Mac OS VS Windows For Home Recording Studio

The operating system is what makes your computer work, telling the chips and other mysterious gizmos inside the box what to do and providing colorful and user-friendly screens on your monitor for you to fill in, rearrange, and otherwise play with. Software applications run on top of the operating system and therefore must be carefully written in conjunction with the OS's specs to take advantages of its features and to avoid illegal operations (which result in crashes). Operating systems are constantly evolving, so applications must be rewritten (along with the applications' own schedule of improvements and bug fixes) to keep current with them.

A major operating system update is front-page news, and its numerical designations are familiar terms to computer consumers. From Microsoft the major releases are Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. On the Apple Macintosh side, there were generations of Mac OSs (6.x through 9.2) before the completely revamped OS X (pronounced oh-ess ten) version 10.2 (Jaguar). There are other operating systems such as Linux, which is gaining popularity, but this book deals only with Win dows- and Mac-based software.

Windows

Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating system in the world and is found on computers manufactured by Compaq, Dell, Gateway Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Toshiba, and others. It works with a variety of proces sors, including Pentiums, Athlons, and Celerons, and has the widest variety оf software programs available, including those for creating music. It's estimatec that of all the computers in the world, over 90 percent of them run the Window: operating system. As of this writing, the current version of Windows is XP, avail able in the Home or Professional version, and either one is fine for self-containec music production. If you're considering working in a computer network envi ronment or using a multiprocessor machine, XP Professional is recommended.

Mac OS

Running a distant second as far as market share—though its public image belies this fact—is the Mac OS, manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. The Mac OS is found only on Apple-manufactured Macintosh computers, so the software is written by the same company that makes the hardware. In the computing work as a whole, the Mac is much less popular than Windows, but in music production, the balance is less skewed in the favor of Windows, and the Mac is more of a presence. The Mac OS is neither better nor worse than Windows for music, though the Mac historically has enjoyed favor among high-end audio production facilities. But that distinction is less clear now, due more to Microsoft's im­provement rather than any slacking on the Mac side.

Mac vs. PC

The debate regarding „Windows vs. Mac“ gets a lot of attention because the two computer platforms are natural business competitors and because users tend to learn and use one and not the other and therefore develop a certain brand loyalty. But as far as music production is concerned, both are virtually equal in power and usability, and many software programs are written cross-platform, which means the same program is available for both Windows and Mac (much like Microsoft's bu­siness software suite, Office), and files created by one can be opened by the other.

Whether you choose to go with one operating system over the other has more to do with considerations other than the inherent attributes of the actual operating system. For example, if you want to run Cakewalk SONAR, you'll be a Windows user because SONAR isn't available for the Mac OS. On the Mac-only side is a very widely used program called Digital Performer by Mark of the Unicorn, so if you're joining a DP users' group, you'll be working on a Mac.

But it's very hard to argue the benefits of one system over another based solely on the operating system, a fact that becomes increasingly more difficult as time progresses, as each improves on its own design and acquires features previously unique to its rival. And both tend to look more like each other just through a natural evolution of reaching a design ideal.

Something else to consider: A modern computer-based music producer should have a facility with both systems, even if he or she has a preference for or a historical draw to the other. And the more you work with both platforms, the more you learn how to accomplish exactly the same tasks, once you learn each system's respective way of doing things. Many of the so-called differences between the two systems are mythical (e.g., Macs don't have a right-click option—they do) or can easily be resolved through a configuration change or with a simple third-party utility.

Most bi-platform music people acknowledge the distinctions between working with the Mac OS and Windows, but they don't judge, and it gets harder to answer absolute questions such as „Which is better?“ Each has its areas of strength, and any computer system can make you tear your hair out on occasion. Be wary of someone who blindly recommends one over the other for sheer technical superiority. Chances are, that person knows only one operating system or has some other axe to grind. The reality is both are great for music, and they're only gettine better.