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Apple Computing Products:
macOS - Desktop Hardware
A Quandary
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<blockquote data-quote="Vagrant" data-source="post: 1511756" data-attributes="member: 17009"><p>First off I apologize if this is not the proper forum but given the options I wasn't sure where this question would best fit. </p><p></p><p>Secondly, it has been a long, long time since I have been on these forums but based on the past I figured this would be a good place to get some constructive opinions; this post has nothing to do with "this is better than that" and I don't really want to get into that since it isn't helpful. </p><p></p><p>OK, I have been a Mac user for going on 12 years now and as I sit here in front of my aging 2008 Mac Pro running SL (2x2.8 ghz, 10 gigs RAM, OWC Mercury SSD for OS and apps, various other HDDs for other stuff, ATI Radeon 5770) I am constantly asking myself a question now for a few months. What is going to replace this machine?</p><p></p><p>I use my machine primarily for work in Photoshop (digital painting, general design, photography), Lightroom, and some occasional HD video editing (Premiere.) </p><p></p><p>The Pro is still dutifully chugging along but it is getting noticeably slow in some areas, understandably given the age of the hardware. "So...the machine needs updated you say...then just get a new one." Yes, but... </p><p></p><p>1) I do not like any of Apple's current hardware options; not one bit.</p><p></p><p>2) I do not like Mountain Lion and more generally the direction that Apple is taking its OS</p><p></p><p>3) I am perfectly fine with Windows 7; I think it is quite good. While it will be around for some time to come it is not the current MS OS and while I applaud them for being so gutsy with Win 8 I'm not terribly thrilled at the prospect of making that my workhorse OS either. Another very enticing thing on the Windows side is the opportunity to take advantage of CUDA for what I do. This isn't much of an option on the Mac given the lack of high-end Nvidia cards.</p><p></p><p>I prefer *nix style OS's and Ubuntu in particular but Linux distros don't seem to be a real option either. I might be able to get by on them but ultimately Linux distros lack the caliber of software for what I like to do not to mention relearning all new software.</p><p></p><p>Basically I have narrowed down my potential options to this:</p><p></p><p>1) Build a Hackintosh; get the hardware I want and suffer Mountain Lion hoping Apple makes OS X what I used to enjoy again and probably create some headaches for myself with compatibility along the way. Also not have to deal with transferring terabytes of data and possibly re-encoding some amount of it.</p><p></p><p>2) Build a tower for Windows; get even more options for the hardware I want, move a ton of data. </p><p></p><p>3) Say screw it and jump headlong into the world of open-source software and see what happens as well as move a ton of data (not really a great option haha.)</p><p></p><p>Barring complete failure my Mac Pro probably has a fair amount of life left in it so another option could be to upgrade it a bit more with, perhaps, the new Sapphire Radeon 7950 and maybe some more RAM. Then I can observe the computer landscape for a while more. Unfortunately the value equation of putting a few hundred more into my system doesn't make a lot of sense given that the actual value of the tower is very low; by far the worst resale of any Mac I've owned.</p><p></p><p>So anyway, given these thoughts I would like to hear any opinions as to what they think I should do or what I haven't considered; I would appreciate it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Vagrant, post: 1511756, member: 17009"] First off I apologize if this is not the proper forum but given the options I wasn't sure where this question would best fit. Secondly, it has been a long, long time since I have been on these forums but based on the past I figured this would be a good place to get some constructive opinions; this post has nothing to do with "this is better than that" and I don't really want to get into that since it isn't helpful. OK, I have been a Mac user for going on 12 years now and as I sit here in front of my aging 2008 Mac Pro running SL (2x2.8 ghz, 10 gigs RAM, OWC Mercury SSD for OS and apps, various other HDDs for other stuff, ATI Radeon 5770) I am constantly asking myself a question now for a few months. What is going to replace this machine? I use my machine primarily for work in Photoshop (digital painting, general design, photography), Lightroom, and some occasional HD video editing (Premiere.) The Pro is still dutifully chugging along but it is getting noticeably slow in some areas, understandably given the age of the hardware. "So...the machine needs updated you say...then just get a new one." Yes, but... 1) I do not like any of Apple's current hardware options; not one bit. 2) I do not like Mountain Lion and more generally the direction that Apple is taking its OS 3) I am perfectly fine with Windows 7; I think it is quite good. While it will be around for some time to come it is not the current MS OS and while I applaud them for being so gutsy with Win 8 I'm not terribly thrilled at the prospect of making that my workhorse OS either. Another very enticing thing on the Windows side is the opportunity to take advantage of CUDA for what I do. This isn't much of an option on the Mac given the lack of high-end Nvidia cards. I prefer *nix style OS's and Ubuntu in particular but Linux distros don't seem to be a real option either. I might be able to get by on them but ultimately Linux distros lack the caliber of software for what I like to do not to mention relearning all new software. Basically I have narrowed down my potential options to this: 1) Build a Hackintosh; get the hardware I want and suffer Mountain Lion hoping Apple makes OS X what I used to enjoy again and probably create some headaches for myself with compatibility along the way. Also not have to deal with transferring terabytes of data and possibly re-encoding some amount of it. 2) Build a tower for Windows; get even more options for the hardware I want, move a ton of data. 3) Say screw it and jump headlong into the world of open-source software and see what happens as well as move a ton of data (not really a great option haha.) Barring complete failure my Mac Pro probably has a fair amount of life left in it so another option could be to upgrade it a bit more with, perhaps, the new Sapphire Radeon 7950 and maybe some more RAM. Then I can observe the computer landscape for a while more. Unfortunately the value equation of putting a few hundred more into my system doesn't make a lot of sense given that the actual value of the tower is very low; by far the worst resale of any Mac I've owned. So anyway, given these thoughts I would like to hear any opinions as to what they think I should do or what I haven't considered; I would appreciate it. [/QUOTE]
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