True but I have rarely needed this on my studio computer. I don't even run anti-virus (it isn't connected to the internet). I've researched cores and clock speeds before and I found multiple cores would be great for what you are suggesting. But in reality how many times are you going to be making a beat and then think (hold on, i'll just alt-tab to this game I was playing before). I was a little frustrated with my last upgrade because I found my new system didn't perform at a much higher level than my old.
When software companies catch up and make use of them it will be incredible though. I think I'd be more excited about a more efficient cache than more cores.
Um... That's EXACTLY what I do all the time.
Typical for me when I'm sitting in front of my machine:
Opera with 10-15 tabs open
Firefox w/NoScript and usually no more than 2 tabs open
Starseige Tribes or Unreal Tournament in a window in Observer mode
FL Studio 7 or 9
SoundForge 8
Either Photoshop 6 or The Gimp 2.6.x with several images from the day's random pic snapping
CygwinX session pointed at my Linux or FreeBSD server.
Media Player 10 either paused or actively playing music.
And I've been this way since the days of Win95b. I've always been one to keep waaaaay too much shit open at once. Years ago, I got around the drag on CPU resources by using dual processor machines running NT4.0, then later Win2000.
---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:56 PM ----------
Let's be honest though deRaNged....a imac is nothing more than a laptop with a gorgeous screen( I'll admit that).
The point is that it out-classes any other all-in-one solution, hands down. If you want to compare a Windows desktop to a Mac desktop....well you know where this is going.
@Logic...you made some very valid points, but it still comes down to preference and I prefer Mac. It works well with any DAW you throw at it...right out of the box.
So does a PC loaded with XP.
I just reinstalled XP a few weeks ago. Once it was up and running, all I had to do was install drivers for my Audiophile, Cubase SX3, FL Studio, ProTools 7.3, and Sound Forge and I could have started right off the bat recording. No tweaking of XP (there was never a real need for it on P4-class machines), no disabling of services or switching anything.
Just install and go. It just works.
---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------
Logic...I wholeheartedly agree with you as far as the release of new OS's not being stable, BUT come on man!! Complaining about not being able to use an OS that was designed for completely new architecture??? Understandable. Micro$uck has known for years that all of their OS's are prone to viruses, malware/spyware, hackers, RANDOM crashes. They charge too much extra money for programs that should be included when you buy their OS, i.e. Word, Excell, Power Point...
The "kicker" though...you have to purchase anti-virus software that actually attracts viruses. When I was using Windows(XP), I actually didn't stop getting viruses until I stopped using anti-virus software?!?!?!?!
The price of upgrading a Mac vs a PC is also a factor(OS wise). Mac wins this one hands down!!!
Now for your defense of Microsoft....
For the love of God, please explain Vista!!!!!!!!!!!
Edited for spelling
Bold/Red part: OSX was NOT designed for a new architechture. Through trickery, you CAN install OSX up to 10.2 on a PowerPC 604 based Mac (like my old 9600/300), but you'll never get support for it from Apple. Apple says "If you want OSX, and support from us, then you MUST buy a new Mac".
The rest:
I'm curious... Exactly what productivity suite is included with OSX??? Since you seem to believe that Microsoft should include one and that theirs is too expensive (ignoring the fact that Microsoft Works is only $39), obviously Apple doesn't require you to buy one with their OS... Right???
You also don't have to purchase AV, the best stuff is FREE. And... even Apple has stated a number of times that Mac owners need to buy AV too (matter of fact, they've been saying it since OS9 back in 2002!!!)
Viruses??? Yep, M$ products have them... But so do Unix OS'es. Right now, there's Mac OSX-only botnets out there that are growing larger by the hour because Mac owners still don't believe they're in any danger. OSX owners represent a growing threat to the rest of the net because they hold this notion that viruses and trojans are a Windows problem, even after having been told otherwise for the better part of the last decade.
And Vista??? Nothing more than what happened with the initial OSX release: An OS that was rushed out the door because M$ believed they needed to get something new into consumers hands, completely ignoring the fact that XP was a solid, stable OS that everyone liked a lot. Same for OSX: They rushed 10.0 out the door because Apple believed that Mac users wanted something new -right now-, ignoring the fact that OS9.x.x was stable and users were quite happy with it.
