InDesign MAC vs PC

We make a weekly magazine and some weekend newspaper supplements. Our network is not what it used to be (welcome to neocapitalism where we all have to work with less and less resources). Some of us in the layout gang use a mac and some of us use Windows 7 PCs. And you now what's the difference bewteen them? Zilch. Cero. Nada.

At home I use a MacBook Pro (enhanced with more RAM and an SSD disk, I am such an spoilt brat) and and one Windows 10 PC with more or less similar specifications. You now what's the difference? The same 0 again.

With the MacBook I have some trouble speedwise with the keyboard shorcuts but that's is because I use it less and I have not imposed myself to the discipline of that particular keyboard.

That said, keep alert if you use legacy plugins or scripts (even between versions of the same OS). There may be a rub. And if you are one of those that do not use extensions for their files just because, please, get used to them. It's dead easy.

It's 2019, pleazeeeee. forget the platform wars. They are not real.

There are at least some more differences not mentioned in this thread:

• InDesign on Windows will have trouble running AppleScripts, while on the Mac you'll miss VBScript and friends. Of course most scripting today is in ExtendScript, but if you happen to have a big library of AppleScripts around, or just prefer that language ...
• The Mac uses the Cmd key instead of the Ctrl key. The Ctrl key is still understood as modifier key, this doubles the available combinations for keyboard shortcuts. At least when I last tried, the Windows key was not available for that purpose, even worse it would just get in my way on accidental hit.
• In Windows you can address various UI elements, open menus and so forth with Alt+(key) shortcuts. Alt+E opens the Edit menu, on the Mac it is unassigned. This can be seen as advantage (less mousing) or disadvantage (even fewer shortcuts available for own combinations).
• When you float the document windows, on Windows the application frame will still hide other applications. You can get close if you undock the palettes, the toolbar and then shrink the application frame, but you can't completely turn it off.
• When floating outside the application frame, Windows palette windows won't hide on deactivate.
• On the other hand the Mac's application bar is mostly a blank waste of screen real-estate, while on Windows it is merged with the menu. Yes, on the Mac you can separately turn it off.
• As I haven't yet seen the latest versions side by side, can anybody confirm that the Windows equivalent to "Retina" resolution really is equivalent?
• Same with trackpad gestures such as double-finger scrolling or zooming?

"The Windows versions of Adobe applications (including InDesign) work at least as well as the Macintosh versions with the same functionality."

Mostly, although I have not personally tested this on a PC, this thread suggests there could be minor differences: (you can skip down to post # 12).

http://forums.adobe.com/message/4840364#4840364

In an ideal worls, the Powers That Be (BTB) should have to give good reasons for you to switch, other than "we're the bosses." Possible "good" reasons could be that their systems folks have no Mac maintenance or hybrid-network maintenance expertise, or will have none after they downsize the Mac folks out of the company, that their system folks do have such experience, bad enough to want to drop Macs, or perhaps they can get better prices when buying large lots of identical items, and they're one machine short of the next-lower price bracket, (more likely applicable to hardware than software.) One other, chilling, one, might be that they want to replace your position with a PC person, and they want the PC workstation fully-installed and throughly troubleshot, before they move you on and bring in the replacement.

HTH

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

One fairly weak reason to prefer Macs over PCs is that the out-of-the-box diagnostic tools are superior in the unlikely event of a water landing.

That is, when you get a crash of InDesign on a Mac, you will have access to a full stack trace associated with the crash and to partial symbols associated with the stack trace. And it is easily available in the Console application or even the crash popup window.

When you get a crash under Windows 7, 8, or Vista, you get something that is useless for diagnostic purposes. (And under XP, you have to hunt hard to find useful data).

Now, of course, this may not matter to you if you are not a programmer. And on the other hand, if you were a programmer, you would probably have Visual Studio or WinDBG installed on your machine, each of which should be able to generate stack traces for you.

Still, I will say, it is a lot easier to remotely help people diagnose their crashes under Mac OS than it is to help people diagnose their crashes under Windows. I don't have any data on whether that means there are more crashes under Mac OS. I don't think so, but it is certainly possible.

@rella1820 – if you ever want to produce with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) it's more than comfortable to preview on the iPad connected directly with USB to your Mac. That's not possible on a Windows machine. Also publishing a folio as an app for the iPad is only possible with a Mac…

But that's a lame excuse, if you do not publish and test folio files in the DPS environment.

However, the font issue is worth a thougt.
Especially when it comes to buying extra licences for Windows, if you already own licences for the Mac.

Uwe

Rella1820,

You could argue that you are more familiar with the platform, and thus less prone to making file system related mistakes.

Do you use any other software than Adobe's? Not everything is available on *both* Mac and PC.

Like Bob, above, I regularly switch from Mac to PC and vice versa. We at the office know our fonts, and so we (hardly) have issues with that. Adobe's suite works the same on both platforms -- <g> they are virtually the same, way more than even the programs in the "Suite" itself! -- but I switch platform because of the *other* tools we might need. For reading and processing anything delivered from a PC installation of Office, nothing beats the Real Thing™.

I submit being able to work with *both* platforms, rather than either one, is a good thing. Limiting yourself to just one platform means you'll miss out on the worst features but also on the best.

Sounds like you love your Mac and the company is asking you to break up a happy marriage.

If you're a lone Mac user in a PC shop you're fighting a losing battle on many levels.

Give the PC a go for a while and see how much training is required for you and how many reboots and Windows updates take hours out of your daily productivity. That's often a compelling argument for managers.

Otherwise, learn to love the PC since you'll be surrounded by them.

You shouldn't be relying on Mac-only Type 1 fonts. However, if you are (maybe you spent thousands of dollars on Adobe Font Folio back in the '90s and have hundreds of Mac-only Type 1 fonts that you use all the time?) then you'd need to re-purchase some fonts. InDesign running on Windows cannot use those fonts.

The Windows versions of Adobe applications (including InDesign) work at least as well as the Macintosh versions with the same functionality.

The only excuses you might provide are:

(1)     You have existing InDesign documents that use MacOS Type 1, MacOS TrueType, or MacOS .dfont fonts for which there are not Windows versions that are exactly the same.

(2)     Your personal preferences are to use a Macintosh. Or alternatively, your religious beliefs either force you to use Apple products or prevent you from using Windows products.

          - Dov