dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Hey, I used to do UNIX as well. If Ma Bell had not been broken up, we would all be happily using clean UNIX computers today.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I wouldn't suggest going to laptop instead of either Mac or PC desktop. If Mac is what you have, then stick with it. Laptop screens just won't do you any favors in adjusting light and color.

blackest Loc: Ireland

To be fair hardware wise functionally and actually there is not that much difference between hardware used on pc's or mac's. It's quite telling that a Mac can run a Windows or Linux OS natively.

The differences are the operating systems and the software that they run (which is often the same). The mac is particularly good at doing what the user wants when the user wants to do it. I have never seen a mac refuse to let someone log on while it updates itself, which seems to happen regularly on windows.

jackpi Loc: Southwest Ohio

My daughter had pc laptops in college. Three pc laptops because they fell apart. (They also had frequent software problems). When her most recent laptop had to be sent back to the manufacturer, I lent her my 13" MacBook Air. When her pc came back 6 weeks later, she wouldn't give up the MacBook Air. I bought a 13" MacBook Pro to replace it. I do run Lightroom on the Pro (Retina display, late 2012 model). Works fine. Equivalent version today costs ~$1,500 and is faster.

I have bought new PCs for me, my wife and my kids every 3 years or so since 1981 (my first one only had an external tape drive for storage, although I added a floppy disk drive a few months later when they first became available). Some PCs I built; some I bought fully configured. I have I bought my last PC desktops almost 4 years ago from Dell. I am replacing mine with a new 27" Retina iMac. It will arrive the day after Thanksgiving. Quality in hardware and software is important to me in computers, as well as in photographic equipment. I'm willing (and can afford) to pay for it.

Am I one of the blind loyalists you referred to? Or do you lack the experience to make such an accusation?

JaiGieEse Loc: Foxworth, MS

Um, Gene, please consider that these issue which you're encountering might well be caused by some software or hardware combination you're using - and not the OS. I'm driving a mid-2010 27-inch iMac, with Yosemite 10.1.1 loaded, along with PSCC (first version) and Lightroom 5.7, and I am not having these issues.

As for Macs being mediocre, well, as I say, I drive a mid-2010 2-inch iMac, and the ONLY problem I've had with it occurred when my SMART-monitiring software reported that the internal 1TB drive was about to fail. I backed up everything on the drive to Time Machine, took the iMac to my local Apple store and they replaced the drive with a fresh one, no charge, as the iMac was still under warranty. No other issues at all.

On the other hand, in the two and a half years we've been together. my wife has had to replace her HP laptop twice. That amounts to about $1200 in purchase costs, not to mention the cost of the repairs (unsuccessful) for which she paid on the first HP to fail. For what she has paid in two and a half years, she could've bought a MacBook, and if this third HP fails in short order, her next laptop WILL be a MacBook Pro.

epoche Loc: Tucson, AZ

I have a 2006 Map Pro 2.66 quad with 4 HDR, 250, 500, 750, 750. Have never had any issues with the machine. Wakes up from Sleep instantly and runs Lightroom 2.0 and PS 4.0 with ease. My MacBook Air is 4 years old also with never an issue. Had Windows machines in the past but would never return to Windows OS. With the new continuity system I can see data from my iPad Air 2 on my other machines, take calls across platforms etc.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I have a Desktop PC and a MacBook Pro retina. I've been a pc guy for ever and now I am switching to Mac. Everything that I've been told I would not be able to do on a Mac, I've been able to do! My version of Lightroom (4.5) came with BOTH the Mac and PC version on the CD, and I am allowed to use both. When I upgrade, it will be for the Mac. I am just sooooooo tired of cleaning up viruses on my PC. A BIG time waster!!!! I plan to replace my desktop with some kind of Mac sometime soon. Just my $.02.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

You already have a Mac. Why complicate matters for yourself by having to learn Windows 8? Besides, if you back up your Imac to Icloud, when when you set up your laptop, everything copies to the new computer.

That said, it really is all in what you are used to, so if a PC works for you, don't switch. Same with a Mac. Both have their strong and weak points.

Dun1 Loc: Atlanta, GA

Stay with a Mac