So why exactly are Macs better for graphics design?

[Dartz]

I usually hear that for creating anything art-related, from music to pictures, a Mac is the best operating system to use. But from all the times I've used a Mac before, I can personally say that I'm not too fond of the overall system due to having quite a lot of user interface issues. Maybe because I never found out how to "right click" on it.

So what makes Macs better for graphics design?

[warax]

Maybe it's not a question of which is better but what we are used to. In the early days of the PC clones and the MACs, the latter was, shall we say, more robust and has better OS-hardware integration. But that was then. Now, stunning graphics can be done on PCs (and windows) as well.

[donna]

As warax pointed out, stunning graphics can be done on both platforms. I think it is often a case of what we are used to. And when you switch there is a learning curve as you get used to the user interface conventions on each system.

I started out my computer career on Macs - as a desktop publisher that was the most popular platform at the time. Then I went into computer programming and switched to a PC which was the better platform for programming at the time - this was before Macs switched to being Unix based. Now I've just switched back to Macs, although I have both Mac and PC machines.

In the history of computers, Macs were the first machines to have programs for Graphic Designers and publishers. PageMaker (originally produced by Aldus) was the first desktop publishing program and it was Mac only. Then Photoshop arrived, again Mac only. So Macs got a strong following of Graphic Designers. Since designers can pretty much get the software they need for either platform now it's a bit of a moot point.

One other thing about Macs is that they are far more accurate with font sizes. If you are creating a document with 12 point font it actually shows at the size it will in print. I'm really enjoying my Mac and I prefer it over a PC now. But you have to get used to both before you can really judge and then it comes down to a matter of personal preference mostly.