are requiring you to do electronic work, they need to help you with your IT. (imagine you are an art major, you may not have very honed IT skills)

While many apps will be built as web applications, complicated ones are often finicky with different browsers. With the economy how it is and schools being unusually strapped for cash, avoiding the costs of building sites that cover all the browsers is a savings. Even the same browser on different OS's can have differences. Especially if they provide plugins for school specific stuff (eg security)

there are probably others...

Apple makes some very nice hardware, though they have a very limited selection of models. Basically they have five different laptop computers, the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, the Macbook, the MacMini and the iMac. Yup, IMHO the iMac and the Mini are simply less portable laptops! The MacPro is a competitively priced multi-CPU workstation.

They have NO desktop single CPU computers with multiple PCIe slots and room for multiple hard drives. This is the platform which I, and many other editors use. Anybody can get a very fast video editing computer for around $1500 sans monitor. The MacPro starts around $3000, at twice the price I'm willing to pay it should run twice as fast, it doesn't!

Apple make a good operating system. As does Microsoft.

I have Apple FCP Studio. It works just fine but it has no overwhelming advantages over Vegas.

I wouldn't really want Sony to port Vegas to OSX until they have dominated the Windows based editors. Adobe and Avid aren't going to give up soon, so I hope that Sony just keeps, ahem... perfecting Vegas.

The biggest difference between Apple and the rest of the worlds computer makers is Apple's marketing. Apple has many loyal zombies repeating every marketing phrase Apple makes. 99% of the Mac fanboys I've talked to don't have the slightest idea how a computer works. The first clue of the clueless is when they confuse applications with an operating system and then they confuse it all with the hardware!

>>>>You wouldn't believe how fast Word, Excel or Powerpoint start up in Windows XP inside a virtual machine unless you have seen this for yourself.<<<

Word starts up in about a second or two on this laptop with a 5400 rpm HD.

On a desktop with a raptor drive it starts too fast to even measure anything. So, I really don't know what it is your Mac does. Does it read your mind and opens an application a second before you even click on an icon? Because that is the only way it can be faster than on my PC.