Nimajneb
Thanks for the advice.
I still love my Mac. The reason for the PC switch is that I also have a top notch PC which I mainly use for gaming. I think I’ll have to bite the bullet for a while so I can take advantage of the free (except for the crossover charge) upgrade. But that’ll probably also mean investing in a larger monitor and another Wacom tablet.
Aaarggh! This is frustrating.
cwahl,
To answer a previous observation of yours, I am a PC user. On the other hand, I have used MACs side by side in development and I do enjoy the machines. So I am not one of those “I hate MACs!” people 
.
nimajneb,
I would agree with your assesment of OS9 and OSX for the MAC. OSX was cool enough to make a lot of PC users take a look at it as well . Even so, I will disagree with you about the following statement:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Moving to PC however is not necessarily the answer. You want to talk about a company that’s out of touch with their userbase. A company that doesn’t give a crap about what the users want. A company that wants to force their solution down your throat without so much a dinner and a movie. You’re talking Windows.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
While Microsoft is certainly large (huge!) they are not totally out of touch with their user base and they do not just sove their solutions down your throat. They do attempt to see what the users’ needs are and address them. They cannot please everyone (especially with millions of people using their OS and software) but they do try. Windows 95 and 98 were a big step for MS to take and were the results of user feedback (i.e. making Windows 3 easier to use). The jump to 2000 was another step in this direction as was the development of XP. Both 2000 and XP took the aging NT platform (which was definately a professional development platform) and make it friendly enough for the professional and the home user to use.
I happen to use the PC for a variety of reasons (reasons that are probably common to many of us on the PC platform … or at least I am guessing so). I like to build my own machines and the PC enables me to do this. I can still build a robust development machine myself for less than buying one complete off the shelf. And I can extend the life of that machine by upgrading components as needed. This is something I cannot do as easily with the MAC, especially since there just aren’t the components available for it. I realize that is changing, though … to some degree.
Of course I like the massive amount of software that is available to me. I can walk into about any software shop and get about anything and the same is true for shareware and freeware.
MAC OSX is cool, but I will not be changing from my PC. There just seems to be too many advantages to using one over the MAC (at least for what I do).
Well, these are just my oppinions. I like the MAC. I like the PC. I would not down either one.
Yep, good points Dan. I’m only a PC user, but I agree wholeheartedly with what has been said.
cwahl, if you would like to cross-grade to a PC license, please contact me at [email protected] so that I can send you the instructions.
Thanks Aurick. I’m still weighing up options at the moment for PC or OSX.
Dan-‘So I am not one of those “I hate MACs!” people’
Sorry Dan, that’s not what I was implying. I was just saying that it was easy for you to make light of my situation, since you didn’t have to experience it.
No hard feelings, man.
cwahl,
NP . I did not really think you were implying that I hated MACs. I just wanted to make sure that people reading this thread realized that I have a respect for them .
You are correct, I cannot really enter into your “pain” and I can understand where you are coming from.
Hi cwahl,
I understand you 100%. I went thru the same thing.
I was very mad with Apple regarding the transition from OS 9 and OSX at first. I felt like I was forced to switch and it wasn’t comfortable for me. I also didn’t want to spend more money.
But, I have to tell you, that when I did upgrade to OSX, it really changed my perspective.
OSX is super stable and powerful. I am now very super happy with it. It’s UNIX based, and Unix is one of the most powerful operating systems out there (if not the most powerful).
Eventhough I have been using both PC’s and MAC’s for about 20 years now (and I used to be a PC programmer back in the 80’s), I prefer the MAC to do my graphics work. But this is just me with what I do. If I am comfortable with an OS, I stick with it. I still use the PC for other stuff.
I know people that use PC’s, because the software that they use, is only available on the PC. For instance, TruSpace and 3ds max. Or because they feel comfortable with it. It’s a personal choice. Both platforms are not perfect.
If you have a PowerPC G3 or higher, with at least 233MHz of CPU Speed and 128MB MB of RAM or more, OSX is a big plus. I highly recommend it. I know it seems fustrating, but you will not regret it.
If you have an older Mac, I totally understand what you are going thru. I don’t know if you use your computer professionally, but if you do, you will eventually have to make the decision to upgrade your Mac or if you feel that the PC will service you better, then you may want to look into it.
But, I wouldn’t switch to the PC, just because ZB2 will not run well on OS9. You want to switch to a new Mac or PC, because the machine that you decide to go with, will meet your needs and you feel “comfortable” with.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.
Cheers!
Thanks for the advice, bill.
Looks like I’ll be upgrading to OSX. It turned out not to be as expensive as I thought it was going to be. I currently have a G4, so I’ll be able to build on that.
Add to that a much needed upgrade from my Photoshop 5.5 to the new Photoshop CE, and I’m set to go.
Things are looking up.
Now what were we talking about…oh yeah.
How long 'til Mac Z2 comes out!? 
:rolleyes: (don’t have a cow, aurick. Just kidding!)
You are welcome cwahl !!!
You are going to love OSX. It really rocks and is a very solid operating system with Unix power.
ZB2 should perform like a king under OSX.
OS9 just doesn’t have the juice that OSX has.
Also, the money that you saved, from not having to buy another computer, can be invested in more RAM memory for your G4.
If you MAXIMIZE your computer with as much RAM as possible, ZB2 and many other graphic apps, will love that.
The new Photoshop CS, is a super power app.
Great for creating textures, alphas, etc. and also for some post 3D work. An excellent companion to ZBrush.
Have fun!!!
Cheers!
I can’t believe people still use OS 9. What the h3ll is it good for compared to X? It’s been out for years. What’s holding you up? $108.99
It has to becoming more, and more impractical for developers to develop fore both OS X, and OS 9. I doubt OS 9 will even be capable of running on the next gen G5’s, and definitely not on a G6. You have to realize that OS X, and all Mac’s - and PC’s for that matter will also make a complete transition over to full 64-bit OS’s sometime within the next 3 years time.
It’s going to be like fully porting an app to a completely different platform before you know it.
Can I run ZB2 on my commodore 64?
‘I can’t believe people still use OS 9. What the h3ll is it good for compared to X? It’s been out for years. What’s holding you up? $108.99.’
Yeah, yeah ,yeah. I wasn’t aware I could build it onto my existing G4. I really hadn’t looked into prices. But don’t forget it also involves the cost of upgrading all your apps. Luckily for me that only involves my Adobe products (which were in need of an update anyway.)
Z2 for the Commodore 64? I can’t beleive you’re still using the C64, the AMIGA’s heaps better! 
(kidding)
check out xlr8yourmac.com. They have a great upgrade database. You can get a less-than-fastest G4 upgrade for a few hundred dollars, and max out your ram for a couple hundred. I’ve found that zbrush 1.55 runs okay under MacOSX 10.3 on a 733MHz, but I don’t think you can even buy an upgrade that slow anymore. You can get an 800MHz G4 CPU with 2MB L2 cache (a good thing) for $250, or go whole hog and get a 1.2 GHz for around $360… less than the price of any of my art apps anyway…
Oh, and I dual boot for games still, you don’t really have to upgrade photoshop, MacOS9 and MacOSX co-exist peacfully on the same hard disk. Not that I follow that advice…
And on the G5 and OS9 comment, G5’s already can’t boot OS9, they only runit through the trueblue emulator. In fact the last two G4’s can’t even boot MacOS9. Oh, and I hate the dock in OSX, I have to use dragthing to keep from going nuts. The OSX dock is a first class turd.