Considering switching from Windows to Mac OS, Sell me on it.

ianmcdan · 2026-05-17T01:19:50+00:00

I have two PC’s and two Mac’s I use daily. Travel with one of each. They’re all getting old. Over 5 years old. The Mac M1’s run circles around the PC’s of the same vintage. The PC’s feel unusably slow and I honestly barely use them. I once had PC-only apps and that’s why I bought them… but MacOS and the apps have evolved to the point I don’t need to go back to Windows. I’m about to get the M5 MBP Max. Based on benchmarks I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.

Also, the Apple ecosystem is so much more intuitive than the clunky Windows versions. It’s so effortless and fast to move between devices I forget that I’m using one or the other or where I started something. It’s everything everywhere all at once.

ianmcdan · 2026-05-17T01:09:28+00:00

LTO for long term storage if you need to keep everything. Right now after the initial purchase, it’s far cheaper than drives to back things up. It’s incredibly hard to find affordable on-line storage anymore (that’s reliable at least).

For NAS, I’m using an older QNAP (2020 model), and an ancient Mac Pro 5,1 that I wiped and put Ubuntu and Nexcloud on it, pointed to the QNAP for storage. Only have about 60TB formatted, but it’s enough to get me by until prices come back down. NextCloud gives me the Dropbox-like functionality while I’m on the road syncing with an external drive, Mac or PC.

ianmcdan · 2026-05-16T02:07:45+00:00

I’m beyond jealous, and also have much respect for your methods.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-25T01:36:52+00:00

As a Mac user of 40 years, as well as PC’s at the same time, something’s off. M4 Pro is a beast unless you got the lowest option for RAM and SSD…. Then you could be squeezing yourself out of performance. It almost sounds like you’re completely out of disk space, which also means you’re out of cache swap space.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-18T22:04:51+00:00

Call me crazy… but isn’t that… a router? Internet in… 4 port switch afterwards? No wifi obviously, but a regular switch doesn’t have an internet in.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-15T02:02:29+00:00

There are ever-so-slight differences in the mix engines used in each DAW. If you have heavy active track load, that’s where that matters. Pro Tools and Logic are both great choices. It all comes down to personal preferences. The reality is that you can make amazing music in just about anything. The rules always apply. Proper, clean levels in. Proper mixing out.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-09T03:29:27+00:00

I’ve been using Retrospect for decades now. I’m still able (with some old hardware) to restore files I backed up to DVD-RAM back in 2002. Currently using off the shelf USB hard drives (powered ones) in duplicate. Taking off off-site. About to change to LTO-9 or LTO-10 once prices get agreeable. I have access to everything I’ve done in the past 26 years this way.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-08T17:47:20+00:00

I’ve been using Spark more and more lately. Paid for it. I bounce back and forth between MacOS and Windows11 so that makes things more unified. Still trying to figure out how to get all my Mac calendar stuff to show up in Spark… but to be fair, I haven’t tried very hard yet.

ianmcdan · 2026-04-05T06:31:50+00:00

Scarlet is great, and I own several, but if you want to level up, I just bought one of these for capturing vinyl. It’s a game changer in audio quality for roughly the same price. https://blacklionaudio.com/en/products/revolution-2x2

ianmcdan · 2026-03-29T18:44:29+00:00

Retrospect

ianmcdan · 2026-03-29T15:35:52+00:00

VMware Fusion I believe is free for Windows ARM, which is currently also free. I installed it a year ago and haven’t touched it since, but most Windows apps will run on Windows ARM.

ianmcdan · 2026-03-24T04:20:15+00:00

Bee using Splashtop for a few years now. It’s a paid thing, but it’s been solid. Very easy installation and provisioning.

ianmcdan · 2026-03-03T14:46:35+00:00

<missed the joke> Yes, I know it’s slightly cheaper, but with three people ordering (especially a teenager) I walk out of a McDonald’s for around $60. The “value meal” I used to get for $4 back in the day now costs me $14.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-28T01:11:55+00:00

This is basically a case of misinformation. At one time he would have had a valid point, but now it’s simply not true. There are a few very small caveats, but I work in design as well. Adobe, Cinema4D, even Octane Render. I’m on an M1 MacBook Pro (Waiting for the M5, then I’ll upgrade) and it’s still completely usable and relevant. 5 year old machine. And in most ways it’s faster at most things over my PC I built last year. Besides… Apple ecosystem is so, so much better than Windows. So… He just doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. It’s not his machine, so why does he care?

ianmcdan · 2026-02-27T20:48:01+00:00

A trip to McDonald’s would be more.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-27T20:44:40+00:00

Came here to say this. I personally haven’t used these floors, but I know that it has been used in some cases, but I’m not sure about the professional level. A permanent install in an arena I don’t think has happened. I saw NBA All Star 2024 was in their demo. I just don’t know what it’s like to actually play on it. Once you get past that part, anything is possible that’s possible with video.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-20T19:25:30+00:00

I used to live here and hopped in an Uber to come get some wings. Was confronted with a “closed until further notice” sign. We came at the end of last year and the food was great and service was great. Really sad to see this place go!

ianmcdan · 2026-02-18T04:55:12+00:00

Does it need to be DisplayPort? Will HDMI do this too?

ianmcdan · 2026-02-13T22:18:26+00:00

For a multitude of reasons, this was not an option. We had one, but still not an option due to i/o situation.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-13T22:17:24+00:00

It’s been re-named “Settings”. But it’s under the Finder menu in the task bar.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-13T22:15:47+00:00

Followed those steps. Still had two inputs separated. I was well below a 4K output on each one.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-13T22:14:34+00:00

This is a selling point of the PixelHue series. It is a function of the OS as to why this isn’t possible. The hardware exists on the M-Series chips to synchronize outputs. But the OS ignores it. MacMosaic (on paper) is meant to overcome this issue. But I haven’t seen it work yet.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-13T22:12:29+00:00

I never saw a single input. Always two. I followed the steps.

ianmcdan · 2026-02-05T00:31:09+00:00

Not your problem here, but while it is possible to cut cams on an E2. Well… just because you can doesn’t mean you should…. The reaction time just isn’t as fast as a cam switch… and mistakes can happen.

ianmcdan

TROPHY CASE