i'm contemplating buying possibly a laptop for school so i can be making beats and ish in my spare time in school (i get a lot). i was wondering whether to stick to windows and buy a new laptop or buy a macbook? which would be best? i'm also tempted to buy a desktop mac too, really getting tired of windows and need something new.. any advice or mac users here?

Mac doesn't support FL, you know that right?
You could go with mac but then you gotta remove the OS all together and still put windows on it x)..

i'd move over to reason 4 or cubase with a mac.

I have had both but I am partial to windows because I know the system better. Tech heads will always say Mac, but as long as you get a good regular comp. with a good Cpu and a good amount of ram its all the same to me. If you are used to windows and you switch to a mac OS and you are not familiar with it GOOD LUCK for a good minute. And T.I. had the best point possible NO FLStudio on a MAC OS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tech heads won't say mac :p

Both OS's have their selling points. IMHO with macs you get a very easy gui and apples's hardcore guidelines on hardware and programming for the system make it very stable. There are rarely combability issues with macs. That said, if you know your stuff you won't have so many issues with a PC either. Just takes abit more effort, because on windows you have access to way more things you can screw up with.

As for which one is better, NO! apples and oranges... With mac you get the user experience, but it comes at a cost of fewer applications and a hefty price tag. On the PC you can have your pick of software and can customise the OS to your needs. It all boils down to what you feel comfortable working with and what software do you need? Now that mac is Intel based, you can run bootcamp on it and use PC applications aswell (well it woorks kinda good). But running software natively will always give you more juice to work with.

I use both for production and recording, but I gotta say if they made FL for Mac I'd never look back at a PC again.

Windows would be fine for producing, but it'd be best if you used it only for that and nothing else, since everything tends to screw up with windows within a year or two if you don't keep a strict maintenance routine.

I've ABUSED my Macbook for over 2 years now and its running JUST as fast as it was in Day 1... without the need for constant virus scans and defrags and spyware checks and frequent system updates. I'm oficially a convert. Its very difficult to make viruses and spyware for for the Mac OSX so you don't have to constantly worry about what you're surfing/downloading/etc.

Plus you can get almost any software you need on Mac, like Office and other programs you may need for school. Some people complain about how confusing it is since they're used to Windows, but I learned the OSX inside out within one night, and I don't see why it would be that hard.

If you can afford a Macpro, get one. If you don't mind a little hassle, you can buy an MSI Wind laptop ($300-400)and install OSX on it without any mods. Just google "MSI Wind OSX" and watch one of the Youtube videos to see if you'd be interested in that.

A couple of corrections to HS' s post.

You do defrag on the mac, just that it goes on without you knowing it. All computers use the same type of HDD's and thus need the same type maintanence for them.

Lack of worms and viruses for the mac is not due to it being harder, it's just the fact that there are more windows machines around and therefore it's more profitable to program viruses for them. (more machines to target).

You cannot install OSX on wind without mods, the pirated OSX file circulating is already modified to eble to run on that hardware configuration. Why do you think there is no general purpose OSX installation for the PC's floating around? It's because each and every installation needs to be configured to work with that specific hardware. Even so installing Mac OSX on anythign but a mac is illegal. I have nothing against macs at all, I've owned and used many. But with macs you are solely paying for the OS, everything else is the same as it is on a PC. And you usually end up getting less bang for the buck then you would without the OS.

All that aside, if you like the mac OS better and don't care to fiddle with settings yourself go for it. Everyone has different tastes and therefore we have different operating systems aswell.

Or go totally free and go Linux, that's what the OSX is built on anyway

Wow Sab.. if you wanna get THAT technical about it, then yes you CAN defrag a Mac drive, but its not a necessity that you need to do in order to get some good performance like it is on all the Windows PC's I've had.

Secondly, the way Unix-based systems are designed actually DOES make it harder to do major damage on the system compared to Windows. But that's still besides the point, which is that you'd be less susceptible on an OSX than on Windows.

Third, you CAN install a RETAIL version of the Mac OSX without any mods, and by mods I mean HARDWARE mods. The software required for the installation can be easily found on the net for free, so I don't refer to those as "mods".

And the legality of it is still ambiguous. Although Apple prohibits this in their agreement, its highly unlikely that a case would hold up in court, depending on where you live. But if you really feel that bad about saving a few hundred dollars, then be my guest and buy a real Mac, saves you the hassle of installing OSX.

Hope that clears things up for you

I'm pretty sure you mac guys know this but you can install Windows on a Mac. Not quite sure if that would work for FL but always worth looking into. I recently picked on up and absolutely love it!

I'm not going to start picking bones with you HS But the fact remains, macs use the same type of HD's and need the same type of care as PC's.. However the rate of fragmentation is smaller on the BSD based systems.

Since mac wnet over to BSD it is a more secure system, but nothing is bulletproof and as soon as figures go up so will the mallware (mac has what about 6% of the market share, which really doesn't make it a prime target either).

A mod is a mod, be it hardware or software, fact remains that you will need to alter files to get it working on a very diverse set of hardware configurations the PC world has to offer. And the fact that IT IS illegal to install it on anything but a mac, even if Joe Blow would not get arrested for it. And I'm not really sure how many hundred bucks you will be saving if you actually get the OSX licence, since I'm sure you are not suggesting warez as an option :p

Still while ranting about security you are more than willing to download and install a OS that someone you know nothing about altered. Just saying that it would be a neat way to get backdoor on a lot hackintoshes. If you were capable enough to check the download for any malicious code, you would not need to download it in the first place. So how can you be sure of what it actually contains?


killtheflow, yes you can run PC apps with bootcamp, but emulating another system is never as fast as doing it natively.

LOL Its all love here man. I don't start fights over Mac/Windows, but its fun to argue.

Anyways, never once did I say the Mac was bullet-proof. I said it was harder to do major damage on a Mac than it would be to do on Windows, which is a fact. But of course, if you look hard enough I'm sure you can find malware for your Mac too.

Secondly, I doubt the majority of people care about BSD systems or how much market share Apple has right now. The bottom line is still the fact that you'll be less susceptible to threats than on Windows, and that's all that really matters.

I'm sure you're more technically savy than me, but what I'm saying is that for the average joe blow (aka ME) Mac's offer a lot more stability and performance without heavy maintenance. Like I said, I abuse my Macbook daily both physically and performance wise (I run at about 200mb free disk space lol) and its still giving me the same performance I was getting the day I bought it. I was never able to do that with any Windows system I've had before, except maybe the earlier 3.0 or '95 versions.

Lastly, you can find the files on a dedicated Mac forum where it has been tested and analyzed hundreds of times by advanced users who can vouch for it. Its not like you're downloading a torrent and getting the files.

You can run OSX on the Wind with an upgrade retail version of the disc, which costs $29. I'm not how much the full version would cost you, but even then you'll have a good amount saved.

But again, its just an option. Nothing wrong with letting people know they've got options.

Uhh i'm not really interested in running windows within OSX, the whole point of getting a mac is to use OSX LOL, not to just be running windows within it. I got this PC for windows (whenever i wanna run a game or something or FL especially)

Either way i'm gonna see what happens financially and make a decision then haha. thanks for all the advice

i feel like this video is in order:
http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/apple-getamac-security_480x376.mov

pro's and con's for both set-ups, for me personally i'd always build my own windows based computer if i was going to get a desktop as i feel at the moment i'd get much better value, i'd keep it offline as much as poss, as i do with my tower. if i was getting a laptop i'd always go for a mac, build quality is very good for the most part, support is excellent, gestures on the macs are quite good too, plus it's more set up for music out of the box, due to core audio and audio units. windows based machines are aimed mainly at business and corporations as that's microsofts biggest market, so you do have to configure the system more for audio, but once you do, they are about equalish.

if you go for a windows laptop you could get a decent comp, plus a quite decent usb2 soundcard and maybe a cheap controller for the price of the entry 13" macbook pro, if you go for the macbook pro which i'd recommend, if you change your mind, you can sell it on for a higher price than most windows based laptops as they do hold there value more. as for the os on each machine they are getting a lot closer, windows 7 seems like what would happen if xp and osx got drunk one night and had a lovechild, so it's not as hard to go between the two as it used to be. i recently had a problem with my i-mac, it wouldn't boot, solution was to link an external hard drive and just reload the os back on, all my files where still there, had to reinstall a few of my programs, but everything was still as i'd left it before. plus any osx past leopard has time machine, im still on tiger.

i use a custom built windows based tower, an i-mac and a really old powerbook for the web. im going to get a nu macbookpro once i've saved and had a chance to check out the nu mac tablet, i just wish flstudio had a native osx/audio units version, logic and flstudio as an au plug-in would be an ideal solution for me. one last thing, if you do decide on a mac, make sure you get an education discount, if you know anyone in higher education or at uni, take them with you to the apple store, you save quite a bit on the extened 3 year warrenty which you can then set up in your name, you can still register it your your name regardless. or just buy a mac second hand, if it is still in warrenty and you have probs they will have the system code on record still if its registered, just be careful where you buy it from. btw this is all imo.

Posted By HS Traxx on 11 Sep 2009 12:54 PM

You can run OSX on the Wind with an upgrade retail version of the disc, which costs $29. I'm not how much the full version would cost you, but even then you'll have a good amount saved.

That's just it, I just checked apples site and seems there is no way of purchasing a separate license (from what I could see without spending hours on it). The only thing on sale was the latest OSX upgrade. Is there actually a way to buy a licence without buying the hardware?

I'm not arguing about the macs performance, I like macs. I just wanted to give another point of view on things and ponder on if the hefty price tag is worth it. You certainly don't get a bang for the buck hardware wise. Not that macs are bad there either, it's just the fact that you can get pc with much higher specs for less money. So ultimately you end up paying for the user experience. Which is also fine if that's what you are looking for. And as far as hardware performance and security goes, well My PC still runs like it was new and has never been infected by malware since the day I put it together. However it doe take some study and work to set it all up. On the macs, most things are pretty much pre-configured to work in a certain way.

^ Exactly what I was trying to say... except that I sounded like a Mac fanboy :\

I'll drink to that though! Cheers

Finally.. You niggs wuzz trippin'... Imma drink something too x)..